Alcohol and stress have a complicated relationship. An occasional drink can help you to feel happier and more relaxed. On the other hand, heavy and prolonged consumption increases your risk for anxiety, depression, and other undesirable consequences.
In other words, if you are currently consuming more than the recommended amount of alcohol, you could be putting your health at risk.
Maybe you’re already starting to experience some of the negative side effects associated with excessive drinking, such as heart or liver disease. Or maybe you’re starting to see alcohol affect your personal and professional relationships.
Either way, if left unchecked, alcohol can ruin your life. With that said, alcohol is not going away. It’s a part of our culture. And that means learning to live with and manage alcohol.
So, how do you control alcohol so that it doesn’t control you?
Try these tips if you want to cut down on your alcohol consumption:
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Set a realistic goal for yourself.How many drinks do you want to consume each day, and how often do you want to drink? Once you have decided on the numbers, write them down as a reminder to yourself that this is your limit.
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Count your drinks. Yes, we could make plenty of jokes about this one too. Even so, counting and recording how many drinks you have had has been shown to help reduce the number you consume, and the rate that they are consumed. You can either use a handwritten note or record your intake using your smartphone. There’s even a “Drink Counter and Stats” app for your iPhone and Apple Watch.
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“Measure” your drinks. If you are going through the effort of counting your drinks, you may as well be accurate with your intake. Learn what counts as a standard drink, especially with liquors like whiskey or vodka, so that you can accurately measure how much you have had.
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Slow down and pace yourself. Sip your drinks or have only one drink per hour and you should see an overall reduction in the amount of alcohol consumed.
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Space your drinks. Drink a non-alcoholic drink between each alcoholic drink. When you do this, you are slowing down and ultimately cutting your alcohol consumption.
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Eat something. This is not true for all drinkers, but some will see a reduction in alcohol cravings when they are eating.
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Learn what your triggers are and try to avoid them. Do you know what triggers your drinking? Perhaps it is seeing certain people, or perhaps a certain situation causes you to drink. Whatever the reason is, once you learn what it is, you can then try to avoid that trigger in the future.
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Substitute a healthy activity in place of drinking. If drinking has become a massive part of your daily life, it will benefit you to find a substitute for it. Choose something healthy, so perhaps join the gym, learn a new skill, make new friends, or spend more quality time with your family.
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Learn how to say “No.” Even if you commit to cutting back your alcohol intake, chances are you’ll be put in a position where it will be difficult to say no to a drink. However, if you truly want to change, learn how to say “No” without offending anyone. Fact is, it’s your life and your responsibility.
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Take it one day at a time. Cutting your alcohol consumption may take some time, especially if it’s a part of your daily life. However, if you’re able to cut back a little each day, then each day will be a success. Before long, you may not need to drink alcohol at all.
Even if it is just a small reduction in the amount you consume, reducing your overall intake of alcohol can result in a dramatic reduction in alcohol-related issues.
Following these tips can set you on the path to a new, healthier lifestyle. The key to cutting back is to find something that works for you. If one tip doesn’t work, then move onto the next one.
Soon enough you will find a process that works for you.
