Did you know a single margarita can contain almost 600 calories? If you’re anything like us, you usually don’t stop at just one margarita, either. If you’re looking to cut your liquid calories but you don’t want to cut out booze entirely, turn your cocktails skinny. With a few recipe tweaks and mixer substitutions, you can significantly cut the calorie impact and still enjoy a tipple or two.
Use Diet Soda
This one may seem like a no brainer, but if someone else is making your drink for you, you should make sure to specify a diet variety of the mixer. A standard rum and coke can have over 250 calories while a rum and diet has less than 100.
Give Your Drink Fizz with Club Soda
A lot of recipes call for a dash of champagne to add a little fizz to your drink. Calorie-conscious drinkers should add a different sort of bubbly: club soda. Using it in drinks like a French 75 or a Kir Royal to knock of some calories without losing the bubbles.
Or Skip Soda All Together
An easy strategy to avoid the cocktail version of a beer belly is to get creative with mixers. If rum is your drink, how about a rum and coconut water? Coconut water, and other no-calorie flavored waters, can be used to create a number of tasty libations and you won’t have to work any harder at the gym the next day.
Soda vs. Tonic Water
A traditional gin and tonic can’t be beat, and a vodka tonic is a lot of people’s go-to drink. There is sad news though. Even though that tonic seems super light, it has over 100 calories per serving. If you can switch to club soda, the only calories you’ll have to worry about are the ones in the booze (and we’re thinking you don’t want to get rid of that ingredient). Or better yet, switch to a fizzy flavored water, like in this LaCroix™ mango mimosa.
Use Fresh Fruit
Skip the store-brought juices (and their long lists of ingredients) and make your own juice from fresh fruit. The natural sugars in the fresh fruit will offer a nice sweet kick and even provide a bit of nutrition. And let’s face it, the fresh blueberries in this skinny daiquiri taste better than any juice substitute.
Skip the Sour Mix
To really cut back on your kCal count, put that store-bought sour mix back on the shelf. It’s loaded with extra calories, and you can just use all-natural lime juice in its place. Or, you can get creative and try these lower calorie grapefruit margaritas.
Use a Sugar Alternative
Simple syrup, essentially liquid sugar, is used to sweet a variety of mixed drinks. It may taste good, but it’s a calorie bomb, with 50 calories per serving (and a healthy squeeze contains more than that). Try making your sweet drinks with a sugar substitute—it may not taste exactly the same, but your waistline will be happy.
If You Need to Save Time, Get the Skinny Mixers
If you are in a pinch for time and can’t use fresh fruit or natural mixers, a number of companies offer skinny varieties of pre-made cocktail mixers, like these. While it’s often the case that these contain more calories than a fresh cocktail, the skinny mixers are a viable alternative when you’re in a rush.