December 2020 - #085 - Drinking low calorie cocktails can help avoid weight gain during the holiday season and all throughout the year.

Hello One and All and Hope Everyone is Healthy and Safe

So here we are in the Holiday Season combined with the struggles of a pandemic.

If that doesn’t want you to have a few drinks, heck, I don’t know what will.

So if we choose to drink this holiday season all we have to do is pick our drinks wisely so they don’t contain a million calories in them.

It’s really the only way you can drink without the extra weight gain.

I've never been a big fan of calorie counting, but if there is ever a time you should be aware of calories is when you are consuming alcoholic beverages.

It’s easy to consume a stupidly high amount of calories in a short amount of time if you enjoy drinking.

So which drinks are fairly low in calories?

Well most cocktails will include hard liquor in them and most hard liquor contains approximately 97 calories per jigger (1.5 ounce), which includes favorites such as vodka, rum, gin, rye, scotch, tequila…….you get the idea.

So if you take a jigger of hard liquor and mix it with any zero calorie drink, then the cocktail will remain those 97 calories or so.

Zero calorie mixes can be a life saver when it comes to keeping the calorie count manageable.

Drinks such as:

Rum and diet coke

Rye and soda

Vodka and orange flavored crystal light

There are so many zero calorie drinks out there to choose from, the combinations are endless.

Here is a chart of drinks and their approximate calories to give you a rough idea when you are choosing a beverage.

When choosing any kind of refreshment (like a bottle of wine or mix) it is always a great idea to check the sugar content and calories per serving so you know exactly where you stand.

Besides watching how many calories are consumed there is one other very important goal that must be followed to avoid weight gain and maintain health.

DO NOT OVER DRINK

Enjoying a few drinks can be fun and relaxing, but getting sloshed is really not a good idea as it takes a hard toll on the body and can create weight gain.

This is what happens when you drink too much alcohol.

Having too many drinks means ingesting too many calories and when you consume more calories than your body needs - you will gain weight.

One of the biggest drawbacks of drinking too much is the way our bodies burn up those extra calories.

Alcohol breaks down into the form of acetate, which the body will burn up before any other calories that we've eaten or stored, including fat and even sugar.

In other words, our liver is so busy breaking down the alcohol that it will store the other fats in the body.

Alcohol also temporarily inhibits "lipid oxidation" which means when you have alcohol in your system, it is harder for your body to break down and burn fat.

Alcohol is particularly toxic to the liver when consumed in excessive amounts. The liver begins to lose its functional capacity.

How well the liver functions and weight gain are directly connected. If your liver is sluggish, weight loss will be extremely hard and even impossible for many.

Some studies have shown that after tipping back a few of drinks that this can stimulate ones appetite. This can be particularly true when you're at a party that is serving food, especially a buffet style set up.

Over drinking the night before can leave you with a tiring hangover the next day. Forget the exercise today and pray that you can just make it through the day.

Let's face it, a hangover leaves you dehydrated, clumsy and just plain tired.

Like everything else in this world, moderation is truly the key.

Cheers :)

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday and hope your all happy and safe

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