Mocktail Minutes

Summer Alcohol Tips

• Mocktail Minutes • Episode 115

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Summer is in full swing, and with that comes summer fun - which usually involves alcohol. But, there are a lot of ways that your summer sips can be impacting your weight loss efforts! In this episode we will break down the different ways that alcohol impacts you, as well as some summertime sipping tips. 

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM! You can also follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/mocktailminutes/

Featured Mocktails:

Just Ingredients 

Rambler 

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Baylee:

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. Oh my God. My shaker is SW everywhere.

Brianna:

Oh my God.

Baylee:

water, sticky water

Brianna:

Perfect. Who is that?

Baylee:

Bailey.

Brianna:

And this is Brianna.

Baylee:

This week I am attempting to drink the fruit punch electrolytes from just ingredients. I don't think they're terrible. It's not very like fruit punchy, like high sea fruit punch,

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

but it's got like a mix of fruit taste to it. So Josh didn't like it, but I like them.

Brianna:

Yeah. I like, kind of like the lower, like not so intense flavored ones. I'm just doing a rambler, like a carbonated water. It's refreshing. It's hot. It's hot today.

Baylee:

it is really hot. It's very humid here. I need to water my bell pepper. So. I think I told you about how I accidentally pan planted bell peppers in my landscaping last year.

Brianna:

Yes.

Baylee:

So I did put them in a pot this year. So we'll see if they grow better.'cause I only had two last year, which is still pretty impressive for just having mulch I think. So we're gonna see how they do, but now it's, I gotta remember to water it'cause it's not next to all the plants now.

Brianna:

That's funny. There's some bell peppers in your front yard. I think it's funny. I like it. They're pretty,

Baylee:

They're, it added a little pop of color because our house is like a dark gray, so it needs some

Brianna:

ours too. It's very boring. I need to do something in my front yard.

Baylee:

Yeah, I got like a hanging basket of flowers with like bright red flowers. I'm obsessed with it, except they're dying. They're getting a little hot out there.

Brianna:

I know. I can't, I don't know how to keep things alive.

Baylee:

Yeah, me neither.

Brianna:

try. I

Baylee:

Hey, my succulents are doing really well though, so

Brianna:

You take what you can, you know.

Baylee:

in my aloe plant, my aloe plant is doing fantastic and I severely burned myself this weekend, and so that really came in handy.

Brianna:

I love aloe plants for that. Just like rub it on you. It's like goo.

Baylee:

It smells weird.

Brianna:

Mm-hmm.

Baylee:

you can definitely tell the difference between like the store-bought aloe and like actual aloe.

Brianna:

Oh yeah. It's completely

Baylee:

felt like I smelled like an herb.

Brianna:

Yeah. Earthy,

Baylee:

Mm-hmm.

Brianna:

know.

Baylee:

Yeah. It's interesting.

Brianna:

I love it.

Baylee:

Today we are talking about some alcohol tips. Our, this episode, our next one, they're gonna be quick, short, we say to the point, but we just got on a random vent. But we're gonna, we're gonna stay on track. It's summer. You guys got things to do. We're gonna, we're just gonna get to it. So, summer and alcohol usually go pretty well together. We're realistic. We're, let's give you the 4 1 1 on what's actually happening when you are drinking alcohol and how it's affecting your fat loss.

Brianna:

Yes.

Baylee:

one, your metabolism. It's gonna slow fat burning down because your al, your body's trying to get rid of the alcohol. It's a poison brownie doesn't want it so. Slows fat burning and your metabolism like decreases for like two, isn't it? Two days,

Brianna:

Yeah, it's, it's definitely longer than like a day, which is why, I mean, if you're having like a night, even if it's like a nightly glass. Of wine or a cocktail, like you're really like inhibiting and slowing your metabolism specifically because, you know, like Bailey said, it's a, it's a toxin. Your body's trying to metabolize it. It's not gonna be the fuel you already have as fuel. So like this halts fat oxidation, which basically just means it halts fat burning, which is not really what we want.

Baylee:

Yes,

Brianna:

Number two.

Baylee:

in the background.

Brianna:

Oh my gosh. I know. Or have mercy seat just like running to the house. Speaking of alcohol, I'm just kidding. The other thing it does is it increases your appetite and it has, it, it kind of makes you make poor food choices. So, okay. When we are a little bit inebriated, we are not gonna be craving chicken breasts. That's not what you're doing. Okay? So not only is it, you know, having some physiological impacts on you, but also it's just you're not gonna make the nutrition choices that you really want to. So this is gonna probably increase the amount of like, not so great late night snacking, or you know, those high fat as in like a lot more fat than you need. High calorie, high carb foods that taste delicious, but not necessarily something you wanna be having every single day if you're trying to lose weight in the summer.

Baylee:

Mm-hmm. Other thing affects your hormones, lowers testosterone. Men and women, it's both important to have testosterone especially for the men. You don't want to lower your testosterone, but then it also raises cortisol, so cortisol. I get this question all the time, like, how can I lower my cortisol? Like everyone on TikTok is telling me to lower it. I mean, a lot of times it's, we're missing the basic parts of eating enough, drinking water, sleeping enough, moving our body. These are all things that actually reduce cortisol, but also not exposing yourself to a toxin like every day too.

Brianna:

Yeah, and testosterone specifically, it's gonna be really important for like that muscle growth and fat loss, which again, if you're like on your workout game, you're really trying this summer. Having a cocktail afterwards, especially directly afterwards, is gonna inhibit it.'cause it also impairs muscle protein synthesis. So, you know, going on a hike or like doing a workout and then going and grabbing like a beer or a cocktail after, not the most strategic time to do it again, it's summer. You're gonna do what you will. I feel like that's really normal to kind of like go for a hike, especially here in Texas and then you go get a beer. But just, no, that's probably not the most strategic time to do it if you're trying to be serious.

Baylee:

Sleep. It does reduce your recovery, and again, increases hunger. Sleep is not gonna go well with alcohol. This is why I would recommend day drinking overnight, drinking any day. I, I personally prefer day drinking. I really value my sleep, so

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

I'd rather go to bed at like eight o'clock rather than be up to two in the morning.

Brianna:

Yeah, definitely space it out like having a drink and then trying to go to bed right after. It's just totally impacting your REM sleep. Even if you feel like I'm getting more sleepy, like it's easier for me to fall asleep. You're not getting good quality sleep, which impacts your appetite, your recovery from workouts, your fat loss, all the thanks.

Baylee:

Yes. Last thing, calories. It's gonna add extra non filling energy. This is where I think some confusion happens where we have like the carb free drinks, but just because it's carb free doesn't mean it's just like free. Like it's not water. Alcohol does have about seven calories per gram, so it's actually pretty close to like the caloric density of fat. Fat is about nine calories per gram. So while we talk about don't focus on the calories, like we still have to think about calories too, like our body runs on calories as well.

Brianna:

Yeah. You don't wanna be, you know. This is where the whole don't drinker calories comes in. Like you're not getting any nutrient benefit from alcohol. So drinking a hundred to 800 calories of alcohol, when you know, I mean, that counts, it counts towards your daily energy expenditure. You're also still gonna need to eat. And then when you think, again, going back to the kind of foods that you want when you're drinking, they're already gonna be those really high calorie foods like it is. So it's just, it's gonna add to that.

Baylee:

Yes. So then, okay, like, what the heck are we doing? Because I mean, sure, it'd be great if we all just drink water all day, but again, we're adults. You can have other things. You can make this decision more responsibly, more of a strategically. I also have drinks and. I am a lot more aware, I would say, of how and when I include alcohol. I mean, I used to have a couple drinks a night. I'm remembering college where I would drink to study,

Brianna:

Make it fun.

Baylee:

like everything had to include alcohol or boring. But I feel like as I've grown up such an adult now that I really, I did heal my relationship with alcohol and it. I feel like I just healed relationships overall with myself until I didn't. I don't need alcohol to enjoy things. I don't need alcohol to go do anything. I sometimes just kind of want a martini and that's cool. But I do set boundaries for myself. So a lot of times, like we go out to eat, I don't. Get a drink. I just do water. I drink more. Like if we're around the house or if it's like, you know what, I wanna go out, I enjoy the martinis here, then I'll get one. So it's a lot less normal for me because it's not my emotional security blanket, it's not my anxiety holder. I think that's a lot of why people drink is because we want to fit in and we want to take the pressure off of being somewhere. And we're stressed out about being somewhere. It's like we have a bad day, we're gonna have a glass of wine. So I think number one, I mean we, we just have to start deciding how we want our relationship with alcohol to look like. I got tired of feeling like crap, and I got tired of not handling my shit basically. So,

Brianna:

Yeah. And just thinking like, get strategic with it, like everything else. Like if you're listening to this and you're like, yeah, I don't care. Okay, cool. I mean, there's other reasons to care about your boundaries of alcohol other than fat loss. But for the sake of this, like I. You know, I mean, you're always gonna benefit from it. And we've, again, we've done an a, an alcohol episode and I can't agree more.'cause I think it just becomes really normalized. Like, oh, I'm gonna have a drink like all the time. Like you do this drinks, this drinks. But for fat loss, if you're serious, I would say a boundary of like two nights or two days of drinking. Max per the week and two drinks in a sitting. And every time I say that, people are like, what? I'd rather just not. Okay. Well then maybe don't, you know, like if you're, again, this summer, you're being serious. Like be strategic about it. When do you wanna go enjoy that martini? When do you wanna do it? You know? Just don't be like, yeah, I'm ordering a drink every single time I go out.'cause that'll add up. Especially in the summer.

Baylee:

It really does. And when if you're like, oh my gosh, that sounds like too little. Okay, well, again, it's your choice. We're we're just here to give you the information. If you're like, yeah, no, it ain't happening, cool. That's up to you. This is just the information that you need to have and how, I mean, we get asked all the time, how can I accelerate fat loss? Here's one thing where it's actually. I think one of the easier things to focus on, it's a lot easier to cut back on alcohol than it is to measure out 150 grams of protein for the day. So, I mean, they can choose your battles and for me, alcohol is one that it was doing more harm than good, and now I'm just more strategic with it and how I wanna include it. Other things, I mean just like choosing lower impact options. Like a dry wine, a like a liquor, not a liquor or a liquor. A vodka with a soda water. Doing like a hard seltzer'cause they're typically lower carbs, so they're not gonna affect your blood sugar.

Brianna:

Yeah. Low sugar,

Baylee:

Basically low sugar.

Brianna:

Low sugar, nothing sweet. I think the most like cleanest is like your clear, like tequila, vodka.

Baylee:

And the more distilled the better.

Brianna:

Yeah. And I hate to,'cause I get this question a lot again, living in Texas, I don't think any beer in particular. It's gonna be a good I idea, even if they're lower calorie. But don't shoot the messenger.

Baylee:

I don't like beer anyway, so that one's easy for me.

Brianna:

Like, just don't like, yeah. Stick with your clear liquors, your really dry wines, your low no or your no sugar seltzers. That's about it. And again, if none of those sound good. Okay. I don't know, man. I had somebody the other day, I was

Baylee:

It is your battle.

Brianna:

Like they were so upset with me and I was like, Hey man, I didn't, I don't make the rules. I'm just here to tell you. You asked, I told you. Take it or leave it.

Baylee:

Again, if you wanna change something, you have to change something. If alcohol's not something you wanna change, you know, that's on you.

Brianna:

Yeah,

Baylee:

Other things I would say, I mean like tying your drink wisely. So avoid drinking on an empty stomach, like get some food in you with some protein, fat fiber. And again, don't drink it too late. It's gonna disrupt your deep sleep and your REM sleep, especially if it's consumed close to bedtime. So try to cut it off like at least two hours more ideal, three hours before bed.

Brianna:

Yeah. So that you've kind of metabolized it before you're trying to get your sleep. And I also really think, like you said, eat something that's so important. Do not set yourself up for failure. If you go into drinking and you have not eaten you, you're just shooting yourself in the foot, have some high protein, have a high protein meal that day before. Also hydrating too.

Baylee:

Yeah, I mean, really it should be like a one-to-one rule of a glass of water per drink.

Brianna:

Mm-hmm.

Baylee:

Not a bad idea to do that. So that plus your electrolytes. Yeah. I mean, I. Supporting your liver, like get some leafy greens in cruciferous vegetables. That's gonna kind of like detox too. I, I do water with my electrolytes like anytime we're going anywhere, so that's an easy one. And sometimes I do vodka waters with electrolytes

Brianna:

I have done that. I'm well. Here you go. Better choice.

Baylee:

Yes. Well that works too. But overall, I would say like align with your goals. If you are working on fat loss, keep alcohol to a minimal, I mean, alcohol is prioritized for metabolism, which is halting that fat burn. Really focusing on like hormone health. Alcohol affects estrogen, testosterone, cor cortisol, women with hormone analysis like. Let's think. PCOS should limit alcohol to less than four drinks per month.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

And again, this is not to be like boring. I can't do that. Like if you're like, this is a non-negotiable for me, I must go do this. This is my social time. Again, that's on you. This is just information for you if you choose to go this route and. A lot of this, I think it is digging into like, why am I so resistant? Which is a whole nother topic. But I mean, these changes can be really helpful. Gut healing, like alcohol irritates the gut lining and can promote dysbiosis. So definitely want lower alcohol there. So just thinking, okay, what, what are my goals? How am I gonna best support this?

Brianna:

Yeah. I know and I, I have such a hard time'cause I will have people be like, I'm doing all the things and they really wanna like lose weight or get their inflammation under control and like the alcohol is the one thing. They're just like, well I couldn't imagine giving that up. But it's like really does make such a big impact.'cause we've talked about multiple ways that it impacts us.

Baylee:

Dive into, like I said, if you're being resistant with it, dive into like what's going on with alcohol, like what's the resistance there, and try and figure that out for yourself too.

Brianna:

Yeah. Yep.

Baylee:

I get it. I've been in college, I drank every day. Thanks.

Brianna:

And just see how you feel.

Baylee:

Experiment.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

All right, everyone. Have a good rest of your week and we'll be back next week with our short and sweet episode. We hope this was helpful and you're not too mad at us that you'll come back next week.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

Bye.

People on this episode

Contributor

Baylee

Host
Contributor

Brianna

Host