Where it all went wrong!

With Christmas and New year having just passed, you are likely to have consumed more alcohol than normal last month. Unfortunately only dietary fats (at 9 calories per gram) contain more calories than alcohol (at 7 calories per gram), making it one of the highest calorie beverages available.

To help you avoid turning the extra alcohol consumption into excess holiday pounds- here is a list of alcoholic drinks to avoid:-

1) Jack Daniels and Coke.
Spirits are one of the lightest alcoholic drink choices however, when you start to add mixers they suddenly become a whole lot heavier.
A single shot of Jack Daniels contains just 55 calories. However adding 300ml of coke also adds an additional 131 calories; meaning a single Jack Daniels and Coke comes in at 186 calories and a double is 286 calories.
Drinking only 4 double Jack Daniels and Coke will therefore take you over the 1000 calorie mark.

If Jack Daniels and Coke was your festive tipple, try enjoying it without the coke, or with a lighter mixer such as diet coke- both of which will cut some serious calories from your drink.

2) Stella Artois.
Stella Artois and other premium lagers are very popular over the festive period, but unfortunately the extra alcohol content in these lagers add unwanted calories to the mix.

A single pint of Stella contains 262 calories, and so drinking 4 pints in one sitting, will add over 1000 calories to your daily consumption.

Why not try alternating each pint with light beer, and save some valuable calories in the process.

3) WKD and other alcopops.
These are popular as they taste very similar to soft drinks. Unfortunately, achieving this sweet taste adds a lot of calories to the drink with sugar used to mask the vodka.

A standard 275ml bottle contains 220 calories, and a large 700ml bottle a massive 559 calories.

If you are a huge fan of WKD you can cut down the calories by opting for diet alcopops or making your own vodka mixer with a diet soft drink.
This will cut out all the sugar and therefore a large amount of calories.
Give these ideas a try-you’ve nothing to lose but the unwanted calories!

Emma Driskel-Fitness Professional @ Bexley.