The Beer Diet

There is a Miller Lite at the end of the tunnel. Love beer but hate the gut? Then follow along this helpful guide to the Beer Diet -- a way to keep your favorite potables and lose the potbelly.

For years, I've been told to keep everything in moderation. Your body is basically a slowly leaking balloon that can handle as much as you can stretch it out. Pushing it to the limits, as we know from a common childhood pants-peeing moment of filling a balloon with too much air too many times, can weaken and destroy what should otherwise be a simple system of filling and releasing in moderation. Never too much, never too little.

There are many jokes and viral videos showing a version of the Beer Diet that involves exercise (running to the bathroom, dry-heave abs training) and food portion control ("reverse peristalsis", or being too hungover to ever want to eat again). But these are again based on over-consumption of an otherwise pleasant part of a responsible diet.

Plainly put -- don't drink too much alcohol and you won't be packing on the extra Calories. You'll also avoid catching a severe case of the Munchies, often an after-the-fact preventative measure to avoid a crippling hangover.

OPTIONS:

If you're drinking beer at a rate of 2-3 per night on average, you're adding anywhere between 300 to 500 Calories into your system per night. That can mean a whopping 3500 Calories per week, which is roughly the amount of Calories in a pound of fat. Living a low-impact lifestyle, you may actually never see the bathroom scale again.

Because of your belly.

It'll be big.

Avoiding this problem, however, is not as difficult as giving up your favorite after-work snack.

Option 1: EXERCISE MORE! You can always up your activity level by taking a few flights of stairs instead of an elevator, spend an extra 10 minutes lifting weights (a 12-pack weighs 18 to 21 pounds), or walking briskly around the grocery store when shopping for more brews.

Option 2: CUT IT OUT! Take one beer off the menu every time you drink and you're sparing yourself a spare tire around your waste at the end of the month.

Option 3: LOW-CALORIE BEER IS STILL BEER! With the lowest mainstream option weighing in at a measly 64 Calories, you can still unwind without having to unbuckle your belt. The Beer Diet skinny is that Anheuser-Busch is even testing a 55 Calorie beer in select cities to capitalize in a nation looking for a lower calorie version for everything in their fridge and pantry.

Option 4: QUIT DRINKING! Just kidding.

The Beer Diet, no longer a joke, is something anyone (legally allowed to drink) can do to keep enjoying the High Life (or High Life Light) without falling victim to your own vices.

Just Say No.