5 Tips for Reducing Alcohol and Losing Weight

If youโre reading this, youโve already taken a very important first stepโฆyouโve decided itโs time to change.
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But with over two-thirds of adults overweight or obese, losing weight in todayโs world is not easy. With the change on your nightstand, you can go out and eat more cheesy, salty, delicious calories in one meal than our ancestors would have eaten in two days. But this isnโt even the real issue.
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Though diet blogs and fitness influencers like to villainize fast food and processed snacks, the truth is there is a much bigger monster in most our closets thatโs scaring off any chance of true progressโฆ
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Alcohol.
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For most adults, alcohol is the biggest culprit in gaining weight and preventing weight loss. How do I know? Because Iโve gained and lost over 100 pounds not once, but twice in my adult life. And both these massive gains came on the heels of long periods of stress and depression where my drinking skyrocketed.
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Thankfully, these journeys to and from obesity that were fueled by alcohol have taught me a thing or two. Today, I want to share with you the 5 most important things you can do to get a handle on your booze and start losing serious weight:ย
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1. Address the Alcohol First
If youโve created a strong habit of drinking most nights a week, stopping will be difficult. Which is why many people begin their weight loss journey by lying to themselves, saying theyโll stick to just a half glass of โskinnyโ wine or a few light beers instead of their usual IPAs. That theyโll more than make up for this with the calories theyโll save eating healthy.
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But the issue isnโt what youโre drinking โ itโs that youโre drinking. Calories aside (donโt forget that a single glass of red wine can take one hour on a treadmill to burn off), alcohol sabotages so many important parts of weight loss. It wreaks havoc on your sleep, making it harder to recover from your workouts. It dismantles your willpower, making you more likely to head to the pantry and cheat on your diet. And most importantly, drinking sends a major subliminal message to yourself: I am not truly trying to change.ย
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Pouring yourself a drink is casting a vote for you, right now, in the present. But youโre on a mission to create a better you in the future. So, before you go crazy swapping out all the fats and carbs in your fridge, pour out the booze first.
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2. Change Your Environmentย
Research has proven that you cannot stick to positive habits in a negative environment. Which is why eliminating alcohol from your life and then going about your normal routine is almost always a recipe for failure.
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If most evenings involve heading to the couch with a bag of chips and a large glass of pinot once youโve put the kids to bed, itโs going to be very hard (at first) to spend time the same way without the alcohol. So, create a new routine instead.
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Spend the next few weeks reading that book thatโs been gathering dust on your nightstand.ย Take the dog for a long evening walk. Learn how to knit. Call a friend. It doesnโt matterโฆjust donโt spend the same time in the same room in the same way as you did before. If you do, your brain will be screaming for those chips and glass of wine. And sooner or later, youโre likely to give in.
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3. Accept (and Celebrate) Small Winsย
โThe engine of a rocket ship does not fire without a spark first. Get small wins to spark bigger ones.โ โ David Goggins
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For most of us, weight gain did not happen overnight. It came one pound at a time. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. While itโs certainly possible to lose a lot of weight quickly, accept right now that this is going to take you some time. Because getting healthy is a process, not an event.
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You need to learn how to celebrate milestones along the way. First night with no drinks? Rent that on-demand movie you missed in theaters. Dropped your first 20 pounds? Go out and buy that new dress youโve been thinking about (youโre probably going to need new clothes anyways)!
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Even if you have 100 pounds or more to go (like I did), youโll go crazy if you donโt take a little time to celebrate on the way. You deserve it!
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4. Plan for Temptation
As the saying goes, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And when youโre trying to skip the booze and the bad food, it feels like youโre getting pummeled with punches at every turn. Birthday parties. BBQโs. Even a Tuesday evening out on the deck with your spouse. Life is beautiful, and there are many occasions to celebrate. But unfortunately for you, celebration has traditionally come with bad choices.
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You need to learn how to celebrate differently. And that starts with planning ahead. Before you begin each day, think about situations where you may run into temptation, and create a plan for how youโll fight back. Cake in the break room for your co-workerโs birthday? Stop by their desk early in the day to wish them a heartfelt โhappy birthdayโ, then duck out for a quick walk during the cake and chit-chat later in the day. Date night with your spouse? Pick a restaurant thatโs BYOB and then skip bringing your own bottle, so you wonโt be tempted by the wine list. Oh, and never be afraid to say โnoโ. Youโre fighting for your life right nowโฆyou friends can survive one night at the bar without you.
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Start thinking ahead and equip yourself with ways to succeed, no matter the situation.
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5. Think About the Futureย
Whenever we stop doing what weโre supposed to do โ eat well, exercise, save for retirement, you name it โ weโve stopped seeing our future vividly. Because often, the things weโre supposed to do are things that make us stronger, fitter, and happier in the future, even if they cause momentary pain in the present.
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If youโve been struggling with your drinking and your weight, youโre not seeing your future self. Alcohol use and poor diet are two of the top five most preventable causes of death in America. Meaning if youโre struggling with either (or both), youโre not doing future you any favors.
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Sit down for five minutes right now and write a letter to yourself 10 years in the future. Where youโll be. Who youโll be with. What youโll be doing. And what youโll look like. Be as vivid and realistic as possible. The goal here is to start thinking about your life beyond today. When youโre done, keep this letter somewhere youโll see it often. This will be your constant reminder that thereโs a you many years in the future, and your choices today affect them gravely.
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You Will Do This.
Youโve committed to creating a better version of yourself. Now itโs time to get to work.
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I hope these tips help get you started. Iโll be sharing more along the way about how I was able to ditch the booze and drop over 100 pounds (twice!). In the meantime, I wish you the absolute best on your journey.