While alcohol is obviously not something that helps your fitness, it is often something that does go hand in hand with it. Yes, it floods the body with calories, makes your tummy feel all warm and tingly so that you feel like eating at the end of a night out (you know, when you've already gone out for dinner and it seems like a really good idea to stop for 2 or 4 slices of pizza), and it makes you very tired. Still, lots of people who work out hard, also work hard and play hard. It's just the fiend mentality.
We at FitFiend.com know many people who, because they realize that they are imbibing hundreds of calories, will actually limit the food they consume. Sure, it makes them cheaper drunks and they are taking in less calories, but 1) these calories are empty, devoid of nearly any real nutritional value, and 2) it doesn't take away the tiredness, which really will affect their training.
This notion of limiting food for the sake of the booze has become a wider phenomenon, referred to as "Drunkorexia."
From the New York Times:
"Drunkorexia is not an official medical term. But it hints at a troubling phenomenon in addiction and eating disorders. Among those who are described as drunkorexics are college-age binge drinkers, typically women, who starve all day to offset the calories in the alcohol they consume. The term is also associated with serious eating disorders, particularly bulimia, which often involve behavior like bingeing on food ? and alcohol ? and then purging.
Anorexics, because they severely restrict their calorie intake, tend to avoid alcohol. But some drink to calm down before eating or to ease the anxiety of having indulged in a meal. Others consume alcohol as their only sustenance. Still others use drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine to suppress their appetites.
?There are women who are afraid to put a grape in their mouth but have no problem drinking a beer,? said Douglas Bunnell, the director of outpatient clinical services for the Renfrew Center, based in Philadelphia.
