Fancy A Drink?

I like to have a drink as much as the next person... Or maybe a little more, but have you ever wondered how many empty calories you're consuming when you knock back a few??

I've made another of my graphs, but here is the hard bit. I've worked it out not by standard drink but how I'd usually drink it. Ie, it's a glass of wine, a 375ml bottle of beer, or can of vodka Smirnoff or Jim Beam and Coke. Obviously I haven't covered everything and each wine/beer will vary slightly, but it's still good to see laid out in front of you.

Baileys was an interesting one, as in a 60ml drink, there are nearly as many calories as in an entire can of Smirnoff.

Surprisingly, low carb beer, my drink of choice has nearly as many carbs as regular beer!

Click to enlarge

Have you ever noticed you weigh less after a night of drinking alcohol? Have you ever thought it was actually helping your weight loss?

Let me explain how it works. When you drink alcohol, your body tries to flush it out of your system by making you urinate more frequently. Frequent urination leads to dehydration and dehydration leads to weight loss.

Sure, the next day you will weigh less, but you'll be thirsty. A couple of glasses of water will bring you close to what you weighed before you started drinking.

After a big weekend of drinking, try and avoid oily food. It may seem the only thing that will settle your stomach, but instead, drink lots of water and some juice (preferably vegetable), green tea or coconut water.

If you're hungry, snack on foods that will replenish your body in the way of vitamins and minerals. Bananas are good, and eggs help soak up the alcohol without breaking the calorie bank!

I'm going out tomorrow night to celebrate my birthday, I will try to keep my empty calorie intake to a minimum... if not by drinking less, then at least by drinking the lower calorie option!