Healthy Happy Hour

One of my favorite blogs to catch up on the latest trends in fashion, celebrity gossip, and fitness is this one.... www.fitsugar.com and www.popsugar.com

I came across an article recently on how to eat healthy over happy hour, and thought this would definitely attract some of you.. as we all participate in happy hour in one form or another.  

Here are a few tips to get you started (from fitsugar)

Choose hummus instead of butter. Nothing satiates hunger quite like a plate of warm bread, so if you are craving the carbs, go for a hummus spread instead of butter. Not only will you save calories and fat (36 calories and 4.1 g of fat in a pat of butter vs. 26 calories and 1.3 g of fat in a tablespoon of hummus).

Pick the right seafood.  Stay away from fried baskets of calamari (350 calories per serving) and order a shrimp cocktail (120 calories) or raw oysters (about 10 calories each) with lemon juice or a dash of mignonette sauce instead.

Snack attack. If you want something to nibble on, don't be tempted by the fries. Instead, choose finger foods like edamame, which gives you that hit of salt without the calories and fat (about 100 calories and 3 g of fat in a 1/2 cup of edamame vs. 427 calories and 22.8 g of fat in a medium serving of fries).

• Manage your meat. If you must have a burger, try ordering sliders instead; they are offered on many happy hour menus and you can easily portion control (by splitting the order with your friends or only ordering one slider). If appetizers like chicken satay are on the menu, order the sauce on the side; you could save up to 131 calories, for example, by ordering the satay peanut sauce as a dip instead of already smothering those grilled chicken skewers.
• Supplement with a salad. Many happy hour menus have a salad option, but if not the salad offerings in the normal appetizer menu will probably be a comparable price. Ordering a small salad means you can still snack on the foods you want while keeping yourself from overindulging.

Okay.. Moving onto booze....According to the website Skinnychef.com....

Steer clear of high-calorie fruit drinks. The average candy bar has about 29 grams of sugar. The strawberry daiquiri mix alone has nearly 40 grams of sugar! That is nearly triple your daily recommended amount of sugar? in just one drink! Add to that an ounce of rum and you are looking at a drink that has over 200 calories and 40 grams of sugar. If you are craving something sweet, why not try flavored vodka with soda instead? You can have an orange vodka and soda and it will only set you back about 70 calories.

Opt for freshly-made margaritas, instead of frozen pre-mixed. If you absolutely must have a margarita, then avoid the gigantic frozen, Cancun-type of ‘rita and have the bartender mix you up the original. Not only is it refreshing, but it will also save you sugar and calories!

Watch out for those free-floating bar snacks! Bars love to supply their guests with salty treats like beer nuts, peanuts, sesame Asian mix that make you drink more – good for them, bad for you (and might I add GROSS).  Besides the hundreds of unnecessary calories, sharing isn’t always a good thing. Avoiding bar snacks where unwashed fingers roam –

Beer lovers rejoice!   Many light beers are under 110 calories and have under 6 grams of carbs.  Hip.. Hip Hooray!!!

When all else fails, try old reliable – white wine.   At about a 120 calories a glass and less than 7 grams of carbs.  (Not bad eh??)

This is good stuff eh??   So after you consume in excess and get all crazy with the cheese whiz... then here are few helpful hints for the next morning....

Stay Hydrated: Water vs. Gatorade

Replace Essential Nutrients

Go to sleep sober.
One of the reasons hangovers leave us fatigued is because the alcohol interferes with REM sleep, the most restful stage of the night. Once sober, rest as long as possible.
Do not take aspirin
Tylenol or ibuprofen. Mixing these with alcohol will result in liver damage, increased length of alcohol in your system, and an irritated stomach.

There are a million remedies out there that we have all tried and swear by.. and here are a few of mine:  Vit B12, Prickly Pear Cactus Juice, Agave Nectar, Dr. Pepper, Toast with Peanut Butter, ect....