Ep. 92 Alcohol & Weight Loss

Hi, and welcome to the mindful shape podcast. I'm Paula Parker, and I'm a life and weight loss coach. So I have to tell you, I am in the office and I am just sweating bullets. It is very warm in here. I get all of the heat and I close the window to For the sound so that we don't hear the cars going by.

And so it is like a sauna in here, which I actually think is probably good for weight loss. So, but today we are talking about alcohol and how alcohol impacts weight loss. What makes it so hard to give up even when you want to drink less and then What you can do to reduce that desire and permissiveness when it comes to drinking.

So I, first off, just want to say that there is absolutely no judgment here around how much you're currently drinking. And I'm not saying you need to change in any way from, especially from any moral standpoint. standpoint. So I totally get that for a lot of people. Drinking is a part of life and they don't want to give that up.

And that's great. Great for them. Okay. So this is just really for you if you are wanting to release weight and you suspect that alcohol is getting in the way of that. So you think it could benefit your weight loss, but you're just having a hard time either giving up alcohol completely. If that's something that you want to do, Or just reducing your alcohol consumption.

So just like food, you get to decide based on your reasoning and the goals that you've set for yourself, what you want to do in regards to alcohol. Okay. So that's just, I just want to throw that out there right away. Now we all know people who drink a lot and who are skinny. So what's the deal. Alcohol alone doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to gain weight, but here's how it can inhibit weight loss.

I see it in four ways. One, it just lowers your impulse control around food. Two, it stops you from releasing fat off your body because it increases your blood sugar and you have a big spike and then a crash. It also increases hunger and food cravings. We all know, you know, I remember like back in my twenties and I'd out at the bar and then we'd go and get falafel or like French fries or something like that.

Right. It impacts sleep. That's another one. So those are going to be the things that I'm going to be talking about today. So this all happens because of the impact of alcohol on your brain and your body. And I'm going to go into a little bit of science y stuff here. This is based on the Huberman lab, episode 86, if you want to check that out.

And I would say, if you want to reduce your desire for alcohol, Listen to that entire episode, you know, his episodes, they're like three hours long, but it's probably worth it if you really want to reduce your desire for alcohol, because he really goes into the nitty gritty on what it's actually doing.

And awareness is key, right? We, we need to know what's going on. Otherwise we're not that motivated to change. If you don't want to change, don't listen, don't listen to that. Okay. But I am going to be talking a little bit about it today so that you have an idea. Okay. So again, You just take it with a grain of salt.

You don't have to change anything, but it's good to have the information. So alcohol is water and fat soluble. So that means it can go right through your cells, organs, and tissues of your body in your entire body. This is why alcohol is so damaging because it goes in directly rather than indirectly. So it's direct damage on and stress.

on your cells. So this of course includes your brain cells. It goes to all areas of the brain, but it has a particular effect on the part of your brain, your prefrontal cortex that is responsible for planning and impulse control. All experienced this after drinking too much, right? We just make decisions that we regret, or we're just not completely in control of what we are doing.

This is why. Okay. So you won't think it through. When it comes to food either, this is how we can easily overeat after we've had one or two drinks. Another important note is that it affects areas of the brain that are involved with what's what he calls as flexible behavior, meaning you can see your options.

And you can sort through the options and then make a choice. So those shut down and you just kind of go for it. So you don't really consider the options. It's more of that extreme example of all or nothing thinking. So this I think is why if you've had a couple of drinks and you're eating, you're like, ah, screw it.

I'm just going to eat the whole thing. Right? You're not looking at all the other options. It's kind of like you're just overdoing it or. Having no fun. Nobody wants that. Right? So this is short term, he says, but there's also longer term effects with regards to changes in the circuits that underlie habitual and impulsive behavior.

So in general, what I take this to mean is your ability to essentially your impulse control. So your impulse control diminishes the more you drink longer term. Okay. So You'll often hear alcohol is empty calories, and that's because it does have calories, but of course, it doesn't have any nutrients or fiber or minerals, and that's why we think of it as empty calories.

I don't know about you, but I have definitely heard that alcohol turns to sugar in your body, and I, for a very long time, thought that was true as well. But this, turns out, is a myth. What it does do is it affects your blood sugar. Your blood sugar levels. So it causes a big yo yo effect. Initially, alcohol raises your blood sugars really high.

And then after the body processes the alcohol, your blood sugar levels drop dramatically. So this is that yo yo effect that has not only adverse effects on your health, But it's why you can feel really hungry after drinking, even though you've ingested all of those calories in your drinks. This is also why you have those cravings for like salty or greasy food or want to go to the greasy spoon the next day.

Okay. So it all makes sense in terms of how alcohol is affecting your brain. The last thing I'll mention is the impact on sleep, so I'll be honest, I did not do my research here, so I don't have any research on how it affects sleep specifically, but I do have a lot of anecdotal evidence, and I've heard time and time again from clients who say they have poor quality sleep after they drink, and they oftentimes have a harder time falling asleep.

This can have a negative effect on how we make decisions around food the next day. So if you're really tired, there's been evidence to support that you typically on a tired day or a day after poor quality sleep, you are more hungry and you are likely to eat up to 30 percent more than you typically would.

So it definitely has an impact. Intellectually, you get it. You probably got it even before I gave you all of that more science y stuff. So. This isn't having a net positive effect on my life. I want to reduce my alcohol consumption. Now, how do I do that? So I'll share a story with you about a client who kept on planning to not drink or she would plan to just have one drink, but then she found she would just end up drinking like three to five drinks despite her best intentions not to.

Then she would make this mean that she couldn't trust herself. So we've all been there, especially around food or alcohol. We can think I can't trust myself. So when she would come up with another plan, she would secretly be thinking, I know I'm not going to stick with it. I know I'm not going to follow through.

Sure. I can come up with this plan of wondering, but I know myself, I'm going to drink more. So eventually she stopped making a plan at all, kind of like gave up when it came to alcohol and then continued over drinking and didn't see any results. Didn't see the weight loss results that she wanted. So what's going on here?

Her weight loss goal and what she wants in the moment, the drinking, they are at odds with one another. She wants two things that are in conflict. That's why it feels like such a battle. That's why there's tension. So what's the solution here in our coaching session? She realized she had a lot of negative thoughts about not.

drinking. The main one being, it's no fun without drinking. And if she didn't drink, she would feel what? She would feel deprived. She would feel like she was missing out. She would feel FOMO. So to avoid those feelings, then she would drink. We had to get really clear on what it actually means for her to say no, or to limit herself to one drink.

So it could also mean that she is someone who really cares about how she feels the next day. That she's a disciplined person, that she's self controlled, that she doesn't care what other people think about her drinking, or non drinking, right? That her goals matter more than temporary, momentary fun. This line of thinking makes her feel proud and confident because she's in control.

Notice she's doing the same thing. So she's taking the same action. She's drinking one drink or zero drinks instead of four and five. But her experience of doing that is totally different. One, creates deprivation and FOMO. Oh, I can only have one drink. This is no fun. Or the other, depending on how she's thinking about it, creates pride and confidence.

So let's talk more about how we can do this work of shifting our thoughts when it comes to alcohol. Okay. And again, you get to think whatever you want. There is no thought police. There are no rules when it comes to thoughts. So you think the thoughts that create the experience that you want to have.

There's no hierarchy of thoughts, objectively speaking. Thoughts are just thoughts, but because they do have an impact on how we feel and therefore what we do, let's just say that there are thoughts that increase desire and permissiveness to drink, and then there are a collection of thoughts that lower desire and permissiveness to drink.

So I have found it very useful to hear what other people's brains come up with. So of course the best resource is going to be your own brain because then you are building that skill, but you know, we're tired. There's laundry. So I love it when I get to hear someone else's thoughts and what they think about things so that I can try that thought on for myself.

Maybe I've never even had that thought. Maybe it's never even occurred to me that that was available. So that's what I want to do for you in this episode. It's more accessible I'm going to your brain when you know, well, someone else thinks that that's conceivable that I could also think that it's how our brains work.

One time I went to Ottawa, a lot of my husband's cousins live there. And this was a few years back and she had just had a baby. And so I was witnessing her and her husband with their little baby. And because I hadn't been around babies very much before, it was the first time where I saw them doing it.

And I had the thought, wow, you know, They're doing it. Maybe it's possible that me and Lucas could do that. Like, like there was, it was just, it became part of the realm of possibility for me. Right? So oftentimes we need to hear things. We need to see things that are in our external world before we can start believing that it's possible for us.

Wow, I am like cooking in here, but we are going to continue on. So first let's start with where you might be with your current thoughts around alcohol. We want to know where you are. Just like GPS. We need to know where you're, where you're starting so that we can know where you want to go. Okay. So both things are crucial, where you are now and where you want to go.

Listen to this list of thoughts. I'm just going to read them out. They are thoughts that really increase desire and permissiveness when it comes to alcohol and just see if any ring true for you. As I'm reading them, I want to remind you that you might think that that's a fact, which I think is so funny, right?

You will think, no, that's true. That's like true for me. And I just want to offer with no pressure to change. You do not need to change that thought, but I just want to offer that that's all it is. It's just a thought. So you might want to keep some and you might want to let them go. And you have the capability.

I'm doing that. Okay, here's the list. I have more fun when I drink. I'm more fun and entertaining. When I drink. You need to drink to have fun. Drinking is normal. It's weird if I'm the only one that's not drinking. Other people will notice and think, I think I'm better than them. Other people will think I'm no fun.

Other people will think it's weird if I don't drink a glass of wine helps me relax. Drinking is how I unwind from a stressful day. Having a drink is how I connect with my partner. It's how I connect with my friends also. And it's a break from my everyday life. When you are creating all of this over desire with alcohol, with these kinds of thoughts, of course it's going to be very hard to drink less or say no altogether.

It's going to seem impossible to live a life without it. Okay. But I really want to point out that you're choosing those thoughts. None of those thoughts are facts. And I know because there are lots of people, including myself, who don't have those thoughts. We just don't have those thoughts. So what are these weirdos thinking?

I'm going to send you, I'm going to share a list with you of what that is. Okay. So I want to share this list so that you know, your brain knows this is available for you to think. And these thoughts will lower. your desire and permissiveness. And it's okay if you don't believe them. You're just offering them up to your brain as a possibility right now.

Knowing that, yeah, some people do believe these thoughts. The first one is I don't need alcohol to have fun. I can handle a little less fun if it means I get what I want. I can create fun. I can do that with my thoughts. I can do a more fun person. Even if I don't think I'm that fun right now, I love feeling clear minded and can have better conversations and more connection when I don't drink.

And I have that clear presence of mind. I love feeling great. When I wake up in the morning, I love getting a good night's sleep. Sure. I can drink, but it's not worth it. I find that as a very common one with my clients. They come to the realization that it truly is not worth it for them. Another one that I have had personally, which is I have really big goals and I need an optimal brain to help me attain them.

Right. And if you listen to that Huberman podcast, you will really start to see the impact on your brain. And if you want to optimize your brain, which I suspect you were, you lean that way. If you listen to this podcast, you're, you're into that. Then you will want to not drink for that reason alone. I prioritize health.

My friends love me for me, whether I drink or not. My partner and I don't need alcohol to connect. I'm willing to be the only one, to be different, if it means having what I want. You don't need to drink at a restaurant. I laugh because I was in conversation with a client about this and I totally get it.

If you go to a restaurant, especially if you go to a cocktail lounge or a cocktail bar and the whole purpose of that place is to drink. The expectation is that you're going to go and you're going to have a drink. But you can imagine if you're pregnant, you have a whole separate, different set of thoughts, right?

It's not really a big deal. If you're pregnant to go and just have soda, water, or whatever at a cocktail bar, you're not going to have all of this mind drama about it. But if you're not pregnant, Then you have all this mind drama and you can even think, well, I'm, this is what I'm supposed to do. This is the expectation.

I'm supposed to be drinking alcohol. So another thing that I suggested is that what you can do is simply go to a cocktail bar and if the expectation is to spend, what, 20 bucks on a drink or something, then you would buy the seltzer for Five bucks or whatever it is, and then just tip generously, right?

Super fun for you, super fun for the server. So the same amount is spent, but you are not getting the alcohol in your body and the negative side effects. You can also, as much as you can do the thought work, you can also look at what's getting in my way and what are some creative solutions to this. When you think these kinds of thoughts enough, that list that I gave you, they will become more of your self concept around alcohol.

And you simply won't need the willpower or any self discipline to say no or stick to one or two drinks. But listen, changing your thoughts If you are like, okay, how do I go from believing I can't have fun without drinking to I don't need it to have fun. That seems impossible. That is what we do in coaching together.

It's not going to happen overnight, but it's totally possible. To believe new things, it's totally possible to start having new thoughts if you are willing to do the work. So if that's you, I want to work with you. If I could sum up coaching in a nutshell, here's what I would say. Things that seem impossible start seeming possible, and then you start making it possible, and then you get what you want.

If that sounds fun to you, you can book a call with me. You can simply email me at Paula at mindful shape. com. And I will send you a link directly to my calendar so that we can book a call. We can figure out what your next steps are when it comes to reaching your goal. Wait, because you deserve it. Okay. I will talk to you again soon.

Take care. Bye.