If you’re watching your weight, do you have to give up alcoholic drinks? Not if you’ve got a taste for one of these delicious low-calorie cocktails.
Weight loss isn’t a one-stop destination. The trick is to find the weight at which you’re happy and healthy, adjusting your lifestyle to match. Sure, that can mean ditching things like fast food, candy, and alcoholic drinks. But you can’t abandon all of life’s little pleasures, right?
Today, we’re pouring you a double shot of low-calorie cocktail inspo. What does science have to say about drinking and losing weight, and what cocktails play nicest with a healthy lifestyle?
You can still lose weight and enjoy the occasional alcoholic drink. After careful consideration and rigorous testing, these are our faves:
- Fruity seltzer champagne
- Skinny gin and cranberry with a squeeze
- Gin martini
- Manhattan
- Margarita over ice
- Paloma
- Rum and diet lemonade
- Rum with black tea
- Tequila lime and seltzer
- Vodka seltzer
- Vodka with muddled mint and cucumber
Keep reading for detailed info – including calories, carbs, and sugar – about each drink.
Per 4-ounce serving of champagne:
- Calories: 90 kcal
- Carbs: 3 g
- Sugar: 1 g
Mix 4 oz. of the bubbly stuff with seltzer in a tall glass. Muddle up your favorite mix of fresh fruits and herbs. Stir them into the glass and enjoy.
This summery classic lets you enjoy the sophistication of champagne while making sure the enjoyment stretches as far as possible. A single cube of ice on a hot day is another strong addition. Let the fruit and herbs do the hard work delighting your taste buds. Avoid adding sugar or syrups.
Per single-shot serving of gin:
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Pour one shot of gin in a tall glass over two ice cubes, along with a 50-50 mix of cranberry juice and seltzer. Squeeze in a wedge of fresh lime (not cordial) and take a satisfying sip.
As well as being deliciously dry, cranberry juice is also great for you. It is a little sugary, hence we’re using seltzer to bulk it out. Once you taste that freshly squeezed lime though, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on flavour.
Per double-shot serving of gin:
- Calories: 220 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Chill a glass in the fridge for 10–15 minutes. Toss in three or four ice cubes, then add a double shot of gin and a teaspoon of dry vermouth. Stir til the ice begins to dilute the drink, then add an olive on a cocktail stick.
This garden party staple shows what you can do with a simple set of classy ingredients. The ice steals the show here, creating a downright refreshing experience. Experiment with exactly how diluted you want your martini to get. After all, half the pleasure’s in the anticipation.
Per double-shot serving of bourbon:
- Calories: 200 kcal
- Carbs: 0.06 g
- Sugar: 0.06 g
Mix two shots of bourbon, a teaspoon each of sweet and extra dry vermouth, and 2 dashes of bitters. Pour over ice with a dash of cherry liqueur and stir until it’s properly diluted. Strain into a martini glass, garnish, and drink.
If you’re only having one or two drinks, you might want to consider getting your Don Draper on. The Manhattan is a good low-calorie option that you can get in more or less any cocktail bar on the planet.
Per single-shot serving of tequila:
- Calories: 105 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Rub a lime wedge around the rim of your glass to wet it, then dip it in salt. Combine a shot of tequila, 25 ml of lime juice, and 20 ml of triple sec, and pour into the glass over ice. Serve and enjoy with the lime wedge.
Ok, a few calories are hiding in that triple sec and lime juice combo. But you can have one margarita without worrying too much about your weight. Tequila itself is a relatively low-calorie alcoholic drink, with even lower trace carbs and sugar than whisky. Treat it with respect, though.
Per single-shot serving of tequila:
- Calories: 105 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Mix a shot of tequila with 10 ml of agave syrup, 10 ml of lime juice, and 60 ml of grapefruit juice. Shake with ice, then strain into a glass and top up with soda water. Prep the glass ahead of time by wetting its rim and dipping it into salt.
Tequila shows its fruity side in this crisp, refreshing classic. Even if you love your lime juice and syrup, the most decadent paloma shouldn’t take you past 200 calories. On a hot day, there isn’t much nicer than kicking back with one of these in good company.
Per single-shot serving of rum:
- Calories: 97 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Mix a shot of your favorite rum over ice in a tall glass, topped up with diet lemonade. Throw in some chopped or muddled fruits of your choice, depending on whether you prefer dark or light rum.
It’s simple, elegant, and definitely has a place on this list of low-calorie alcoholic options. Diet lemonade in particular contains negligible carbs and sugar, combining well with already ultra-low-calorie rum.
Per single-shot serving of rum:
- Calories: 97 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Fill a tall glass generously with ice cubes. Pour in a shot of dark rum and top up with unsweetened black tea. Garnish with muddled mint and a slice of fresh lime.
Not every bar will have unsweetened black tea, making this more of an at-home drink. Even if you prepare this by the jug to enjoy with friends, the tea will only add a handful of calories at the very most. It’s an enduring classic on hot summer evenings.
Per single-shot serving of tequila:
- Calories: 105 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Pour a shot of tequila into a tall glass over three big ice cubes. Squeeze two chunky slices of fresh lime, then top up with seltzer. Toss in your lime slices, stir, and enjoy.
Fresh fruit is your friend when you’re trying to lose weight without going teetotal. Swapping sweetened lime cordial for a healthy dose of the real stuff is a good move. That’s going to give you the burst of refreshing flavor you need, while the ice and seltzer stretch out your enjoyment.
Per single-shot serving of vodka:
- Calories: 97 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Pour a shot of quality vodka over ice and top up with seltzer. Garnish with a slice of lemon and lime, or experiment with your favorite mix of muddled berries.
This is about as streamlined as it gets. Vodka is low-cal with zero carbs and sugar, making it great for drinking without packing on pounds. Such a skinny drink means you can go to town with fresh fruit… within reason, of course.
Per single-shot serving of vodka:
- Calories: 97 kcal
- Carbs: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Pour a shot of vodka and a big glug of fresh line juice over ice. Stir until the ice has dissolved to your liking, then mix in some muddled fresh mint and cucumber. Stir once again to infuse the flavor throughout the drink, and enjoy.
A sophisticated twist on vodka and seltzer lets the ice do the hard work diluting your drink. Combined with the intricate flavors of mind and cucumber, it’s a downright interesting way to enjoy a beverage.
Some types of alcohol just ain’t your drinking buddies if weight loss is the goal:
- Beer packs 153 kcal and 13 g of carbs into a 12-ounce bottle. Hey, at least there’s no sugar. Light beer helps, but it’s still not optimal for weight loss.
- Baileys hits you with 123 kcal, 4 g of carbs, and 1 g of sugar per shot.
- Wine contains 123 kcal, 4 g carbs, and 1 g sugar per 5-ounce glass. You can get those numbers down by diluting your vino with club soda.
Weight loss is about more than calories, carbs, and sugar. Alcohol affects weight loss in other, not positive, ways.
For one thing, it’s an inflammatory toxin that our bodies are unable to store. It goes straight to your liver, where it’s burned off first, before any calories from food. In other words, weight loss gets delayed.
Alcohol also doesn’t satisfy your appetite like solid food and may increase it (the so-called apéritif effect). Finally, it inhibits dietary fat oxidation, making you more prone to gaining weight instead of losing it.
So yeah, too much alcohol isn’t great for losing weight. But there are steps you can take to mitigate its impact:
- Diet sodas, tonics, and sugar-free mixers still taste great as an alternative to your usual option
- Fruit juices and syrups, common cocktail ingredients, are often packed with calories and carbs, steer clear for a lighter refreshment
- Interspace your alcoholic drinks with water or soft drinks to ease that post-booze dehydration
- Seltzer is your zero-calories, zero-carb best friend. Add it to cocktails to bulk them out
- The same goes for ice, an extra couple of cubes can supplement your drink with nothing but refreshing water
Alcohol isn’t amazing for your long-term health, but it’s a part of many people’s lifestyles. With research and planning, you can maintain that lifestyle while also pursuing your ideal healthy weight. All it takes are a few cunning substitutions and a shot of moderation. We’ll drink to that!
