Dietitian Susie Burrell on the best alcoholic drinks to avoid a calorie overload.

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Chances are you have some sort of Christmas party or celebration tonight. So if you are keen to keep the calories on the low side but still have a good time, here are some of the best and worst alcoholic drink options.

Ones to watch out for.

Mai Tai.

It may appear to be the perfect island cocktail but with almost 1000kJ per serve thanks to its high alcohol content and plenty of fruit juice, this is one to avoid.

Pina Colada.

When made with cream, this tasty cocktail can have as much as 17g of fat and 1200kJ per serve.

(One of the healthiest drinks out there? Kombucha. Here are five facst about it. Post continues after video.)

Cider.

Relatively high in both alcohol and sugars, a single cider can give you as much as 900kJ per 375ml bottle.

Pre-mixers.

They may be convenient, but will the extra sugar whether it is Bacardi, rum or scotch, a pre-mixed can of drink will give you between 900-1200kJ per can. (Post continues after gallery.)

A little better...

Red Wine.

If you do enjoy a glass of wine, red is best with a higher antioxidant content than white wine – just watch your serving sizes as a large glass can contain as much as 650kJ per serve

Spirit and diet soft drink.

A better option than a spirit served with fruit juice or full sugar soft drink and will give you 300kJ per serve versus 500kJ for the mixer that contains sugar.

Margarita.

A relatively simple mix of alcohol, lime juice and ice, a margarita will give you just 460kJ and requires slow sipping which in turn will help to control your kJ intake.

Manhattan.

With fewer kJ than its close friend the Cosmopolitan, a Manhattan will give you just 520kJ per serve.

And the best...

Light beer.

If you are the sort of girl who enjoys an ice cold beer, a ‘light’ variety is significantly lower in kJ with just 375kJ per stubbie.

Low alcohol red wine.

Combine the benefits of red wine, with a lower alcohol content wine and get away with just 320kJ per glass.

Vodka, lime and soda.

With just 240kJ per serve, this clear spirit is one of the lowest kJ options and with no sugars or preservatives is also less likely to leave you with a nasty hangover.

Champagne.

Naturally it all depends on how many you have, but a single glass of champagne contains just 320kJ.

This post originally appeared on Susie Burrell. You can read the original article here. You can also read more about Susie on her website, Shape Me, her Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.