The best Skinny Margarita

Don’t kid yourself for one second about that drink.  Don’t put your tankini away and hang onto that cute, little sundress.  It’s.Still.Summer.  But I know they’re getting a little snug…it may be summer and hot out but we still eat and drink all kinds of no-no’s.  Hot wings, lobster mac ‘n cheese, $12.00 designer cheeseburgers with fries, fried chicken and biscuit all washed down  with anything from ice cold beer to blender drinks with champagne.  We’re all guilty of those indulgences.  Except now we’re back from our marvelous vacations and things are getting tight.  Even your fat shorts can pinch at this point.  I was there and this is why.  I’ve always been a bourbon drinker.  I adore it.  Neat or with rocks I really enjoy my Wild Turkey.  Until one evening when I was pouring my second cocktail of the evening (!) and my husband mentioned in passing, “You’re not going to lose any weight if you keep drinking that.  You might as well sit down with a bowl of ice cream.”  Well.  THAT certainly hit home.  Right then and there I quit the brown.  Several days later I wanted a drink in an awful way.  I decided on a glass of wine.  I’m not a huge fan; I mean, it’s okay, so my reasoning was if I don’t particularly care for it I won’t drink much.  But after a month or so I realized I was downing two glasses a night, sometimes more on weekends.  That’s a lot of wine which translates to a lot of sugar.  Need we be reminded sugar converts to fat?  I might as well have sat down to that bowl of ice cream.  I had gotten bigger than ever.  Men no longer looked at me when I entered a room.  (I had always enjoyed that!)  My face was full, my neck was no longer long and graceful and I had the DREADED belly fat.  I looked like dump.  Realizing I had to make a change was easy and I quietly went about doing so.   A few years back I had tried the counting “points” diet and found it worked on me for only about six months.  I wasn’t about to start that grind again.  We are all fully aware we need a change of diet, practice portion control and exercise.  You have to start somewhere and I knew what I had to do.  I cleared all grains, ALL, from my diet.  Yes, that’s rice, (not easy for this Latina), potatoes, pasta and bread.  I cut out dairy which was not a problem since I had already switched from 2% cow’s milk to organic almond milk for my coffee.  But the cheese!  Oh, how I missed it!  Pizza was a double whammy.  Then I addressed the alcohol quandary.  Bourbon is really not high in calories unless you drink a large amount.  I thought I’d try tequila.  No, wait!  Don’t shut me out!  I, too, couldn’t stand tequila and that turned out to be a large part of my solution.  Many, many years ago while I was working temporary duty for Delta in San Juan I had the worst experience of my life after drinking waaaaaay too much tequila one night.  I puked my guts out.  I puked so hard I cracked a rib.  And to add to my woes I passed out on top of my glasses and cracked them, too.  That was over 35 years ago and I hadn’t had any tequila since that fateful night.  I shudder to think. Bleah.   Anyway, I figured there was probably some great tequila on the market now, smooth and rich, and maybe, just maybe, I could enjoy a bit with lots of fresh lime juice in a pretty glass packed with ice.  And I was right.  The key is in measuring.  You have to measure whatever you’re drinking.  Please believe me when I say you’re pouring a heck of a lot more than you think.  You’ll be surprised if you pour then measure the amount you’re having EVERY NIGHT.  Have one drink…just one.  That’s all you need.  And that’s another thing.  You don’t need it every night.  You don’t.  At the end of the day when you’re ready to rip apart the first person who crosses you, well, fine, if that’s what’s going to keep you out of prison.  Measure two ounces of tequila or vodka, add the juice of one whole lime or, if you’re having vodka add soda, and enjoy.  But if you’re not that stressed remember this.  Once you’ve lost any looks you once had, chances are you ain’t gettin’ them back.  Don’t be so ready to give them up.  Pour yourself a coconut sparkling water, (La Croix is my favorite), and sip on that awhile.  Do yourself an enormous favor and stay away from beer, wine and mixers like tonic or coke.  Your body will thank you and, come Fall, so will your favorite skinny jeans!