How many TimTams are you drinking?

I, like most people look forward to Friday night drinks, with quite a sizable amount of enthusiasm i should add however it has never crossed my mind how many calories I was actually consuming whilst out having a few cheeky reds.

I never associated alcohol with excess calories, so when my boyfriend passed me an article out of the Financial Review informing me that 1 glass of wine equals 1 Timtam I was flabbergasted...... NO WAY!

So began my journey of discovering just how many Timtams are in my drink.

The below table is a small list of my favourite (and my friend’s favourite) drinks. It lists the drink’s equivalent in the number of TimTams and calories per average serve/glass/bottle.

Have a quick look through the table, multiple how many drinks you have on an average night out by your favourite drink (example: G&T x 4 = 440. Equates to 4.5 timtams) and viola! That’s your drink-TimTam equivalent intake.

If your favourite drink is not covered in the list, here are some simple rules to help you figure it out.

1 shot of spirits = 1 Timtam

200mls or short glass of soft drink = 3/4 of a TimTam

Milk based cocktails = half a packet of TimTams 

Beers = approximately 1-2 TimTams

Drink	Number of TimTams	Total calories
SPIRITS
White Rum & coke	1	120
Bundy Rum & coke (dark rum)	2 and a half	248
Gin & tonic	1	110
Vodka cranberry	1 and a half	170
Vodka redbull	2	213
Bourbon & coke	1	120
Scotch & coke	1	120
Whisky & ginger ale	1 and a half	160
Chambord & lemonade	2	195
Jager bombs (1/2 can red bull)	1 and a half	159
Soho & lemonade	2	195
Tequila shot	1	97
RED WINE
Medium glass (160ml)	1	106
Small glass (120ml)	1	82
WHITE WINE
Medium glass (160ml) DRY	1	112
Small glass (120ml) DRY	1	84
Medium glass (160ml) SWEET	1 and a half	157
Small glass (120ml) SWEET	1	118
BEERS
Corona, Asahi, Stella, Heineken	1 and a half	139
James Squire golden ale	1 and a half	138
Pure Blonde low carb	1	107
XXXX summer lager	1	99
Coopers original pale ale	1 and a half	131
Hoegaarden	1 and a half	143
VB original	1 and a half	143
Guiness Draught	1 and a half	158
Cider
Montieths apple cider	1 and a half	132
Bulmers apple cider	1 and a half	135
Bulmers pear cider	1 and a half	149
Pipsqueak cider	1 and a half	135
Rekorderlig strawberry & lime	2	208
COCKTAILS
Apple Martini	1 and a half	160
Vodka based Martini	2	210
Gin based Martini	2 and a half	265
Long Island Tea	2 and a half	276
Mojito	1 and a half	149
Margarita	2 and a half	371
Bloody Mary	1	125
Pina Colada	2 and a half	245
Tequila Sunrise	2 and a half	230
White Russian	5 and a half	567
CHAMPAGNE
Medium glass 160ml	1	113
Small glass (120ml)	1	85

1 TimTam = 98 calories

*number of TimTams have been rounded to the nearest whole or half biscuit

 

Alcohol is enjoyable and in moderation and for those over 50 it has health benefits (only applies to red wine, sorry all you sauvignon blanc lovers). For the rest of us, in moderation and within the guidelines alcohol is not harmful to health however for those of us who drink beyond moderation, there are health risk and HUGE calorie gains.

So the next time you decide 1 more round won’t hurt.....just visualize how many TimTams you’ve already had....

Tips to lighten your calorie intake

-Choose drinks with lower alcohol content, such as light beers and wines with a lower percentage of alcohol, less alcohol equals less calories.

- Limit your consumption of dessert wines or dry wines as they contain more calories

- Substitute tonic and soft drink mixes with soda water

- Request diet soft drinks to cut calorie intake

- When ordering lemon lime mixed drinks, request for freshly squeezed lime and not lime cordial, in fact avoid any drinks where the bartender adds cordial!

- Alternate between an alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink throughout the night