⚡️How to Drink Alcohol w/o Trashing Your Wellness Goals - Tips for a Healthier Night Out

Ella: 00:00:00

Guys, I called Megan and I was like, we need to talk about alcohol and we need to talk about how to drink without completely trashing all of your wellness goals.

Megan: 00:00:08

This is one of my favorite topics.

Ella: 00:00:10

Well, I have.

Ella: 00:00:11

I mean, this is shocking because one does not normally equate alcohol with nutrition.

Ella: 00:00:16

Megan.

Megan: 00:00:17

No, that is true.

Ella: 00:00:18

At the end of the day, I think most of us have a baseline understanding that drinking and optimal fitness are maybe not best friends.

Ella: 00:00:25

Like, we all get that.

Ella: 00:00:27

But you and I, like many people who are sharing this conversation with us today, you know, we want to go out and be able to have a good time or be able to enjoy a cocktail or two out being all obsessed with what we're doing or not doing or the fact that we're now trashing all of our wellness goals.

Ella: 00:00:43

I mean, who wants to live like that?

Ella: 00:00:45

I do not.

Megan: 00:00:46

Right.

Megan: 00:00:46

And when you go out with friends, you don't want that in the back of your mind.

Megan: 00:00:50

That's no fun.

Ella: 00:00:51

Now I want to be responsible.

Ella: 00:00:52

And so one thing that does need to be said is you guys not promoting drinking.

Ella: 00:00:59

So like, let's be real for just a second.

Ella: 00:01:00

First of all, I'm not a huge drinker.

Ella: 00:01:02

I'm not very good at it.

Ella: 00:01:03

Megan.

Ella: 00:01:03

Like they call me to drink Ella.

Megan: 00:01:05

Because I'm not making that up.

Ella: 00:01:07

Oh no, that's awesome.

Ella: 00:01:08

No, because two drinks is like my absolute max.

Ella: 00:01:11

I just, I honestly think there's something wrong with me.

Ella: 00:01:14

Like I don't tolerate it very well and it just makes me feel bad or makes me want to immediately go to sleep or something.

Ella: 00:01:19

So anyway, so a big night for me is like two drinks in a two hour period.

Ella: 00:01:24

That is me swinging from the chandeliers.

Ella: 00:01:25

Just to be clear.

Megan: 00:01:26

That's amazing.

Ella: 00:01:27

I have a super cheap date.

Ella: 00:01:29

Ok.

Ella: 00:01:29

Okay.

Ella: 00:01:29

So besides that, obviously, obviously I talk a lot on the show about overeating, about over drinking, over shopping, over sexing.

Ella: 00:01:37

Like whatever you might do, that's your coping mechanism that you might actually have established an unhealthy relationship with.

Ella: 00:01:43

And, and I hope it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Ella: 00:01:46

If over drinking is something that you are feeling, like is maybe a thing for you, like that, like drinking is maybe a coping mechanism for you.

Ella: 00:01:55

This is not your show.

Ella: 00:01:56

This is not a show that you need to do.

Megan: 00:01:58

This is not your show.

Ella: 00:01:58

No, no, We've got plenty more, Megan.

Ella: 00:02:01

Can we all just have a casual conversation though about how to hack our night out drinking and not sabotage our wellness goals?

Megan: 00:02:08

Yes, absolutely.

Megan: 00:02:09

That is what I'M here to do.

Megan: 00:02:11

And first and foremost, just in case you don't already know, alcohol is actually a poison.

Megan: 00:02:16

So, you know, when we ingest alcohol, it, you know, it goes through our liver, it passes through our liver, returns to acetate, and then, you know, immediately your body starts working on expelling it.

Megan: 00:02:27

So it is not a health food.

Megan: 00:02:29

We're not trying to say prosecco is a health food.

Megan: 00:02:30

There we said it.

Ella: 00:02:32

Let's be really clear for a moment about what alcohol really is.

Ella: 00:02:35

So give us a little more on that.

Ella: 00:02:36

You're saying it is a toxin, and you're saying our body recognizes it as such.

Megan: 00:02:41

Yeah.

Megan: 00:02:41

So again, when we ingest alcohol, it, you know, goes through our system, and immediately your body is always just trying to keep you alive.

Ella: 00:02:49

Right.

Megan: 00:02:50

So when something comes into your system that it doesn't particularly like, it starts to immediately work on clearing it.

Megan: 00:02:57

And this is why other processes, like your metabolism, for example, starts to slow down when you drink alcohol because it's so focused on, you know, kind of getting rid of that alcohol.

Megan: 00:03:10

So that's why a lot of people think, like, alcohol makes me gain weight, and it's, you know, it doesn't make me feel good.

Megan: 00:03:18

And that's because it's so focused on getting rid of the alcohol.

Megan: 00:03:21

And so that's why it's important.

Megan: 00:03:24

And, you know, we can get to this, but it's.

Megan: 00:03:26

It's important if you really want to feel good, you know, the day after you're drinking alcohol or if you don't want it to, you know, really screw up your wellness goals.

Megan: 00:03:34

It's important to, you know, eat a certain way when you're out drinking.

Megan: 00:03:37

It's important to choose the right types of alcohol that is going to make you feel better, and you have to be a little more diligent about it than, you know, just going out and throwing all inhibitions to the wind and drinking three or four margaritas, like, that's.

Megan: 00:03:52

That's not gonna make you feel good, and you're not gonna hit, you know, reach your wellness goals by doing things like that because, you know, you.

Megan: 00:03:57

You just have to be a lot more.

Megan: 00:03:59

You just really have to pay attention to what you're putting into your body while you're drinking because it's going through this process of trying to expel the alcohol constantly.

Ella: 00:04:09

Okay, I think this is important, and I.

Ella: 00:04:11

Let's stay on the biological response for just a moment.

Ella: 00:04:14

So your body recognizes it as something that it wants to get rid of, and so that puts a burden on your Liver.

Ella: 00:04:20

And also, doesn't it, like, immediately slow down your metabolism?

Ella: 00:04:24

So you're not talking about a conceptual thing that happens over time, like, doesn't it.

Ella: 00:04:28

In that, you know, short term, immediate term.

Ella: 00:04:31

Tell me about that.

Megan: 00:04:33

Yeah, well, you know, just in simplest terms, when your body is focused on.

Megan: 00:04:38

And, you know, even like, inflammation, you know, it's the same thing.

Megan: 00:04:41

If you're.

Megan: 00:04:41

If having an inflammatory response in your body, you're going to feel tired.

Megan: 00:04:45

Right.

Megan: 00:04:46

Because your body is so focused on getting rid of that inflammation.

Megan: 00:04:49

And so everything else kind of slows down.

Megan: 00:04:52

It's the same thing with drinking alcohol.

Megan: 00:04:56

So your liver starts processing the alcohol.

Megan: 00:04:58

It's totally focused on just clearing it out of your system.

Megan: 00:05:01

So your metabolism totally starts to slow down.

Megan: 00:05:04

Now, what's interesting is our bodies really don't like to store alcohol as fat.

Megan: 00:05:11

So it's really the food that you're eating when you are going out, you know, to a party, the fried foods, the desserts, the really sugary drinks that you're drinking that are causing you to gain weight or feel like crap the next day.

Ella: 00:05:28

Yeah.

Ella: 00:05:28

And just feel super bloaty and heavy.

Megan: 00:05:30

Yeah, bloaty.

Megan: 00:05:31

Yeah.

Megan: 00:05:31

And it's not even necessarily about, like, weight gain.

Megan: 00:05:33

It's.

Megan: 00:05:34

It's the, you know, waking up and being bloated and feeling yucky and headache and kind of yuck.

Ella: 00:05:39

Okay.

Ella: 00:05:39

Because I want to have my vodka soda and eat it, too, or however that saying needs to go.

Ella: 00:05:45

Okay.

Ella: 00:05:45

So the actual alcohol that you're drinking really matters.

Ella: 00:05:49

I'm going to tell you the very little that I know, and then you educate all of us.

Megan: 00:05:52

Perfect.

Ella: 00:05:53

My understanding is that clearer is better.

Ella: 00:05:57

Is that right?

Megan: 00:05:58

Yes, in general, that is right.

Ella: 00:06:00

And I know there's a much bigger spectrum.

Ella: 00:06:02

So why don't you go from worst to best in terms of.

Ella: 00:06:05

Again, you guys, we're talking about in terms of your ability to, like, bounce back, recuperate, not feel like crap, and also not to just, like, shut down the metabolism and have everything you eat, like, stick to your body.

Ella: 00:06:17

So let's talk about that.

Ella: 00:06:19

What's on the.

Ella: 00:06:19

Like, if this is all a spectrum, Megan, if you're on the spectrum and you want to dabble and enjoy a drink or two or three, then tell us what is on the worst and, like, most deleterious end of that spectrum.

Megan: 00:06:31

Okay, so first off, let's talk about liqueurs.

Megan: 00:06:34

And liqueurs are going to be like your chambord, your.

Megan: 00:06:37

Your triple sec, your amaretto fernet apple puckers, like, pretty Much anything that is colorful and fruity and sugary and, you know, delicious.

Ella: 00:06:48

That sounds amazing.

Megan: 00:06:51

Yeah, like an appletini.

Megan: 00:06:53

Okay, so anything like that, that's gonna be like really syrupy and sugary.

Megan: 00:06:56

These liqueurs have about half the amount of alcohol as, you know, like an ounce of vodka.

Megan: 00:07:02

And the reason is because the rest of it is sugar.

Megan: 00:07:05

All of that sugar is just gonna go in like you said.

Megan: 00:07:09

You said it perfectly.

Megan: 00:07:09

It's just gonna go stick to you.

Megan: 00:07:11

So, you know, if you see anything like that on the menu, you really.

Megan: 00:07:15

That is my number one thing that you really want to avoid.

Megan: 00:07:18

Yes, it tastes good, but man, it is just.

Megan: 00:07:20

It is literally like eating dessert.

Megan: 00:07:22

You might as well just eat dessert.

Ella: 00:07:23

All right, and so this is liqueurs which find their way into a great many cr.

Ella: 00:07:27

I mean, I literally just had a champagne and Chambord the other night.

Ella: 00:07:31

Um.

Ella: 00:07:32

Right.

Megan: 00:07:33

I mean, you'll see it a lot in that.

Megan: 00:07:34

And you know, if it's like a splash, you know, like I tell people in a margarita.

Megan: 00:07:38

Okay.

Megan: 00:07:39

Usually you're going to have some sort of orange liqueur in a margarita, get, you know, get your splash of.

Megan: 00:07:44

Of triple sec, but then ask them to take out the agave, because that orange liqueur is going to be able to sweeten margarita a little bit without having to add that extra sugar.

Megan: 00:07:53

So, you know, it's okay to sneak a little bit in there every once in a while, but if we're talking like, like an amaretto sour or something that has like a couple ounces of a liqueur in it, it's just going to be sugar.

Ella: 00:08:03

Oh, okay.

Ella: 00:08:04

Okay.

Ella: 00:08:04

Okay, that's great to know.

Ella: 00:08:05

Okay, so that's at the telltale end of the spectrum.

Ella: 00:08:08

What's next?

Megan: 00:08:09

Okay, so next is beer.

Ella: 00:08:11

No surprise.

Megan: 00:08:12

Yeah.

Megan: 00:08:13

You know, because beer is just.

Megan: 00:08:14

It can.

Megan: 00:08:15

It has gluten and yeast and tons of other compounds and toxins that make us feel like crap the next day.

Ella: 00:08:22

I call it a sandwich in a bottle.

Ella: 00:08:24

It is.

Megan: 00:08:25

I mean, it's so most of them are so full of carbs.

Megan: 00:08:27

And granted, like, you can get a light beer that's gonna be less.

Megan: 00:08:30

But also remember, so we already talked about the liver processing your out processing alcohol.

Megan: 00:08:37

So when you're adding things in, like, like the gluten and the yeast and.

Megan: 00:08:42

And we're talking, you know, most beers are not made with really high quality wheat.

Megan: 00:08:47

It's, you know, it's beer.

Megan: 00:08:49

So you've got a lot of toxins and junk that are in that are in the beer.

Megan: 00:08:54

And so now your body's also having to process that.

Megan: 00:08:57

So it's having to process the alcohol and then all the other toxins that are in beer.

Megan: 00:09:03

And let's be honest, if you go out and have a few beers one night and you wake up the next day, you're probably feeling pretty bloaty and gross.

Megan: 00:09:14

It's because you're having to process all these toxins.

Ella: 00:09:18

I mean, I can take a sip of beer and my stomach will go boom.

Ella: 00:09:21

Totally.

Megan: 00:09:22

Yeah.

Megan: 00:09:22

I mean, that's so common.

Megan: 00:09:24

And then you do have your cider beers, which don't have, as you know, it doesn't have the gluten in it.

Megan: 00:09:30

But cider beers are going to be a lot higher in sugar, too.

Megan: 00:09:33

So, you know, if you want to have a beer, I always tell people this.

Megan: 00:09:37

Like, some people love beer.

Megan: 00:09:38

I don't want to tell you you can't ever have beer, but have one.

Megan: 00:09:40

Like, have your favorite beer.

Megan: 00:09:42

And then if you want to have another drink, switch to something else.

Megan: 00:09:45

And we'll get to the better options in a second here.

Ella: 00:09:48

Okay, fair enough.

Ella: 00:09:48

And I'm not going to fight you on that one, because I hate beer, so.

Megan: 00:09:51

Yeah, I do, too.

Ella: 00:09:53

Okay, what's next?

Megan: 00:09:54

Okay, so next would be your, like, really sweet wines, like your Riesling and Moscato.

Megan: 00:09:58

I mean, look, if you have a drink of wine, you can tell if it's sweet or not, you know, so the sweeter wines, it's kind of obvious.

Megan: 00:10:05

Again, it's because they're full of sugar.

Megan: 00:10:08

And then after that would be your drier wines.

Megan: 00:10:11

So again, you have a sip of wine, you know if it's dry or not.

Megan: 00:10:15

But, you know, your Sauvignon blancs, your Pinot Grigios, a lot of your, you know, dry red wines.

Megan: 00:10:21

So those are kind of in the middle.

Megan: 00:10:24

Now.

Megan: 00:10:25

They're in the middle because they are going to be lower in, like, the.

Megan: 00:10:28

The carbs and sugar.

Megan: 00:10:31

But the reason they're still not going to be, like, your best choice is because, again, like, beer, wine has a lot of those.

Megan: 00:10:42

You know, they're called, like, akratoxins and myotoxins.

Megan: 00:10:44

And we don't need to get, like, super technical.

Megan: 00:10:46

But, you know, they have a lot of.

Megan: 00:10:49

Of compounds in them that aren't filtered out.

Megan: 00:10:53

And so they're putting a heavier load on your liver.

Megan: 00:10:57

And so no one can argue with me on this.

Megan: 00:11:00

You know, when people get upset about me kind of, you know, saying, like, choose white wine over red, because red wine has A lot more of the toxins in it.

Megan: 00:11:08

And they're like, no, but red wine is supposed to be so good for you.

Megan: 00:11:10

And I'm like, tell me the last time you didn't have a few glasses of red wine before you went to bed and you know, you woke up feeling good because, you know, you really do get more of a hangover from red wine than white wine.

Megan: 00:11:24

And I can't find too many people to disagree with me on that.

Megan: 00:11:26

And it's because of all those, like, extra toxins that are in the red wine.

Ella: 00:11:30

Okay.

Ella: 00:11:31

And does it matter if you get an organic red wine versus a conventional.

Megan: 00:11:35

Okay, so the organic wines, and there are some other wines now too.

Megan: 00:11:40

There's a few different brands that are creating these more, you know, filtered wines that, from what I have heard, really do make you feel better.

Megan: 00:11:54

I have not personally tried them, but yeah, if you're going for an organic wine or like a low.

Megan: 00:12:00

That's the word I was looking for, like a low sulfate wine is going to be a much better option for you.

Megan: 00:12:06

So if we're, if we're really ranking them here, I would say, like, you know, pretty much always avoid those really sweet wines.

Megan: 00:12:13

Then if you can find like an organic or a low sulfite red or white wine, that's going to be a much better option.

Megan: 00:12:20

And champagne is kind of in the same category as your drier wines, too.

Megan: 00:12:25

Most champagnes now are on the drier end, and they're.

Megan: 00:12:29

They're really about the same as wine.

Ella: 00:12:30

Okay, so the champagne and the Prosecco are going to be.

Ella: 00:12:33

If they're super, super icky sweet, then.

Megan: 00:12:35

You know, then, you know, I feel like, you know, the Prosecco's and the champagnes right now, the really popular ones are all on the drier end.

Megan: 00:12:43

I don't come across a lot of sweet ones anymore.

Megan: 00:12:45

But you'll know, you know, you, you put it, you sip that, and if it tastes sweet, it's good.

Megan: 00:12:50

It's definitely full of sugar.

Ella: 00:12:51

Yeah.

Ella: 00:12:51

And the.

Ella: 00:12:52

Honestly, the cheaper they are, the more sugar, the more sugary they are.

Megan: 00:12:56

Absolutely.

Megan: 00:12:56

You know, the less they're filtered and you know, the worst quality grapes they're using.

Megan: 00:13:03

And you know, all of that is going to contribute to feeling yucky the next day.

Ella: 00:13:08

Okay, so I'm on air with Ella, and I'm here to tell you to drink expensive champagne.

Ella: 00:13:12

That is my goal.

Megan: 00:13:13

Yes.

Ella: 00:13:15

Okay, so let's talk about liquor.

Ella: 00:13:16

Now.

Ella: 00:13:17

Where does, you know, the vodkas and the gins and the scotches, where do they fall on this spectrum.

Megan: 00:13:21

Okay, so these are going to be your best option.

Megan: 00:13:23

And really, it's just because, yeah, you know, it's surprising, but they actually are going to have a lighter load on your liver.

Megan: 00:13:32

Now, disclaimer.

Megan: 00:13:33

Of course, we're talking drink for drink.

Megan: 00:13:35

I'm not saying if you have, you know, four vodka sodas versus one beer, that's a different story.

Megan: 00:13:42

But if we're talking just like drink for drink, the liquor is going to have a lighter load on your liver because they.

Megan: 00:13:48

It.

Megan: 00:13:48

It is a pure alcohol.

Megan: 00:13:50

You're not.

Megan: 00:13:50

There's nothing else in it.

Megan: 00:13:52

So what's important, though, with your vodka, your gin, your rum, tequila, whiskey, bourbon, you know, all you can choose any of them, but what's important is what you're drinking with it.

Megan: 00:14:04

So a vodka cranberry.

Megan: 00:14:08

You know, if you're going to drink a vodka cranberry, you might as well just have a glass of wine because you're going to be consuming way less sugar with your glass of wine.

Megan: 00:14:15

I love to club soda or sparkling water or, you know, just regular water or, you know, on the rocks with some good lime juice or lemon juice.

Megan: 00:14:25

Try to stick with, you know, mixers that don't contain sugar.

Ella: 00:14:31

Okay, I want to talk about that, but I have a question about liquor first.

Ella: 00:14:34

So.

Megan: 00:14:34

Okay.

Ella: 00:14:35

On the.

Ella: 00:14:35

So liquor is toward the better side of the spectrum in terms of.

Ella: 00:14:40

And again, I hope it's obvious to people that, you know, you need a lot less liquor and you should consume far less liquor in terms of quantity relative to, say, a glass of wine.

Ella: 00:14:53

So that goes without saying.

Ella: 00:14:54

But what you're saying is ounce for ounce, it's a lighter load on the liver.

Ella: 00:14:58

And that I.

Ella: 00:14:59

That makes intuitive sense now with liquor is that also darker to lighter is worse to better.

Megan: 00:15:06

When darker liquors are fermented, they create a compound called conjugars.

Megan: 00:15:12

And these are, again, they're just, you know, they're toxins that, that your liver is going to have to process.

Megan: 00:15:19

So as far as your metabolism goes, it's not going to make a big difference of, you know, if you're drinking a light liquor or a dark liquor, it contains the same amount of sugar, it contains the same amount of calories, it contains all of the, you know, all of that is the same.

Megan: 00:15:32

But if we're talking about, like, the actual damage that it's doing to your body and the way that it's going to make you feel, the lighter liquors are going to be your best bet.

Megan: 00:15:42

So again, I kind of go back to this rule Like, I'll tell people, you know, if you really love, like, bourbon on the rocks, go for it.

Megan: 00:15:49

Like, have one or an old Fashioned, you know?

Megan: 00:15:51

But then if you want to have a second drink, switch to something lighter.

Megan: 00:15:55

And it's totally a myth that you shouldn't switch from dark to light and that it's going to make you more drunk.

Megan: 00:16:03

That is absolutely not true.

Ella: 00:16:05

Oh, that's so interesting.

Ella: 00:16:06

That's a myth from college.

Megan: 00:16:08

Oh, my gosh.

Megan: 00:16:08

Yes, I know.

Megan: 00:16:10

I believed it too, but that is absolutely false.

Ella: 00:16:14

Okay, so if you want your darker liquor drink, then have one and have it with a splash of whatever makes it taste good to you, but then maybe don't have three.

Ella: 00:16:25

Is that what I'm hearing you say?

Megan: 00:16:27

That is exactly what I'm saying.

Ella: 00:16:28

That sounds like good life advice, no matter what.

Megan: 00:16:30

It does, doesn't it?

Megan: 00:16:31

Yeah.

Ella: 00:16:32

Now, let's talk about the mixers, because this is something that I have figured out, and I definitely want to hear kind of your standard drink order, and I'll share mine with you as well.

Ella: 00:16:40

When I make the bartender work really, really hard to make something that doesn't have any sugar in.

Ella: 00:16:45

And here's why.

Ella: 00:16:46

I mean, for me, honestly, the sugar is just as big of a problem for me as.

Ella: 00:16:51

As the alcohol.

Ella: 00:16:52

And.

Ella: 00:16:52

And all I mean by that is I'm definitely not sugar free.

Ella: 00:16:55

And I just.

Ella: 00:16:56

I'm not sugar free in my life, but when I combine sugar and alcohol, I feel like trash.

Ella: 00:17:02

So it's just a terrible combination.

Ella: 00:17:05

And yet it's so good going down.

Megan: 00:17:07

It's so good going down.

Megan: 00:17:09

But then, you know, even I'm not.

Megan: 00:17:12

That's not even a next day thing.

Megan: 00:17:13

It's like 45 minutes down the line, and you are not gonna feel good.

Ella: 00:17:18

Yeah, it does not work for me.

Ella: 00:17:19

And so that is, I think, where a lot of people get tripped up, because not only are you just freebasing sugar at that point, but you're also much more likely to eat in a way that is not consistent with kind of your regular habit.

Ella: 00:17:34

So you're just gonna feel like garbage.

Ella: 00:17:36

And maybe for those of you who are still 20, nothing.

Ella: 00:17:39

You can probably tolerate a lot more than those of us who have, you know, revisited the anniversary of our 20th birthday a few times.

Ella: 00:17:46

And, you know, and.

Ella: 00:17:49

And we're just paying a little bit more attention, but it still wears on you.

Ella: 00:17:52

Like, it's still puffy face the next day.

Ella: 00:17:54

It's still like, accumulates the.

Ella: 00:17:56

You know, the damage accumulates over time and that sort of thing.

Ella: 00:17:59

So okay, so let's talk about the mixers, because I know a lot of people like to order like a Sex on the beach or margaritas.

Ella: 00:18:07

What do other people order?

Ella: 00:18:08

I don't even know, Megan.

Megan: 00:18:10

Yeah, I mean, those are pretty common.

Megan: 00:18:11

Or like long islands.

Ella: 00:18:13

Yeah.

Megan: 00:18:14

And I can just tell you right now, there's really no good way to order a Long Island.

Megan: 00:18:18

I don't really think anyone.

Megan: 00:18:19

It's.

Megan: 00:18:20

I don't really think it's necessary to ever drink a long island anyway.

Megan: 00:18:22

But that's a totally different topic.

Megan: 00:18:24

But, you know, one really easy sort of hack that you can do is, you know, you look at a menu, you order even like a sex on the Beach.

Megan: 00:18:33

Okay, great.

Megan: 00:18:33

So order something like that and ask for club soda for, you know, most of the drinks.

Megan: 00:18:40

So you get the liquor in there, you do the club soda, and then a splash of whatever the juice mixer is.

Megan: 00:18:47

So.

Megan: 00:18:47

Okay, let's.

Megan: 00:18:47

Let's talk something simple.

Megan: 00:18:49

Oh, man, I love a vodka cranberry.

Megan: 00:18:51

Let's say you just love vodka cranberries.

Megan: 00:18:52

It's a popular one.

Megan: 00:18:54

Instead of doing vodka and the cranberry, do vodka club soda, and then just ask for a splash of cranberry.

Megan: 00:18:59

You're still getting that really good cranberry flavor.

Megan: 00:19:01

You're also getting a little bit of a bubble.

Megan: 00:19:03

Who doesn't like a bubble?

Megan: 00:19:04

And, you know, you're just adding, like, a little bit of sugar into the drink, which is going to be so much better than, you know, a full 8 ounces of cranberry juice.

Megan: 00:19:14

So one of my absolute favorite drinks is I'll just do vodka with club soda, and instead of, you know, getting just like a lime or a lemon with it, I'll ask the bartender to add in some fresh lime juice or some fresh lemon juice.

Megan: 00:19:34

Most bars actually have that behind the bar.

Megan: 00:19:36

And that makes such a difference.

Megan: 00:19:39

It's so good.

Megan: 00:19:40

It's so refreshing.

Megan: 00:19:42

Another one of my favorites is a margarita, where you ask for the tequila, ask for the orange liqueur.

Megan: 00:19:51

You know, whatever they use.

Megan: 00:19:52

Just a splash of that, a little bit of club soda, and some fresh lime juice.

Megan: 00:19:58

You could even skip the club soda if you wanted to.

Megan: 00:20:01

Just kind of depends on how sour you like your drink.

Megan: 00:20:03

No sour mix, no agave.

Megan: 00:20:06

It's so yummy.

Megan: 00:20:07

And I know you know, it sounds like, oh, that wouldn't even be sweet.

Megan: 00:20:11

It wouldn't be good.

Megan: 00:20:11

But I'm telling you, like, you just add a little bit of that orange liqueur in there, and then there you get some sweetness from the Fresh lime and it's absolutely delicious.

Ella: 00:20:19

Yeah.

Ella: 00:20:20

So the club soda swap out for something like Sprite or whatever they use.

Ella: 00:20:24

That's key.

Ella: 00:20:24

And you won't miss it.

Ella: 00:20:25

I mean, especially if you have a splash of anything else.

Ella: 00:20:28

So switching out Sprite or any kind of syrupy soda.

Ella: 00:20:33

With club soda, you'll either not be able to tell the difference or you'll like it better because it's not just so syrupy.

Megan: 00:20:38

Oh, I can't tell you how many times I go out, you know, with girlfriends, I'll order a drink first and I'll, you know, I'll do my little swaps.

Megan: 00:20:46

They'll try it and then they're all changing their order because it really does taste better, you know, than having all that sugar.

Ella: 00:20:53

My husband loves a cranberry and vodka.

Ella: 00:20:55

If we go out, he, he too is not a big drinker either.

Ella: 00:20:59

And when you go out, they pour so much cranberry juice in it.

Ella: 00:21:03

But if I make it at home, like if it's the summer and we're hanging around the pool and we're having people over, he gets a club soda with a little, a little shot of vodka in it and then a splash of cranberry just to make it pretty.

Ella: 00:21:15

And cranberry's so potent.

Megan: 00:21:17

Oh, it's so potent.

Ella: 00:21:18

That's all you need.

Ella: 00:21:18

And then if you squeeze a little lime into it, then you're like completely tropical.

Ella: 00:21:22

And you should name the drink after me, but that is all you need.

Ella: 00:21:25

And they're just super heavy handed in restaurants and bars, so you have to just be specific when you order and kind of be that guy when you order.

Megan: 00:21:33

Yeah.

Ella: 00:21:33

Apologize for it because it's, it's easy.

Ella: 00:21:36

It's, it's, honestly, it's really easy.

Ella: 00:21:38

You're just being more specific.

Ella: 00:21:40

You're just asking for less.

Megan: 00:21:41

Yeah.

Ella: 00:21:41

So it's no big deal.

Megan: 00:21:43

Yeah, the club soda and the splash of whatever that is, like, that is so key.

Megan: 00:21:48

I mean, if you can just remember that, that's super easy.

Ella: 00:21:51

Well, and what's so funny is your drink is my drink.

Megan: 00:21:55

Oh, is it?

Megan: 00:21:55

Wait, which one?

Ella: 00:21:56

The margarita or the, the vodka and lime.

Ella: 00:21:58

And so all I do is I ask for vodka.

Ella: 00:22:01

And by the way, the quality of the vodka matters, so you might want to tell us something about that because I don't even know like, which ones are better.

Ella: 00:22:08

But the, honestly, the quality does matter because they're more filtered.

Ella: 00:22:12

I do, I do know that.

Megan: 00:22:14

Yeah.

Megan: 00:22:14

Well, you can look on the label and it'll usually tell you like triple Distilled or five times distilled.

Megan: 00:22:19

And you know, the more, basically the more it's distilled, higher quality the vodka is going to be and you know, the less junk that's going to be in it, it's going to taste better and it's going to make you feel better the next day.

Ella: 00:22:31

Well, and I'd rather pay a fraction more for the higher end drink and then have far fewer of them.

Megan: 00:22:40

Absolutely.

Ella: 00:22:41

So my deal is vodka and soda, meaning club soda.

Megan: 00:22:45

Yeah.

Ella: 00:22:45

So vodka and soda on ice and.

Ella: 00:22:48

And then it depends on where I am.

Ella: 00:22:49

I just ask for a bunch of limes and I will like, you know, kind of muddle the hell out of them myself.

Megan: 00:22:55

Oh yeah, you can do that too.

Ella: 00:22:57

But it never even occurred to me.

Ella: 00:22:58

Just ask for lime juice.

Ella: 00:22:59

Duh.

Ella: 00:22:59

I'll just do that, I think.

Megan: 00:23:00

But you got here.

Megan: 00:23:01

But you got to ask for fresh lime because otherwise they'll give you that like syrupy lime juice.

Ella: 00:23:07

Not everybody is going to be down with.

Ella: 00:23:10

So that's a good point.

Ella: 00:23:11

Okay.

Megan: 00:23:11

Yeah.

Ella: 00:23:12

If I'm somewhere fancy, my favorite thing to do is to order vodka and soda and then ask them to muddle the lime, which they're happy to do if it's, you know, craft cocktail kind of place.

Ella: 00:23:24

But if it's summer, I say, what herbs do you have?

Ella: 00:23:27

Cause, you know, everybody's doing artisan cocktails these days, like craft cocktails.

Ella: 00:23:31

And so I'll be like, what herb do you have?

Ella: 00:23:33

And literally almost any herb is amazing.

Ella: 00:23:35

If they muddle that with a lime.

Ella: 00:23:36

Absolutely.

Ella: 00:23:37

So good.

Megan: 00:23:37

Yeah, absolutely.

Megan: 00:23:39

Or, you know, if you are at a place like that and they make their own in house flavored vodkas, if they infuse their own vodkas or gins, those are so good too.

Megan: 00:23:48

And you don't even need anything else with those.

Megan: 00:23:49

You just.

Megan: 00:23:50

Delicious.

Ella: 00:23:51

That sounds amazing.

Ella: 00:23:52

It's not.

Ella: 00:23:53

It's like way too early in the day to be having this conversation because I know.

Ella: 00:23:56

Sounding pretty appetizing right now.

Ella: 00:23:59

I love it.

Ella: 00:24:00

Okay.

Ella: 00:24:01

I would say as a general rule, this is my own personal thing.

Ella: 00:24:04

You tell me what you think is I just don't order cocktails off the menu very rarely.

Megan: 00:24:08

I mean, I might scan the menu and to see what sort of ingredients they have.

Megan: 00:24:11

Like, there's a place in Atlanta here that I go to that has like a, that has a cucumber ice cube in one of their drinks.

Megan: 00:24:18

And I'll say like, I'll be like, I'll pay extra.

Megan: 00:24:20

Can I get a cucumber ice cube?

Megan: 00:24:22

You Know, so you can look in the menu and kind of see what they have and, and just create your own.

Megan: 00:24:26

Yeah.

Megan: 00:24:27

Or make, you can make some tweaks too.

Megan: 00:24:29

But in general.

Megan: 00:24:30

Yeah.

Megan: 00:24:30

I'm not ordering off the cocktail menu very often.

Ella: 00:24:32

Well, I mean, and we're not looking at the dinner menu and then asking for a custom dish.

Ella: 00:24:36

It is a bar.

Ella: 00:24:37

Like that is what they do.

Ella: 00:24:39

Okay, this is great.

Ella: 00:24:40

Let's talk about food now.

Ella: 00:24:41

Because we've already acknowledged and most people have had the experience, funny thing happens when you enjoy a cocktail or two and that is that, you know, your inhibitions tend to wane and sometimes that can result in what end up being, you know, non advantageous food choices.

Ella: 00:24:56

So just give us a science behind that and kind of what you recommend to work around that.

Ella: 00:25:01

Megan.

Megan: 00:25:02

Yes.

Megan: 00:25:02

Couple of my top tips would be to, number one, if you are going into a party, even if you're going into a dinner, don't go in.

Megan: 00:25:10

If you know that you're going to be drinking, don't go in hungry.

Megan: 00:25:13

And I know this is a tip that people hear all the time.

Megan: 00:25:15

It's not totally original, but trust me on this, because what happens is when you go in, you know, you walk in, you grab the glass of champagne, you start sipping before you, you know, eat your dinner or, you know, you get your appetizers.

Megan: 00:25:28

Yeah.

Ella: 00:25:28

Oh.

Megan: 00:25:29

Because what happens is, is alcohol actually affects.

Megan: 00:25:32

It inhibits your frontal lobe, which is, which is what controls your inhibitions.

Megan: 00:25:37

And so you really want to go in feeling calm and satisfied and not having a stomach that's growling at you so that you are much more likely to make better choices.

Megan: 00:25:52

So even if it's just like a small smoothie or just a few bites of something, go in feeling satisfied and really focus on protein.

Megan: 00:26:02

Because protein is what makes us feel full and it makes us feel satisfied.

Megan: 00:26:08

When you're eating, you know, protein and, you know, adding a little bit of healthy fat in there, you're just gonna feel a lot more calm going into a situation where you're drinking alcohol and there's, you know, desserts and whatever.

Megan: 00:26:21

And I always tell people, like, just make sure you have like a good amount of protein on your plate when you are either before you go out or, you know, while you're sitting there at dinner or, you know, whatever the situation is.

Megan: 00:26:32

And also to make the choice between dessert and alcohol, if you are really like, man, I would so much rather like have a piece of cake than just skip the alcohol.

Megan: 00:26:44

If you really want to have a couple glasses of Wine.

Megan: 00:26:47

Just skip the dessert.

Megan: 00:26:48

That's kind of just, you know, a very simple, you know, I don't want to say rule, but if, you know, you have a lot of parties that you're going to, you know, in the next couple of weeks, that's a really good, just simple strategy.

Ella: 00:27:00

I mean, that makes perfect sense, really.

Ella: 00:27:02

And again, we, you know, you can do what you want.

Ella: 00:27:05

We're just giving suggestions for how to kind of come out of it feeling better rather than worse.

Ella: 00:27:10

Okay, terrific.

Ella: 00:27:11

And so more protein and, dare we say it, fewer carbs on a day that, you know you're going to be drinking and enjoying a few cocktails will just result in a less, like, bloaty experience.

Ella: 00:27:21

That's on my own experience.

Ella: 00:27:23

Yeah.

Ella: 00:27:24

Yep.

Megan: 00:27:25

Yeah.

Megan: 00:27:25

And you save your carbs, but also make sure you're focusing on getting.

Megan: 00:27:32

Still getting, like, a good amount of fiber.

Megan: 00:27:33

Like, don't cut out the vegetables just because, you know, they have some carbs in them.

Megan: 00:27:38

Like, make sure you're getting a lot of veggies.

Megan: 00:27:40

If you have, like, a smoothie or something before you go out, throw in some chia seeds.

Megan: 00:27:43

Because fiber is what really.

Megan: 00:27:45

It expands in your stomach and it makes you feel full.

Megan: 00:27:49

But staying away from sugar and bread and pasta and foods like that, I.

Ella: 00:27:54

Think that's really important because I have a bad habit of doing that.

Ella: 00:27:57

And really what we're talking about is just starchy sugars, like, just, you know, I guess I would put it this way.

Ella: 00:28:03

If, you know, you're going to enjoy a cocktail or two, then try to, you know, up your game the rest of the day and just eat really healthy.

Ella: 00:28:10

And fiber and protein, always essential, including a healthy dose of fats.

Ella: 00:28:17

And so thank you for the clarification.

Ella: 00:28:19

I think that's really, really important because it's so easy to send mixed messages there.

Ella: 00:28:22

Yep.

Ella: 00:28:23

Okay.

Ella: 00:28:24

Megan, this has been fun.

Ella: 00:28:25

Is there anything I should have asked you about?

Ella: 00:28:28

How to hack our night out, drinking and without sabotaging our wellness goals?

Megan: 00:28:33

I don't think so.

Megan: 00:28:33

I think we covered it all.

Megan: 00:28:35

That was a pretty good synopsis.

Ella: 00:28:36

I know you actually have a little boot camp for people on this issue.

Ella: 00:28:39

Is that right?

Ella: 00:28:40

Is that something people can sign up for?

Megan: 00:28:42

I actually do just a free class probably about once a month.

Megan: 00:28:46

That goes into a lot more depth on this.

Megan: 00:28:50

That is really, really fun, and I really like to focus on, okay, let's not look at what we can take away, but let's look at, you know, what we can add to our wellness routine and how can we how can we increase our metabolism?

Megan: 00:29:06

How can we improve our gut health?

Megan: 00:29:08

How can we, like, do these really great things for ourselves instead of taking things away and going on a diet or going on a juice cleanse?

Ella: 00:29:14

Okay, cool.