Keep Calm And Rage On

Now that you’ve finally made it to the weekend it’s time to party! It’s been a long week, and all you want is a drink (or like ten). You are so ready to put on your party dress and heels and head downtown for a wild night of drinking and dancing. Maybe you’re going bar hopping with sorority sisters or out to the biggest rager in town, but regardless of your destination, you are ready to let loose and have some fun. Before putting on makeup and examining your closet for the perfect outfit, you head to the kitchen to pour yourself a nice glass of wine . . . and that’s when you remember you’re on a diet. Oh shit, you think. How many calories are even in a glass of wine? You quickly get out your phone or laptop and search for an answer on Google only to find that an average glass of pinot grigio contains about 175 calories! You click on multiple links provided by your Google search, hoping to find that this is wrong, but all the sites seem to agree, and on top of that, this so called “glass” of wine containing 175 calories is only 1 cup (8 fluid oz.). Your jaw drops in utter disbelief as you realize that the average “glass” of wine you pour yourself has at least two cups of wine in it and maybe more! So that glass of wine you were about to enjoy while debating between a Michael Kors mini dress and a Haute Hippie python sequin skirt and crop top would probably contain about 350 calories! Now you’re wondering how many calories are in a beer, a vodka cranberry, or your favorite strawberry margarita, and your answers are really putting a damper on your mood. This newfound knowledge that alcohol if packed full of calories is giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “fail Friday.” But don’t freak out just yet! Your weekend plans are not ruined; there are many ways around this dilemma.

            First of all, it is important to know how many calories are in your favorite drinks. At the end of this post I have listed some of the most common alcoholic beverages and the calories they contain. Familiarizing yourself with this information will help you make better decisions when you’re out partying (in terms of choosing drinks that is). If you’re like me, you always pregame before heading out for the night (or even pregame the pregame). Instead of that large glass of wine, mix yourself up a nice low-cal vodka soda. When taking shots, always be sure to chase with diet soda or a freshly cut piece of lime. It is so easy to rack up calories without even realizing it when chasing shot after shot with soda or juice. When you arrive at a bar or club, it is crucial to avoid sugary, fruity cocktails like Sex on the Beach or cranberry-vodka. Try a rum and coke with diet coke, or instead of a cranberry-vodka, order a vodka-soda with lime. It is best to avoid beer as much as possible, but sometimes you find yourself without other options. In these situations, if you do not want to bring along a flask filled with vodka or another low-calorie liquor, stick to light beer. Light beers contain about 100 calories on average as opposed to non-light beers that contain on average about 150 calories. This may not seem like that much of a difference, but after five Coronas you would have consumed a total of 750 calories while if you had stuck to Corona Light, you would have consumed 500 calories instead.

            But even low-calorie drinks can add up the calories quickly, especially if you are a party animal. This is where planning ahead comes into play. It is crucial to eat food before you start raging, but if you can eat fewer calories than usual at breakfast and lunch and skip a snack or dessert, you can save some extra calories for drinking. Another strategy may be to exercise longer on days when you have party plans later. Try running a couple extra miles or doing an extra thirty minutes on the elliptical machine. Burning off more calories can help you balance out the extra calories you are probably going to consume later. Also, keep in mind that because you have been dieting and eating less calories each day than you used to, you are going to feel the alcohol much quicker. While you used to be able to take five shots and only feel slightly buzzed, you may now feel pretty tipsy on five shots. While you need to remember to be careful now that you are a bit more of a lightweight (no offense meant), this will actually work in your benefit as you will not have to consume as many calories as you used to in order to feel drunk or to get on whatever level it is that you’re trying to reach.

While many diet plans and nutritionists say alcohol is a no-no if you are trying to lose weight, I say fuck that! When I decided to go on a diet during my freshman year of college, there was no way I was going to stay in on a Thursday night while all my friends were raging just because alcohol contained calories. I solved the dilemma by figuring out ways to accommodate my drinking into my diet, and I hope the advice I’ve shared with you in this post will help you to continue partying and living it up. We are hot and young, and we only live once, and there is no way we are going to end the party because of a diet. Yes, it can be difficult at times, but you just need to be smart about what you are drinking and how you are making up for extra calories during the day. So to all you betches in the gym, keep calm, stay strong, and rage on.

Know Your Alcohol:

Here are the calorie counts for some of your favorite drinks. If you can’t find a drink here, you can search the nutrition facts online.

Vodka (1 oz.): 64 calories

Rum (1 oz.): 64 calories

Whiskey (1 oz.): 64 calories

Gin (1 oz.): 64 calories

Tequila (1 oz.):64 calories

Rum and Diet Coke (1.5 oz. rum): 96 calories

Vodka-soda (1.5 oz. vodka): 96 calories

Vodka-Tonic (1.5 oz. vodka and 1 cup or 8 oz. tonic water): 186 calories

Rum and Coke: 196 calories

Bud Light: 110 calories

Corona Light: 100 calories

Corona: 150 calories

Mimosa (Standard sized champagne flue): 150 calories

Cranberry-Vodka (made with 1 cup or 8 fl oz. cranberry juice, 1.5 oz. vodka): 166 calories

Irish Car Bonb (average 12 oz.): 237

Daiquiri (1.5 oz. liquor and 5 oz. mix): 364 calories

Long Island Iced Tea: 520 calories

Margarita (average 12 oz.): 540 calories

Pina Colada (12 oz.): 588 calories

Planning Ahead

Today’s diet tip is planning ahead. When you are on a strict diet, you do not have many calories to spare, so it can be helpful to plan what you are going to eat ahead of time. If you are on a 1700 calories per day diet and you decide you really want a nice big omelette with cheese for breakfast one morning, you will probably find that you have screwed yourself over later on in the day, and by nighttime you’re starving. A bag of chips may sound really good along with lunch in the moment, but hours after dinner you may be upset when you have no calories left for a snack. Planning ahead works in a variety of ways. For some people it means writing down exactly what they will eat for each meal the night before. Others may go with just a general idea and think a few hours ahead as the day progresses. To others, planning ahead means leaving a sort of safety net for times of the day when they know it will be harder for them to resist a snack or some froyo. For example, someone who knows they will want to snack at night may eat fewer calories during lunch or dinner so they have some left for a bowl of cereal while watching TV at night.  A person planning on going out to a bar with friends one night may also eat fewer calories at each meal to save room for a few vodka sodas later. Some dieters plan ahead by figuring out what low calorie foods are most filling or figuring out which nutritious foods they like best. Those who have been at it for awhile use their built up knowledge to determine what they should eat and when. Building up this knowledge base and figuring out what works best for you is all part of the learning process of dieting and living the fit life.

Listed below are some great foods you can incorporate into your diet as parts of meals or as snacks. These foods are nutritious, low-calorie, and delicious!

~Mango Non-Fat Greek Yogurt: 120 calories

~Apple: 70-100 calories

~Pirate’s Booty: 130 calories (1 serving=2 cups)

~Special K Chips: 110 calories (1 serving-27 chips)

~Raw Almonds: 160 calories (1 serving=.25 cups)

~Rice Chex cereal: 100 calories (1 serving=1 cup)

~Whole egg: 75 calories

~Egg whites: 15 calories per egg white

~Lemon Sorbet: 120 calories (1 serving-.5 cups)

~Skinny cow Ice Cream Sandwich: 150 calories

~Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt by Turkey Hill: 120 calories (1 serving-.5 cups)

~Blueberries: 80 per cup

~Raspberries:  64 calories per cip

~Sweet Potato (Medium Sized): 115 calories

~Grilled Chicken Breast (Boneless and Without Skin):  210

~Salmon Fillet (.5 of a filet): 185 calories

~Flounder Fillet (4.5 oz.)=170 calories

Baby Carrots: 50 calories per cup

~Green Beans (Boiled): 45 calories per cup

~Oatmeal (Plain): 165 calories

~Whole Wheat English Muffin: 130 calories

~Smart Balance Butter: 50 calories per tbsp.

~Broccolli: 35 calories per cup

~Green Tea (Un-sweetened): 0 calories

~Americano (black): 15 calories

Finding Your Thinspiration

     So now that you’ve begun a weight loss diet, you’re starting to pay close attention to the number of calories in the food you eat . . . and you’re starting to realize that everything seems to have like a bajillion calories in it! How can you possibly make it to the end of the day without dying of starvation or without eating over the number of calories you are allowed per day? When first starting off on a diet, you begin to realize just how difficult weight loss is, and thinking about the journey ahead may scare you. But don’t give up just yet! Dieting is a learning process, and for many, this learning process will eventually lead to the realization that nutrition and fitness is a lifestyle. Once you begin to understand more about health and nutrition, dieting will become less of a struggle and more rewarding. Yes, it can be ridiculously frustrating at first. Sometimes you may think you have eaten well and exercised enough only to find out that you have not lost weight that week. Sometimes you may feel exhausted or be having a generally bad day and will want to say “screw it” and spend the day eating whatever you want. Sometimes you will think that you just can’t do it anymore; the strict eating, calorie counting, and intense workouts are too much. But in moments like these, you must stop, breathe, and find your inner strength and will power by remembering your fitness goals and how important it is to you to reach them.

     Today’s dieting tip is finding your “thinspiration.” “Thinspiration” is your personal reason or inspiration for losing weight. Maybe your goal is not to drop pounds but to just tone up your body, but regardless of your fitness goal, there is a reason behind the goal, and that reason is what is driving you to reach it. Many people have an image in their mind of what they want their body to look like, and that image may be comparable to the body of a professional athlete or celebrity. Your thinspiration may be to lose 10 pounds before a big event like a wedding or your sorority formal, so you can fit into your dream dress. Your goal may be to get a fabulous bikini body before you hit the beach on your next vacation. Whatever your personal goal is, it is crucial to keep your “thinspiration” or reason for getting into shape in mind especially when the journey gets tough. Hanging up a picture on your wall of that celebrity who’s fit body you’d love to have or the size four dress you want to wear can help remind you why you’re on a diet/why you’re working extra hard at the gym an will help keep you motivated. This is NOT to say that you should hang a picture of Mary-Kate Olsen or Nicole Richie on your wall or write “Stop Eating” on your fridge. I am referring to celebrities who are thin but healthy and in shape like Beyonce, Jessica Biel, Halle Berry, or Jessica Alba. Remember that looking ano or emaciated is not actually attractive.  

     Finding your thinspiration is also important because you should be sure you’re dieting and working out for the right reasons. Your thinspiration should never be to please people other than yourself. You should not be dieting to win someone’s love or to “fit in” with a certain crowd of people. If you are attempting to drop pounds for the wrong reasons it is not only unhealthy but also much more difficult and less rewarding. So make sure that you are slimming down and toning up because YOU want to!