Published: March 12, 2009

March 13 is almost here, and Spring Break will soon descend on Fordham. You and a couple of friends have plane tickets to one of a number of tropical, warm places: Cancun, Miami, Acapulco and the Bahamas, to name a few. If not, maybe you’re at home with friends and family or in New York City to get some much needed “me time.”

You have been working out the last few weeks to get your body into tip-top Break shape to either impress eager onlookers or for your own satisfaction. However, the bars and clubs are beckoning, and the sweet, strong taste of alcohol is calling your lips.

Don’t worry about adding empty, needless calories to your body. By trying these low-calorie drinks, you can say goodbye to worrying and hello to drinking on a diet. (Please drink responsibly.)

Beer:

For any person looking to lose weight, the beer gut is a symbol of everything that is difficult about weight loss. The beer gut has become the foremost symbol of what not to look like. Fitness magazines, sitcoms and even family members poke fun at the sight or even the thought of beer bellies.

The truth is that drinking heavy amounts of alcohol in general will add on calories that stumbling to your hotel room will not burn off. The more you drink, the more calories you will put on, no exceptions. Regardless of what drink you consume, a few too many will not only leave you with impaired senses, but can also pack on a couple of flabby souvenirs of your break.

For the lightest beer on your waistline, try Beck’s Premier Light. Beck’s Premier Light comes in at a whopping 64 calories. To give you a comparison, three 12-ounce bottles of Beck’s Light is roughly the equivalent of drinking a pint of Guinness Stout (170 calories). Though the beer is fairly typical of a light beer in terms of taste (watery) and alcohol content (2.3 percent alcohol per bottle, quite low for a beer), the beer won’t lead you to working out double-time the next day (or the day after if the hangover proved too much to bear). Though not quite the calorie buster as Beck’s, the 108-calorie Bud Light also serves as a good low-calorie alternative.

Wine:

Wine has become the symbolic drink of sophistication. For many upscale outings, most recently the Winter Ball, wine sends a signal to most people that you like to dress and drink in style. Furthermore, a news story seems to break every week about the benefits of having one glass of red wine a day for the cardiovascular system.

However, don’t become fully distracted by its health benefits. Like any type of alcohol, the benefits of wine can be washed away from drinking glass after glass of it. Curb the possible effects of over-indulging with Carignane Red Table Wine. The wine comes in at 112 calories per five-ounce glass, and it’s not terribly expensive, either. The wine can be purchased online for just under $12.

Mixed Drinks:

Mixed drinks come in all different tastes and alcohol proofs. However, one usual common attribute of mixed drinks is the great sugar content within each drink. For example, drinks like a Long Island iced tea or a simple margarita have a number of various liquors as well as sugary additions. Mixtures of different liquors like vodka, tequila, rum, gin, triple sec, and Coke in a Long Island iced tea can quickly add on the calories and the carbohydrates from the sugar content of each liquor.

Fortunately, there are a variety of mixed drinks that, though still sweet and delicious, will not leave you regretting your decisions the next day (at least, in terms of weight). With any mixed drink you order with a soda, always go with the diet alternative. For example, a rum and Diet Coke comes in at 110 calories, cutting about 100 calories from using regular Coke. Sometimes, even the simplest cocktail can be the best alternative. A screwdriver with just orange juice and vodka can vary between 180 to 200 calories.

Weight Loss/Exercising Update:

My original weight was 228.5 lbs, which was measured on Jan. 21. After almost three weeks of working out and eating more healthy, my weight stands at 224.5, four pounds from my original.

After going through a basic calorie-counting diet which has yielded mixed results, I am looking to radically change my diet plans. I can see a difference physically with the muscle I am putting on. My arms are becoming more defined, and I am not as tired when I walk up five flights of stairs. However, my weight loss has been up and down, regardless of portioning out my meals.

I will be attempting a new diet called calorie cycling. Calorie cycling allows me to eat the same amount of calories per week. However, the purpose of the diet is to trick my body by constantly changing daily calories. I will be detailing the effects of the diet in the next issue of All Kinds of Ripped.