Those of you looking to lose weight for the summer, a word of warning: Having a few alcoholic drinks each weak can be disastrous for your waistline – whether or not you have reverted to a low-calorie drinks. However, the majority of the weight gain is comprised from the junk food we typically gorge on after a heavy drinking session and not the actual alcohol calories. Experts say just a single boozy drinking session each week can result in sufficient extra calories to pile on 2lb. Streaming out of the pubs and nightclubs at closing time, a good proportion of revellers usually decide to stagger into the nearest takeaway for some greasy, fatty food like pizza, a burger, chips or a donner kebab. Then in the morning, a full English breakfast is a common choice to attempt to fend off the raging hangover. This can lead to someone taking in a shocking additional 5,000 calories – 1,500 calories more than that in 1lb (3,500). Even if you try and otherwise adhere to a healthy diet, those who are having a night out every single week may expect to gain two stone during the course of a year. The findings emanate from a survey commission by Slimming World, which focused on Brit’s drinking habits. The weight loss group say there needs to be more work carried out to stress how alcohol can impact our weight and have also called for alcoholic drinks to clearly show their calorie content. The poll quizzed more than 2,000 Britons and demonstrated how alcohol is playing a significant role into an obesity crisis which now has the unwanted tag of being the worst across Europe. Apparently, it takes 10.5 units of alcohol for the average man to reach a point where he starts to drink and eat more than initially planned. This is the equivalent to only four pints of beer – an amount some men can consume before they even leave the house for their night on the town! After this ‘tipping point’ of 10.5 units, the booze and fatty food at the end of the night and the morning after, can lead to a staggering 6,940 calories being consumed – over three times the recommended daily intake for a man and comparable to eating 38 bags of crisps. The female ‘tipping point’ is even lower at just eight units, or two to three large glasses of wine roughly. After this, women can consume an extra 5,725 calories – nearly thrice their daily recommended intake and comparable to eating nearly two dozen jam doughnuts. Nearly 60% of those quizzed admitted to going past their tipping point on at least one occasion on a typical weekend, leading to millions of Brits likely to gain weight and worsen a growing obesity epidemic. Luckily, Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy is on hand to help curb the tide, with a fantastic range of weight loss treatments available right now. The prescription medication Xenical is suitable for those with a BMI over 27, whereas there are other medications that do not require a prescription such as Alli and XLS-Medical Fat Binder. To be suitable for Alli or XLS-Medical Fat Binder you must have a BMI of 25 or greater. To find out more information on how to obtain them, visit the ‘Obesity’ area of the Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy website.