The relation to alcohol with my health aspect is something I have been eager to learn about. I specifically talked about the relation to these two things in a different class. Learning that there is a direct link between drinking and gaining weight. As college students we can find it challenging to cut out drinking all together because it can be very social. “Approximately 40 percent of college students engage in binge drinking” (153).
When I realized that drinking can completely negate a week of clean eating and exercise, I was shocked!! Since our bodies will always see alcohol as a poison, it never gives our metabolism a chance to recover. Especially while binge drinking. Binge drinking as described in the text is “A pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 gram-percent or above” (153) the book went on to say that this is also similar to drinking 5 or more drinks in one sitting. To combat this, I set a goal for myself to try to limit drinking to only one weekend day. While I was able to do this, I found myself drinking more than 5 drinks on a Saturday night.
I had also originally thought that certain drinks were ‘better’ for me than others. I normally drink beer, I dont really love beer but I liked that I had something to hold on to while out, and it took me a good amount of time to drink. So, if I did have 5 drinks it would take me a fair amount of time to drink. When i switched over to a vodka and soda, I thought oh less calories, this wont effect my body fat. However, as we learned in the chapter this isn’t entirely true. Since each standard drink will contain the same amount of alcohol it doesn’t matter what you are drinking. I also found that I would be more hungover after drinking the vodka than I was the beer. A hangover is “the physiological reaction to excessive drinking, including headache, upset stomach, anxiety, depression, diarrhea, and thirst”(158). I was getting more hungover since I was drinking more vodka drinks, and at a faster pace, than I was the beer. I realized that it made me less active the next day, so I wasn’t able to take the active rest day like I prefer. I also noticed that the vodka drinks increase my appetite, I never felt as full as I did off the beer… Hello, of course this would up my body fat!! This chapter explain it as if we drink an extra 150 calories per day, that could lead to an extra 12 pounds per year.
Now that we are all quarantined, it seems that a lot more young people are using this as an excuse to drink because there is nothing else to do. And I am guilty of that. I have how ever taken advantage of my gym being closed by being more active outside. Before being stuck in the house I told my dog for a week straight I’d take him for a walk and never did. I had that opportunity this week, and plan to keep it going. Out of all of this stressfullness that is happening, I have enjoyed being more present. I enjoy seeing other people outside while go for a wog (walk/jog). I plan to continue getting my steps in outside once gyms are opened again!
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