Most of the adult population will have been celebrating in some small way for the last few days. Some may still be nursing hangovers, having overdone the beer/spirits/champagne.

Peer pressure issues aside, it’s not actually easy to find a healthy alternative drink in the pub. Sure, there are other drinks than beer or JD and coke, but most are still bad for you. Fruit juices are very high in sugar and while fine in moderate quantities are not really suitable for drinking by the pint. Some wines are ok, but reds are no good over a glass or so.

5. White Spirits

That’s spirits, plural, not spirit. Don’t go getting confused.

White spirits like vodka, gin and bacardi are generally comparitively very low in calories. Cocktails (low-sugar ones) and with mixers are both ok.

4. Dry White Wine

Of the wines, dry whites tend to be the lowest in calories. Most pubs in Britain now not only sell wines, but they even take the time to teach their staff the differences between their wines.

3. Bitter

If you’ve got to have a pint (and remember, nobody is forcing you) then stick with draught bitter. It’s usually significantly lower in calories than lagers and other by-the-pint drinks. Some of them even taste good too.

2. Diet Soda

Diet coke tastes awful. There’s no arguing on this one - it’s dire. However, if you can stomach it (or the myraid of alternative “diet” drinks), it’s very low calorie and you can drink it pretty much guilt-free. There is some debate about whether the aspartame in diet coke is bad for you - you have been warned.

1. Water!

Yup, they sell/serve water in bars and pubs. With ice, with cordials … plenty of options, and all very low calorie. True, it’s not exciting, but most people don’t drink enough water and you could save yourself burning off a serious quantity of calories by replacing just a few beers with water on a regular basis.