Be Wary Of So-Called "Low-Cal" Cocktails

Pre-mixed "healthy" cocktails are kind of like that guy you met on Match: He seemed great on paper, but once you started to spend a lot of time with him, he wasn’t all he cracked up to be. "The numbers might look good, but when you do the math, they don’t add up," says Gans. For example, the Skinny Girl portion size is 1.5 oz. and promises a super-low 35 calories. Too good to be true? Pretty much: That’s the size of a shot glass and half and there’s no way you’re going to drink a margarita shot. As for the Skinny Girl wine at 100 calories per serving? The real deal is probably around 120, so you might as well just pick up your favorite Pinot.

Gans does note that, originally, the story behind Skinny Girl was more about it being made of all-natural ingredients (not solely about the calorie count) as it's sweetened with agave (which, by the way, has recently gotten some not-so-sweet buzz because if you use too much, it has the same unhealthy side effects as high-fructose corn syrup). But, she adds this isn't necessarily true and you can whip up a natural (and skinny!) drink yourself or tell someone at a bar to do it for you. It doesn’t get any more natural than vodka, seltzer, and an orange slice, says Gans.

Where these premixed drinks do come in handy: "Low-calorie alcoholic mixers can be helpful in keeping overall calories in check; however, if many drinks are consumed, the end result is still excess calories leading to weight gain," she says. So, if you are comparing these low-cal options to say, a regular frozen strawberry margarita in the humongous glass it normally comes in, then sure, it's going to have fewer calories.