Bust the Booze Trap

Food & Drink – 14 July 2014

After a hard day’s work, what is the first thing you crave when you walk through the front door – a glass of wine? You are certainly not the only one! Many professional women become dependent on alcohol as a means of coping with daily stress.

Middle-aged Australian women drink more alcohol than any other age group. According to the Queensland University of Technology, 13 per cent of 45 to 59 year old women average more than two drinks a day, putting them at risk of long-term problems such as liver and heart diseases, high blood pressure, and an increased risk of cancer.

Plus – it’s fattening! Many women do not even consider how alcohol can stack on those extra kilos. A standard glass of wine can contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate and a pint of lager has about the same calorie count as a packet of chips. The average wine drinker in Australia takes in around 3,448 calories from alcohol every single month.

Apart from the actual calories consumed when drinking alcohol, the food eaten whilst drinking is not efficiently metabolised and instead is deposited directly to your fat stores. This is because alcohol is considered a poison by your body, and its priority is to eliminate the poison, not metabolise the food eaten. Drinking alcohol will always hold you back from losing and keeping weight off on so many levels. If you’re wondering why you are finding it difficult to shed those last few kilos, look no further than what you are drinking.

Leading clinical hypnotherapist and Founder of Hypnofit, Helen Mitas, believes that women tend to turn to alcohol as they feel it relaxes them in the evening and helps them to sleep at night. Alcohol consumption is typically only seen as a problem when women have engaged in inappropriate, embarrassing or even dangerous behaviour as a result of drinking too much. But whether it’s drinking too much at home after a hard day in the office, or drinking too much socially, the negative effects on the body are the same.

Helen Mitas says professional women can avoid making these mistakes with the following solutions:

1. Alcohol free days – Start with one day of the week that is alcohol free and stick to it! Choose a day that you are busiest; this will make it easier to stick to your goal. An ideal goal is to move up to five AFDs per week.

2. Create an empowering alternative. What will you do instead of opening a bottle of wine when you walk in the door and are feeling stressed and exhausted? Make a cup of tea and take some time out to relax, draw a bath, meditate or read a book.

3. Monitor your intake. Keep an Alcohol Log where one standard alcoholic drink is 100ml. Measure out how much 100ml is by placing an elastic band around the glass so that you only fill your glass to that level. This will give you a realistic perception of how many glasses you actually drink. You will be surprised at how many standard drinks you actually consume compared to what you thought you did!

4. Drink water. Have one glass of water between each alcoholic drink. This will slow down the consumption process and help with eliminating those toxins.

5. Sip slowly. Learn to sip your drink to make it last longer.

6. Fake it. Drinking mineral water from a wine glass is a great way to emulate the hand to mouth sensation of drinking alcohol without the negative effects.

7. Strength in numbers. Get your partner or girlfriends on board and help each other. By making your goal public, you have a greater chance of sticking to it.

Ms Helen Mitas is an expert in treating addictions such as excessive alcohol with hypnotherapy.
For more information visit www.hypnofit.com.au