Alcohol: A Secret Weight-Loss Supplement?

So, here’s a fun little story to tell. As everyone who reads this blog knows, I travel. A lot. Well, a lot is a relative term, but I do seem to get out of town quite a bit. I have also spent the last year working out and losing weight and generally trying to make myself a healthy and happy guy. So far so good!

During a normal week, I keep myself on a pretty strict diet.  Lots of lean protein, veggies, fish, etc.  I drink water and vitamin water.  I avoid alcohol and any other unnecessary calories.  I exercise every day…usually some combination of running, weight training, plyometrics, interval training, maybe the occasional bike ride, some softball games, walking the golf course…I stay very active.  It’s worked well in helping me lose weight…and has been keeping me pretty much plateaued in the 188-192 pound range as of late.

But I’m not all straight and narrow…I know how to have fun!  And (notice, this is where the two points about me from the first paragraph come together), I tend to have that fun when I travel!  When I travel, I eat well, I partake in the occasional (i.e. constant) alcoholic beverage, and I don’t exercise every day (although I do still exercise some).  But my caloric intake definitely goes up, because alcohol is actually very high in that.  So, you would think that I, like most people, would gain a few pounds on vacation.  That would be normal…expected even.

My body, however, does not appear to agree.

I have a small sample size with this, as I’ve only been less fat for a little bit now.  But I would like to bring up two recent vacations.  First, lets go back to April, to the Island of Kauai.  I had been working very hard for months, and so Hawaii was a nice little break.  I did run 6 of the 10 days I was there…but that was less working out than usual.  I ate well…mostly delicious fish, but other things as well.  I mean, I had pizza three times!  THREE!  I haven’t touched the stuff since I came back…which tells you how big a splurge this was for me.  And I had a few fruity rummy drinks every evening.  Mmmmmmm, I certainly enjoyed myself. 

The point of this isn’t to rehash how awesome Kauai was, though (and it was).  The point of this is to note that I went outside the box, ate more, exercised less, and drank loads of alcohol.  You would think a 10 day trip like that would lead to me gaining a few pounds.  I lost 2.

Moving on, I just got back from Las Vegas (look for a Q’s Adventures post in the next few days).  In Vegas, I ate well.  Very well.  Gallagher’s…MGM Grand Buffet…Eiffel Tower Restaurant.  And while I did hit the gym one morning, and walked around the Strip quite a bit, it was not my normal level of exercise.  The biggest thing was the drinking.  Can’t tell you how many 50oz drinks I had…how many frozen concoctions I imbibed.  It was delightful…and probably pretty darned high in calorie.  You would think, a weekend like this, I would gain a few pounds.  I lost 3.

Yeah, you can hate me now.

Anyways, I was thinking…what’s the common thread in all of this?  ALCOHOL!  Ladies and gentlemen, I may have just discovered a new weight loss supplement!  Drinking!  Two vacations, two trips with ample drinking opportunities taken, two trips where I returned a little lighter than when I left.  I don’t understand it at all…but it makes me laugh!  I think I’ll have to test this theory out when I leave for Oregon on Saturday.  I’ll let you all know how it goes!

Until then, keep this in mind…3-4 drinks a day keeps the pounds away!  At least when I’m on vacation, anyways.  Here’s to more travel!

Cheers!