How to Fit Alcohol into Your Meal Plan

I feel like this is a big topic in the health/fitness world, so I wanted to dedicate a whole blog to it! When starting or resuming a diet/exercise plan it doesn’t have to be all bad, boring, and restricting. In fact I believe that it should be the exact opposite of that and that’s how I live my life! I balance between healthy eating and indulging without totally falling off the wagon.

I don’t eliminate anything from my diet, and this includes alcohol, but as with all things I am conscious of my intake. One of the bigger reasons why I am overly conscious of how much I consume is because of how it makes me feel. Honestly, I hate the feeling of being hungover the next day and the older I get the worse it gets. When you wake up with a headache and nausea it just doesn’t set the tone right for the whole day. So this is why I watch my alcohol consumption, but I also monitor because of my exercise routine. I workout daily and follow a meal plan to make me feel better and for my overall health. So I know that drinking a lot of alcohol will slow down my physical progress (but don’t worry we will talk about how to control this from happening). Like I said before, I will never tell anyone to eliminate something completely from their lives. But I am saying that drinking a lot of it will slow your progress down to some extent. So it’s just a matter of deciding what your personal physical goals are and if you have a specific goal with a timeframe that you’re trying to achieve. If you’re just after maintaining a healthy and balance life, then drinking every now and again is totally okay! For example, I have found that if I consume around 2-3 drinks per week, I don’t see any physical setbacks or changes versus if I drink more.

Another thing to consider and remember that your goals and lifestyle is constantly changing and therefore your diet/exercise will change! So there might be times when you’re a little stricter with your diet while others more lenient. For me it all depends on my goals and what I am working towards. But overall, I believe we should strive for balance in our lives, however that might look for you.

So let’s talk about incorporating alcohol into our meal plans. I personally don’t include alcohol into my daily tracker because I want to get my nutrients/calories from food and I usually don’t have any crazy goals where I need to track it. But I know some of you will have those goals where you’ll need to track it. Alcohol fits into one of the 4 main macronutrient categories (the other three being protein, carbs, and fats). Alcohol is made up of mainly fats and carbs and there is 7 calories per gram. So if you are including this into your nutrient log you’ll take it out of your allotted carbs/fats! To figure this out from a macro standpoint take the # of calories in the drink and divide it by 4 for the grams of carbs. If you use it towards fat then you’d divide it by 9.

I personally am a huge craft/IPA beer or red wine girl. If I venture out into a cocktail my go-to is vodka and tonic water with limes. I steer very clear from drinks with a lot of added sugar and sweeteners because I just can’t do it. There are always healthier drink options out there so do your research if you’re trying to stay in moderation but still enjoy your beverages!

Hope this post helps you feel better about keeping alcohol in your healthy life! Ask me any other questions below!