10 Tips To Avoid Drinking Too Much Alcohol This Festive
10 Tips To Avoid Drinking Too Much Alcohol This Festive. As it is the norm with festive celebrations, many people look forward to drinking. Sometimes the drinking is so much that there are regrets after. The following tips can help you enjoy the holidays and still be a responsible alcohol consumer.
1. Set A Drinking Goal
Set a limit on how much you will drink. You should keep your drinking below the recommended guidelines: no more than one standard drink per day for women and for men ages 65 and older, and no more than two standard drinks per day for men under 65.
2. Keep A Drinking Journal
Drinkers are often in denial, and it’s hard to figure out what makes you drink. Making a point of writing regularly about your drinking habits, though, can reveal information about you that you might not have been able to uncover just by thinking about it.
3. Stay Busy
A big reason for continuously drinking from whatever is in front of you is lack of activity and sitting or standing next to a drink. What else are you inclined to do if you are not moving about or participating in something? Dancing, talking, playing pool, etc. can all keep you occupied over and above the drinking. Once you remove alcohol as the focus, you’re less likely to drink as much.
4. Recognize The Triggers That Make You Want To Binge Drink
If you drink with the intention of becoming very drunk on a regular basis, it’s important to confront the causes of that desire, so you can start healing yourself and avoiding temptations. What makes you want to drink? Does a particular event, person, or emotion make you want to get drunk?
5. Watch For Peer Pressure
Practice ways to say no politely. You do not have to drink just because others are, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to accept every drink you’re offered. Stay away from people who encourage you to drink.
6. Slow Down and Make Each Drink Last Longer
If you become quickly intoxicated and end up slamming back a bunch of drinks to ease your nerves, or if you’re just a “thirsty drinker,” it can be very helpful to slow down and make each drink last longer. You will enjoy the taste of your drink more, and you will have fewer drinks over the space of your socializing.
7. Only Drink With Meals
If you allow yourself to drink with meals, it’ll mean you can still enjoy the ritual of going out to bars and restaurants with friends, but with a limit on it for the length of a meal. Have a glass or two of wine with dinner, or drink a beer with your BBQ, but call it a night when your plate is clean.
8. Drink Water In Between
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it dehydrates you. Your body can expel four times as much liquid as you consume in an alcoholic beverage. Drinking water will also mean that your alcohol consumption slows way down. The added hydration cuts down your chance of having a hangover the next morning, too.
9. Make Other Plans
Fun doesn’t always have to involve alcohol. Instead of going out for drinks with your friends, suggest that you do something else. If you’re worried you won’t be able to resist at the bar, try to arrange to go to a movie, or check out a concert, or doing something else active instead of just hanging around the bar
10. Ask For Support
Cutting down on your drinking may not always be easy. Let friends and family members know that you need their support. Your doctor, counselor, or therapist may also be able to offer help.
