So last night I enjoyed 6 margaritas... I know I went a bit overboard but I really enjoy my margaritas. Do you count calories for mixed drinks? I cannot see myself going through the sumer without happy hour on the porch!

Thanks,
Karen

Hi!

Yes, absolutely you count the calories in alcoholic drinks, mixed or otherwise. My database says 1 margarita has 168 calories. So, you can do the math...

Jay

Absolutely! You must count the calories in all beverages! You CAN incorporate alcohol into your plan, but it is pretty hard to stay within your calorie range for the day AND drink a lot of alcohol.

Why not mix it up a bit - have a drink, then have some iced tea, or sparkling water, or other non-caloric beverage. Then maybe - just maybe - another drink later. I've found that, while I can drink alcohol (red wine in my case), I must limit my intake to 1-2 small glasses.

So, watch the glass size - the current trend toward super-size margaritas means that one drink can have several hundred calories!

I have always been told that Margs (when made with mixes) were more towards the 6-800 calorie range--yes, EACH! You would have to find out how exactly the bar is making them to be more precise.

I like a shot of tequila, diet sprite and a packet of crystal light. Made this way, it has about 150 calories if the shot is 1.5 ounces.

Absolutely yes yes yes!!

I tend to stay away from mixed drinks when I'm out with friends. I can go overboard and the calories can add up fast!

A large margarita can have upwards of 300 calories in it depending on what the alcohol is mixed with! 5 or 6 of those and I'm over my daily limit for food even. No thanks!

There are a few beers on the market that contain between 60 and 100 calories. I like beer so I'll have one or two of those on weekend evenings. Mike's makes a hard lemonade that's 99 calories a bottle and is REALLY good .

Wine hovers around 100 calories per 4oz and Vodka is about the same per shot. If I'm going to be drinking more than one I alternate with diet soda or seltzer water so I don't overdo it.

The big diet buster with drinking is not usually the alcohol itself (IMHO) it's the high calorie sugar syrup we mix it with .

Everything in moderation!

I have switched to top shelf vodka mixed with club soda and a wedge of both lemon and lime as my cocktail of choice. I get the most bang for my buck/calorie that way. Cheaper vodka is a little too rough to enjoy this way but Grey Goose is great.

Absolutely you count it! Like the other girls said, calories depend on how they are made. If you do them yourself at home you will be able to work out the count. If you have them at a bar it's a little more difficult.

I don't drink much anymore. I used to be like you, couldn't imagine not. But then I started counting how many useless calories I was consuming, and what I could be eating instead. So I cut down to a couple of glasses of wine a week.

Then I realised that I could drink non-alcoholic calorie free drinks (soda water with lemon and lime is my current favourite) and I didn't enjoy myself any less. Plus then I could eat some of the cool little snacks my friends were having.

And the convenience of not having to catch a cab because you can drive yourself home when you go out is not to be understated.

Well, I don't think of the booze calories as useless because I have social anxiety and it helps me actually go out and talk to people instead of wanting to just stay home and hide all he time. I think of the mixer calories as useless and since I can't have nutrasweet it limits me.

Hi prinny, I didn't specifically mean that alcohol calories were useless, I just meant when I PERSONALLY started taking notice of where my calories were coming from, I was staying under my count but a lot were coming from useless TO ME areas, like lollies at work and alcohol.

No offence intended!

Oh Absolutely YES! It all counts.

You can make drinks that are much lower in sugar/calories by mixing liquor with calorie-free beverages such as diet soda, club soda, or even low calorie juices like the new diet cranberry juice. Just be careful, the sugar in the mixers actually slow down the absorption of alcohol so drinks made with sugar free mixers will hit your system faster!

Here are a couple of Hungry-girl.com links:
Happy Hour Survival guide: http://hungry-girl.com/week/weeklydetails.php?isid=1736
Margarita recipe: http://hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1746

My strategy is to drink at least one non-alcoholic beverage (like club soda with a twist or diet coke) in between every round of alcoholic beverages. I dance a lot and focus on the social aspect, more than the drinking part. I find I have just as much fun, even without drinking much (or even at all sometimes).

That woman on Real Housewives of New York is always talking about her "skinny Girl margarita" and she is very thin! I'm not at a place I can google it right now - but I bet it's god -it's her signature item - haha!

There are times that I am tempted to not count something I consumed to make my food log look like I think it should, instead of reflecting what I actually consumed. But does that help or hurt me?

Not being honest with myself about how many calories I consume only hurts me. So my rule of thumb - will my body count those calories? Absolutely, my body will count every calorie that I eat or drink whether or not I chose to write it down or not. Therefore, if I want an accurate record of how many calories my body is receiving, I have to count every calorie that goes into my mouth.

So yes, your drinks count. Your body is getting calories from them. So if you can't see yourself doing without happy hour and you want to lose weight, figure out how to include them within your plan.

I definitely count the calories in any alcoholic drink.

However, just wanted to let you know that if you play around with the recipe a bit, you can definitely have a low calorie margarita! I love my margaritas, too, and I couldn't imagine summer (or any time hehe) without them

Isn't that kind of like asking if you count calories for chips and cookies?

I agree, developing a chaser habit is very useful in decreasing the alcohol and sugar calories without feeling deprived.

OMG, I don't count calories in alcohol... When I started counting calories I switched to drinking shots... My thought was it takes me 2 shots to get to a point where I'm pretty much done drinking, but it takes me a lot of beer. And I remembered from weight watchers that tequila was no points.... I'm starting to wonder how I've managed to lose a single lb when I cheat like this! Someone smack some sense into me! And by the way, Good to see you JulieJ!