Drinks can contain a whole lot of calories, and opting for a better choice when it comes to your beverages could be the deciding factor on whether you’re busting your butt in the gym well into the New Year or whether you can just carry on with your usual nutrition and exercise regime.
So just how many calories do your favourite drinks contain?
The average cocktail
Often full of sugary juices, syrups and creams, calories from cocktails can quickly get blown out of proportion. A cocktail will contain between around 150 calories if you make a super smart choice, to a whopping 400+ calories if it has a lot of sugar, cream and/or alcohol in it!
This means that your choice of drinks on a night out – especially if you have nights out regularly – can either make or break your efforts with all that work you’ve been doing in the gym and eating salads and lean meats.
Cocktails that contain fewer calories include sangria, martinis, and quality spirits with low calorie mixers (such as diet or sugar free varieties of soft drinks and juices, tonic water or sparkling water).
The ones that should send out warning bells include Long Island Iced Teas, Mudslides and anything similar!
The average beer
A 330ml bottle will usually be around 130 calories. This varies depending on if it’s a light beer or fills you up like a meal (think Guinness!).
Even if you work your way through three beers, that’s 390 calories which is the same as having eaten an average sized burger. Did you expect to be adding an extra meal to your day? Not to mention the chips and other assorted snacks that go with beer drinking…
The average glass of wine
One person’s glass of wine can vary a lot from another person’s glass of wine! A 175ml glass will set you back around 120 calories while a 250ml glass contains around 180 calories (give or take a bit depending on whether it’s white, red, sparkling, dry).
Just watch your serving sizes as the average Kiwi wine glass usually gets filled quite a bit more than a standard serving!
The average fruit juice
An average sized glass of orange juice is around 88 calories which is not too bad, but you do need to watch overconsuming it as the natural, and often added sugars, can add up easily. If it’s an option, try eating a piece of fruit instead so that you get the fruit juice flavour with the added benefit of fibre which aids your digestive system.
The average soft drink
There are around 141 calories in your standard full sugar 330ml can of fizzy drink. This may not sound too bad, but also take into account the highly processed sugar that’s not so good for you, and the lack of nutritional value in its contents.
At least with fruit juice you’ll be getting some important vitamins and minerals!
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