Alcohol and triathlon.

If you are having A drink, I really wouldn't feel all that guilty. The rule to alcohol in general is moderation.

Personally I'd steer away from Foo-foo drinks (Margarita mix and Sweet/Sour mixers come to mind)
A Long Island Tea can have upwards of 800calories depending on where you get it, same with a Margarita.

The problem I always have is... after one, two (more) seems like a good idea, and so on.

Be safe

Ach .. if you're eating right, training to your plan, and exercise moderation in your drinking (ie: don't down a whole bottle of wine in one sitting) ... have at 'er. It's important to feed the soul as much as the body.

That said - as a professional (nutritionist and personal trainer) - I never correct my clients when they have an after-work drink, or a glass of wine while preparing dinner, or similar ... it's about balance. It's about happiness. It's about enjoying life. You can race triathlon as long and as hard as you want to ... but if you're not enjoying the life you are living, you may as well be doing nothing.

If by "better than others" you mean calorie-wise, stick to mixers with less sugar/calories - like diet coke instead of coke, diet tonic instead of tonic, Sugar Free Redbull instead of regular, etc.

Anything sweet like a margarita, daquiri, long island, hurricane, etc. is full of sugar and calories from the mixes alone (not the actual alcohol).

I like drinks like cranberry vodkas because while the juice does have calories and natural sugars, it's not a refined sugar like what's in sweet and sour mix (margaritas/long islands) or tonic (carbonated sugar water).

I actually enjoy a vodka and cranberry or with diet ginger ale with a lemon.
Im not really a fan of all the fruity mixed drinks that are heavy on the sugar.

Why do you say that?  Alcohol can actually be quite good for you.  The problem is most who drink alcohol drink an abundance of it.

Outside of personal issues with alcohol, there is nothing wrong with a glass of an alcoholic beverage from time to time.

Can't go wrong with a gin and tonic as far as mixed drinks go.  For the healthy lifestyler, I'd suggest a glass of red wine!

Edited by JC5066 2009-08-27 11:06 PM

They say that the quinine in Tonic water can help with muscle cramping and aches.

Now, if I could only remember you "they" were...

I lean toward the Madras type drinks - OJ, cranberry, vanilla vodka. Yummers. Heck, it's OJ and cranberry juice, both of which are healthy, right? With a few more grains added in.

Seriously, have a drink, whatever kind you want. Have a brownie after dinner. Just don't have a whole pan of brownies for dinner and an entire fifth of alcohol to "hydrate".

You usually just drink it straight up?

I like a flavored vodka like plum, pomegranate or blueberry with soda and a squeeze of lime.   Or, during the summer, white wine with soda to make a spritzer. 

HA! I like all of this. Good advice.

Sort of...

Cranberry juice is not sold with that stuff, but cranberry cocktail is.  Most cranberry "juice" is the cocktail which has about 10% cranberry.  Just make sure which bottle you are grabbing.

Thanks for all of the awesome advice!

Vodka Gimlet!  Or even better, get a good vodka (Grey Goose is my favorite) and just add two limes.  Not to many calories and unless you really want a headache, it's a nice drink to just sip on.

I agree with the above, or a good glass of whiskey.  I also like my red wine.

I stay away from anything carbonated, its amazing how carbonation cuts your endurance down.  I normally notice a couple of glasses of wine will elevate my HR the next day so take that into consideration. 

Me and my fiance are fans of BACARI. She will mix hers with diet cranberry juice wich only has 5 calories per serving and I usually mix mine with crystal light lemonade, sprite zero with a squirt of lime juice or gatorade G2. Another good one is blueberry vodka and light lemonade.

Scotch and water.

your best bets are to stay away from the beer and sugery mixers.

Drink Hard alcohol and fruit juice, maybe diet drinks if you can have them.  I cant due to liver problems with the artificial sugars.