Dry July for health, weight & a great cause!

”Dry July” is a great fundraising cause for cancer but also a great time to reflect on the impact that alcohol has on your life, heath and weight.

The other great surprise is discovering the calorie reduction from reducing or cutting alcohol!

Participating in “Dry July” is a chance to prove to yourself that your enjoyment of alcohol is not an addiction. The fundraising cause is also a socially-acceptable reason for not drinking - there’s less peer pressure because it’s only for a month and potentially a shared effort with friends.

We’ve looked at the calorie loading of some of our favourite alcoholic drinks and evaluated the potential impact of Dry July on your waistline.

• Heinenken 0% (330ml). 69 calories
  
• Heineken normal (330 ml) 150 calories
  
• Chardonnay (150ml) 120 calories
  
• Sauvignon Blanc (150ml) 114 calories
  

So if you average one drink a day, eliminating it will reduce your calorie count for the month by 3,720 - 4,650 calories if you swap it for water or soda water. Even swapping a daily normal strength beer for a Heineken 0% or other drink of similar calories will be a reduction of 1,989 calories for the month.

In giving up alcohol, you can still drink and socialise. There are some great zero beers like Heineken 0% available so you can still chill out with a beer at night and go out with friends. It can be surprising how easily substitutable they are and that the social impact is more important than the alcohol.

So if you want to see if alcohol reduction can support a worthy cause while also supporting your weight loss goals - visit dryjuly.co.nz to sign up.