Let’s not delude ourselves, we all know binge drinking will never be good for your health, nor will it ever be good for your waistline; but we also know this is not going to stop you (or me for that matter). However, there are a number of things you can do to reduce the effects of binge drinking on your health and weight, regardless of whether you do it every weekend, or once a month.
Ultimately, if you go out drinking, your diet is ruined. For a normal person, being indulgent, or ruining a diet often involves having an extra slice of cake - not eating the entire thing. Therefore, a similar rule should be applied to our drinking habits.
Exercising: Dance, walk, run. Alcohol skews the perception of many things including distance, time and pain - the three shittiest aspects of exercising. One minute you’re arguing about the closest bar, next minute you’re half way across Sydney.
Bar hopping or choosing venues within a good walking distance of a station can be a great way to start burning off the innumerable number of calories you will consume throughout the night. Couple this with a few hours of dancing and you’ve got yourself a decent workout.
Drinking: Wines, champagne, spirits. You could drink in moderation, but we all know that is no fun. Straight spirits have the best calorie to efficiency ratio, with only 50 calories per shot and a good time guaranteed.
The next best thing (that you can drink all night without having to get your stomach pumped) would have to be wine and champagne. Other drinks that aren’t too bad for you, and that don’t taste so much like arse, include: vodka, lime and soda; diet mixers; Mojitos; Bloody Mary; and Martinis. Whatever you do, stay away from full-strength beers, pre-mixed drinks, soft drink mixers and super sweet cocktails.
Eating: Put the fork down- I cannot stress this enough. There are times when I would be happy to drink just so that I could eat a mid-night kebab. We all know the quality of food increases exponentially with every drink you have (until you throw it up). However, if you care enough about your waistline to read this, then the matter is quite simple: do not let your drunk self plan your food intake for the night.
Your drunken self has been known to take you into the depths of guiltless binge, and a person cannot binge on more than one thing in a night without drowning in their own calories. Plan ahead to avoid this and to decrease your chances of ending the night by attempting to eat a whole pounder from McDonald’s, or challenging people to a see-how-many-doughnuts-you-can-fit-in-your-mouth competition.
1. Pack a snack like a bag of almonds or grapes, which is lame (I know).
2. Eat a healthy, protein rich meal BEFORE you begin drinking. This will fill you up and hopefully give your stomach enough time to digest before it comes back up.
3. If drunk, you’re going to consume food and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop him/her, make sure you’ve decided on your meal before you become intoxicated.
Leave a Comment