What Not To Drink

A night out on the town and partying can botch your daily caloric intake. When thinking about calorie intake you may not consider your liquids and how they can increase your calorie consumption.

I’m not going to lie, I love having drinks with friends and going out. Unfortunately drinking the wrong alcoholic drinks can lead you down a path of consuming an extra 1,000 calories or more in just one night. When I was first introduced to the drinking scene I would always crave sweet cocktails with hidden sugars and extra calories.  Frozen Margaritas, Long Island Iced Teas and Rum and Cokes called my name and I would easily consume over 700 calories on having one of each before the night was even over.

Within the last year I noticed how much alcohol I was consuming and realized I needed to make a change. After researching low calorie drinks and figuring out which ones I like, I found I was not feeling so bloated and weighed down the day after going out. Along with finding low calorie drinks I decided to lessen my overall intake of alcohol. I honestly think this has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my health because it stopped my weight gain. I’ve also noticed that my tolerance has gone down which makes it cheaper for me when going out to drink.

If you’re gung-ho about only drinking fruity cocktails you might like a few alternatives that aren’t quite as calorie packed. Vodka Cranberry (make sure they aren’t using cranberry juice cocktail) has a sweet flavor and is only about 100 calories for an eight ounce drink. One of my favorites is a Rum and Diet Coke which tastes the same as the non-diet Coke and is less than 80 calories for an eight ounce glass.

Drinking wine is also a great alternative to drinking cocktails or carb-laden beers. One awesome new wine I have discovered is Fit Vine wines. These wines were created by people with active lives who wanted a wine to match their lifestyles. Fit Vine wines are boast an average of less than .2 grams of sugar and fewer than 95 calories in each glass. If you live in Topeka, Kansas like I do you can follow the Google map below to Devlin’s Wine & Spirits where you can try this cool new brand.

The most important concept to take away from this is to keep an eye on what you’re drinking. It is perfectly okay to drink a high calorie cocktail, but it is important to understand that all of those cocktails can add up and lead to weight gain if consumed regularly

As always please drink responsibly and make sure you always feel safe when going out with friends.

Happy drinking!

Josey T