Watch NZ Herald Focus: How long does it take to burn off your favourite drink?

If you're watching your weight after the long weekend, you need to pay just as much attention to everything you drink as well as what you eat.

Alcoholic drinks can be surprisingly laden with calories, and now Sleepy People has revealed the amount of exercise you'd need to do to burn off your favourite tipple.

A small glass of sparkling white is one of the most diet-friendly and can be cancelled out by seven minutes of running, while a White Russian might be best avoided as it will take 33 minutes of running to burn off.

The research is based on how long it would take someone who weighs 67kg to burn off the calories in a variety of drinks by either walking, cycling, running or doing Pilates.

WINE

A 210ml glass of sparkling wine contains 97 calories, requiring seven minutes of running, 20 minutes on a bike, 17 minutes 24 seconds of walking or 20 minutes 53 seconds of Pilates.

A 125ml glass of red wine has 106 calories, and requires a few minutes more at each activity while a standard 175ml glass of white contains 149, meaning you'll need to do roughly 10 minutes more exercise.

However a 120ml of mulled wine, containing 227 calories, ups the ante to 20 minutes six seconds of running, 52 minutes 13 seconds of cycling, 45 minutes 24 seconds of walking and 54 minutes 29 seconds of Pilates.

SPIRITS AND MIXERS

One of the least calorific drinks you can go for is vodka with Diet Coke, which contains just 56 calories.

It will take just over five minutes of running to burn off the tipple, almost 13 minutes of cycling, just over 11 minutes of walking and 13 minutes 26 seconds of Pilates.
However, adding regular Coke to a spirit such as Bourbon will up the calorie count.

A single Jack Daniels and Coke requires 11 minutes 37 seconds of running, almost 26 minutes walking, nearly 30 minutes on a bike or half an hour of Pilates to cancel out calorie wise.

BEER

Beers and stouts also tend to be more calorific than wine, especially Guinness, which contains 210 calories in a pint.

It would take 42 minutes to walk it off, 48 to cycle it and almost 19 minutes to run it, while you'd need to do Pilates for more than 50 minutes to negate the calorie count.

A long neck bottle of beer such as Budweiser, Corona, or Becks contains roughly 130 to 140 calories and will require 11 or 12 minutes of running, around half an hour on the bike or doing Pilates or a 25 minute walk to burn off the calories.

While it might not sound like an awful lot, bear in mind that many people won't just have a single drink in one night, so the time you need to expend the calories can really add up.

COCKTAILS

If you don't fancy hitting the gym the next day, then creamy cocktails are probably best avoided.

A milk-based White Russian packs in 374 calories, which will take 33 minutes of running to burn off, an hour and 14 minutes of walking, 90 minutes of Pilates and 1 hour and 26 minutes of cycling.

You're better off opting for a Mojito, which is much less calorific at 122 calories in a typical cocktail, meaning it will only take 11 minutes to run them off.

But you'll need to do almost double that after a Strawberry Daquiri, which contains 230 calories.