Enjoying Lower Calorie Summer Cocktails
Found this great eArticle regarding ways to enjoy some of everyone's favorite alcoholic beverages in a reduced calorie manor. Just thought I would share - also remember that Bacardi makes a lite rum (almost 50% calorie reduction) Here are the drinks:
Thanks to the dozens of different diet crazes, we are all abundantly aware of carbs, protein, and fat, and we all have different opinions on which is the most evil. But we forget that alcohol has calories too, specifically 7 calories per gram—more than carbs or protein and almost as much as fat. What does this mean for you? It means that it's a challenge to burn off alcohol, especially when it's mixed with yummy sugary ingredients.
The most obvious solution is abstinence, but what fun would that be? Since we cannot remove the alcohol from the recipe, let's remove the excess calories from some popular summer drinks. Here are six summer cocktails and recipes to make them waist friendly.
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Margarita. The enemy in the margarita is the margarita mix. There are "light" versions out there, but the taste is less than extraordinary. Here is another option that will cut your calories in half without sacrificing flavor. Ingredients:
- 3 oz. light limeade (either the Minute Maid® version or your own, made with limes, water, and a sugar substitute)
- Lime juice (one lime)
- 2 oz. tequila
- 1.5 oz. triple sec
- Ice
- 3 oz. light limeade (either the Minute Maid® version or your own, made with limes, water, and a sugar substitute)
Either pour over ice or blend with ice. Add salt to taste. Sip while pretending you are on a beach in Mexico, and you look amazing in your swimsuit.
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Calories before: 435
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Calories now: 180
- 3 oz. light cranberry juice drink
- 1 oz. raspberry vodka
- Squeeze of lime
- Lime twist, as garnish
Shake together with ice. Strain ice cubes and pour into fancy fluted glass. Look incredibly trendy and thin at the same time.
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Calories before: 413
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Calories now: 98
- 3 oz. light lemonade (or juice of one lemon plus 3 oz. water and sugar substitute)
- 3 oz. diet iced tea (or 2 teabags steeped in 3 oz. water)
- 2 oz. vodka
- Sprig of mint (optional)
- Ice
Pour over ice. Stir. Enjoy. Just don't try to play golf after two of these.
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Calories before: 156
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Calories now: 71
- 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1.5 oz. light rum
- Sweetener to taste (depends on how sweet the strawberries are)
- Ice
Throw it all in a blender, and let the good times begin. Please don't consume so many that you try to drink the umbrella.
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Calories before: 299
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Calories now: 118
- 7 oz. canned chunk pineapple, including juice
- 2 packets artificial sweetener
- 1 tsp. imitation coconut extract
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 cup ice cubes
Blend well, garnish with a small plastic monkey, and mentally escape to the Caribbean.
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Calories before: 297
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Calories now: 146
[*]White wine/light beer/champagne. These all seem fairly obvious and don't require recipes, but they're worth mentioning. White wine has about 100 calories in a 4-ounce serving. And it's rather refreshing on a summer day, especially if you add a blast of club soda to make it into a spritzer. Beer comes in very light versions now, and some contain fewer than 70 calories. Champagne is not only fantastic with brunch, it also is around 100 calories per serving. With all of these, just be sure to measure your amounts so you don't end up with a splitting headache the next morning.
And there you have it. A handle on your summer cocktails, without adding to your love handles. Now get out that swimsuit and let summer be the party it was meant to be!
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