The truth about alcohol in your diet...

 

 

 

Welcome to the ladies lounge!!!!

 

This is my first post in a series of commonly asked questions by the ladies.  They also apply to the men, it is just that, well, we ladies talk more...

The most common question I get asked is... Can you have a look at my diet? I can't lose the last 5 kilo's. (Seriously, it is ALWAYS the last 5 kilos, you are not alone).

And we have all been told that a glass a wine a night is good for us, right?

So every food diary has a few "one or two glasses of wine for dinner" entries.  The weekend food diaries rarely hit my inbox (no judgement!  I hate food diaries myself). So weekends would be more telling about alcohol consumption.

Here's the truth.  Like breakfast cereals, ALCOHOL being good for you is one of the greatest money-making marketing hoax's of all time.

Alcohol made 200 or more years ago WAS good for us.  It was safer than drinking water.  It used proper fermentation processes (not reliant on sugar).  It used non-processed plant materials.  No chemicals.  No pesticides.  It had nutritional value.

The truth about today's alcohol

Most post-mix drinks, ciders and mixers have more sugar and artificial sweeteners (boo) in ONE DRINK than you should have in a week.

Alcohol is toxic to the body.  It's not just the calories that are bad for you.  If your body has to work on flushing alcohol out, it doesn't flush out your estrogen.  If you don't flush out your estrogen it gets recycled.  Recycled estrogen equals hormone imbalance = cortisol production = fluid retention = fat hording = inability to build, repair and retain muscle = you can't lose weight and feel like shit (and other hideous health effects that are usually treated with prescription drugs and pain relief that make you fatter).

Alcohol increases cortisol production (stress hormone production) which peaks at dinner time = you reaching for that second glass of wine because you 'need to relax'

To burn off two glasses of wine, you need to run 12 K's with sub 5 minute k's.   Can you do that?  Because then you have to deal with the domino affect of cortisol production of running 12 k's.

Alcohol doesn't just increase your risk of breast cancer.... IT MAKES IT MORE PROBABLE THAN NOT THAT YOU WILL GET BREAST CANCER.  That is how bad it is to have recycled estrogen floating around your system.  I'm not prepared to die for cheap wine.  (Or a three day growth.. Blah).

FACT:  You will lose 5 kilos in five weeks if you stop alcohol consumption.  Entirely.  

What is alcohol that has some health benefits?

1. Alcohol that is not fermented on cane sugar, corn syrups or artificial sweeteners.  So, not much that is readily accessible at your local bottlo.
2. Alcohol that contains sediment threads (which shows a fermentation process from a 'mother' and/or barrel).
3. Alcohol that is fermented with certified organic, pesticide free grains or fruit.

So, the really expensive organic kind.  Hard to get right?

What if you do fall off the wagon (and into the proverbial wine cask)?

• Get good probiotics and fermented foods into your diet and gut.
• Eat green vegetables.  Loads of them.
• Drink loads of water.
• Get at least 7-10 hours sleep a night.
• Don't drink gallons of coffee thinking it's the only way to make you feel better.  And no KFC.  Ever.
• Go train.

And make sure that you had fun.  Fun is not vomiting,  Fun is not having a scrag fight with your best friend in a night club, or scratching the face off your boyfriend.  Ahhhhhh.... it takes me back to my youth.....

No, I'm no tea-totaler.  This photo is proof that drinking makes... you... ugly....

If you had fun laugh it off, go train, and tell your friends you can't wait to do it again..... next year.  Sometimes the laughs make it all worth while.

I'm 50, female and can't lose tummy fat... what can I do?

This is a really relevant question from my stunning hairdresser Lene.

She works incredibly long hours on her feet and wants to know why getting older is making a flat tummy difficult?

When your 50 (or even 45) I find that I can no longer do and eat the same 'good' things. I don't sit on my bum - I walk, do situps, my work is standing, walking fast, moving all day. I clean the house and wash. I thought that if you constantly keep moving and even just walking that it was enough exercise.

I hardly ever stop till 8 or 9 at night and when I do find time to exercise it is in the extreme. But the fat won't move from my belly. I eat 3 meals a day - all healthy - sometimes 6 small meals and have my 2 glass of wine (not every night) but mostly only weekends.  I tell you, being 50 changes everything and I hate it. I guess it's a bit like when you cant get your hair like you use to. lol.  

So wot is it? I refuse to be old and need some changes.
Please, Ii just don't get it.
I know sex is great for weight loss... lol!! But I don't do that either. sad year :(
Wot happens to the body after 50 and how can I speed it up?
x Lene

Here's my spin:
The female body was designed to procreate... And then we were designed to become homely little wise women with a change in hormones that promote fat hording to see us through harsh winters and disease so we can live to annoy our youth....

This is a quick explanation:
We produce more estrogen and less testosterone and that is a recipe for less muscle and more fat.
But we CAN safely prime our bodies without the use of hormone replacement, protein powders and illegal testosterone.

1. There is only one way to stop muscle wastage and burn fat - actively build muscle. The most effective way is interval sprints and functional weight training for 20-30 minutes once or twice a week. A good example of age defying training is Jules Gardiner, Jo Johnson and Clare Carter.

This is how you do it...

2. Reduce the stress hormone cortisol. This means more sleep, less endurance burning activity (a slow jog for 10 kilometers can do more harm than good), more sunlight and even something as simple as reducing social obligations.(Saying NO! more often).

3. Reduce or eliminate alcohol entirely. The marketing gimmack about beneficial anti-oxidants far outweigh alcohol's negative impacts. Two glasses isn't't necessarily high in calories but alcohol is an undisputed toxin and the body treats it as a poison - with fluid retention and inflammation.  Alcohol also destroys good gut bacteria which is catastophic for anyone who wants a flat tummy.

If you save money, you don't have to work as many hours, you can sleep more and weight will naturally drip away.  Awesome.

4. Sit-ups sometimes do more harm than good. Check out this article:
Flat-stomach-tips

5.  Finally, if you are completely serious about a flat tummy, reduce or eliminate ALL sugars and grains from your diet (bread, rice, pasta, cereals and even potato and corn).  Harsh, but it works. Check out www.marksdailyapple.com. The man is 53 and looks better now then when he was a 20 year old professional triathlete. He changed for all the reasons you now talk about (plus he suffered from heart attacks).  You can't cheat on this, it if want it bad enough you will see it for yourself.

I explain more of these principles of how the tummy is linked to the brain and health here:
The poo taboo...

Lene thank you so much for asking an important question that most females believe can't be changed.