Beer Bellies?
I'm wondering how she drinks an excessive amount of wine, eats properly AND stays within her calories. A balanced diet is key to staying healthy and its proven in some circles that red wine in moderation can be good for you. I should warn you if you are going to try and get her to stop partaking of alcohol by pointing out a flabby stomach you may get a swift kick in the rear! LOL
Are you worried about her alcohol consumption? Is she only drinking and not eating all the time?
i really dont think that is an excessive amount. . . i don't think she would have any problems with a beer belly with what you are describing.
Despite the term 'beer-belly' it isn't the beer itself that makes you gain weight. While intoxicated people tend to let their guard down around food so they tend to eat larger portions and often eat wrecklessly when they're drinking. Usually its the beer and the pizza that typically comes with it (mmm so good) that makes people gain. Drinking within her caloric recommendation won't make her fat! In fact drinking 1-2 glasses is probably pretty good for her. :)
Im going to go with Gi-jane. I can tell you she will develope weight gain and the gut if she drinks more than that. I have a friend that drinks alot of wine. and within the past year she has had to put on at least 10-15 lbs. She doesnt eat alot. She has her coffee for breakfast and a small wrap or just a yogurt for lunch. She was going crazy w. having 2-3 red bulls too during the day. Im not too sure of her dinner. I know her and her b'f do Dominos alot and dinner is usually when she had her wine/southern comfort. This is all excessive amounts shes drinking. Maybe your mom can just do every other day if shes worried.
I joined CC about 3 months ago and one of my big AH HA moments was when I poured myself a glass of wine AND THEN poured the glass of wine into a measuring cup!!!! OMG! What I thought was 5-6 ounces was actually about 12 ounces!!! I like having 1-2 glasses of wine while cooking and eating my dinner. Besides the taste and social aspects, 1-2 glasses of red wine is healthy (a little sarcasm here)... So I was really having twice as much as I thought and lots more calories! I have since brought my serving size down... I actually did the measuring thing again a couple of days ago and found that my "pour" is about 4 ounces now. This way when I have a second glass, I have to get up and pour it.... slowing the entire drinking process down a little bit more. Hmmm... maybe I am starting to sound like an alcoholic ;o)
Maybe your mom needs to measure how many ounces is in HER glass!
As a wine drinker myself, I was surprised to learn recently that when there is alcohol in the body, that is what is metabolized first. Not fat or muscle, but the booze. I dramatically reduced my wine drinking, along with a few other tweaks, and noticed an inch came off of my belly in a week: from 35.5 to 34.5. I still have a glass of wine once or twice a week.
Original Post by gi-jane:
She might actually get a problem with fluid retention.... Depends on the rest of her diet, of course, but alcohol being a diuretic has a tendency to cause the body to retain fluids... which leads to temporary weight-gain and 'podginess' especially around the middle. A couple of glasses a day (and assuming these are generous home-poured glasses bigger than the 125ml 'standard' measure) is rather more than the recommended safe level of intake for good health. If she cut back to a couple of glasses every other day she may see benefits in more ways than one.
gi-jane, You generally give some really good advise.. Not trying to be nitpicky..promise! Just wanted to clarify though, that a 'diuretic' does not cause the body to retain fluids, it (by medical definition) is "an agent that increases the amount of urine excreted". For example, if a patient is retaining fluid (has edema) a doctor might prescribe a diuretic such as Lasix or Bumex to promote the excretion of the excess fluids.
^ that is true but when you drink you urinate and it takes the current water in your system out and dehydrates you somewhat which results your body retaining whatever water is there.
This is where I got my information. I may not have worded it exactly, please look here.
gem86 has it exactly right.... Diuretics like wine and beer cause the kidneys to work overtime producing urine which leads to dehydration. That's why hangovers come with that woolly mouth feeling and a headache.... And then dehydration leads to fluid retention.
1-2 glass of wine giving you a beer belly? That is the silliest thing I've ever heard. Especially if you are watching what you eat and exercising at the same time. NOW, if you said one or two bottles, that may be reason to draw a concern.
First, dehydration does not "lead to fluid retention". When the body becomes mildly dehydrated and fluids are replaced, it will just naturally replace lost fluids but not "retain" fluids excessively in response to previous fluid deficits. Second, the diuretic effect of 1-2, or even 3 ETOH containing beverages is insignificant and should not have a measureable effect on the homeostasis of the body's fluid balance.
It is difficult to explain these osmotic reactions (fluid/electrolyte balance)without getting too far into biochemistry for our purposes, but suffice it to say (back to the original post) drinking 1-2 ETOH beverages per day, in a normal, healthy adult, should only have as much of an effect on weight as the amount of calories that it is provides would have coming from any other source.
Original Post by fallingstars27:
1-2 glass of wine giving you a beer belly? That is the silliest thing I've ever heard. Especially if you are watching what you eat and exercising at the same time. NOW, if you said one or two bottles, that may be reason to draw a concern.
yea i saw that happen to my friend she was roughly the same size as me and with in the past year shes gotten a belly from having that 1 - 1 1/2 bottle of wine most nights and along with 5-6 shots of soco. Its like my weight that I lost just transfered to her and then some.
oh yea to that original question I think no to the beer bellie if shes only drinking 1-2 1/2 glasses but remember to drink extra water to help w. hydration.
I drink at LEAST 2 glasses of wine a day; I count them, stay within my calorie limit and my beer belly is disappearing rapidly. I don't count my drinks when I go out drinking on the weekend but they haven't had any negative effect whatsoever (apart from the occasional hangover).
To be honest, I probably drink more than I did before I started counting calories, and I'm losing weight. Win win situation!!!!
Will I lose weight if I eat the same food over and over?
You can lose weight despite eating the same food day-after-day as long as you eat fewer calories than you burn. In fact, eating the... Read more