8/31 Foodie Friday!

Get ready to run today! 
Woohooo! It's Foodie Friday and it's a long holiday weekend. Remember, we have only one class on Monday with Coach Zach at 10:30 AM. We are doing the Hero Workout Josie. 
It's super common on summer holiday weekends, like Labor Day, to drink and eat more than normal. Why not? We're having fun, celebrating the end of summer, and winter is coming. We better drink up. The problem is, that it's super easy to take five giant steps back with a weekend of heavy drinking. 
Alcohol is a pervasive cultural vice and one that many of us can easily over consume. I just read this very interesting blog post from Precision Nutrition on drinking and it's impact on health, fitness and performance. I was (well, perhaps I wasn't really) surprised to see how easily I can go from a moderate to heavy drinker. According to the United States Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, “moderate drinking” means, on average:

• For women: up to seven drinks per week, with no more than three drinks on any single day.

• For men: up to 14 drinks per week, with no more than four drinks on any single day.

That means if James and I share a bottle of wine every night for dinner, and I have a few beers after fishing on Sunday, and perhaps a beer mid-week at lunch with a friend, I am a heavy drinker. I certainly feel the deleterious affects of heavy drinking, my wedding ring doesn't fit well, my pants are harder to button, and CrossFit workouts are so. much. harder. 
More importantly, that heavy drinking takes a heavy toll on my health. I've read that it takes an average 10 hours for the liver to process the alcohol in ONE drink. So, if I drink every day, my liver is primarily busy metabolizing alcohol and not prioritizing other functions, like helping my body utilize stored fat for energy. That's why it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to lose weight if you're a moderate drinker. Any sort of fat burning is put on hold while your liver puts out this toxin-entry fire that has been created. So, if you go out and have 4 glasses of wine, or 4 beers, or 4 of anything, that’s forty hours that your fat burning abilities are on hold. You're not losing that belly jiggle any time soon. 
So how can you tell if you're drikning too much? Check out this handy infographic from Precision Nutrition. 

So enjoy your long holiday weekend. Drink up if that's your thing. Just be totally aware of the consequences of your choices. 
If you want to celebrate, but don't want to imbibe, Click on the image below for a few great strategies and recipes for non-alcoholic drinks.  

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