Here comes the killer blow ladies & gents, we are undoubtedly a nation of boozers! We are the Brits Abroad, we drink wine like cocktails ( as the French will tell you ), we have shots bars, we have two drinks for the price of one, happy hours, anti-social drinking behaviour problems, underage drinking problems, drugs and alcohol problems .... I'm sure you get the picture!
There are many psychological reasons why excessive drinking figures in people's day to day lives and apart from the health risks, I'm here to remind you that as part of the challenge, you need a sizeable calculator to work out what percentage of spare income these day is spent on booze. I would estimate that it has gone up in percentage terms by at least 50% or more in the last 2-3 years and like clothes, it seems comparatively cheaper today than years ago, we are drinking more and spending more than ever on something that used to be an occasional sociable pastime.
Alcohol and weight loss
Many alcoholic drinks contain lots of energy. Calories from alcohol are also added to energy from the food eaten during the day. An interesting point to note is alcohol cannot be stored so its energy is metabolized until all alcohol is cleared from the body. It also means the body is limited to burning stored fat when drinking alcohol. People who drink frequently may have increased potential for weight gain because;
1. A higher percentage of the energy from food eaten during the day may be converted and stored as fat.
2. Less energy from body fat stores can be used when alcohol is on the body.
It is possible to lose weight and still enjoy a drink the key is moderation. Do not eat less food so you can drink regularly and lose weight. Alcohol metabolism uses up essential nutrients which are obtained in sufficient amounts from food!
So apart from wasted calories and an expanding waistline, by reducing your booze intake by half per week, I would expect to see quite a saving per month.
It is reported that students alone spend around £ 1 billion pounds on alcohol per year, add to that the multi millions of pounds per year spent dealing with the effects of alcohol abuse, missed workdays, accidents and vandalism and you would think someone would want to be doing something about it?
Not wishing to sound like a party pooper, everything I believe is fine in moderation so it's up to you to determine what is moderation. For the purpose of the Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge, I would expect most people to look to cut down their current expenditure by half for the purpose of the challenge.
I will be conservative on my savings, as of course not everybody drinks, so for the purpose of the Challenge I would estimate savings in the region of £12.00 per week
were feasible for most people. That is one bottle of spirits, or a 3 for £10 deal at the supermarket.
* All you Coffee Shop enthusiasts should also think clearly about the amount of money you spend each week at the local Starbucks, Costa Coffee or other favourite haunt. Those £ 2.50 cups of coffee can soon mount up, just two coffees equals the equivalent expenditure of an average bottle of wine!
There are many psychological reasons why excessive drinking figures in people's day to day lives and apart from the health risks, I'm here to remind you that as part of the challenge, you need a sizeable calculator to work out what percentage of spare income these day is spent on booze. I would estimate that it has gone up in percentage terms by at least 50% or more in the last 2-3 years and like clothes, it seems comparatively cheaper today than years ago, we are drinking more and spending more than ever on something that used to be an occasional sociable pastime.
Alcohol and weight loss
Many alcoholic drinks contain lots of energy. Calories from alcohol are also added to energy from the food eaten during the day. An interesting point to note is alcohol cannot be stored so its energy is metabolized until all alcohol is cleared from the body. It also means the body is limited to burning stored fat when drinking alcohol. People who drink frequently may have increased potential for weight gain because;
1. A higher percentage of the energy from food eaten during the day may be converted and stored as fat.
2. Less energy from body fat stores can be used when alcohol is on the body.
It is possible to lose weight and still enjoy a drink the key is moderation. Do not eat less food so you can drink regularly and lose weight. Alcohol metabolism uses up essential nutrients which are obtained in sufficient amounts from food!
So apart from wasted calories and an expanding waistline, by reducing your booze intake by half per week, I would expect to see quite a saving per month.
It is reported that students alone spend around £ 1 billion pounds on alcohol per year, add to that the multi millions of pounds per year spent dealing with the effects of alcohol abuse, missed workdays, accidents and vandalism and you would think someone would want to be doing something about it?
Not wishing to sound like a party pooper, everything I believe is fine in moderation so it's up to you to determine what is moderation. For the purpose of the Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge, I would expect most people to look to cut down their current expenditure by half for the purpose of the challenge.
I will be conservative on my savings, as of course not everybody drinks, so for the purpose of the Challenge I would estimate savings in the region of £12.00 per week
were feasible for most people. That is one bottle of spirits, or a 3 for £10 deal at the supermarket.
* All you Coffee Shop enthusiasts should also think clearly about the amount of money you spend each week at the local Starbucks, Costa Coffee or other favourite haunt. Those £ 2.50 cups of coffee can soon mount up, just two coffees equals the equivalent expenditure of an average bottle of wine!
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