Today we wanted to circle back to alcohol. When this episode will be released, it will be a few days before a major drinking holiday. We discussed how alcohol affects your gains to some extent in episode 22, so definitely check that out if you want to add to your notes on this discussion. 

Of course you can drink. If you are of age. With anything else in your life, it should, and can be, in moderation. There are tons of options between beer, wine, and liquor. There are also tons of options for their non-alcoholic counterparts. We’re going to dive into that today. For more on the effects of alcohol on your journey, again, we cover that in detail in episode 22.

BEER! 

1. Beer is great. We’re in the midwest and the weather is starting to get warmer consistently. Personally, I love having a beer in my driveway after a long day, or week. 
2. There are a ton of options for beer if you want the flavor of one, but maybe not the side effects. 
3. Low calorie beers are legit. It may take some time to find one that fits your personal preference of what you’re wanting out of taste in a beer. However, a lot of companies now have people’s fitness in mind and are conscious of what the people want!

·      Mich ultra is a decent choice if you want just a straight up beer.

·      Corona Light

·          Guinness – 125 cal per can

·      Budweiser Select 55 – 55 cal per can

·      I’ve noticed that a lot of local breweries are putting out their best selling beers in lower calorie versions, as well – Bell’s Light Hearted, Boulevard’s Easy Sport, Dogfish Head’s Slightly Mighty, Goose Island’s So-Lo

·      When it comes to tracking beer, remember you can do this by attributing total cals to either carbs or fat. For example, if you drink a mich ultra, it’s 95 calories a beer, which equates to roughly 24 grams of carbs.

4. NA beers are a great option if you want beer flavor but not any sluggishness. We could do an entire episode on NA beers. We’ve both tried a ton, and to be honest, a lot of them are really good.

·      Coors

·      Budweiser Zero tastes even better than 55 Select, which also tastes really good if you’re looking for a low calorie beer option aaand it’s 50 calories per can. (Side note: Tastes GREAT in beer butt chicken recipes.)

·      Mango Cart -Found this at Hyvee, super delicious

·      Athletic Brewing Co -which, if you’re in Nebraska, I believe some Hy-Vees are carrying now

·      We’re going to do some bonus content for the holiday on our favorite NAs… don’t forget you can use NA beer to make your favorite beer cocktails like Micheladas and red beers… you won’t miss the alcohol, I promise.

5.  Seltzers!  They taste ok, and if you’re into sparkling, flavored water, this may be your jam. Keep in mind, they typically pack a higher alcohol content per punch.

WINE

1. In my adult life, I’ve grown to really love wine. I don’t even know when this happened to me, but ya girl loves a good cab.

·      Rose is around 120 calories per glass

·      Champagne is around 90 calories per glass

·      White wine is around 121 calories per glass

·      Red Wine is about 125 calories per glass

2. If you want to opt for a non-alcoholic option, you can reach for sparkling juice or zero proof wine/champagne… you can use the sparkling juice for brunch mimosas, and anything else you’d put champagne in.

LIQUOR

1. Shots aren’t great. I mean, depending on your frame of mind, maybe they serve their purpose, but keep in mind that your body does need time to process alcohol.

·      Vodka soda with lemon is about 96 calories per

·      No syrup mojito is less than 100 calories per

·      Bloody Mary is less than 100 calories per

·      Diet Gin and Tonic is about 120 calories per

·      Martini is around 128 calories per

·      Moscow Mule with diet ginger beer is about 80 calories per

2. I’m going to put together a mini cheat sheet of lo cal drink recipes and their caloric counts, you can find it on the website attached to this episode’s show notes.
3. Don’t sleep on NA spirits like zero proof gin, whiskey, or vodka… they won’t taste JUST like their boozy counterparts, but they will scratch the itch if you’re cutting down on drinking and you’re craving a cocktail.

TIPS AND TRICKS FROM THE PROS

1. EAT. For the love of god, eat. Getting drunk on an empty stomach is dumb and a surefire way to make sure your night ends earlier than planned.
2. HYDRATE. Pace yourself with a water or NA beer between alcoholic drinks.
3. Make lo-cal drinks to get the most bang for your macro buck.
4. “Skinny” pre-mixed cocktails like margaritas and such are also a quick easy option if you want to have a drink but not intake a ton of calories.

In summation, alcohol can be fun, and it can also fit into your journey. The mocktail craze is still going strong and we’ll post some of our favorite recipes with the show notes on meathead test kitchen dot com. If you have any questions about our favorites that we may not have mentioned, always send us a note at hello at meathead test kitchen dot com, or hit up our dms on instagram.

If you want MTK merch, check out our store! Go to hurrdat media dot com slash shop and check out the stuff we have available for you there, rep MTK wherever you go.