When you feel like your drinking habit is intervening in your daily life activities, maybe it’s time to cut back on it or abstain from drinking.

Though drinking is quite common in various societies, it doesn’t consider good for your health in any way. The signs and symptoms of excessive drinking are so obvious that you will understand when you are going towards becoming an alcoholic. However, the condition is quite challenging to reverse once you become alcohol dependent. But at whatever stage you are, you can recover from alcohol addiction (alcoholism) following some tips we will share here with you. Just remember that becoming addicted to alcohol doesn’t happen in a day; similarly, stopping drinking or at least cutting back on it will also need some time.

The major obstacle to refrain you from cutting back on alcohol is the effects you feel after taking a shot. And these effects come from how much you are drinking in the routine. It’s good if you are concerned about your alcohol intake; however, only acknowledging the problem won’t help unless you take action according to your condition.

Without further ado, let’s start with the tips and why to stop drinking.

• Ask Yourself Why You Drink

Quitting on drinking alcohol doesn’t happen out of the blue. There are certain events that compel you to decide that you should stop drinking because it is affecting your life in different ways. For every individual, the reasons to start drinking alcohol are different. For some, it’s a way to celebrate and express their joy, while others drink alcohol to mitigate the pain, emotional trauma, or stress they come across in their daily life. These reasons make a significant impact on your drinking pattern; therefore, you need to keep it in check. For treating any kind of addiction, knowing the root causes can help to speed up the recovery.

• Know-How Much Drink Is Enough To Satisfy Your Cravings

The amount you have been drinking has a vital role in your alcohol dependence. It may start from drinking on weekends, going all the way up to drinking 3-4 drinks in one sitting. Because you enjoy drinking and getting high, you forget how many drinks will be enough to remain within the safe and healthy limits. Therefore, it’s necessary to know what amount seems enough for your cravings to start cutting it back accordingly. For cravings treatment also read what is Ibogaine used for?

• Set Your Goals

Whether you just want to cut back or completely abstain from drinking alcohol will determine how you are going to achieve the goal. After knowing your drinking status and the reasons you drink, you have to work on how to keep the intake low.

To help with it, you can make a schedule to drink on specific days while staying within the limited amount. Since you can’t stop drinking all of a sudden as it’s not a wise solution. Stop drinking suddenly isn’t a successful attempt to quit alcohol. Even in many cases, people give up after a few days because they can’t bear the effects. However, this way, you can test your tolerance that will let you know how much work needs to be done to fully attain abstinence.

• Keep A Journal To Put It In Writing

How you feel when you drink and when you don’t, what’s the time when you crave for alcohol the most, how many drinks you are taking every day, your reasons to drink and not to, the cost of drinking, and its effects, everything you can enlist in a personal diary. What will it do? It will help you track why you find it necessary to drink when happy or depressed? Does drinking alcohol help you deal with the situation better, or does it make things worse? Are you getting closer to the goals you set a couple of weeks ago? Answering these questions yourself will open your mind to look at the impact of alcohol addiction in your life, and you might be motivated to speed up your efforts. 

• Talk To Getting Support

Usually, people don’t talk about their alcohol or any substance dependence openly in public. They feel like it would be embarrassing to admit in front of others that they have a problem managing their drinking habits. Also, addicts are used to hiding their addiction towards alcohol even from their friends, family, and partner. Remember that hiding a problem has never been a solution. If you are struggling to regulate your drinking habits, you should talk to someone in your friends or family with whom you are comfortable. They may help you by supporting and motivating you for your decision to stop drinking or at least drink enough to stay healthy. 

In case that you don’t find it easy to discuss it with any family member, you can get yourself a doctor or therapist to help you learn coping mechanisms. Many supporting groups and communities are also there working to offer help to people struggling with excessive drinking.

• Don’t Keep Alcohol At Home.

Getting rid of temptations is obligatory to help you stop drinking easily. If you know that you have a beer or champagne in the kitchen cabinet or the closet, you will definitely find it convenient to go and crack a bottle. However, not having any wine bottle or the barware or anything that can remind you or tempt you for drinking will also limit your alcohol consumption. The idea that you have to go out to get yourself a bottle of alcohol can help you think to stay at home and drink sometime later when you have it.

• Drink Slowly

Since we said to stop drinking, you can’t do it at once by throwing away all the bottles and not going to the gatherings where alcohol is served. You need to take baby steps and remain firm in your decision. Hence, whenever you drink, to cut back on it, you should try to take gaps between drinking. When you start extending your time to finish a glass, it will develop resistance to alcohol. It will gradually help you to avoid drinking it at all. 

• Announce Your Goals

Practice saying no whenever you are offered a glass of wine. It won’t make you look dumb or boring. Instead, you should be clear about your goals and make others understand that you don’t want to toss a glass just because they are doing it. In social gatherings or family events, you may often face this situation; therefore, it’s better to learn to refuse them politely. 

• Avoid The Company of Alcoholics

Besides getting rid of temptations, you also need to avoid people, places, or events that make you want to drink. These are the trigger points that can make you slip away from your goals. For say, if you start drinking excessively with your friends or colleagues, then it will be difficult to remain sober while staying with them when they drink. Yes, avoiding their company means that you have to cut ties with some of your friends but, it’s for your own sake. And if they don’t respect your decision to stop drinking, don’t support you in that, or force you to drink, then they aren’t your true friends. 

• Replace Alcohol With A Healthy Beverage

It may not sound interesting but, if you are determined to give up on drinking, you should consider drinking non-alcoholic beverages that can shift your likes and cravings from alcohol. You can try herbal tea, fresh fruit juices, or something healthy that’s either recommended by your doctor. Finding this replacement for your past time drinking can benefit you a lot.

• Prioritize Your Health

Drinking alcohol has a profound negative impact on your body. When you plan to quit drinking, you must make some healthy adaptations in your lifestyle to promote rapid recovery and boost health. Experts say that:

1. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach has more severe effects. While having a drink after a meal will reduce its absorption. When less amount reaches the circulation, the effects won’t be severe enough.
2. Staying hydrated is also necessary to neutralize the alcohol you drink.
3. Having a balanced and healthy diet is crucial as it can boost your strength and resilience.
4. Exercise can make you active, so you should do it.
5. Taking sufficient sleep also helps improve your wellbeing.

• Keep Yourself Busy with New Hobbies

If you drink in your past time, or when you are alone at home, you need to find new hobbies to keep yourself distracted from drinking alcohol. There are various things you can do to keep yourself busy so that you won’t think about drinking. You can play indoor or outdoor games, do painting, DIY home projects, read books, watch a movie, learn cooking or any other skill online, etc. 

Giving My Two Cents On This Instance

The road to achieving sobriety is often long, tedious, and challenging. Often, you may feel like quitting on it because you can’t bear with withdrawal effects. In this case, remember that keeping a positive attitude will help you achieve the goal. Also, willpower and consistency are the key attributes one will need throughout the journey to succeed in getting rid of drinking.