The summer is hands down my favourite time of the year. Not just because the weather is to die for but also because people are always doing something. BBQ’s at some friend’s house, parties every weekend, events for every organization in the world, picnics with family and friends, concerts, days at the beach, and vacation down south... There is always something going on!

If you’re like me, that means you need to keep an eye on yourself. Those canapés, BBQs, and indulgences while on vacation can get pretty decadent can’t they? Especially considering I have no self-control when I am around yummy food: I just love eating. What to do, what to do?

Personally, I have to make a choice: one more canapés or one more drink. You see alcohol is a waistline killer. Not only does abdominal fat love ethanol (aka alcohol), it actually likes to accumulate it in the waistline! Plus, alcohol contains around 7.1 calories per gram so it adds up real quick. Especially if one drink invites another as sometimes happens. Two / three drinks later you’re drinking a few hundred calories and don’t care anymore if there are 1,000 calories per serving on that "hors d'oeuvres" tray!!!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re thinking of grabbing that next drink:

1) Alcohol (ethanol) metabolizes different than other things and tends to accumulate around the waistline without offering any nutritional benefit.

2) It hurts your liver which slows normal metabolic activity. That means more accumulation. Dammit!

3) It affects you psychologically. For one, what’s another serving when you’re feeling tipsy! Might as well! Second, nothing more likely to cancel a workout then a hangover. Tell me I’m not right!

Anyway, I’m definitely not trying to discourage anyone from having fun. The weather is nice and you should definitely enjoy it! All I am saying is try to be careful. In my case, I have to opt out of that extra drink for one reason and one reason only: I want the food!

;)

Jen

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