New Year's Party - Tips How to Drink Alcohol and Stay Lean

I already posted how to eat during the festive time, today here is the second part of my tips for you. This time I will explain the way how we should drink alcohol to prevent the accumulation of unwanted pounds.

TIP 1.

Before your New Year’s Eve party with alcohol I recommend that you should do a high intensity full body workout. Your metabolism will increase and your body will be able to process calories much faster.

Try also to get some sort of exercise in the morning after your night out. This may not be your best workout in terms of energy, but it can help your body moving and get back to a good sate of homeostasis.

TIP 2.

Alcohol has 7 empty calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for carbs and protein, and 9 calories per gram for fats. However, unlike ingesting carbs, protein, or healthy fats from a healthy food source, drinking alcohol gives you LOTS of calories with very little nutrients.

On New Year’s Eve or other nights that you know there will be some alcohol, make sure that your dinner is based only on protein and vegetables. You're going to take in a lot of empty calories with the alcohol, so eating a good portion of protein along with nutrient-rich vegetables can help to control your appetite and give your body the nutrients it needs.

Remember:  Carbs + alcohol = a perfect recipe for growing a ‘beer belly’

TIP 3.

If you want to save your body from adding layers of fat, stay away from syrupy, fruity drinks. They are always loaded with sugar. Fruity drinks such as margarita or other tropical fruity drinks can have 500-600 calories per serving or 70-100 grams of sugar!

Much better option is tequila mixed with fresh squeezed lime juice.

Any drink that uses soda pop as the mixer is always loaded with sugar (usually high fructose corn syrup) you should avoid!

Much better option is a clear alcohol mixed with club soda (NOT tonic) and a squeeze of lime or lemon.  Club soda has no calories at all. It's clearly the lowest calorie way to drink.

This is my best choice I can recommend.

Remember:  Tonic Water mixers = mountains of sugar same as regular soda pop

TIP 4.

If you're going to drink beer, you should choose 1 or 2 dark beers rather than 5 or 6 light beers.  Sure, dark beers have more calories than light beers, but dark beers also have more B vitamins and antioxidants than light beers, so you actually get more nutrients from the dark beer. 

In addition, it also takes a little longer to drink a good dark beer compared to a watery light beer.

Remember: As long as you have just 1 or 2 dark beers, you may still stay within 150-300 calories

TIP 6. 

Wine is one of the healthier drink choices. If you must have a drink, you might as well choose wine to get a good dose of antioxidant, called resveratrol. Red wine is known for its antioxidant content, however white wines contain some antioxidants as well.

TIP 7.

If you are watching your weight I think having 1 drink daily with a meal can still be part of a healthy lifestyle, as long as those calories are accounted for and you still stay within your daily caloric maintenance.

TIP 8.

Avoid the late night snacking after a party!

This is where most people do the biggest damage to their waistlines. The worst thing for your body is loading up on pizza, ice cream or other carb-rich junk after a night out party.

If you are truly hungry, eat only some lean protein and vegetables available at home. It is smart to have cooked chicken breasts or even tuna and some veggie sticks in the fridge to satisfy your late night post-party appetite with lean protein instead of carbohydrates. 

Remember: Veggies and proteins are the key

Have a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year!

Cheers,

                     Maria