Sin City. 
You see it all there.
Recently I was out with a group of fit pros in crazy Las Vegas. We had spent the day sharing strategies on how to help our clients best, and by the evening time, we really needed to chill.
After a team dinner, we ended up at a beautiful lounge in the Cosmopolitan called ‘The Chandelier’. We were just hanging out at the bar when I found a couple staring at me as if they knew me. Since I’m a friendly Canadian, I said ‘Hi’, we chatted a bit and then I quickly ended the conversation when it got weird. The woman asked me if I wanted a lap dance from the fella.
Umm…No thanks.
I politely excused myself and went to sit down with our group.
The woman proceeded to follow me and with the encouragement of the trouble makers in our group, she gave me a lap dance.
I was pretty embarrassed as everyone laughed, but it was all in good fun.
Clearly, this woman had one too many drinks (and maybe I had one too few 🙂 ).
After this experience and witnessing so many folks carrying their gallon sized drinks along the Vegas Strip, I figured I’d discuss the affects of alcohol.
Most obviously, alcohol can make folks a little crazy, but I want to talk about how it affects us in terms of fat loss.
I get this question all the time: Does alcohol REALLY make you fat?
Well in a few words:
Booze: Lower inhibitions + increased appetite = Runaway train to weight gain
If you really enjoy having a drink now and again, I have a solution so that you actually CAN lose weight and enjoy a drink HERE, but I suggest you read this email first 😉
All alcohol is a carbohydrate, or a simple sugar, void of any vitamins or minerals. One ounce of alcohol provides about 70 calories with NO nutritional value.
Although alcohol is a simple sugar, it requires no digestion. This is why your body prefers alcohol as a fuel before using other carbs, proteins, or ingested fats. It’s considered “nutrient sparing” since it becomes the quickest available food, it spares all other nutrients that follow it. So if you’re ingesting a ton of calories along with the liquid calories of alcohol, this will most likely be stored as belly fat because the liver is busy processing the alcohol.
Alcohol is such a fast acting simple sugar that enters the blood-stream through the walls of the stomach as opposed to most nutrients, which are absorbed in the small intestine. This quick absorption explains why you may feel the effects of alcohol right away. It also goes directly to work on the central nervous system and starts to damage valuable brain cells by withdrawing water that’s essential for cellular health.
So, here are 6 quick tips to prevent fat storage when you drink alcohol. I don’t want to be a party killer, but you can just keep these tips in mind when you occasionally have a wobbly pop.
Lesson 1: Alcohol has calories. Keep this in mind when you consider your daily caloric intake. If you’re drinking calories, you probably need to consider what you’re eating because those calories all add up.
Lesson 2: Alcohol dehydrates, so for every alcoholic beverage, double up on water consumption to reduce this effect and reduce the likelihood of the ‘hang over headache’. Drink more water before bed and keep a water bottle by your night stand. 
Lesson 3: Keep calories low and clean when drinking as much as possible. (This may be a tough thing to do though, because, alcohol stimulates appetite.) Focus your food around protein and veggies and keep carbs to a minimum if you’re drinking. Avoid the late night pizza and other temptations that often occur with drinking.
Lesson 4: Avoid calories in the mix of your drinks. Stick with a clear alcohol mixed with water or club soda. This way you’ll avoid the empty sugar calories that can add up to 500 calories per serving (no joke). Don’t get ‘tonic water’ and ‘club soda’ confused, although they may seem like they’re the same thing, tonic water has as many calories as soda.
Lesson 5: Crank up your metabolism with a short and sweaty challenge workout BEFORE you drink so that your body will handle the extra calories more efficiently. Also make sure you’re fully hydrated before your festivities begin.
Lesson 6: Make sure you consume extra water and nutrient rich vitamins, anti-oxidants, and food sources the following morning. This will help your body recover get on track quicker.
Realistically, most people will have alcohol at some point, so it’s all about ‘damage control’ to avoid fat storage and sabotaging fat loss efforts.
Enjoy an occasional drink, but remember if you’re truly serious about fat loss, you may consider a drink as your ‘treat meal’ or special occasion and not a daily habit.
So the next question is: Can I lose weight and still have an alcoholic beverage?
If you’re truly serious about weight loss and want to make a big impact in a short time, then I recommend that you check out my 21 Day Challenge Fat Loss program. You can enjoy your favorite alcoholic beverage in your ‘treat meal’ on this plan if you really wanted to. This is a plan that you can adopt for life, even though I call it the ’21 day’ challenge. Honestly, you’ll feel SO energized and motivated, you’ll want to continue the healthy eating that you learn on the plan.
There’s a little ‘secret sauce’ in the plan that has nothing to do with food. Here are 5 steps to drop 3-5 pounds in the next 7 days:
Step 1 – Social Support
A study from Harvard showed that participants that used social support while losing weight were more successful than those who didn’t.
In fact, the average weight loss among participants who used support was 20 pounds compared to 9 pounds for those without support!
And with the exclusive Challenge Diet community, you’ll have access to other people just like you, as well as myself.
Step 2 – Accountability
Everyone in our group will be keeping an eye on you, and you’ll have NO choice but to succeed as you will have to OWN UP to what you’re eating so we can all create food awareness and learn from each other.
Step 3 – A Simple Plan and Being Prepared
There is no guesswork. You’ll know exactly what to eat, step-by-step with the power of flexibility based on your preferences. Preparation is a key to success in any situation, but especially food.
Step 4 – Incentive
You’ll see and feel a difference in only 7 days. Expect to lose up to 11 pounds in only 21 days and have the tools and habits that will springboard your future fat loss success.
When you lose fat fast (against what the media tells you), you will be inspired to continue. It’s called “success momentum”.
Step 5 – Deadline
Another piece to the puzzle that’s missing from other programs is a set deadline. What’s your end date? Set one up.
Imagine sticking to your plan, step-by-step, for 21 days.
Anyone, including you, can stick to a plan for JUST 21 days. Knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel is what keeps people just like you going.
And if you’re wondering why 21-days… it’s because studies show that it takes just 21-days to form a habit. And that’s what I want to help you with.
I want to teach you the fat loss and nutrition secrets that work. And then give you a detailed day-by-day plan to follow so that you can see fast results, and then leave you with the habits to do it on your own moving forward.
But you’ll also have the security in knowing you won’t get the “rebound” weight gain that other diets don’t even talk about. You’ll get proven resources and simple strategies to keep the weight off forever…and if you choose to do so, continue with your fat loss!
Check out the 21 Day Challenge Diet here and start losing 3-5 pounds your first week, even if you decide to have a wobbly pop.
Oh, and if you happen to be in Vegas and get a free unsolicited lap dance, let us know how that goes 😉