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Thinking of drinking this weekend?

Posted: 02/10/2009 at 07:25pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness

If you're one of the millions of Brits having a drink this weekend, you may not be aware how the alcohol is affecting your weight loss effort.

We'd hate to be party poopers, (especially as observing a group of Personal Trainers drinking when we don't often do so is like watching somebody eat after fasting - we're not really ones to talk!) but it's scientific fact that each gram of alcohol contains seven calories. If you're looking to lose weight, cutting down on alcohol will definitely help to reduce calorie intake. Alcohol can also weaken your willpower, tempting you to eat more than you planned - that means the afterpub/club kebab for the uninitiated :). However, being the realistic sort, we know that when a client says they had 'one or two', they very often mean 'bottles'.

Alcohol is what we call a source of 'empty calories', meaning it has no nutritional value other than providing energy, and we all know the only energy you're going to expend when you've had a few is giving your friend (who you've told you love at least 20 times) a piggyback. The energy provided by an alcoholic drink depends on the percentage of alcohol it contains, but also on the type of drink it is. For example, a creamy liqueur will have more calories than a clear liqueur. Typically;

    * A pint of lager is about 215 calories
    * A measure of spirit contains around 55 calories, but this doesn't include calories from the mixer
    * A standard glass of dry white wine or red wine is about 115 calories, and sweet wine is about 165 calories
    * A creamy liqueur contains around 163 calories per 50ml serving, while the same amount of sherry or port contains around 60 calories a glass

It really depends on the type of drinker you are as to which is best to drink to help with your weight loss effort (obvious answer is 'water', but we're going to assume you're going to glaze over that!). If you like to savour your drink, it isn't out of the question to enjoy a nice glass of wine or two as part of a balanced diet, but if you drink like a fish, it's probably best to stay away from pints/cans and plump instead for a lower calorie mixer with your spirits, otherwise that evening at the pub could work out to more calories than you should probably even be consuming through both food and drink for the day.

Have a great weekend, but keep an eye on how many you sink, it really could ruin an otherwise great week's weight loss effort.

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