If you drink beer you will be fatter.....

Sticking to your weight loss goals in the summer months can be very difficult. With summer time in full swing the patios and BBQ's are rocking as people flock outside and enjoy the warm weather. Getting outside is great and socializing is always important but if you value your health, lay off the beer and alcohol. It isn't called a beer gut for nothing, nothing puts ugly fat and water retention on a nice physique faster than good old lager. Don't believe me, look at people you know back from their first year of college! Yes they eat poorly when away, but it is the beer that really packs on the weight.

Straight alcohol is no healthier but I have found it to be less fattening when not mixed with sugar. The problem is, more people drink their spirits with a ton of sugar. All that pop will surely pack some fat on your ass, especially when mixed with insulin blunting alcohol. If you end up drinking enough to get drunk, look out, because your hormones will be a mess for a few days. Men will experience a decrease in testosterone and an increase in estrogen. This means more fat and less muscle. Both sexes will "enjoy" a less efficient insulin system for a few days, meaning they will store more food as fat than usual.

Fun stuff isn't it? My recommendations are pretty simple. Avoid beer at all costs. Avoid getting drunk at all costs. If you must drink, have vodka with water and lime/lemon or Red Wine. It is free of extra sugars and hard to drink fast. Also, when you are enjoying an adult beverage, be sure not to really eat much at all. Eating with alcohol in your system is guaranteed fat inducing. Your body will throw all the calories into fat storage while it fights to burn off the toxic alcohol.

The best bet to lose weight and tone up is to exercise daily, eat really healthy, and plan your drinking occasions as special events instead of a regular Saturday night. On a night you are drinking, choose your drink of choice carefully and then eat lightly. This may sound tough, but I went for a very regular and fat beer drinking to an infrequent vodka/water drinker and it has been effective in losing and keeping weight off. Beer was the primary reason I was overweight as a young lad and it may be why you are over weight too. You don't want to end up like these guys!