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Everyone’s heard of Gizzi Erskine’s Cook Yourself Thin, but when it comes to drinks sometimes good habits go out the window. Particularly when it comes to a girl’s right to existence: cocktails. Notoriously sugar-fuelled, fat laden and bulge burgeoning, these glamorous bevvies may make you feel like you’re in St Tropez, but this French fancy might turn out more Dawn French if you’re not careful. Not good if you’re watching that bikini bod.

We all dream of being on holiday with pina coladas served in whole pineapples and long island iced teas with those chintzy umbrellas – but when you’re planning to flash the flesh a little restraint is called for. Sigh. Here are some of the tipples and ingredients that are best to avoid to beat the bulge this summer:

• Anything with eggs, cream and milk. Make sure you also ditch chocolate and coffee liqueurs such as Kahlua and Baileys – cocktails with these spirits are often paired with fatty dairy products too.
• While it’s easier to avoid fat in cocktails, hidden sugar is every beach babe’s worst enemy. Stay well away from sweet and sour mixes, sugar syrups, fruit flavoured spirits, drinks with sugar on the rim, and anything that looks artificially coloured like blue lagoon or sex-on-the-beach cocktails. Basically anything with the words bubblegum, pie, cheesecake or similar are massive no-gos.
• You may be shocked to learn that a high ball long island iced tea can contain as much as 780 calories. Next time what would you choose, cocktail or Big Mac?

So what can I have? Obviously cocktails with multiple spirits and ingredients will have more calories, so it’s best to choose a cocktail that sticks with one tipple and only a couple of mixers. Pale spirits are always better, so go for gin or vodka paired with soda water, diet soft drinks or natural juices such as orange, lemon or lime. Make sure you watch the quantities on fruit juices though as they are high in sugar. As a rule it’s always best to choose short drinks rather than long – ‘on the rocks’ is another good option. Below are some of the best waist-cinching cocktails when all you plan to do is lie on a sunbed …

• Martinis – best if you like a high alcohol content, which also means no sugary mixers.
• Bloody Marys – made with antioxidant-rich tomato juice, naturally low in sugar coupled with Tabasco to boost metabolism!
• White Wine Spritzers – good if you’re planning to have a large one as soda water keeps you hydrated.
• Original Mojitos or Caipiroscas – made with fresh mint, lime and soda water. Ask for less sugar and you’ve got Havana in a glass, guilt free.

By Gabriella Patterson