Frequently Asked Questions

Weight control

I think that drinking too much wine is making me put on weight but all my friends do it too and I don’t want to feel out of it. Besides I love drinking. Any ideas?

We use wine to celebrate success and commiserate with our friends when things go wrong. So drinking has become a big part of our culture today. Alcohol carries around 7 kilocalories per ml not far behind the energy value of fat (9 kilocalories per ml). So it’s not hard to see why weight is gained drinking alcohol.

One standard unit of wine is 104mls. So the first thing to do is go and measure out 104mls of wine and then pour it into a variety of different sized wine glasses. Research has found that if the gap between the top of the wine and the top of the glass is too big you will feel deprived. So in smaller glasses 104mls looks a bigger serving. Most wine glasses that you see in bars have a mark denoting where their standard measure is. (Note: many bars sell servings bigger than 104mls to attract more clientele). Bars try to get as many servings out of a wine of bottle as possible so as to make more money.

However notice how this changes when you sit down to eat a meal and order a bottle of wine. You will be given a bigger glass than the one at the bar. This is a marketing ploy because with bigger glasses you soon find you need to order a second bottle of wine.

So if you want to enjoy wine with your friends but would like to slow down, drink from a smaller glass; space your wines out with non-alcoholic drinks such as a lime and soda or iced water or better still offer to be the designated driver for your friends. Not only will you stop adding weight to your waistline but you will save a lot of $$$ in the process and still be there having fun with your mates.

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  • I’m 19yrs and love playing netball for the...

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  • I’m 16 years old male and want to build up...

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  • I’m a body builder. Will eating egg whites...

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  • Our 17 year old daughter is rowing seriously...

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  • My 12 year old boy and his friends are swimmers...

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  • Our 15 year old daughter has starting running...

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  • Our 12 year old daughter is always talking...

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  • My teenage daughter is overweight. Will talking...

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  • Our 17 year old son is very hard to get moving...

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  • Our 11 year old boy is always tired and grumpy...

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  • Our 16 year old girl won’t eat tea with the...

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  • Our children often bring home their lunchboxes...

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  • We have two boys aged 6 and 9 years and neither...

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  • My 4 year old son suffers from constipation...

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  • My two year old chews meat and then spits it...

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  • What is a dietitian?

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