How Alcohol Can Stall Your Fitness Progress

If you’re working hard to lose weight but still enjoy frequent drinks, you might be unknowingly sabotaging your efforts.

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Alcohol is packed with empty calories, disrupts your body’s ability to burn fat, and can lead to stubborn weight gain, especially around the abdomen. This can result in the classic "beer belly" and make your fitness goals feel much harder to reach.

Fitness coach Eric Roberts, who has trained over 25,000 clients, recently explained how alcohol can derail your progress.

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What Happens When You Drink?

According to Roberts, your body treats alcohol as a toxin. When it enters your system, your body’s top priority becomes breaking it down and clearing it out.

Until that process is complete, other important functions like burning fat and building muscle are put on hold.

“When alcohol is in your system, it stops you from burning fat and building muscle,” Roberts explains. “Because alcohol is a toxin that your body has to get rid of first.”

He adds that alcohol is already high in calories, and this is often made worse by the high-calorie foods people tend to eat while drinking. This combination can easily undermine a calorie-deficit diet and hinder your weight loss goals.

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Why Does a "Beer Belly" Happen?

Roberts points out that alcohol consumption contributes to the buildup of visceral fat, the deep abdominal fat that wraps around your internal organs. This is what causes a bloated "beer belly" appearance.

“Alcohol can lead to more visceral fat around your belly,” he says. By reducing your alcohol intake, you can not only build muscle more effectively but also prevent further fat accumulation.

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“If you cut out or at least cut way back on your alcohol, you'll lose fat and build muscle faster, plus make it way easier to stick to your calorie deficit.”

Source: hindustantimes

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.