Does quitting alcohol really help you lose weight?
Is cutting out the glass of wine that accompanies your family dinner, and stopping to order a cocktail at the bar with your friends on the weekend, an effective way to lose weight? Florence de Le Roux, clinical nutritionist, nutritionist and author of the picture book L'anti-mythe alimentaire published by Éditions Albin Michel, answers this question many of us ask ourselves: Does quitting alcohol make you lose weight?
The effect on weight depends on the consumption of each
Want to lose weight by eliminating alcohol from your meals and holiday evenings? Yes, in fact, not drinking one drop of alcohol will probably have an effect on your body, and it will show up on the scale, but the outcome is variable and depends on the alcohol consumption of each one initially.
If you only drink alcohol on the weekends, say 2 or 3 glasses, that can't be compared to people who used to pour themselves a glass of wine or beer on their way home every evening, after a long day, and the weekends go on. ...
Obviously, the effect of stopping alcohol on weight will not be the same in these two cases. The more alcohol you initially consume, the stronger the effect on your weight and shape...
Stopping alcohol completely isn't necessarily a good idea, here's why
"That's it, I take responsibility, I stop drinking to lose my excess weight!" : The idea in itself is not bad, when one knows the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption, on health or simply the silhouette. But for Florence de Le Roux, the all-or-nothing principle can be a source of great frustration, as we quickly enter the system of guilt, the first enemy of the line. And who says that frustration does not necessarily mean weight loss in the long run... On the contrary!
Yes, in the short term, we will see an effect, because the body will store the sugars in alcoholic beverages as fat. But in the medium or even long term, stopping alcohol completely and not changing the rest of your diet will not work. The idea is not to crash after a month of quitting alcohol with frustration and regain all the lost pounds associated with guilt...a vicious cycle so it should be avoided.
Consume alcohol...but other than that
If the frustrations have a negative effect in the long run, the idea would be to modify and thus reduce their alcohol consumption, by balancing their diet further. Proceeding from the principle that alcohol is pleasure, there is no doubt that this pleasure is suppressed and prevented: one can drink alcohol, but in full consciousness, while being pleased.
Many of us do not even ask ourselves whether this evening we would like a little glass of wine around a fine dinner, or whether we follow our friends, without even realizing it by agreeing to serve, one glass, then two, then three ... We no longer even taste what we drink, as if we were on autopilot: my glass is empty, and I refill it myself. A phenomenon often associated with a social need.
Before a drink, whether it's a glass of beer at a bar with a friend, a glass of white wine on the way home after a hard day, a glass of champagne at the office to celebrate a promotion, or a cocktail during the evening, simply ask yourself, if you like it.
If the answer is no, then there is no reason to force yourself, quite the contrary, we prefer to choose sparkling water or something else that makes us happy.
On the other hand, if the answer is "Yes, I want it," then it is best not to try to prevent yourself from having that cup, but to serve yourself and make the cup last by taking the time to savor it. Connecting with oneself, one's desire, one's enjoyment, makes it possible, as you will see if you encounter it, to reduce alcohol consumption easily. At the end of the evening, if you taste each cup, you will quickly notice that you have consumed less, because you are more in tune with your happiness and more attentive to you.
As a result, if we evaluate at the end of each week, we dramatically cut calories, and all, without discouragement!