Drinking Calories: What do dieters drink?

It’s been a long time since I drank my calories – in university I gave up soda (Diet, actually) after I found it ineffective at keeping me up studying for engineering finals. Since then, I’ve probably had soda once or twice a month, if that.

I know fruit juice, which I love dearly, is to be avoided and I do very well – only fresh-squeezed orange juice when I feel the twinges of a sore throat, and cranberry or apple only on special occasions (and when I can actually find it here in Italy).

But what about going out? Drinking in a bar? I love aperitivo here in Italy, the pre-dinner drink which is accompanied by a buffet. It’s turning out to be a bit detrimental / dangerous to my diet but so far I’ve found good veggie and healthy options wherever I am.

It’s the drinks. What do I drink?

So far I’ve rotated between vodka tonics and Aperol spritz – the latter being a classic aperitivo drink. I know I should be aiming for a diet Coke + vodka/rum which I sometimes order, but it goes back to the drinking sodas thing I’m trying to avoid forming a habit.

So what do I drink?

Surprisingly, it looks like a white wine might be a winner, or at least the best when I can’t get a diet mixer (like diet tonic). An article on Yahoo about the best drinks for dieters gives more suggestions, but most of them rely on diet mixers (which expecting to find in Italy is like going into a trattoria and asking for healthy carbonara.

So the quest continues. Any suggestions?