Alcoholic drinks are packed with calories. That’s just one reason why booze can derail your weight loss efforts. If you need any more convincing, here’s how long it would take you to burn off the calories in some popular alcoholic drinks.

Pint of lager - 180 calories

45 minutes of steady swimming would just about burn off the calories in just one pint of lager.

Pint of cider - 200 calories

Cider is sweet, which gives away its calorific load. Ride your road bike pretty hard for 30 minutes and you’ll be back to square one.

Large glass of red wine - 210 calories

30 minutes on the stepper or cross trainer at the gym will work off a large glass of your favourite red wine.

Large glass of white wine - 190 calories

White wine is slightly less calorific than red, so you could probably only do 25 minutes on the stepper.

Glass of Prosecco - 80 calories

Process is one of the more diet-friendly alcoholic drinks. If you did an intense weights session of squats and other compound moves, you’d have burned it off in around 20 minutes.

Single gin and tonic - 140 calories

A single G&T would take around 1.5 miles of running or fast walking to burn off.

Single spirit (no mixer) - 50 calories

Blast your way through 10 minutes of HIIT (high intensity interval training) to burn through the calories in just one single spirit. Not counting the mixer!

Cocktail - 200-400 calories

It’s difficult to know how many calories your cocktail contains, because of all the ingredients. A large, creamy cocktail or one high in fruit juices could contain a staggering 300 or 400 calories. That’s an hour of bike riding, a spinning class, or a 5 mile run.

If you want to keep some alcohol in your lifestyle whilst you are dieting, be smart about it. Choose lower-calorie options and mixers. Set yourself a target of one or two drinks, and then switch to water (remember that some soft drinks can be deceptively high in calories too). And watch the snacks, nibbles, and after-drinks food choices!