Wow. It’s December 27th and we are on the road to visit some family in Ottawa for a few days between the craziness of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the frenzy of that one last party each year, New Year’s Eve. We gulped down one last plate of Christmas leftovers last night, threw the rest into a soup pot and packed up the remaining tarts, chocolates and cookies to share with our relatives (which is the calorie equivalent of passing the poison cup, I suppose…). I am enjoying a few days of respite before we shower ourselves in champagne again in a few days. We in my family are no stranger to “grown up drinks.” Some families have enormous feasts with wine to accent. We have enormous cocktail “hours” with food to accent. 

 

champagne

 

Being in the fitness industry for so long I have learned to turn my tastes toward tipples that do the least damage to my waistline. Here are my top drinks, selected for their low carbohydrate/sugar content and ability to impart a great buzz without the accompanying nausea that rich and sweet drinks tend to give me:

  • champagne (this really tops everyone’s list, doesn’t it?)
  • gin martini
  • gin and soda water with 1/2 lime
  • tequila and soda water with 1/2 lime
  • red wine

That’s really pretty much all I drink. You’ll never catch me ordering a cosmo, or even a bellini. Indulging I’m alright with, but one can indulge without going whole hog. Speaking of hog, I thought I’d share this amazing chart of holiday drinks & their bacon equivalents, from one of my favourite websites, www.robbwolf.com (home of The Paleo Solution).

So… how much bacon are you going to drink on New Year’s Eve?…   😉

Drink

Serving Size

Carbohydrates

Sugar

Calories

Bacon Equivalent

Egg Nog (with Rum)

9 ounces

35 g

22 g

440

9 strips

Egg Nog (virgin)

8 ounces

35 g

22 g

350

7 strips

Wine (Red or White)

5 ounces

5 g

1 g

125

2.25 strips

Champagne

5 ounces

2 g

2 g

90

1.8 strips

White Russian

5 ounces

24 g

24 g

350

7 Strips

Hot Cocoa (with Peppermint Schnapps)

9 ounces

57 g

53 g

400

8 strips

Hot Cocoa (virgin)

8 ounces

46 g

42 g

300

6 strips

Spiked Wassail/Apple Cider

9 ounces

28 g

26 g

210

4.25 strips

Virgin Wassail/Apple Cider

8 ounces

28 g

26 g

120

2.5 strips

Christmas Ale (Microbrew)

12 ounces

20 g

0 g

200

4 strips