How Many Calories In Alcohol – Counting Calories In Alcohol For Fat Loss

When it comes to calories in alcohol, most of us pretend as though these calories don’t exist.  Are calories in alcoholic beverages important to weight loss?  While counting calories as a main strategy for weight loss is not what we recommend, it is important to be aware of roughly how many calories exist in certain types of foods, and that includes alcohol.

Why Calories In Alcohol Matter

The calories in alcohol are important if your goal is successful and long-lasting weight loss. Since many of us fail to include the calories from soda and juice, it’s not surprising that we also forget to factor in the calories in alcoholic drinks, which makes the calories in alcohol even more important.

When you know how many calories are in alcoholic drinks you can make plans to adjust your diet and workout program accordingly.

Alcohol & Weight Gain

Many people often ask, “If alcohol has no fat, then how can the calories in alcohol make me fat?”. So let’s talk about the science of alcohol and weight gain.

Alcohol doesn’t make you gain weight, but excessive alcohol consumption can contribute to weight gain because of what happens to the calories in alcohol once they’ve been consumed.

When alcohol gets into our bodies it is broken into two compounds before we can digest it, called acetate and fat. The fat goes through the bloodstream and goes to the areas on your body that cause you the most problems. It could be your butt, arms, thighs or stomach. The acetate then gets used for your main source of energy.

Because your body doesn’t get to use as many of the fats, carbs and proteins you consumed throughout the day, some could turn to fat and get stored on your body. This is the primary reason alcohol and weight gain are often linked.

Reducing Calories in Alcohol

In order for us to have a few cocktails and stay losing weight, we need to look into what exactly is in these drinks before we can see where calories can be reduced. This is important information to have, because you could just be drinking smaller cocktails and using ingredients with even more calories.

Follow these tips for skinnier cocktails:

• Use sodas sweetened with stevia like Zevia, and sparkling waters instead of full calorie versions.
• Add just splashes of fresh or all-natural juice.
• Avoid artificial flavors.
• Steer clear of premade drink mixers.
• Try cocktails ‘on the rocks’.
• Know your serving sizes.
• Limit how many types of alcohol go into a cocktail.
• Keep liqueurs to a minimum in the mix.
• Try a variety of light beers.

Take a look at how many calories in alcohol can be reduced in popular cocktails by making simple adjustments;

Gin & Tonic – 158 calories        Gin & Tonic w/stevia – 96 calories

Rum & Coke – 133 calories      Rum & Zevia Cola – 97 calories

Serving Size

One of the most essential parts of drinking while losing weight is sticking to the proper serving size. Whether you drink wine, beer, or spirits the best way to keep track of how many calories in alcohol you consume is to know how many calories are in a serving and what a serving size is.

Alcohol Serving Sizes

Moderation

Drinking in moderation is perhaps the best method of reducing the calories in alcoholic drinks. This means not only exercising portion control, but also limiting the number of cocktails you consume. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, moderate drinking for females is described as no more than 1 alcoholic drink per day and no more than 2 drinks each day for men.

Even if you can’t always limit the number of drinks you have at a time, you can limit how many calories end up in each glass. Furthermore the more calories you drink, the less likely you will be to limit further alcohol consumption and it becomes a vicious cycle of weight gain.

As long as you have a general working knowledge of the calories in your favorite type of alcohol, you can drink while enjoying the weight loss you’ve worked so hard to achieve. The calories in alcohol can be dangerous for weight loss, but if you’re ready to do a little homework and make a few small changes to how you consume alcohol, then you can be among the millions who’ve learned how to drink and diet at the same time!

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