Cocktails and calories: Beer, wine and liquor calories can really add up. Here are the breakdowns for your favorite bar beverages - Nutrition

food for thought

Here are the calorie equivalents of some of your favorite cocktails in
food terms.

DRINK (CALORIES)                    FOOD (CALORIES)

1. 12-ounce beer (150)              3 1/2 ounces roasted skinless
                                     chicken breat (142)
2. 6 ounces white wine (120)        4 cups light microwave popcorn
                                     (120)
3. 12-ounce Bartles & Jaymes berry  4-5 pieces of sushi with vegetables
   wine cooler (210)                 and fish (200)
4. Rum and diet Coke (133) Rum and  1 cup vegetarian chili (135) 3
   Coke (182)                        medium whole-wheat pancakes (180)
5. Martini with one olive (184)     1 slice cheese pizza (183)
6. 15-ounce shot tequila/vodka      1 ounce store-bought guacamole dip
   (100)                             (108)
7. Gin and tonic (178)              1 1/2 ounces baked tor tilla chips
                                     with 2 tablespoons salsa (177)
8. 5 ounces Baileys lrish Cream     3.5-ounce lean beef sirloin steak
   (468)                             (201), 1 baked potato (220) with 1
                                     tablespoon fat-free sour cream
                                     (15), green salad (25) with 1
                                     tablespoon fat-free ltalian
                                     dressing (6); total: 467
9. Cosmopolitan (151)               1 soy veggie burger (140)
10. 12-ounce Zima (185)             1 English muffin with 1/2
                                     tablespoon lowfat peanut butter
                                     (183).

RELATED ARTICLE: What you are drinking

Here's how you, Shape readers, responded to our Web survey. We've listed your 10 favorite drinks in order - both at home and out and about. Then, in the accompanying chart, we indicate the calorie count of your preferred libations and the nutritious foods you could be eating instead - for the same amount of calories. So the next time you're thinking about ordering another round, remember nutritionist Elizabeth Somer's warning: "If you're consuming a meal-size quantity of calories from alcohol, it's going to add up. It doesn't register in your brain as filling in any way." And then think about ordering some veggies with guacamole instead.

At home, you drink

1. Wine

2. Beer

3. Wine cooler

4. Margarita

5. Pre-mixed malt beverages, such as Zima

6. Vodka-soda

7. Gin and tonic

8. Baileys Irish Cream

9. Rum

10. Whiskey

At bars and restaurants, you order

1. Beer

2. Margarita

3. Cosmopolitan

4. Long Island iced tea

5. Rum and Coke

6. Vodka-juice combination

7. Martini

8. Vodka

9. Whiskey

10. Tequila

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COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group