Hardly a week goes past without some other medical study being published which indicates that we should all be drinking less or preferably cutting it out altogether. One of the most commonly asked questions is just how to stop drinking when everyone around you is heading off down the pub or encouraging you to have just one more pint? Jumping on a bandwagon like going dry in January is all very well, but how do you achieve real change and make a fundamental change to your lifestyle which will make you healthier? Not an easy thing to do, but it needn’t be impossible either.
The Basics of Giving Up Alcohol
So you’ve taken on board the growing medical evidence that alcohol isn’t really doing your body any favours, and have decided that now is the time to stop drinking for an extended period. Taking that decision is the first step along the road, and it’s important to tell your friends and family what you are planning to do. Our culture is so deeply entrenched in alcohol and going to the pub that at first many people find the decision to cut out the booze challenging. Expect lots of questions from curious friends and relatives about why you are trying to give up alcohol and what you hope to achieve by doing so.
Try not to go on the defensive; you don’t have to explain your reasons behind giving up alcohol if you are not comfortable in doing so, you just need to explain to your friends that your decision is important to you, and that you would appreciate their support. Good friends won’t sabotage your attempts to quit drinking for a year, and you might find that once some of them find out more about your reasons, they may decide to join you in your journey. Of course, if you feel your drinking has gotten out of control, the likes of American Addiction Centers can support you when it comes to telling your loved ones.
Replace Old Bad Habits with Better Ones When You Quit Drinking
Many people find that when they start to question their relationship with alcohol and look at exactly when and why they are drinking, many of the reasons fall into the category of habit. We have a pint of beer watching sport in the pub because that’s what we’ve always done, or we put a couple of bottles of red in the trolley while doing the weekly shop out of sheer habit. When you start thinking about how to stop drinking, it’s important to recognise these behaviours in yourself, and to realise that one of your major battles is going to be replacing your bad, old drinking habits with new, healthy sober habits.
If you keep in mind that this is a lifestyle change, it makes sense to replace your drinking with some other goal to improve your health and general wellbeing. You might decide to give up alcohol for a year and take a weekly yoga class, or join a five-a-side football club, or even just get out more for a walk with the dog. Retraining your brain to think in a healthier way will not only make you feel better almost immediately, it should have long term health impacts too.
Thanks for reading and y’all stay dandy.
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