HOW TO ENJOY A DRINK & NOT LET IT RUIN YOUR DIET

In this era where, for health reasons, everyone is trying to keep the extra weight off, there is often a hidden culprit that undermines the most successful diet-and-exercise regime.  It’s that “Thirsty Thursday” or “TGIF Happy Hour “.

By now, most people learn to limit the wings and other boca consumed as they are usually all fried, with skins and have a lot of salt to boot. Yet most of us are still a little less informed about the amount of calories we inadvertently consume in that after work beer or the business lunch cocktail.

To help you make an informed decision when you choose your booze, here is a quick run down of the caloric count of the most commonly consumed  alcoholic drinks; here’s to your health!

CALORIE COUNT OF COMMON ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

Drink               Calories

Beer                 150

Light Beer       110

Stout               168

Wine (white)   100

Wine, red         105

Champagne     106

Wine, sweet     344

Martini           119

Brandy            100

Whiskey          100

Gin                  100

Gin & tonic     189

Rum & Coke   361

Bloody Mary   120

Irish Coffee     159

Margarita         327

Martini            327

Pina Colada     312

Screwdriver     208

Didn’t mean to scare you off a glass of wine with your partner at the end of a hard day.  After all, Napoleon Bonaparte himself spoke of his native Champagne thus:”In Victory we deserve it; in defeat, we NEED it!”

Medical evidence has shown that no alcohol at all is not the answer to sustaining weight loss.  When researchers followed a group of 19,000 healthy women ages 38 to 89, they found that after thirteen years, there were far fewer overweight and obese women among those who had two to three alcoholic drinks a day than there were among women who did not drink any alcohol at all. Just keep in mind that as we age, both men and men’s bodies are slower to metabolize alcohol so one could binge more readily and not realize it till you try to get up and it all kicks in.  As with all things, good and bad, easy does it- don’t overdo it. Moderation is the word here.

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