*Sigh*… yes they have them….
Are you struggling to lose weight? How much do you drink? This isn’t a job interview, so you can be honest. Each glass of alcohol you have adds to your daily calorie intake. For example, a can of beer could cost you 136 calories which will take you 16 minutes of jogging to burn off. If you are accustomed to having a couple of glasses of beers of a night time, this could could easily add up to just under 2,000 calories in a week which means you have to go for a 3 and a half hour run to burn just the calories for beer alone. Let alone the extra munchies that go with a happy drinking night ?
If you are drinking every night, cutting out alcohol can have real positive effects on your body. For example, sleeping better at night, feeling more energised and losing weight. Appearance wise, limiting alcohol intake can make your skin and eyes appear brighter as alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you need to wee a lot making you more dehydrated (1).
Some people have noted real changes in the life when they cut out alcohol altogether. However, for some people, such as myself, cutting out alcohol altogether is not going to happen. Instead, we introduced alcohol free nights – no weekday drinking. The benefits of this has been improved sleep, ability to maintain a healthy weight and being more energised for the day at work. Not to mention the savings in money.
If you are like me and need something to relax at night, I have found drinking chamomile tea as a substitute works well. According to Natural Relaxation (2), there are plenty of health benefits of drinking chamomile tea before bed including:
• It helps ease anxiety
• Provides relief for PMS symptoms
• Good for the stomach
• Ease muscle tensions
• Great against inflammation
• Enhances skin health.
If you just need something to hold and to comfort you of a night time to relax before bed, then why not give chamomile tea a chance and leave alcohol for social outings.
(1) Drinkaware. What to expect when you stop drinking. https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/how-to-reduce-your-drinking/how-to-cut-down/what-to-expect-when-you-stop-drinking/
(2) Natural Relaxation. Health Benefits of Drinking Chamomile Tea Before Bed. https://goodrelaxation.com/2013/03/drinking-chamomile-tea-before-bed/