If you really want to lose weight, you may want to consider cutting alcohol out of your diet. Why? Alcohol provides many calories and no nutrition. In fact, it is a toxin to your body. Additionally, alcohol lowers your inhibitions, which may lead you to drink more than you planned to. Having a few drinks on a Friday can squash the efforts you had made toward your weight loss goal throughout the rest of the week.
If you are going to drink, then know the facts so you can make wise decisions:
- 1 beer = 12oz
- 1 glass of wine = 5oz
- 1 cocktail (80-proof distilled spirits) = 1.5oz
Measure these out while you are at home by using a measuring cup, so you can see what an actual serving looks like. You will find that an actual serving is much smaller than what you are used to being served.
Here is a list of some common drinks and their average
calories per serving (as noted above!):
- light beer (12 oz) = 95-110 calories
- regular beer (12oz) = 150 calories
- red wine (5oz) = 115-125 calories
- white wine (5oz) = 1o5-125 calories
- vodka (1.5oz) = 95 calories
- tequila (1.5oz) = 95 calories
- rum (1.5oz) = 90 calories
- whiskey (1.5oz) = 95 calories
As you can see, although our client Jeremiah over at Campfire (http://campfirenyc.com/) wants to believe that clear liquids have no calories, they
clearly have many....and for those who may argue that drinking white wine is ok because it is less caloric than red wine, you can see from the above list that the negligible difference is meaningless.
Treat alcohol as you would treat an indulgent food. Have it in moderation, if at all, and keep track of how much you are drinking and the calories you are adding to your daily toll. But when it comes down to it, if you really want the weight off then lose the booze! Live Well!
