Beat the bottle

After all alcohol contains kilojoules and the more kilojoules you take in, the harder and longer you’re going to have to work to burn them off. Even the best exercise routine and stringent diet can be undone by routine overindulgence in booze.

So what to do?

Simply put moderation is the key, so if you’re drinking half a case of low carb beer on a Saturday afternoon you might want to consider a more restrained approach.

The two biggest problems with alcohol are;
1. Alcohol has kilojoules (gram for gram more than carbohydrates and protein, but less than fat).
2. It lowers your inhibition, so you’re more likely to overeat.

So if you’re going to drink what’s the best option?
On the top end of the scale sadly you’re going to find beer. A schooner of full strength beer contains roughly 300 kilojoules, depending on the type. A general rule of thumb; the lighter the colour the fewer the kilojoules, so if you have a penchant for heavy stouts and ales you might want to consider something a little more amber, that means Guinness and the like are sadly off the menu.

Similarly ready to drink bottles and cans of pre mixed vodka, rum and bourbon can contain several hundred kilojoules per can due to the high sugar content of the mixer, and after a few cans you’re probably going to stop caring about the fine print.

White wine and Champagne do marginally better than beer, but still hover around the 200 kilojoules mark.

Spirits therefore are probably the best option but again moderation is the key. While a standard 30ml serve of vodka may contain around 100 kilojoules, adding a mixer like coke or orange juice destroys any potential benefit, soda water, though boring is the only neutral option.

And therein lays the point unfortunately. If you’re committed to shaping up and trimming down there’s no real way to bring the bottle along with you. One or two might be okay on occasion, but when you’re moving toward six or seven the damage can really stack up.

And you can’t drink to that.