Enjoy Alcohol in Moderation

Cheers!!! Oh dear, how many drinks have I had??? How hard am I going to have to work tomorrow for this one last drink?

The table below highlights the calories in some standard drinks, in comparison to a slice of bread and how much you will need to exercise to burn it off!!! So choose wisely for your next drink! Read about our weight management services.

References: Healthy Food Guide (December 2016) and Calorie King www.calorieking.com.au

How to enjoy parties

1. Try drinking from a smaller glass
2. Add ice or half fill your glass with sparkling mineral water, to reduce alcohol content
3. Drink slowly, enjoy small sips between good conversation or between mouthfuls
4. Alternate your alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic drinks
5. Choose low calorie/lighter beer options
6. Feel confident to say no to ‘rounds’ or ‘top ups’
7. Safe drinking means you can drive home after your event!

Heart foundation website:
https://www.heartfoundation.org.au

Summer Socialising

Australia is well known to celebrate throughout the summer months, which adds to our busy schedules, and reduces the time to think about yourself and your health goals.

A couple of tips to help keep you on track with your goals over the Christmas and January period are as follows:

1. Eat before going out – many social events may include appetizers, buffets, BBQ spreads, nibbles – all of which can be loaded with fat and sugar. To help you reduce the need to quickly grab a handful of chips or aranchini ball going past, if you have had a small meal of salad/vegetables and a little meat, you won’t be over hungry going to an event
2. Ensure you have had your 8 glasses of water during the day – as our Christmas and New Year period comes during our summer dehydration can happen faster. The more dehydrated you are, the more your brain will encourage you to reach for high calorie treats for energy. (ref 2)
3. Be confident to say no – with the gift of giving chocolate, candy canes, shortbread, rocky road being at an all time high at this time of year, your willpower will be stretched. – set yourself a safe target of when you will have these treats, how many and when you won’t. Remember Christmas is one day – that doesn’t mean you need to eat your weight in chocolate throughout December.
4. Replace what is in your hand – if you have a glass of water in your hand, you can’t suffer from the empty hand syndrome where you are open to be asked for an alcoholic beverage, or enticed to reach for the snack table. (ref 1)

References:

Chawla, G (2018) Boosting mental health through dietary intake. Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, vol 9, issue 2; pages 312-313
Mattes, Richard (2010) Hunger and Thirst: Issues in measurement and prediction of eating and drinking. Physiological behavior,100(1), pages 22-23