Burp! Analysis of alcoholic beverages...

Staying fit and maintaining a decent weight for me means that I have to be somewhat careful about my diet.  Because I'm a grown-up human being, I am faced with lots of temptation on a regular basis.  One of my regular temptations is alcohol.

I am not a big drinker, but on occasion, I like to hoist a couple of my favorite cold drinks in honor of [INSERT OCCASION/PERSON/TEAM/ETC HERE].  These occasions will often fall on a day which I do not consider a "cheat day".  What can a Regular Guy/Gal do to minimize impact to his/her waistline and workout regime while still caving in to peer pressure and not making the friends we are with feel like socially awkward drunks when we refuse alcohol?

I decided to embark on a not-very-scientific study to measure the number of calories, carbohydrates (if available), and alcoholic content by volume in a few different types of drinks:

• Blue Moon:  It's a great Belgian white ale, and generally people squeeze an orange into it.  I feel if you have to squeeze fruit into your beer, you may be a sissy...and Blue Moon stands pretty good on its own.
• Michelob Ultra:  This is a great and very light beer, suitable for drinking while cleaning your garage or enjoying one of our senseless outdoor Arizona parties in 105 degree heat.
• Jack Daniels and Diet Coke:  I LOVE diet coke.  Combining Jack Daniels Tennessee Whisky and Diet Coke gives me (what I would assume would be) the same feeling as the guy who first combined peanut butter and chocolate.
• Margarita:  In Arizona, a good standard margarita is a staple at Mexican food restaurants, backyard parties, Christenings, meetings with attorneys, and etc.
• Long Island Iced Tea:  Oh yeah...I used to drink these puppies in college, and 15 years later have re-discovered them.
• Zinfandel:  Yes, I enjoy a glass of red zinfandel (preferably old vines, preferably from a great winery such as Seghezio in Sonoma County)... any wine that you can drink with a slice of pizza doesn't seem too snobby to me!

The assumptions that I am making:

• I will calculate calories PER SERVING using STANDARD SERVING SIZES
• You're a responsible adult (even though you're reading my blog) and will consume alcohol responsibly

Another disclaimer - I do not and would not encourage anybody to work out AFTER consuming an alcoholic beverage.  Use your brains.

I used WebMD's calorie counter for the information, and cross referenced against a number of other sources (e.g. Drinks Mixer's website - which was awesome) so it's probably good enough.  Here's what I came up with:



Caloric and Alcoholic content for some of my favorite drinks

 The big winner?  Jack Daniels and Diet Coke - how awesome is that? 

Was this helpful?  Annoying?  Respond to my blog or give me a shout on twitter - @PMGeekAndy.  Now, I'm getting thirsty...