Lockdown weight gain is perhaps inevitable, and not necessarily the end of the world. But if you want to stave it off and even lose weight, we have one great tip. Its blindingly obvious but you may not have properly considered it yet.
We are a month into lockdown now and for many people, not putting on weight in isolation has become a big issue. Even with so many free apps, fitness videos and extended trials, the motivation to get fit at home has subsided by now and we are struggling to keep the girth-expansion of our torso at bay. Want to know how to lose weight at home without excessive exercising? It's easier than you think.
Let's get one thing out of the way right at the beginning: the best way to lose weight is not to exercise more, but to eat less. Especially now that we have to stay indoors almost all the time, eating the same amount of food as we used to will result in us putting on weight. Cutting back on calories a bit could help you in your weight loss battle significantly. No news there.
There is one item in a lot of people's diet that could be easily cut and would result in losing weight faster. Yet, if Google Trends is anything to go by, everyone seem to be having more of this particular thing, now that we are in full lockdown. You guessed it: the culprit is alcohol. No one needs a lecture about why alcohol is bad for your health but I think a lot of you don't realise how consuming alcohol effects your diet and your weight loss. Or your weight gain, more accurately.
There are a lot of misconceptions about alcohol and as I mentioned above, I'm not here to lecture anyone about just how bad it is to consume alcoholic beverages. Sure, some types of alcohols contain certain micronutrients (like minerals) that can be beneficial for health, but this doesn't outweigh the negative effects of these drinks.
One very important thing to realise about alcohol is that it is basically pure carbohydrate. Carbs are one of the three main macronutrients your body needs to function; the other two are lipids (fats) and protein. This doesn't mean your body needs alcohol to function, on the contrary. Drinking alcohol adds nothing to your diet, alcohol calories are just 'empty calories'.
Just how many calories, though? There are a few options that are considered 'low-calorie' drinks, like vodka and diet coke. Although diet coke can be considered free of calories (still pretty bad in every way) a double shot (50 ml) of vodka contains over 100 calories. You would have to run 10 minutes to burn off those calories and that is just one drink.
How about beer? A small bottle (12 oz/355 ml) of Goose Island IPA is 208 calories, twice as much as what's in a double shot vodka plus diet coke combo. And whoever has only one small bottle of beer when they drink? That's right, no one.
Maybe wine? A bottle (750 ml) of Cabernet Sauvignon is just under 600 calories, meaning that two medium glasses (approx. 175 ml) contain around 250-300 calories.
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The best idea, of course, is to keep your alcohol consumption to the minimum. As I mentioned in the 'how to lose weight at home' article, being mindful about your diet and food/drink intake can help. Before you pour yourself another drink, ask yourself: do I want another drink? Am I bored? Is there another task I'm putting off by drinking?
Admittedly, on some occasions, especially during social gatherings, it is pretty challenging to get out of drinking at least some alcohol. When everyone is having beers and wines around you, the social pressure on you to have one too could be immense. Even in these cases, there are ways to reduce consumption.
If you are a wine drinker, have a soda spritzer instead of just a glass of wine. You would still get the sensation of having a wine in a wine glass, but you also drink plenty of water, which dilutes the alcohol and makes it easier for your body to digest it more efficiantly.
If you are more of a beer drinker, see if there are any low calorie/alcohol-free beers in stock. A bottle of alcohol-free Holstein is only 8 calories (!) and there are plenty of low-cal options out there, especially if you live in the US.
And in any case, if you drink a glass of water after you had a drink, your stomach will fill up sooner and you will feel fuller sooner, making you less likely to drink too much alcohol. It also helps with hangovers, too.
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Want to lose weight at home? Theres one thing thats just GOT to go from your lockdown diet - T3
