Some advice and tips on cutting down
Before you start
If you are going to drink try
- Drinking low alcohol beers or at least do not drink strong beers or lagers.
- Pacing the rate of drinking Perhaps you could make every second drink a water or soft drink.
- Eating food while you drink. Food, such as peanuts and crisps, slows down the speed drink gets into your blood.
- Taking your time with your drink. Sip it and savour the taste. Don't gulp it.
- Keeping active; don't just sit around and drink. If you move around more you will drink less and you will be more aware of the effects alcohol has on you, than if you were to sit down and drink. Try playing darts, or going for a walk after a few drinks.
- Doing other things where you drink can help.
- Drinking on an empty stomach means that the body absorbs alcohol very quickly and you will soon feel drunk. Food slows this down, so eat something before going out.
- It takes the body about an hour to get rid of one unit of alcohol. Alcohol also dries up the body. Spacing alcoholic drinks with soft drinks or water helps the body cope.
- Drinking a pint of water after a night out helps stop a hangover.
- Mixing types of drink - beer with wine or spirit will lead to a bad hangover the next day.
- The darker the drink the worse the hangover!
Tell people
People often find it better to stick to plans if they have told other people about it. So it's a good idea to tell your husband, wife, family etc about it. These people can help and support you. They can also help you to be more aware of triggers which may cause you to drink such as meeting up with certain friends.
Fill in a drinking diary
This can give you a clear idea of how much drink you roughly have in one week. These diaries look at events and times where you are more likely to drink e.g. when stressed after you come home from a busy day at work. You may find it useful to fill one in so that you can get an idea about what makes you more likely to drink. See table one and two for examples of drink diaries. If you are not keen on using a drinking diary, then just have a think about people, events or feelings that make you more likely to drink. If you are not sure, then ask those close to you to see if they spot a pattern in your drinking.
Pin point times when you are more likely to drink
Once you have had a good look at the drinking diary you may be able to pin point any time you are more likely to drink. You can the look at ways of cutting the drinking down. This may be done by starting drinking a bit later than usual, or by steering clear of certain friends with whom you tend to drink too much. If you don't want to avoid your friends then think of ways that you can tell them that you've cut down. You could, perhaps still meet up with them but take the car. This then lets them know you cannot drink. Ask family or friends if they notice times or events where you are more likely to drink. Does how you feel in your mood lead you to drink more? For example if you are angry, fed up, stressed or low then this may cause you to drink more.
Once you have made some rules about your drinking, be aware of the fact that certain places or times may fill you with the urge to drink. If you are used to having a drink when you come home from work then in future you will feel more of an urge to drink when you get back home. Also, if in the past you have often got drunk with certain friends, then when you meet up with then you are more likely to feel the urge to get drunk with them. You must learn to avoid those situations where in the past you have drunk heavily or you have got into trouble.
Try to work out what is the most drink you will have in one go
An example would be I will not drink any more than 5 units of alcohol in one night. Try and work within the sensible advice of taking no more than 21 units a week if you are a man and taking no more than 14 units a week if you are a woman. It's not a good idea to drink the weekly amount all at once.
You may find it useful to cut down the amount of days or nights that you drink e.g. if you drink every night then trying to cut it down by drinking every second or third night.
Plan out a set of drinking rules for yourself and write them down
An example might be :
- I will never drink before 8pm
- I will never drink for more than 3 hours at a time
- I will only drink 4 drinks at the most at one time
- I will only drink 3 nights a week
