Thank you Sir, May I have Another?

Good Morning!  I had a lovely weekend.  The dresser turned out awesome.  Now I just have to figure out where to put it!!  I absolutely love the colors!  They are so pretty and retro.  As for the weekend...it was surprisingly jam packed.  I socialized a lot, and still managed to eat well.  I'm very proud of myself yet again. On Saturday I had coffee for breakfast,  6 Tyson chicken nuggets for lunch, and a handful of popcorn and a few bread sticks for dinner.  Ya know, it's amazing how much better I'm feeling already.  I have more energy and it seems like I'm not spending ever waking moment obsessing over food and what to eat next.  I guess I have so much stored up body fat that my body has a lot to work with.  Sunday was a good, but busy day too.  I went to Chuck E Cheese with my brother and his family.  I didn't tell the kids where we were going until we got there.  It was cute when the big kids realized where we were going. They got so excited!  I had a salad and one slice of pizza, with diet Pepsi, of course.  That was brunch, because it was 11:30 am.  For dinner I made tacos.  I must confess I did cheat a little on Sat night.  I had some drinks with friends.  Smirnoff makes these yummy blueberry lemonade drinks.  Not really good for my blood sugar levels, but sometimes you just need a drink, right.  I most definitely do not make a habit of drinking, because I know exactly what it does to me, but what about a normal person?  How does alcohol affect our efforts to become healthy?  I know you've all heard about "empty calories" but what exactly does that mean?  It's basically saying that you get a significant amount of your daily calories from the alcohol, but no nutrients or vitamins and minerals that your body needs to be healthy.  So if you're trying to stick to a 1500 calorie diet and you drink 1/2 of a bottle of wine a night, you are adding an extra 1000 calories to your day.  I know. That's a lot.  This alone is why lots of people can't lose weight!  Alcohol can also do damage to your kidneys and liver.  Most health info says for women to not drink more than 1 serving a day and for men it's 2.  Most people tend to drink way more than that.  Drinking can also sabotage your healthy eating habits, by making you binge eat.  You're a little tipsy and on the way home, your friends want to stop for McDonald's...your inhibitions are lowered(and you LOVE Mcd's) so you get some too.  So on top of all those empty calories, you eat about 1000 more.  It's like healthy living sabotage!  The more you drink, the less likely you are to say no.  Alcohol use in otherwise healthy individuals can cause low blood sugar too. Low blood sugar will make you hungry, that is also why that 2 am burger and fries, or pizza seems so awesome!  For me, the diabetic, alcohol is especially unhealthy.  It can cause an unsafe drop in blood sugar that than cause hypoglycemia.(The symptoms of this include dizziness, sleepiness and disorientation.  These are very similar to being drunk.)  This happens because instead of the liver working to maintain my blood sugar levels, it is working to eliminate the alcohol from my blood.  So, the old mantra says, moderation is the key.  I am definitely not perfect, and no matter what I do I won't be.  So I strive to be my best person, and if I have a few drinks every once and a while I'm ok with that.  So remember, if you drink too much you will not be on the way to a healthier you.  Beer bellies are real, and anyone can get one!