Call time on your lockdown drinking habits and still have fun!
around six pints or six medium glasses of wine – spread over three or more days. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised to avoid alcohol completely.
It’s important to think about the reasons behind your alcohol consumption, especially if it has increased since lockdown started, said Carolyn. “If it’s because of stress or worry, finding ways to share the load to try and tackle these feelings can make a real difference.
“Try making time to talk to others about your feelings – a chat with a friend or loved one can work wonders,” she said. “Talking about the challenges of alcohol and sharing strategies to avoid turning to wine or beer when feeling stressed is often a topic in our Slimming World groups.
“Finding positive ways to nurture yourself and feel good can help you to avoid getting into the habit of using alcohol as a comfort. Taking care of
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Phil’s cut down on uni days boozing yourself, cooking nutritious meals, taking regular exercise and getting enough sleep are the cornerstones of self-care and help you to feel good about yourself.”
It’s not about cutting out alcohol completely either, unless that’s something you want to do.
Phil added: “I’d tried very restrictive diets in the past and they hadn’t worked for me. What appealed to me about Slimming World was that I didn’t have to completely stop drinking. I could still enjoy the odd drink. “I switched from beers to vodka and a calorie-free mixer. “If we all met up the day after, I’d have half a roast chicken and a jacket potato at the pub rather than something deep fried. They were small changes and I still had a good time without completely blowing my weight-loss goals. “When I met my partner Nicole – our first date was in a bar. We’ve managed to do all of the things couples do – drinks, meals out and nights in without stalling my weight loss. “In fact, I’ve lost 6st since we’ve been together. It’s not about putting your life on hold at all.” Switching to spirits with a low-calorie mixer is one way to reduce calories. To cut your overall alcohol intake, try alternating between soft drinks and alcoholic ones, having longer drinks like spritzers or switching to smaller glasses. Don’t forget to measure your drinks when at home too. It’s likely you’re pouring much more than a pub size, especially if you have a big wine glass.
As with most things in life – it’s all about getting the balance right. For a lot of us, our worlds have been turned pretty much upside down by the pandemic, and we all have different coping mechanisms. If one of yours is the odd G&T, that’s absolutely fine. But if your alcohol consumption is worrying you or causing you to head a little off track with your weight-loss goals, there’s plenty you can do to make you feel a little more in control. There are plenty of great resources on the Drink Aware website if you want to find out more. *Slimming World’s Health and Wellbeing Study is an ongoing research project. Reported findings are a snapshot of data from the research relating to 1000 UK adults polled during April and May 2020 and asked how Covid-19 restrictions had affected various health-related behaviours and aspects of wellbeing. ©Slimming World 2020 Images: Slimming World/Gareth Morgans, Lara Holmes. All recipes are taken from Slimming World’s collection. To find out more about Slimming World, visit www.slimmingworld. co.uk or call 0344 897 8000.
Serves 4 Ready in 5 minutes ● 600ml unsweetened
tomato juice ● Juice of 2 lemons ● Worcestershire sauce, to taste (1-2 dashes per person) ● Tabasco, to taste (1-2
dashes per person) ● 4 celery sticks, to serve Pour the tomato juice and lemon juice into a jug. Add plenty of ice and stir well. Season to taste with Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir well. Pour into glasses and serve with the celery sticks.
Serves 8 Ready in 15 minutes ● 200g strawberries, sliced ice cubes or crushed ice ● 8 tsp grenadine
(pomegranate syrup) ● 750ml diet ginger ale Divide the sliced strawberries between eight tall cocktail glasses. Fill the glasses with ice cubes or crushed ice. Place a teaspoon of the grenadine in each glass and top up with the ginger ale.