Alcohol and Weight Loss...

Well, I will admit one of my hardest and most difficult challenges when I'm on a weight loss program is staying away from alcohol. Now, once I was very good about not drinking alcohol, of course I was going to church everyday and they pounded into my head how alcohol is the devil basically.. and yes, I agree, but at the same time, I'm a young woman who likes to go out and meet people and socialize, and unfortunately, the majority of opportunities to do this usually requires alcohol.. well, maybe not requires, but definitely is a temptation and frowned upon with a weird eyebrow lift when I don't partake of the drinking.. and I like to have a drink every now and then. I don't get wasted usually, but it's nice to sit down and have a glass of wine or sip on a little whiskey and soda while having a nice conversation with your friends, or when you are at a sports bar playing pool and darts with some professional baseball players after a game...Yep, that was my weekend.. I'm assuming you already know where I'm going with this post.

So, my friend Nikki, whom I love dearly, has connections to a lot of interesting and unique people and groups of people. And the lovely doll is kind enough to let me be her "wingman." And I have a blast pretty much every time I go out with her. And, yes, it usually consists of a ball game and hanging out at a bar afterward with professional athletes (sorry, no name dropping in this blog). And this last weekend was exactly that.

I was doing pretty damn good on the weight loss program. I was back down to a five pound weight loss as of Friday afternoon (the end of my first week) and after work I had to rush to make it to the ballpark in time. Now, I'm pretty freakin' poor so, I don't usually worry about eating when I'm hurting financially, I just chew gum and hope I don't pass out. And at the ballpark, I don't eat anything! Even when my friend Nikki was munching on nachos and a hot dog, and she was offering me some, I declined! I need to be down on Monday's weigh in.. no goofing off on the program! And Lord knows I was hungry. I packed a protein bar just in case. Well, it's a damn good thing I did, because the stupid game went into major overtime, and we didn't get out of the ballpark until after 11pm. We then met up afterward with some of the guys at a sports bar. I am so low on dough, I felt horrible, but only ordered a glass of water until the guys showed up. Now, I am not one of those girls who depends on a man to pay for everything, and I don't flirt my way to a free ride, but I learned that you don't insult a man who makes good money, by not allowing him to pay for your drinks.. so, I roll with the punches... when the guys ask who needs another, I usually raise my hand.. and then we were playing pool, and "shit-talking" to each other, which leads into more drinking, and then the bar closes, so we hit up a liquor store and buy more booze and head over to the hotel where the guys are staying, drink some more, etc..

By the time I got home, it was after 3:30 am, I am butt-tired, and realized I had 4-5 whiskey/sodas, and 2-3 coronas (and I don't even like corona). To say the least, I knew that unless I fasted for the next 36 hours, I wasn't going to have any color on my keto-stick or much if any weight loss reflected on the scale... And, I was right!

I busted my eating ass on Saturday and Sunday and practically starved myself Monday morning only to see a .3 pound weight loss on the scale! Holy donkey kong! .3 measly pounds!?!?! Damn it! I mean, I am glad that I didn't gain any weight, but still, you'd think that two and a half days of doing really well on the program, hardly eating anything bad, let alone anything at all, would totally make up for 5 hours of drinking...

Alcohol is the devil!! The church people were right! Ugh!

The actual explanation of it, I learned, is this: When your body is in a state of weight loss/ketosis, and you drink alcohol, you body shuts down all that good ketogenic/metabolic goodness and focuses just on getting the alcohol out of your body. Your body considers alcohol a poison, and it takes approximately 3-4 days for your body to be able to get rid of the alcoholic toxins and attempt to get back to where it left off.. So, basically I worked so damn hard to get into ketosis, then drinking Eff'd me up and sent me back a good 4 days! I guess I should think twice before raising my hand for another round when I'm trying to lose weight.