Drink Wisely: How to count (and cut) your liquid calories

A guest blog from Nutracheck

How often do we think about the calories in our drinks, rather than just our food? Liquid calories are often overlooked but can contribute some high numbers to your daily calorie intake. In fact, a standard 175ml glass of white wine contains over 130 calories; that’s more than a biscuit or a small bar of chocolate!

And it’s not just alcoholic drinks - iced coffees with syrup, full-fat cola, fruit juices and smoothies all pack a punch when it comes to calorie content, not to mention they can be high in sugar and other ‘less desirable’ ingredients.

While these drinks can be enjoyed in moderation within a healthy and balanced diet, if not tracked as part of your overall calorie intake, they may slow your progress if you are on a weight loss journey. This is where low-calorie versions can make a real difference - you can continue to have the drinks you enjoy, but for a fraction of the calories!

How to make your drinks low-cal

Simple tips include…

Swapping a glass of regular white wine to reduced calorie wine from DrinkWell. Or, if you do not want to drink alcohol, a spritzer with soda water or diet lemonade
Choosing diet versions of your other favourite mixers
Opting for sugar-free syrups in your coffees and cocktail

You can now even find lighter versions of your favourite alcoholic tipples, such as the TRACES Wine range from DrinkWell which have fewer calories than standard wines without compromising on taste.

Keeping track

Tracking what we drink and eat is a proven method to help with weight loss and dietary improvement. It gives you insight and awareness of your food choices, which empowers you with the information you need to make healthier food and drink choices.

The Nutracheck app makes tracking your liquid calories AND weekly alcohol units super simple, allowing you to keep an eye on your intake. It also tracks sugar and carbs, which are important nutrients to monitor if you have diabetes, or have been diagnosed as being pre-diabetic.

4 App Hacks

Here are 4 simple hacks for using the Nutracheck app...

1) Track calories in drinks

Open the app and type your drink into the search bar to find the right result and add it to your diary. You may prefer to count calories from drinks in your diet separate to food. If so, you can add an extra ‘Drinks’ meal occasion to your diary. To do this, tap the blue menu button (right of search bar) > Diary Preferences > Edit Meal Occasions.

2) Track calories from alcoholic drinks

The Nutracheck app has a tracker to tot up your daily calories that are coming from alcoholic drinks. To add this tracker into your diary, tap either the Water Meter or 5-a-day tracker > ‘Discover more trackers’ > select ‘Alcohol - Kcals’.

3) Check number of units from alcohol

Want to keep an eye on your overall daily and weekly intake of alcohol units? Add the alcohol unit tracker to your diary by tapping either the Water Meter or 5-a-day tracker > ‘Discover more trackers’ > select ‘Alcohol - ‘Units’.

4) Check your daily sugar & carbs intake

The Nutracheck app shows you a daily summary of how your diet measures up against healthy targets for 7 nutrients - including sugar and carbs. Tap the white chart icon top right in your diary to see your bar chart. Tip - the sugar bar is split into added sugars and natural sugars, your goal is to see more dark green in the bar, which is sugar from natural sources.

You can now track all DrinkWell products on the Nutracheck app.

DrinkWell is the home of ‘better for you’ alcohol. We source the best quality reduced-calorie wines, beer and spirits in this space from independent winemakers around the world, boutique breweries and small distilleries. Everyone should be able to make an informed decision on what they choose to drink so we clearly display the nutritional information of every product on site which is not currently required by law.

Already a Nutracheck customer? Get 15% off your first DrinkWell order with code: NUTRA15.