Whenever you find yourself at a party, it’s common practice to throw any form of healthy eating out of the window. From the countless tequila shots to the delicious cheese platters, there are a lot of temptations that can seriously wreck your physique. While enjoying parties will make you happy (aside from the hangover in the morning), it can also affect your fitness progress.
Despite knowing this, we still want to party anyways. Luckily, it’s more than possible to partake in wild parties, down alcohol, and still retain your physical accomplishments. With a few techniques, some planning, and a lot of good decisions, you can stay armed to protect your fitness level whenever you go to a party.
This article is also great for those who want to drink beer and alcohol and still stay fit. While you won’t want to give up your favorite lager or wine, you also want to keep the build you’ve been spending hours working on at the gym.
Let’s get right into it!
Pick the Right Party
If you look well enough, there are loads of reasons to throw a party. People will find any excuse to party, and if you have friends that like you, they’ll definitely want to include you in all the fun. If you want to have a partying lifestyle and still stay fit, it all starts with picking the right kind of party.
You need to decide which of these parties will be worth your time and effort in the long run, as this will help you protect your physique and plan properly.
Drink Wisely
There’s no partying without great alcohol. Whether you’re downing beers while watching the game, enjoying drinks with your significant other, enjoying shots at the club, or having a glass of wine by yourself, there is always a reason to drink. Many men are worried about getting a beer belly when they drink too much.
Beers are probably the most popular alcoholic drink among men. While these creamy and diverse drinks are easy to find and appeal to every kind of man, they pack a lot of calories that can get rid of your abs. Drinking a lot of alcohol without moderation can also lead to poor health and illnesses.
Here are some tips to keep in mind next time you want to take a drink.
Check Your Order
Not all alcoholic drinks are the same, so it’s important to think twice before you make an order. For one, if you drink fruity cocktails like sangria, daiquiris, Pina Coladas, and margaritas, you could be consuming the calories of three meals.
If you have mixed drinks like fruit juice and soda with alcohol, you will also consume a lot of calories. To stay safe for your next drink order, you should go for beer and wine. You can also go for hard liquor if this is your style, like a clean margarita with a splash of orange or lime juice. A martini also works great.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a fruity cocktail, but you should know what you’re getting into.
Calories Matter
Aside from considering the calories in alcohol, you can also end up with poor decisions in terms of food when you’re drunk. It’s important to think of the food that you’re going to eat while drinking, especially when you’re drinking alone.
On the nights that you drink, you should skip foods like rice, bread, potatoes, and dessert and enjoy the alcohol instead. And if you decide to eat these foods, limit your drinks to one or two. Keep in mind that the average can of beer has over 100 calories except for some low-cal options, and consuming four is the same as a Big Bac.
These calories will add to those from your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and so you have to work on burning them all.
Stay Hydrated
One of the well-known rules of drinking alcohol is to stay hydrated. Alcohol causes us to get dehydrated, which can lead to poor health and a bad hangover the next day. By keeping up with the water intake, you can process the alcohol much better and reduce the adverse effects.
For every alcoholic drink you take in, you should have a glass of water. Although this would cause you to pee often, you will also be less hungover, and it will benefit your body. This is totally worth the extra trips to the bathroom.
Limit Your Drinks
You should have a limit set on how many cans or bottles of alcohol you have per week. Moderation is very important in drinking, especially if you want to be partying for a long time. While drinking does not offer any problems, it becomes negative when you start chronic drinking.
It’s advisable for men to drink a maximum of 15 drinks per week. This is best for men that weigh about 200 pounds or more, and any more than this will harm you in the long run. For smaller people under 120 pounds, you only need to drink eight weekly.
When planning your parties, it’s best to keep your drinking limit in mind. You can have up to four drinks at a party, but you also need to consider the drinking you do at home.
Recommended Party Drinks
Here are some good drinks to go for when partying:
- Light beers.
- Chardonnay.
- Rum and diet coke.
- Dry champagne.
- Cabernet sauvignon.
- Gin and diet tonic.
- Vodka and soda water.
- Jack Daniels.
Avoid These Drinks
But you definitely should be wary of these alcoholic beers, as they feature over 500 calories.
- Mudslide.
- Pina colada.
- Margarita.
- Mai tai.
- Long Island Ice Tea.
Other Drinking Tips
- Your limit of drinks, while you’re at a party should be in the single digits. Also, ensure that you keep to this number and stay strong.
- Choose a light beer always.
- Go easy on shots. Although they have low calories, you will start downing them once you get drunk, leading to a massive build-up.
- When mixing a drink, use fruit juice or diet soda and not regular soda.
- With every cocktail, you drink a glass of water afterward. This will quench your thirst (not alcohol) and keep you hydrated. It also reduces the chances of a hangover.
Eat Before You Go
Another plan to set in place before you go out to party is what you will eat. Don’t leave your house hungry when going to a party because there will always be delicious temptations where you go. Hunger makes it hard to make smart food decisions, especially when you’re starving.
Before leaving the house, you should eat something healthy like a bowl of fibrous cereal with fresh fruits or whole-grain bread. You can also top it off with a couple of glasses of water to reduce hunger.
Watch the Snacks
If you eat before you go to a party, it becomes easier to snack with caution. Taking the right alcohol and eating before you go won’t mean anything if you start binging on foods like nachos, wings, pizza, and more. Parties usually have a lot of unhealthy food, and everyone knows temptations can get too much.
You can also look out for some healthy options at the party, although this depends on the type of party you’re at. You might be able to get some healthy options like fresh fruit, salsa, raw veggies, salads, and hummus. But if you don’t want to seem like a killjoy, simply watch what you eat.
Actually, Exercise!
Don’t be lazy! Even with all the partying and fun, you still need to make time to exercise. You should squeeze in a few workouts daily or weekly to get rid of all the calories you picked up with crappy snacks and alcohol. You might still end up eating and drinking what you’re not supposed to anyway, so exercise should be part of your life.
If you want to stay fit and still party, you can’t do without this tip.
Easy Workouts for the Everyday Man
No one likes to exercise, but if you want to burn the calories gotten from all that beer, you can try out this convenient workout. It’s a great full-body calorie burner, and you should repeat it between three and five times.
First, walk, run or bike for five minutes. Then, do 20 squats, 10-20 push-ups, and 20 crunches or sit-ups. By doing this daily, you can maintain your body and still have fun.
You can also go for some fun exercises like swimming, cross-country skiing, and biking.
Nothing is stopping you from drinking a six-pack a week and still keeping your six-pack abs. As long as you follow the tips and keep on doing what you do for healthy living, you can enjoy your partying lifestyle and stay fit. Keep in mind that excessive drinking is not recommended, and adding high-calorie foods to this is a recipe for disaster. So, you should be serious about your health, drink moderately and exercise.
