You may have all your ducks in a row in regards to the meals you eat for a healthy future - but what about the other part of the equation? For many casual drinkers, alcohol intake is an important part of weight loss that can be handled very well or very badly.

Some facts about alcohol

Alcohol gets fast-tracked for metabolism  - When alcohol is present in the body, it gets converted into energy faster, because the body doesn't need to digest it. When alcohol “cuts in line”, it often means that food waiting to be metabolized gets turned into body fat while the body's processes are dealing with the alcohol.

Alcohol causes dehydration - Although it might seem backward, since beer contains a lot of water, alcoholic drinks actually dehydrate the body because they are “diuretic.” Diuretics cause the body to excrete the water in its system faster, and that's why a lot of hangover headaches have to do with dehydration.

There's no nutritional value and alcohol - There may be some nutritional value in some of the other elements in wine, beer or cocktails, but alcohol is self just adds empty calories - about 7 calories per gram.

The social effects of alcohol and “social drinking”
Another big important element in how dieters drink alcohol is that alcoholic drinks really affect our inhibitions, causing us to do all kinds of wild and crazy stuff. What this means for our diet and fitness plans is that too many drinks can really crash a fitness or nutritional schedule, simply because the drinker is not thinking clearly. After a few drinks, ordering fatty foods can become a simple instinctive reaction, and in the morning after, the hangover will include feelings of regret about a mountain of calories consumed in a haze of inebriation.

The liquid dinner: what not to do
Some dieters contemplating a night out on the town may be tempted to balance their diet books by skipping dinner in favor of a couple of drinks. This can have some bad unintended effects when the body naturally reacts badly, expecting its conventional caloric intake from food. It's a better idea to eat a small, healthy meal, and limit yourself to a drink or two later.

Calories in alcoholic drinks
It's sometimes helpful to look comparatively at the calories each drink tends to contain. As a guideline, your typical 5 ounce glass of red or white wine might contain about 100 calories. In the world of beer there can be a lot of difference in caloric intake. Some new low-calorie beers can come in under the 100 calorie mark (i.e. Miller Genuine Draft 64), while the calorie intake for a heavy beer like a porter or dark lager can push the 200 calorie boundary. A variety of conventional cocktails also tend to go toward the upper boundary of 200 calories. All of this can be helpful for cutting down on your calories around the bar table.

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