Social Drinking & Calories

I'm not much of a drinker (honestly) but I am somewhat of a social drinker. When I go out with friends, and sometimes just my husband and I, I really enjoy a good glass of wine or tequila. We diet, we exercise, and we go out for drinks. But, a lot of people don't think about the calories in their drinks. So, in leiu of my girls night next Saturday, I decided to do some research this morning to find out the calories in some of my favorite drinks. I am SHOCKED by the results...

First, I am finding that some of my drinks are relatively lower in calories than I was expecting. Good news? Hmm...not! But before I explain why, let me list some of the drinks I researched and their calories:

Margarita: 3.3 oz cocktail size = 153 calories
Sangria: 8.5 oz wine glass size = 150 calories
Rum and Coke: 8 oz glass size = 207 calories
Long Island Iced Tea 8.3 oz glass size = 276 calories
Blue Moon Beer: bottle size = 100 calories
Apple Martini: cocktail glass = 235 calories
Strawberry Daiquiri: 8 oz = 240 calories

Some of you might be thinking that's not too bad. That was my initial thought too. Then I started to think about the portion sizes I am finding. 8 oz is NOT a full glass like a lot of people think it is. It's the size of a small measuring cup, or half of a large one. Go look: 8 oz. is not that much. A can of soda is 12 oz. So the portion sizes that we are getting when we order, say a Sangria, out at a restaurant, is probably TRIPLE what I am seeing above, making the total drink 450 calories. Sometimes, I drink TWO of those.

And, it only gets worst...while researching the calories, I came across an article on google about why drinking alcohol is HORRIBLE for your diet, and there's a scientific explanation for it.

Without posting the entire article and getting into details, I'll sum it up for you. Basically, our bodies burn energy from a few different sources: our carbohydrate intake, our protein reserve, and our fat reserve. When dieting, we want to pull from that fat reserve. However, for up to 24 hours of drinking an alcoholic beverage, our liver turns the alcohol into acetate, which then converts a portion of the alcohol into fat, and the acetate is released into our bloodstream and replaces fat as a fuel source.

They even did a study where 8 men were given vodka drinks that were less than 90 calories each. For 8 hours after the drinking, the mens body lipid oxidation (a measure of how fat is being burned in the metabolism) was measured and it dropped by 73%...so, their bodies were actually turning the alcohol straight into fat. AWFUL!!!!!

Not to mention the rest of the article about how alcohol makes you have a major appetite too!

I was shocked by the news of the calories and the fat storing. But then again, do you ever have a night of drinking your favorite drinks and then wake up the next morning feeling like you've gained weight? It DOES make me feel that way, and now it makes perfect sense.

Hmm...from now on I'm going to have to save my wallet AND my cellulite and SKIP the alcohol, or at least only have one drink. Yikes!!!

Calorie information: www.calorieking.com (my FAV website for finding calories)
Article: http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/research/alcohol.htm