Looking for some low-calorie alcoholic drinks for weight loss? Here’s what we recommend for women over forty!
Is it possible to drink alcohol and still lose weight as a woman over forty? This is a question we get asked again and again by our clients… We’ve worked with thousands of women in their 40s and 50s who felt stuck because they didn’t know the best alcoholic drinks for weight loss when socialising.
They were stuck in a position where they felt like they could either:
- Not socialise with their friends because there was pressure to drink
- Or give in, drink the wrong things and see their weight creeping up!
Neither of these options work in the long term… especially if you want to keep your social life thriving and enjoy yourself!
Most of these women had tried to find a way to introduce a casual drink while still losing weight. However, if you aren’t sure which alcoholic drinks fit with your nutrition plan… it’s easy to end up having too many calories. This can quickly lead to your weight creeping on around your middle.
For women over forty, socialising while losing weight can be even more difficult. With the added physical and hormonal changes which occur at this age, it can be easier to gain weight and more difficult to lose it. Yet, if you know which drinks to have (and which to avoid), it’s easy to enjoy drinking while still dropping pounds!
In our most recent podcast episode, we revealed the best alcoholic drinks for weight loss, so you can make the right decisions for you. Here’s why alcohol might hinder weight loss, and what you can drink instead!
Why does alcohol disrupt weight loss?
There are a few reasons why alcohol might lead to your weight slowly creeping up…
Excess calories
Alcohol is fairly high in calories. Add in the fact it lacks any nutrition and that it’s not remotely filling… and it can be a recipe for disaster!
Most of the time, people don’t generally adjust their food intake to compensate for extra calories from alcohol. This can have some frustrating consequences.
Drinking one glass of wine every evening can mean you consume enough calories to gain a third of a pound every week! Over the course of a year, this can add up to more than a stone…
Despite this, in our Fit Over 40 program, we don’t recommend cutting out alcohol completely. Instead, we recommend fitting it into your overall calorie allowance. For example, if you have an evening event coming up… you might adjust your breakfast and lunch accordingly to allow flexibility in the evening. This way, you’ll still see the results you deserve!
The munchies
Most people’s resolve goes out of the window after a couple of drinks. Salty snacks and comfort food can become much more appealing after a glass of wine… and once the booze kicks in, it can be really difficult to stop the munchies!
This means, not only are you consuming more calories from alcohol… but far more food is consumed too.
Worsening symptoms of menopause
Another reason why alcohol might affect your weight loss is due to it exacerbating menopause symptoms. If you suffer from hot flushes, disrupted sleep, aches and pains, or night sweats… this all might be worsened after a few drinks.
Additionally, if someone feels worse… they’ll be much more likely to skip exercise or turn to comfort foods as a pick-me-up. This is a sneaky reason why alcohol might be affecting your progress!
So, what’s the solution?
There are multitude of reasons why alcohol might be affecting your progress on the scale. However, consuming alcohol on a regular basis does not mean you need to limit your weight loss efforts.
Many of our clients still drink and are able to see incredible transformations! We teach them to make better choices so they’re still able to see amazing results in the mirror. We’ve worked with thousands of clients over forty to lose 1-2 stone in just 12 weeks using these methods!
By making the right choices on a regular basis… sustainable results are just around the corner! Here are some alcoholic drinks we recommend for weight loss…
Here’s what we recommend
Here are some of our favourite alcoholic and non-alcoholic alternatives, which could help you see the results you deserve!
Alcohol-free alternatives
Alcohol-free alternatives are extremely common place nowadays. The industry is incredibly fast-growing, with most non-alcoholic options available in local shops and supermarkets. Here are some to look out for!
Beer/Cider:
- Heineken Zero: 69kcal per bottle vs. 139 per bottle for regular Heineken
- Brewdog Nanny State: 20kcal per can vs. 158 calories per can for Punk IPA
- Friels Low-Alcohol Cider: 73kcal per can vs. 163 per can of Strongbow
Gin:
- Seedlip: 0.2kcal vs. 123kcal for 50ml (double) not including tonic
- Gordons: 24kcal for a double shot
- Cotswolds Dry Gin Essence: 13kcal per serving with 90% less alcohol than a normal double gin shot, but with all the taste!
Flavoured soda waters:
- Lime and soda: 53kcal for a medium glass (mostly coming from the lime cordial)!
- The Fever-Tree Soda Range:
- Italian Blood Orange Soda: 20kcal/100ml or 50kcal per drink vs. 195kcal for the same sized Aperol Spritz
- Raspberry & Rose Soda
- Mexican Lime Soda
- White Grape & Apricot Soda
Non-alcoholic wine
- Ebony Vale Alcohol-Free Chardonnay: 67kcal for a large glass vs. 216kcal for a large glass of regular alcoholic Chardonnay
- Freixenet 0.0% Alcohol Free Sparkling Wine: 31kcal per serving vs. 86kcal for Prosecco
Better alcoholic options
There are plenty of alternatives when it comes to alcoholic drinks for weight loss. An excellent option when socialising is a single shot of a spirit and diet mixer, for example:
- Single G&T with diet tonic
- Single vodka/whiskey and diet coke/lemonade
Both are just 60kcal per drink, compared to 200-215kcal for a large glass of wine! For perspective, this means you can have 3-4 single spirits and mixers for every one glass of wine!
Small bottle of wine
The problem with a normal bottle of wine is that it often goes off quickly. So, once it’s open… it’s hard to stop!
The more you drink, the lower your inhibitions become. You tend to care less about your weight loss goals, and as a result you consume more!
Most people might end up drinking a whole bottle of wine, which is 650-700 calories. That’s enough to go from losing weight that day… to not losing anything at all.
Other options include:
- Mini Malbec 187ml (medium glass): 130kcal (and you don’t have the option of one drink becoming two)!
- Mini Prosecco 200ml (two glasses): just 134kcal
All of these options will help to keep the calories down, meaning you can drink more without hindering your weight loss!
If you’re interested in finding a long-term, sustainable diet designed for women over 40, you can find out more about working with us here!
