When Alcohol and Fitness Don’t Mix

There was a time when I thought my workouts could outrun my wine habit.I’d crush a spin class, lift weights, eat my greens, and still end every night with a glass of red because I earned it. It was my ritual, my reward, my reset button.

Except… it wasn’t.

Because when you peel back the idea of “balance,” what’s really happening is that alcohol quietly unravels the progress you work so hard for. Not in an obvious way, it’s subtle. It’s in the bloat that won’t leave. The morning fog that makes motivation harder. The 3 a.m. wakeups that make recovery impossible.

The science isn’t sexy, but it’s real. When you drink, your body hits pause on burning fat. Alcohol becomes priority number one, and everything else (metabolism, hormones, energy) gets put on hold. That’s why “just one glass” matters. Because if you’re having it most nights, your body never really gets back to the business of restoring balance.

Add to that the cortisol spike (hello, stress hormone), the disrupted REM sleep cycles, and the way it throws estrogen off its rhythm and suddenly, the thing you thought helped you relax is the very thing standing between you and real vitality.

When I finally stopped drinking, it wasn’t about chasing perfection. I just wanted to see what would happen if I gave my body a fair shot.

And guess what happened. I stopped feeling puffy. My energy came back. My workouts started working again.I felt present in my skin, in my workouts, in my life.

There’s a quiet confidence that comes from showing up for yourself without needing a drink to smooth the edges. It’s not loud or preachy. It’s just a calm and steady power that builds over time.

If you’re still doing the “one glass won’t hurt” thing, I get it. I did it for years. But maybe just ask yourself, what if you took a break? What if you stopped giving your body something it constantly has to fight through?

Your energy, your hormones, your confidence... they’re all waiting on the other side of that pause.

Alcohol is pushing against your fitness goals.