How To Save 397 Alcoholic Calories This Festive Season

Christmas already!? It most certainly is nearing that day and whether you absolutely love this time of the year or are a bit of a bah humbug about it all, one thing is for sure.

Most of us will indulge in some good tasting alcoholic beverages during the holiday period, and of course, why shouldn’t you? It's potentially the one time of the year when your family is all together.

Mum dashing round, cooking the roasties, making up the veg, doing the washing up, all whilst trying to avoid burning the turkey! Your little brother or sister, running around like a bull in a china shop with their new Christmas toy, and your dad doing everything in his power to avoid helping in the kitchen.

So often, we look to alcohol for that stress reliever and to help us relax. However, how much alcohol will we consume? Pints, litres, gallons? Here’s a cheeky few swaps you could do to save yourself 397 precious calories.

So, if you you’d like to know how you can enjoy the up coming festive period without feeling guilty, or damaging your fitness goals, keep on reading…

Swap One – Red Wine for Mulled Wine

Mulled wine typically will come with extra sugar content leading to a much higher calorie total! Let’s throw some numbers together using a supermarket that many of us will use this Christmas.

Sainsbury’s taste the difference Mulled wine, a large glass would come in at 272 calories.Compare this to Sainsbury’s Morador Malbec taste the difference red wine and you will be saving yourself 86 calories.

It’s 186 calories for a large glass of this red.

Swap Two – Prosecco for Bucks Fizz

It’s 8am and your mums already cracked open the Bucks fizz! A typical Christmas tradition, but what do the numbers show? The difference will be slightly less compared to your wine based beverages, but hey, I’m still saving you some calories.

Your standard glass of Bucks Fizz would come in at around 89 calories, with the Prosecco totalling to 80 calories. Saving you 9 calories! Too early for Prosecco? You’re mad, it is Christmas after all…

Swap Three – Sherry for Baileys

Both drinks can be a nice evening treat once the presents have been opened, the plates are in the dishwasher and the Christmas pudding has been smashed.

With your standard 50ml glass of baileys, you’re looking at 164 calories and 6.5 grams of fat. Swap this classic Irish liquor for a touch of the dry stuff and you’ll be saving 49 calories.

50ml of dry sherry adds up to 115 calories.

Both drinks will usually be consumed at a slower rate compared to a classic beer or cider, so you may even save a few more ‘empty’ calories.

Swap four – Light Budweiser for Stella

It’s obvious from their names that one will hold more calories than the other, but just to clarify some numbers and make you aware let’s add things up.

One of the world’s most popular brands and much-loved beers, Stella Artois. Your standard 330ml bottle of Stella would rack up to 155 calories. No, that doesn’t seem much, but there’s always a smarter choice…

You will save 73 calories if you take my swap! A bud Light will come in at only 82 calories for a 330ml can.

Swap five – Vodka and Diet for Cider

There’s a few reasons as to way making this swap will not only save you a few calories, but it will also save you on some other things. For example, typically it will take you longer to drink a vodka based drink than it will a fruity cider.

You will take your time drinking a spirit, whereas a nice cold cider at times can go down a little too easy.

Different tasting ciders are becoming more and more popular and let’s be honest they taste an absolute treat.

Up for comparison is your typical mixed fruit Kopparberg. I’m sure a few of us have some of these stashed away in the fridge whether it be Christmas or not! Your 500ml bottle will add up to 240 calories.

Chug down four of those and you’ve already nailed nearly 1,000 calories!

Swap this for a cheeky vodka and diet coke and you’ll be saving a whopping 180 calories.

One shot of vodka combined with some diet coke will typically average 60 calories.

A Final Festive Note

I hope you have a fantastic Christmas this year, with plenty of good food, great drinks and fun times.

Even though this article wasn’t really ‘health related’, it still shows you that you can save the odd alcoholic calorie here and there if you really want to.

The numbers I’ve shown you aren’t to scare you, they are just facts. Christmas should be a time to relax and enjoy yourself, zone out from the world, forget about the stresses of work and enjoy a few drinks.

Everything in moderation at a controlled level, will not affect your fitness goals come January. Just be clever and drink responsibly.

From myself and Muscle Food, Happy Christmas!

By Dan Rayner