After trying various diets, Rex Ryan eventually lost over 100lbs after undergoing lap band surgery. With this, he successfully removed himself from the category of obese, a category he called home along with 35.7% of Americans. What motivated one of the most lovable coaches in the NFL, who was arguably lovable because of his portliness, to finally make a change?
He became aware of his mortality and decided to lose weight.
We are a nation of obese people, and there’s billions of dollars to be made treating us. Because of this, there’s a shit ton of terrible diet advice floating around out there.
One form of outdated diet advice that gets regurgitated to men and women everywhere touts the “miracle effect of cutting out alcohol.” Drop the booze, and the pounds will melt off, right? Sure, it can work, but there is a much better and less miserable way to lose a Rex Ryan-sized amount of fat.
If you’re like me, this sounds like the cruelest form of self-imposed torture imaginable. Even in the name of fitting in a pair of smaller pants – give up beer? Sorry, but we’re in the middle of a craft beer revolution.
Personal preference aside, I’ve got one nugget of wisdom about why giving up alcohol to lose weight is not a good move: it goes against all that comes with being a sports fan. Watching games on Saturday and Sunday is synonymous with having a few beers with your bros, or lady bros.
Give up alcohol, and you give up a piece of that sacred sports bonding.
Don’t get me wrong – it can work. Cutting calories, in any way, is a foolproof solution to jump start fat loss. On top of that, you might even wake up in the morning feeling okay, and if you’re really lucky you may even remember the fourth quarter
For many though, avoiding alcohol is impossible to stick with for the long term. Whether it is because a big game, or one beer to “relax” turned into a six pack, people often find themselves back on the beer bus, along with any extra pounds they might have lost.
With any diet, this is the story of so many who have tried to drop weight. They genuinely would like to, sure, but this often results in an ill-fitted attempt to do so by removing one of the things they enjoy in their life.
The truth is that weight loss doesn’t have to be like this. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to drop a few pounds. Hell, the idea that you want to fit into some smaller clothes and feel less like a slob is a noble cause.
There is a definite art to making that happen, though. And regardless of what you might hear or read, forgoing beer, or anything else you love, isn’t it.
I know how it goes – we get overweight by enjoying too much of the things we love. Beer, burgers, cupcakes, doughnuts, you get the picture. It takes years and years of steady overconsumption for us to wake up one day and ask ourselves, “what the fuck happened?”
The problem begins when we respond by deciding we’re going to eliminate the things that got us there. Especially alcohol.
Why? That kind of shit just isn’t sustainable in the long term. Sure, it’s great if you’re trying to white knuckle your way through a two week challenge to win the office bet. But if you’re trying to actually lose weight and keep it off, there is a more enjoyable and effective way of going about things.
The number one mistake I see people make when they are going through a self-imposed nutrition overhaul is they start off too fast. They try and change too much at once. It’s my job to pull back on the reigns a bit, and force them to only make a little change at once. This is where cutting out alcohol comes in.
Alcohol adds empty calories to your diet. That much is obvious.
But removing something that is a true pleasure, assuming you don’t have a problem, is a recipe for disaster. Cut yourself off, and all of the sudden that’s all you think about. Slowly but steadily draining you of willpower, which is a finite source to begin with, and at some point you crack.
This whole scenario could be about alcohol, sugar, beef, or whatever. The point is the same. Remove something you love, and you’re bound to binge on it later.
So what do we do instead?
Learn how to make alcohol fit into your plan. To do this, you need to understand how alcohol can derail fat loss, and plan for that sort of thing.
Your budget.
The biggest key to making beer work in the context of a diet is knowing what your daily calorie budget is supposed to look like.
Budgeting is one of those tedious things we all know we should be doing, but never get around to until we’re in some serious financial trouble. The same can be said for calorie budgeting. Getting a handle on your calorie budget is the key to successful weight loss, and fitting the foods you love into that diet.
According to the USDA, most active men above 19 need about 2400-3000 calories a day. We’re trying to drop weight, so we need to be under that number. The nice round number 2000 is as good a place as any to start.
Side note: If you want a really accurate estimate, the Katch McArdle formula is by far and away the best calorie formula. Take the number it gives you and add 20%, and that should be close to your maintenance calories, or the number you should eat per day to maintain your current state.
So we’ve got a daily calorie budget of 2,000. From there, we just start logging food at every meal. Apps like MyFitnessPal are excellent for this sort of thing. Had a 2 eggs and a cup of fruit for breakfast? Perfect. Log that shit.
Had a bagel with a serving of cream cheese? Cool. Log that.
The whole idea is whittling away slowly at your overall calories, and leaving about 500-600 extra, to allow for 3-4 beers at the end of the day. Alcohol is 7 calories per gram, and most good beers come in at around 115-160 calories per bottle.
The beauty of this system is that you no longer have to give up beer when it comes time to drop a few pounds. Once you’ve tracked your food intake for a few weeks, you’ll realize you’re pretty fucking good at it. So good you don’t even need apps to do it.
Do you need to pull a Rex Ryan and go get a surgery to shrink your stomach? Not unless you look like you can eat Andy Reid for breakfast. Do you need to give up booze to drop a few extra pounds? Nope. You just need to find your calorie budget, and start shopping smarter.