No Alcohol for 21 Days to Break Through Your Weight Loss Plateau
The other day we talked about the benefits of Zen meditation.
The most important thing about it is that it’s scientifically proven that it reduces stress levels.
And…
Remember, lots of stress equals less effective fat burning (and more weight gain).
Anyway, here’s today’s plateau buster.
If you’re the type of person who likes to get tipsy from a few pints of beer or a fancy cocktail, then I have bad news for you…
Plateau Buster #15
No Alcohol for 21 Days
If you’re really serious about overcoming your weight loss plateau, cut back on alcohol. Really, you should reduce your alcohol consumption…
For at least 21 days (even better, permanently). Here’s why.
Aside from the high-calorie content of alcoholic beverages (for example, the calorie content of a pina colada is equal to that of a doughnut), they contribute to weight gain in several other ways, too. For example, alcohol can screw up your metabolism. Don’t believe me?
According to a study, this is how alcohol achieves that: It’s a long-known fact that your body can’t store alcohol. That means it will start to metabolize alcohol right away, and since alcohol becomes the #1 priority in the metabolic process, your body won’t be able to metabolize other fats that efficiently (1). It’s easy to guess what follows: a slowed-down metabolism and…
Weight gain, especially in your abdominal region. Alright, if you’re still not convinced, here’s another reason you should lay down the bottle for good (or at least for the next 3 weeks).
If you were following my emails (I hope you were, since I gave some damn good advice on overcoming a plateau), then you’re already aware of the fact that the stress hormone called cortisol plays a key role in your metabolism and that too much of it can lead to weight gain, diabetes and even heart disease (2).
The thing is, recent studies indicate that there is a strong relationship between alcohol consumption and high cortisol levels (3) (4). Modern technology has allowed researchers to measure cortisol levels in human hair, and a research group found that people who drank high amounts of alcohol had three to four times higher hair cortisol than non-drinkers (5).
Knowing all these nasty side effects of alcohol, I don’t see why you shouldn’t try at least the 3 week alcohol prohibition.
See you next time.
Your friend in fitness,
Mark Patrick
P.S. Need help losing weight? Try the power of hypnosis…
Mark Patrick’s Lose Weight Seminar with Hypnosis (Online)
==> See details about the next seminar
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References
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16047538
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1993964/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2266962/
4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167876005002692
5. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030105111000222X