Tag Archives: weight gain

How A Beer Belly Is Made

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The Skinny: Alcohol can make it harder for you to lose the fat!
Leave it to boys Men’s Health Magazine to break down the beer belly…
  1. You take a swig of beer.
  2. Within seconds, the beverage passes through your esophagus and into your stomach.
  3. Twenty percent of the alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream; the rest is absorbed into your intestines.
  4. The alcohol travels through our blood to your liver, where it is broken down. During this process, waste products called acetate and acetaldehyde are created.
  5. Acetate and acetaldehyde signal your body to stop burning fat. At the same time, your body starts making fat from another waste product of alcohol, acetyl CoA.
  6. Your body can effectively process only 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour. So the more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from burning fat, and the more fat builds up from the excess acetyl CoA.

A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol.
The following also contain 0.6 ounces of alcohol

    • 5.5 ounces wine (11% alcohol)
    • 14.3 ounces of light beer (4.2% alcohol)
    • 1.5 ounces of hard liquor such as whiskey (40% alcohol/ 80 proof)
    • 1.2 ounces of hard liquor (50% alcohol/100 proof)

The above calculations are based on the percentage of alcohol present in each beverage, so the alcohol percentage or proof is given. For example, wine can sometimes be more than 11% alcohol. If you would like to learn more about calculating the amount of alcohol in your drinks, please visit www.elegantpie.com/cheers.html for formulas to help you calculate the ounces of alcohol in your drinks as well as blood alcohol content.

What’s the point? If you’re trying to lose fat, cut out alcohol for a while. You’ll see and feel your results faster.

Q: Will eating at night make me gain weight?

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A: Perhaps. But not because something specific happens when the clock strikes 7pm, 8pm, or whatever arbitrary time you decide is “too late”.

So if bowl of cereal will have the same number of calories at 9am as it does at 9pm,  why do you hear, time and time again, that people who eat late at night tend to be heavier than those who finish eating earlier? Eating behaviors that occur later at night are the issue.

A recent study in the medical journal Obesity showed that people who ate after 8pm consumed an average of 250kcal more than people who ate earlier, but more strikingly they exhibited a number of other unhealthy habits such as preferring highly caloric processed or fast foods, eating while distracted, and sleeping less.  It was well documented in Mindless Eating that people who snacked while watching TV or a movie consume far more than they realize, and lack of sleep does affect hormones that control hunger and satiety so staying up past your bedtime can make your body crave chips or sugar when it really wants and needs sleep.

So the next time you’re hesitant to attend a dinner party because the meal will be served later than your usual meal time, remember you’re stomach won’t turn into a big, bloated pumpkin just because you’re eating when the clock strikes 9. But, if you’re consistently eating more than you should and more often than you should, you will gain weight… even if you don’t eat between 7pm and 7am.