The 100-Calorie Secret - Never Diet Again!

Drinking alcohol makes weight loss difficult: Alcohol causes far more significant problems than might appear by looking at the number of calories in a drink. After all, a glass of wine is only 90 calories.

All of these effects, especially the unplanned calories that  often accompany alcohol,  causes weight
gain. Studies  in the journal Angiology in 2008 found few problems with small amounts of alcohol, but significant  increases in weight and medical complications  with heavy drinking.

1. How alcohol stops fat burning- It decreases your metabolism.
When we eat protein, fat, or carbs, some of the food is burned immediately and some of it is stored for future use. However, this does not occur when drinking alcohol. Alcohol is used for metabolism first, and is used for energy until all of the alcohol is gone from the blood stream. As this is happening, the body cannot use protein, fat or carbs for metabolism. Less than 5 percent of the alcohol calories you drink are turned into fat. The beer belly occurs not because alcohol is turned into fat but because for long periods of time the alcohol, instead of the stored fat, is being used for energy.

2.Alcohol stimulates appetite as it suppress control:
Alcohol suppresses control, the brain’s ability to say it has had enough—of both alcohol and food. At the same time it makes people more hungry. The combination of more hunger with less control is very dangerous for some dieters.

3. Alcohol causes poor sleep:
Small amounts of alcohol make you feel sleepy but too much alcohol results in poor sleeping, often the result of falls in blood sugar in the middle of the night. Some people wake up and eat. Poor sleeping in itself contributes to weight gain. As we all age, our metabolism slowly decreases.Most of us don't need to further decrease it by daily alcohol!

4. Alcohol is associated with food mistakes:
This is the big difference between Western Europe and the U.S. Few Europeans  eat chicken wings with bleu cheese dressing, cans of nuts, chips, popcorn, trail mix, pretzels, crackers and cheese, dips and candy. They drink their wine slowly and with no snacks. When the main course comes the portions are small, so that portion control is easy -they are small from the beginning and there are no "seconds."

Look carefuly at these two pictures. The pictures on the top are taken
at Paris Cafes. Those on the bottom
at American Bars.

If You do Chose to  Drink, What Are the Real Secrets to Not Gaining Weight?

How Often to Drink Alcoholic Beverages:
It’s usually not the calories of the alcohol that are the problem in a diet plan, but the other effects that make weight loss difficult. A good plan is to limit drinking to no more than 3 days per week, usually the weekends and special events at the most. Drinking every night, especially for relief of stress, often alone, should be avoided. Most individuals, especially those with slow metabolism due to age or a sedentary occupation, simply cannot afford to further lower their metabolism every day of the week by the nightly consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Choosing the “Right” Alcoholic Beverage:
Deciding to drink alcohol is a very personal choice. The secret, similar to the key to selecting foods, is to make the best choice among all of the many possibilities. Similar to the process of choosing foods, the smart dieter keeps the calories as low as possible and avoids high-calorie mixes, often containing lots of carbs that cause hunger, such as juices or tonic. At the same time, he seeks drinks where there is possible “dilution” with zero-calorie fillers. Examples of the latter are soda water mixed with scotch, vodka, or whiskey; tomato juice mixed with vodka; and diet cola with rum. Using these zero-calorie “fillers” results in larger volumes of beverages, each having fewer calories.

References to many of these issues and medical reports for those interested.