Sure, drink all you want!
Perhaps a more appropriate question is "Can I drink and have a rockin hard body?" and to that I would say, no, not really.
Seriously, I did ask my nutritionist this very same question. You see, my husband is a home winemaker (and a VERY good one at that!) We tend to go in opposite directions at times.
You need to ask yourself that tough question - What exactly is my goal and how important is it that I reach it? Alcohol is sugar plain and simple, there is nothing good for you in it, so it isn't the healthiest beverage to choose. When changing your eating habits, elimination of excess sugars and saturated fats will be something you want to seriously consider, as they will not help you make any positive changes.
Look around at the population in fast food restaurants, bars, big chain restaurants, they are not the healthiest looking group are they?
Making a change will only work if you can live with it, we all put effort into what we feel is important to us. Most things worth striving for are not easy, relationships, a challenging job, child rearing, even getting your hair right some mornings can be difficult. But we all choose to put effort into what is important to us.
If you want a lean, hard, healthy body then alcohol will not be a part of your daily life.
A trainer once told me something that I have never forgotten: "As long as you drink alcohol, you will always have a cozy around that 6 pack"
Sure have a drink occasionally, just not every day. By the way, weekends don't come occassionally, they come regularly.
If we are talking only about getting buff and losing body fat, then everything you've said is undoubtedly true. But looked at from a broader perspective, the affirmation "there is nothing good for you in (alcohol)" must certainly be qualified; it has been proven beyond any doubt that daily consumption of a small amount of alcohol is better for your overall health than not drinking any alcohol at all (less heart attacks, less mortality rate in general). "Small amount" is key here: the upper limit for women is about 20 grams and for men, 30. [30 grams of alcohol would be two small glasses of wine]. Now, that is for alcohol in general -- as far as wine goes, it seems that in countries where consumption thereof is traditional (yours truly's adopted homeland, for example), the people have lower heart-attack rates than what their rather high cholesterol levels would seem to predict, leading researchers to suspect that wine has benefits itself, beyond those afforded by its alcohol content. Tannins and other anti-oxidant substances might be responsible. And while consumption of wine does not lower bad cholesterol (LDL) levels, it does seem to increase good cholesterol (HDL).
ReplyDeleteOf course, it is still as you said about the negative qualities: one gram of alcohol has more calories than a gram of sugar (seven, to be exact) -- so those two little "vasitos de vino" that are so good for a man's heart are also giving him 210 extra calories per day. And those unused calories are stored as triglycerides, so obviously anyone with a weight problem or with high triglycerides in general, even if not trying to get buff, is better off not having any alcohol at all.
Yes, I believe you are correct in all of your information; however, you live in Spain, where the lifestyle is completely different than here in the United States, county of excess and consumption.
ReplyDeleteI have found that most people here find it very difficult to indulge only once in a while....
Hey, I may live in Catalonia but I have just as much problem with excess as any other red-blooded Californian!
ReplyDeleteI tried to post another reply and posted it in the wrong blog! I wanted to remind you that I gained 5% body fat while visiting you in France last year.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am quite familiar with your excess!
Tell me about it! Remember I was there for 50 days! I don't think I ever want to see a block of foie gras again in my life (that's a lie). Near the end of my stay there, French chefs were running after me down the street trying to cut me into bits and use me as an ingredient in their cassoulet!
ReplyDeleteI can see it in my mind right now, you dodging into boulangeries grabbing a croissant burre as you attempt to avoid the cleaver....
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