Most of us don’t think anything of enjoying nights out with friends or sharing a bottle of wine with our partner at home. Although drinking in moderation is unlikely to cause any long-term harm to your health, if you find yourself consuming alcohol on most days, it could be time to change your drinking habits before they change your life.
In a lot of cases, drinking becomes a habit and we don’t even notice the alcohol addiction signs. For example, once the kids go to bed you and your partner may open a bottle of wine to help yourselves unwind. Soon enough, you start to look forward to this and before you know it, you can’t imagine being able to get through the day without your routine glass of wine.
This alone doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a problem with alcohol abuse but bad habits can lead to problems later down the line because over time, your tolerance builds up. At the moment half a bottle of wine may seem plenty but if you’re doing this every night, gradually you may find that you need to drink more and more in order to get that chilled out feeling you get now.
Below are some great ways to help you develop healthier habits when it comes to alcohol consumption.
Find someone to cut down with you
Reducing your alcohol intake can be difficult and it certainly doesn’t make it any easier if the people around you are drinking. If you’re worried that you could be displaying alcoholism symptoms, try to find someone who is willing to cut back with you. Not only can you motivate each other when you’re feeling weak, you can also do non-alcohol related things together.
Find a hobby
A lot of us find ourselves drinking out of boredom. Maybe you live on your own and the thought of going back to an empty house doesn’t appeal so you’re always up for after-work drinks. Alternatively, maybe you need a little bit of excitement while sitting on the sofa in front of the television every night.
Try taking up a new hobby. Whether it’s joining the gym or signing up to a class, something new will keep your mind distracted so you’ll feel less tempted to drink.
Have alcohol free days
Try to get into the habit of having at least two consecutive days where you don’t drink any alcohol. This will dramatically help to reduce the amount of alcohol you consume overall and it gives your body a break and a chance to recover. Your liver will be particularly grateful for the break.
Don’t buy rounds
A great tip for reducing the amount you drink is to bow out of drinking in rounds. Typically, we don’t think anything of walking into a bar with a group of friends and buying rounds but whether you realize it or not, this is encouraging alcohol abuse because you are far more likely to drink more than you originally planned to.
Say four of you go out for drinks for example. Initially, you may have only been planning on having one or two beverages. If you buy in rounds however, you’re committed to at least four drinks.
This may feel hard at first because you don’t want to appear as though you don’t want to pay for other people’s drinks but explain that you’re trying to cut back and people will be understanding.
By drinking on your own, you can set your own pace rather than following the others who are in a rush to get the next round in. It also means that you can nurse a couple of drinks all night and leave whenever you want.
If you think that you or someone you know could have a problem, please feel free to contact Toronto Trauma & Addiction Counselling for more information about alcohol addiction signs, symptoms and what alcohol abuse treatment is available.
