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| Don't "triple fist" it. |
I try to approach nutrition and lifestyle change from a realistic standpoint. Most people will want to go out once in a while and have some fun with friends. If you’re going out for dinner, appetizers, and drinks with some friends, there aren’t many healthy options to choose from. You can however greatly minimize the “damage” you put your body through. Below are some tips on how to make the best choices when getting intoxicated.
ALCOHOL
- If not drinking to intoxication, or, if you are a “lightweight” when it comes to drinking, having two beers or two glasses of wine is fine
- If you are, however, looking to get all “snockered up”, try sticking to low-carbohydrate high-balls such as rum with diet coke, vodka with water and a slice of lime, or gin with soda water and a slice of lemon/lime. Each of these drinks carry about 60 calories each.
- When you do have an alcoholic drink, try to match every drink with a glass of water. This will help to keep you hydrated while minimizing mineral and electrolyte loss.
FOOD
- If you are going out for drinks, try to eat a healthy dinner before-hand and try to keep your evening eating to appetizers only
- When ordering appetizers, try to stick to the meaty type options such as chicken wings, steak strips, dry ribs, shrimp, etc.
- Try to avoid nachos, cheesy dips, dumplings, spring rolls, bruschetta, (basically anything cheesey or starchy)
- SKIP DESSERT!
SAMPLE NIGHT OUT : Not so Bad VS. Really Bad
Night out at Boston
NOT SO BAD
- 6 rum and diet coke drinks 384 calories (all calories coming in form of alcohol)
- ½ of order oven roasted Frank’s red hot chicken wings 298 calories (27.5g protein, 4.5g carbs, 18.5 g fat)
- ½ of order of chicken fingers 170 calories (14.5g protein, 7.5 g carbs, 9.5g fat)
- NO DESERT
Total = 852 calories (42g protein, 12g carbs, 28g fat)
REALLY BAD
- 6 pints Molson Canadian 1290 calories (5.5 g protein, 40g carbs, 0g fat)
- ½ of bandero pizza bread 410 calories ( 13 g protein, 29g carbs, 28g fat)
- ½ of boston pizza spring rolls order 320 calories (16g protein, 39.5g carbs, 10.5g fat)
- ½ of chocolate explosion cheese cake – 435 calories (5.5g protein, 49g carbs, 24.5g fat)
Total = 2455 calories (40g protein, 157.5g carbs, 63g fat)
Analysis:
- Each night out involved 6 drinks, and two shared appetizers with the only difference being one serving included half of a desert, and the other did not include a desert
- Despite only having 852 calories VS. 2455 calories, the “not so bad” night out had more protein (42 g VS. 40g)
- The really bad night out had 2455 calories which is the equivalent to almost ¾ of a pound of body-fat
- Sticking to meaty appetizers and low-carb highballs is the way to go
How to minimize hangovers:
- Aside from the obvious fact that hangovers make us feel sick, from a nutrition standpoint, they can also lead to major food cravings and binging the next day
- Dehydration leading to mineral and electrolyte loss can cause the body to crave salty and greasy type foods
- Drinking water in between alcoholic drinks will help to minimize dehydration
- Waking up feeling relatively hydrated will drastically increase the chances that you can will get your butt out of bed and do something active J
- One serving of alcohol is metabolized in about an hour, so sticking to the rule of one drink per hour will help to minimize the compounding effects of having several drinks
- Prior to going to bed, try to consume a low-calorie electrolyte drink such as 500ml to 1L of Gatorade G2 or 500ml to 1L of water with 5-10 droplets of trace mineral drops
Conclusion
Go out, have fun, indulge (even swear a little bit), but keep an eye on what you are indulging with. Depending on your choices, two fairly similar night’s out can have drastically different nutrition consequences. Party hard, but party smart!
To look up the nutrition profile of some popular restaurant’s, visit these links:
Earl’s
Joey’s Seafood
The Keg
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