Truth About Alcohol for Fat Loss

The truth about alcohol for fat loss is NOT what you think. Most people blame alcohol for their belly fat, but is it really that bad? You’ll discover the truth at the end of this article/call, and I’ll expose the real “belly fat demon” that should get the  blame.

By the way, I just got back from Mexico where I had a tiny amount of alcohol in my diet (about 1-2 drinks per day). It was an amazing trip and I shot a workout video with Isabel De Los Rios, learned some new exercises from Adam Steer and John Romaniello, and cheated my way thin with Mr. Joel Marion. It’s true, I ate quite a few “extras” and stayed as lean as ever.

While I was there I worked on a new program, TT Transformation 3. It will be out this Tuesday, and bundled with TT Transformation 1 and 2. With this serious, you can lose 5-10% body fat and completely change your life. Watch for that this Tuesday, September 28th…

But for now, let’s move to the call to discover the “Truth about alcohol and fat loss”.

Click here to listen to the call…

Now let’s get into the TT Workout and tips…

Monday – Sept 27th

Transformation Tip of the Week:

“You become who you associate with. Cut ties with lazy, negative, dishonest people.” Kekich Credo #51…….Do not accept anything less than the best. This is YOUR life we are talking about!

Click here for your daily motivation quote

Just like last week, I have another TT workout that I want to give a little more love…

TT Meatheads IV: Lean & Jacked Workout A

1A) Triple press – 6 reps per position (2-0-1)
1B) Inverted Row – 2 short of failure (1-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 1 more time.

2A) Pushup– 2 short of failure (2-0-1)
1B) Barbell Row – 8 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times.

3A) Chin-up – 6 reps (4-0-1)
3B) Dips – 2 short of failure (3-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 1 more time.

4A) Stability Ball Rollout – 10 reps (5-0-1)
4B) Cross-Body Mountain Climber – 10 reps per side (1-0-1)
Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times.

What a great workout.

Tuesday
Get 30 minutes of fun activity – now grab a Green Tea and do this week’s research review.

Reference:
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Aug 19. Influence of Short-Term Consumption of the Caffeine-Free, Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Supplement, Teavigo, on Resting Metabolism and the Thermic Effect of Feeding.

Past research has given hope that Green Tea can boost metabolism. A compound –called EGCG – in Green Tea might support fat burning hormones.

Colorado State University researchers provided green tea supplements or placebos to 16 subjects (each subject completed each trial).

EGCG – on its own WITHOUT caffeine – did not boost resting metabolic rate.

Bottom line: I am not convinced that drinking green tea or taking green tea pills will boost your metabolism and fight belly fat. However, it is healthy and I recommend it in place of soda, juice, and even coffee.

Wednesday

There is also a 2nd research study I want to share…

Reference:
Clinical Nutrition Volume 29, Issue 4, August 2010, Pages 441-447. Midarm muscle circumference, physical performance and mortality: Results from the aging and longevity study in the Sirente geographic area (ilSIRENTE study).

Italian researchers studied 357 seniors and found that mid-arm muscle circumference – basically the size of your guns – was associated with better physical performance in older folks AND more muscle meant a lower risk of death.

Conclusion: “The present study suggests that among community-dwelling old–old subjects muscle mass may be positively related to functional performance and survival.”

TT Meatheads IV: Lean & Jacked Workout B

1) Dumbbell Forward Lunge – 8 reps per side (2-0-1)
Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times.

2A) Barbell Squats – 12 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute.
2B) Back Extension – 12 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times.

Kettlebell 500
Do each exercise in as few sets as possible.
Do the Kettlebell Swings as a straight set.
Do the Bodyweight Squats and Stability Ball Jackknives in a superset.
Rest as little as possible.

2-hand Kettlebell Swings – 200 reps (1-0-1)
4A) Bodyweight Squats – 200 reps (1-0-1)
4B) Stability Ball Jackknives – 100 reps (1-0-1)

Thursday
Do 30 minutes of fun activity…

And for the Turbulence Training Facebook Fanpage Question of the week. Make sure to “Like” the fanpage and join in our daily QnA sessions.

Q: Is it ok to work out intensely 5 times a week? How do you know if you are over training? how important are days off?

Answer:
It depends on so many things. The bottom line is that most people don’t need to worry about overtraining. The real issue is overuse injury. If you design your own program, you are probably going to get an overuse injury (tendinitis, rotator cuff, knee problems, etc) if you train 5 days per week. The real question is, “Why can’t you find a program that gets you awesome results in 3-4 days?”. It is entirely possible.

Friday

TT Meatheads IV: Lean & Jacked Workout C

1A) Deadlift – 8 reps (2-1-1)
Rest 1 minute.
1B) DB 1-Arm Standing Shoulder Press with Palm In – 8 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 1 more time.

Chin-up – 1 short of failure (2-0-1)
Do one set only.

Kettlebell 555
Do each exercise in as few sets as possible.
Do the Kettlebell Swings as a straight set.
Do the Prisoner Squats and Stability Ball Rollouts in a superset.
Do the Bodyweight Squats and Pushups in a superset.
Rest as little as possible.

2-hand Kettlebell Swings – 100 reps (1-0-1)
4A) Prisoner Squats – 25 reps (1-0-1) – 100 reps total
4B) Stability Ball Jackknives – 12 reps (1-0-1) – 50 reps total
No rest. Repeat superset 3 more times until all reps are done then move to Superset 5.
5A) Bodyweight Squats – 25 reps (1-0-1) – 100 reps total
5B) Pushups – 26 reps (1-0-1) – 105 reps total
No rest. Repeat 3 more times before finishing with 100 kettlebell swings.
2-hand Kettlebell Swings – 100 reps (1-0-1)

Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes of fun activity…

‎”The more we reach out and give to others, the stronger and richer, in every sense of those two words, our own lives become.” – Bill Phillips

If you don’t have social support, take charge as the leader. Be confident in your choices. People will respect your decisions, even if it seems at first that they don’t. Soon, people will come to you for advice and support. You are the one making the right decision. Never forget that.

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare

Do your 30 minutes of activity and plan, shop, & prepare for the week ahead.

You probably shouldn’t put booze on your shopping list if you want to burn fat. Now here’s the truth about alcohol for fat loss.

I was hanging out in Austin, Texas for the weekend and on Friday afternoon, I got to chatting with a friend of mine who just turned 40. I hadn’t seen him in a year, and he had lost 15 pounds. The guy looked 5-10 years younger. Heck, he looked as young as me!

So I grilled him about his “15 pound fat loss secrets”… here’s the biggest tip he gave me.

He cut out alcohol.

He struggled at first, because he attends every Dallas Cowboys’ game – so that means booze and food. But as soon as the season ended, he cut it out, and kept it out this summer. As a result, he lost 15 pounds (while losing only 5 pounds in the 6 months before that while he was working out and drinking – not at the same time of course!)

But it’s NOT really the alcohol…its getting rid of the the junk food that goes along with alcohol that helped him lose the  belly fat.

Let’s look at the numbers. There are 150 calories in a regular beer, and 200-300 calories in a Jack and Coke (150 calories for the alcohol and 100-150 calories for the coke). If you drink 10 drinks (and that’s easily what a guy can do at a football game), you’re looking at 1500-3000 calories. That’s not good.

On the other hand, if you have 3 glasses of wine at dinner each night, that’s only 400-450 calories.

The REAL problem is the food you eat when you are suffering from alcohol induced “no inhibition about your nutrition“.

At a football game, you can eat 3000-5000 calories from wings, nachos, burgers, dogs, popcorn, and ice cream. Its much easier than you think.

At a fancy dinner, you can eat 1500-3000 calories from appetizers, steak, bread, and dessert.

So its not the calories from booze that cause most belly fat, but the food we eat when alcohol inspires us to make bad choices.

That’s the truth about alcohol and fat loss.

I talk more about alcohol, exercise, nutrition, and fat loss while traveling in my FREE report on how to get lean and stay lean while on the road.

Next week!
TT Workout – TT Bodyweight 500
Research Review – Calcium & Weight Loss
Research on beating anxiety

Stay STRONG,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Creator, Turbulence Training