You drink too much alcohol and want to change your drinking habits and drink less? That is an important decision. Make sure that you receive expert advice if you are well prepared. With a clear plan and support from your environment, the chances of you succeeding are greater.
Some Tips for Drinking Less:
- Choose a favorable start date, preferably in a quiet period, for example after the holidays.
- Discuss with yourself how much you will drink. Or set an hour on which you just start, for example not before 6pm, and when you definitely stop it. Record on which days you do not want to drink.
Change the habits associated with drinking:
- Check for yourself in which situations it is difficult for you to drink less or not. Think of hat other things you can do at that moment.
- If you were used to having a drink at certain hours or going to the cafe, then from that moment on, go exercise or go to the cinema, a concert or a performance. Go for a walk or take a hot bath instead of drinking a glass before bedtime.
- If you usually drink at home, do not get a large stock of alcohol in the house and make sure there is no alcohol at home. Make sure you have a stock of non-alcoholic drinks in your home that you like.
Register: Write down every day for a few weeks what you drank, when and in what circumstances. Your register will be more useful to recover yourself without addiction treatment center. You can ignore something a little more difficult when you see it written ‘black and white’.
If you have difficulty refusing (for example in a café), try to think in advance how you will do this. You possibly give a clear reason.
- Tell people in your immediate environment that you intend to reduce or stop. Then they can support you in this. Talk to them that they no longer offer you alcoholic beverages.
- If you are thirsty, drink water. Alcohol does not quench thirst. You get even more thirsty.
- Eat something when you are hungry before drinking alcohol.
- Drink rather from a glass, not from a bottle. You will probably drink more from a bottle. Because the soil seems far away.
- When you drink, alternate with non-alcoholic drinks.
- Do not drink all kinds of alcoholic beverages together.
- Do not drink something systematically if you are tired or tense or have problems.
- If you are eating out and you like wine, you can also order water to be able to alternate.
- If you have not complied with your plan, check the situation in which it happened. Consider what you can do differently next time in that situation, and try to write it down.
In company:
Do not use alcohol when someone does not feel like it.
Always provide non-alcoholic drinks when visiting or at a party.
Warn each other when drinking (or better the consequences) start to get out of hand. Do not go on driving someone who is starting to exaggerate.
If you go out in a group, agree in advance who stays down and will drive. Or organize a taxi.
Experiment with alcohol-free drinks and cocktails.