Can Wine Make You Thin?

A recent statement from the department of health has suggested that women who drink over the recommended limit may increase their risk of breast cancer by up to 50%. This is a serious wake up call that alcohol may be more dangerous than many think.

The price of alcoholic drinks is allowing people to buy large quantities and has allowed many to increase their consumption. It is not uncommon for people to drink several bottles of wine a week, or maybe just at the weekend.

What is the story though on alcoholic drinks and weight loss though?

For years there has been controversy over alcohol consumption. I regularly have many of my clients telling me that it is good for you. They tell me a couple of glasses of wine can help you relax. Wine is a low fat product isn’t it?

Unfortunately they are often the same people who find it the hardest to lose weight, and get in shape.

So what’s the problem? No matter what way you look at things, alcohol is a toxin and the body has to rid itself of it as quick as possible. As soon as the drink enters the stomach and intestines the body starts absorbing the alcohol and other nutrients in the drink, usually alcoholic beverages contain a fair amount of sugars. This alcohol then flows around the body. The liver has the job of processing it and then flushing it from the system.

What causes the problems with regards to weight loss is that alcohol has a calorific content. Just 1 gram of alcohol contains 7 calories. This compares to protein and carbohydrate, which have 4 Kcals per gram and fat, which has 9. What makes alcohol an especially troublesome nutrient is that the energy cannot be stored. It must be used as quickly as possible.

When the body starts using the alcohol as a fuel the process of fat metabolism slows down. The energy that fat metabolism creates is not needed till the body has rid itself of the alcohol.

Now if you drank for instance a bottle of wine it could contain about 750 Kcals. This is about as much energy you would burn if you ran for a whole hour at a fast pace. For a woman it is about half of the recommended calories for a day. So if you are a woman and you drink two bottles of wine per week in theory to balance out the intake you should fast for one day.

It is this combination of the calories from the alcoholic drinks and the metabolism slowing process that it creates that can cause many people who drink regularly to find weight loss difficult.

If you are serious about losing weight and body fat it is recommended that you limit or remove alcoholic drinks from your diet at least until you have achieved you weight loss goals and instead drink low sugar soft drinks.

Five Star Workout

So many of you wanted to have a little more information on the workout I mentioned the other day. So to help you out I have just made a Youtube video to take you through the workout. So take a look, let me know what you think.

Whats your excuse

So are you tired, maybe a little busy, or maybe the number one excuse.

Maybe you have no time.

Well then this is a great little workout for you.

You can do 4 minutes of this turbo charges workout, and I guarantee you will have built up a sweat, burned some calories and boosted your metabolism.

• Squats x 20
• Press Ups x 10
• Hip lifts x 20
• Burpees x 10
• Crunch x 20

Go on try it. Let me know how many times you can get through it in just 4 minutes, and if you still have an excuse watch this video and see if it is mentioned.

The End of One Hour Workouts.


If you walk into almost any gym or health club, anywhere in the world you will probably be asked the question. “How much time will you spend on your workout when you come training?” The answer that usually comes back is “Oh, I suppose probably about an hour.” Both the fitness instructor and the gym member are then happy, the instructor got the answer they wanted and the member feels they got the question right.

Now there is no beating around the bush, the No. 1 excuse for not exercising is lack of time. So why do so many people think that you have to exercise for an hour for it to count.

This is a problem. Obesity levels are at an all time high. People are more inactive than ever before. I’m not saying diet doesn’t play a large role in this problem, and is a massive subject, for now though lets just look at exercise and activity levels.

So how much exercise are we supposed to do?

Well the government recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five times a week.

What’s the answer?

Let’s look at the objectives of exercise and physical activity.

• Improve function of heart and circulatory system
• Improve function of the respiratory system
• Utilise skeletal muscle to improve strength, endurance and posture
• Burn energy, calories and the big one maintain weight

This is not a comprehensive list but incorporates the most important aims of a fitness plan in relation to improving health.

There is a new trend.

Many fitness professionals around the world are switching on to. Trainers are finding that short, high intensity workouts are delivering results. People are getting fitter; they are shedding pounds of body fat and improving their health and wellbeing. These high intensity workouts may just be 20-30 minutes in length.

There are various reasons for the effectiveness of this type of workout. The fat burning effect of this type of workout surprises most people. The main reason for the calorie burning effect is due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).

This basically refers to the amount of time that the body uses oxygen to replace the energy that was used during the workout. The effects can last up to 36 hours after the training session. This means the body is burning more calories than usual for a long time after the workout.

Obvious proof that a short workout can be effective for dealing with unwanted pounds of body weight, and you don’t need to spend hours in the gym.