Personally, I am a fan of rum (and a good Pimm’s Cup). My friends and family know that I enjoy rum, and at every social situation I’ve been in for the past 15 years or more, I could be found with a glass of a good sipping rum, neat, in a glass that was either in my hand or on the table in front of me. Now, I very rarely imbibe. While I love the flavor and I miss drinking it as often as I used to, the way my body reacts to more than a glass or two every now and then is really quite dramatic: I stop losing weight for up to 10 days. For whatever reason, my body refuses to make any progress after a lot of alcohol for days afterwards. Due to this, I heavily restrict my alcohol intake. For those who follow Whole30, alcohol is prohibited, and I know this is a sticky issue for a lot of people.

I know some people who say they just can’t stop drinking alcohol. I’m neither judging anyone or condemning anyone for this. I will say that this may point to a bigger problem than just eating right, and I’m neither qualified nor experienced in alcohol addiction to address that here. If you can’t make it through a day without alcohol, the training we received in the Marines about substance abuse points to a serious problem that you should seek help or counselling for. That’s all I’ll say about that.

My advice to anyone who is on their Whole30 is avoid alcohol entirely. It’s for 30 days, and you really want to give yourself the best chance for success that you can. Don’t slip; not even once! For those on Paleo, I would say it depends on where you’re at. If you’re in the beginning and still in weight-loss mode (as I am), avoid alcohol as much as possible. If you must imbibe, severely limit intake to one or two servings. If you’re already at your target weight and are in maintenance mode on Paleo, imbibe as much as you want and monitor the effects of that intake on your weight and by how your body feels in the day or week afterward to guide you the next time you imbibe.

This is a very personal issue, and I know some people have as close of a connection with alcohol as they do with food. I am not telling you to never drink again. I’m recommending you use your discipline and best judgment in your alcohol intake if losing weight and regaining good health are your goals. Drinking alcohol regularly in large amounts will make it impossible for you to make progress.