Alcohol and weight loss – can you have both?

When cultivating a healthy lifestyle and slimmer waistline, excess alcoholic beverages do not usually feature in the equation. However, you can still have a drink or two without it derailing all your efforts.

Here are some drink smarter savvy tips:

• • Be moderate. Evidence suggests that moderate drinkers tend to practise healthier habits than people who do not drink alcohol. If you’re used to having three or four drinks every week as part of your diet, you’re probably compensating for them with fewer kilojoules elsewhere.

• • Compensate. If you are trying to lose weight, remember to compensate for the extra energy in the alcohol you are enjoying by having little or no starch with your next meal.

• • Keep it single. Choose to drink a single tot of spirits with lots of ice and water instead of a double mixed with a softdrink. This will keep your blood sugar in check and also reduce your kilojoule intake.

• • Master the mix. Opt for sugar free mixers to save on a lot of extra kilojoules.

• • Spritz it. When opting for wine, make a spritzer by diluting your drink with a sugar-free mixer or soda water. You can also keep on adding ice to your glass instead of wine to make the drink last longer.

• • Go light. If you are drinking a “lite” wine, be sure not to drink more than you would if you were drinking regular wine, or you’ll lose all the benefits of choosing the light version.

• • Drink up! Next time you go out with the girls, try this nifty trick – drink a glass of water between every alcoholic drink or alternate sip for sip. This way you will drink less alcohol through the night, and you will also stay hydrated, a very good thing.

• • Take it slow. Yes, having shooters at the bar may be fun, but they are also going wreak havoc on your kilojoule consumption. Rather sip your drink slowly and pace yourself (one drink per hour or two is a good measure). Plus, the less you drink, the less likely you are to get a hangover.

• • Avoid paper umbrellas. If it comes in a fancy glass, is decorated with a paper umbrella and has a cherry on top, it’s probably bad news. Cocktails are in essence liquid desserts and, while fine to have one as an occasional treat, shouldn’t be your drink of choice for the evening. One cocktail can pack as much as 1000 kilojoules! Smaller Martini-like cocktails may contain one tot less alcohol and less or no mixer but they are generally consumed faster and the temptation is to have another. Ciders, coolers and flavoured alcoholic beverages are more energy dense than beer and more like cocktails as they contain on average 800 kilojoules.

• • Portion distortion. Watch out for over pouring. It’s especially easy to overdo it with wine, given that the average wine glass these days looks big enough to hold a school of fish. Strictly speaking a bottle of wine should serve six and not four, making the serving size 125ml and not 200ml.

• • Eat before you drink. Alcohol stimulates your appetite. While you might be full from a comparable amount of kilojoules from food, several drinks might not fill you up. On top of that, if you drink before or during a meal, both your inhibitions and willpower are reduced. In this state, you are more likely to overeat, which can add to your waistline. To avoid this, wait to order that drink until you’re done with your meal.

• • Fake it. Why not try your hand at making a mocktail or two? Not only will this benefit your waistline but it is the responsible course to take, especially when driving.