If You Like Pina Coladas...

Booze. Liquor. Hootch. So often people get derailed from healthy eating because of our good friend, alcohol. It's friday night and everyone is ordering beer and wings... I get it. You don't want to be the person with a diet coke and a salad. (Neither do I!) So here are some bar friendly options. Just remember, like Bethenny Frankel says: "You can have it all, just not all at once". If you know you want to have a couple cocktails, stick with salad and grilled chicken for dinner. If you are just in the mood for a (singular) beer, go ahead and get the burger--ask your waiter to go light on the cheese and a whole wheat bun, if possible, and get a side salad vs. fries. Remember, the more you drink, the more likely you are to stray from your healthy eating habits. Additionally, the later you stay out, you start to get hungry again, and combine that with a bunch of booze and it's a recipe for overindulgence. But you know what? Every now and then, this happens! So don't get upset or beat yourself up the next morning...just try to wake up at a normal-ish hour so your sleep cycle isn't thrown out of whack (which can massively affect your weight loss efforts!) and have a healthy, protein rich breakfast.

I usually stick with a glass or two of wine, or 1-2 light beers. If I feel like a cocktail I like to skinny-fy them. Personally, if I'm going to drink liquor I stick with vodka. Club soda adds zero calories, so I usually just order vodka-sodas. If I'm feeling fruity I'll get a vodka-soda with a splash of cranberry or orange juice. All of those fruity cocktails (pina coladas, daquiris) and martinis (cosmos, lemondrops)are just sugarbombs. Stick with ONE liquor and club soda as your base. Remember to sip, not chug and have a glass of water between each drink. Cheers!

Here is a handy dandy chart of the calorie content of a variety of alcohols:

Wine	Calories	Carbs	Per 5-oz Serving
Chardonnay	20	0.4 g	100 calories, 2 g carbs
Pinot Grigio	20	0.4 g	100 calories, 2 g carbs
Zinfandel® White Wine	20	0.4 g	100 calories, 2 g carbs
Cabernet Sauvignon	20	0.8 g	100 calories, 4 g carbs
Merlot Red Wine	20	0.8 g	100 calories, 4 g carbs

Hard Liquor	Calories	Carbs	Per 1.5-oz Serving
Vermouth	32	0.2 g	64 calories, 0.4 g carbs
Coconut Rum	51	5.3 g	77 calories, 8 g carbs
Beefeater® Gin	65	0 g	98 calories, 0 g carbs
Rye Whiskey	69	0 g	104 calories, 0 g carbs
Scotch Whiskey	69	0 g	104 calories, 0 g carbs
White Rum	69	0 g	104 calories, 0 g carbs
Vodka	69	0 g	104 calories, 0 g carbs
Cognac	69	2 g	104 calories, 3 g carbs
Tequila	69	5.3 g	104 calories, 8 g carbs
Gilbey’s® Gin	79	0 g	119 calories, 0 g carbs

Beer	Calories	Carbs	Per 12-oz Serving
"Light" Beer	9	0.5 g	108 calories, 6 g carbs
Draft Beer	12	1.1 g	144 calories, 13.2 g carbs
Lager	14	1.1 g	168 calories, 13.2 g carbs
Ale	18	1.1 g	216 calories, 13.2 g carbs