Happy New Year, everyone! Now let the dieting begin!!
Yes, it’s that time again, when millions of people decide that the holiday excesses were a little too, well, excessive, and something has to be done about the added girth hanging about their middle. And for many of those would-be dieters, beer will be among the first of life’s little pleasures to get the push.
Which is a damn shame, really, because it’s entirely unnecessary. Beer is a food, true, and like all other foods, in addition to nutrients and various other healthful components, it does contain calories. The thing is, in comparison to a great number of foods, the calories an average beer does contain aren’t that many.
If you don’t believe me, just take a look for a minute at the beer calorie chart published at The Real Beer Page. There, you’ll see that a basic, flavour-filled beer, such as Anchor Steam Beer, contains about 150 calories. More than an apple, true, but about the same amount as is contained in the same sized glass of apple juice, and significantly fewer than in an equivalent amount of whole milk. Choose a beer with a lower alcohol content, like Beamish Stout, and the calories are even fewer.
So assuming that you’re the type of person who enjoys a beverage of some sort with their meal, you’ve just got to ask yourself which you’ll enjoy more, a glass of milk or juice, or a lager or ale? Because unless you stick to water alone, or opt for artificial sweetener-laden soft drinks, you’re going to find some calories in your drink.
I’ll admit to having overdone things a bit towards the end of last year – a week at an all-inclusive resort will do that to a person! – but to make bodily amends, I’ll be watching what I eat a bit more carefully, exercising more diligently and cutting back on, but certainly not eliminating, my beer consumption. In no time at all, I should be ready to regain the weight at Cheers Beverage Conference in the oh-so-delicious city of New Orleans during the final few days of the month.
Grander weight loss plans likewise need not call for the elimination of beer. Again, if you don’t believe me, take it from the horse’s mouth and read how my friend Lew Bryson lost 60 pounds in a mere four months, without sacrificing beer, wine or whiskey.
Here’s to a great year, good health, and fine beer as an enjoyable part of it all! Cheers!
