One effective way to reduce your alcohol intake is by substituting alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic alternatives. When socializing or relaxing at home, opt for mocktails, herbal teas, or sparkling water with fruit instead of your usual drink of choice. Experiment with different flavors and combinations to find satisfying alternatives that you enjoy.

• There is a comprehensive legal, educational, and commercial empire that prefers if you keep drinking.
• Quitting alcohol alone is harder for some than others, but there’s no need to go it alone.

How Long Does Alcohol Stay in Your System?

After trying these techniques and determining your level of success, you should be able to assess whether you can be a social drinker. If one has never exhibited signs of alcoholism, then controlled drinking, a technique or approach that is a form of harm reduction, is a reasonable yet delicate first step. If one wants to pursue this approach, it is best not to go it alone. Talking to an addiction psychologist Halfway house or other addiction professional can guide you through some generally recommended techniques.

Prepare for potential alcohol detox

You need to find new hobbies to take the place of things you used to do while drinking. You need to find new activities and people to socialize with if all of your previous social activities revolve around boredom. The site also delivers a list of sobering statistics about the reality of alcoholism.

Studying the Urge

To lower your alcohol consumption, try to stick to only one alcoholic drink per hour. In between drinks, you can have soda, water, or even a non-alcoholic beer or mocktail. Not only does pacing yourself help cut back on alcohol consumption, but it also gives you confidence and self-discipline. Actionable goals can help you by giving you exact data on your drinking habits. Pick a number of drinks per week as part of your plan to cut back on drinking, and be sure to keep track of this data. One of the challenging aspects of trying not to drink is being able to say “no” if a drink is offered.

Question the Urge

If you’re living with alcohol use disorder, treatment at a medical rehabilitation facility is your best option. Through therapy, support groups and medication, you’ll be supported on your path to recovery. If your body is used to a certain amount of alcohol, you may feel certain effects when you stop. How you feel when you stop drinking is largely based on how often and how heavily you drink. People who only drink occasionally probably won’t notice any physical or psychological symptoms. People who have a severe reaction to quitting alcohol should seek emergency treatment.

• “Moderate consumption” is limited to one to two alcoholic drinks per day for healthy men and one alcoholic drink per day for healthy women.
• You’re afraid that if you stop drinking, you’ll miss out on a great social life.

Main Content

To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved or otherwise endorsed by our advertisers. If you tend to drink too much whenever there is any alcohol in the house, get rid of it altogether,  the NIAAA recommends. Food can absorb the alcohol in beverages, so eating before or even while you drink can dampen the effect and may make you want to drink less, says Crews.

Binge drinking can quickly spin out of control despite best efforts to drink in moderation or stay sober. If you’re struggling to cut yourself off after a couple of drinks, you are not alone. There are many factors that influence our relationship with alcohol, including social factors, genetic predispositions, mental health conditions, and beyond. There are many scenarios in which a few drinks with your friends can quickly lead to excessive alcohol consumption, which has both short- and long-term effects on your physical and mental health.

What are the best strategies to avoid alcohol cravings?

Their personalized treatment plans, medical supervision, and therapy programs provide the guidance needed for long-term sobriety. Staying motivated to quit drinking long-term requires setting personal goals, tracking progress, and surrounding yourself with supportive people. Regularly reflecting on the benefits of sobriety can reinforce your commitment. Apps and online tools help individuals quit drinking by providing progress tracking, craving management, and peer support.

In such cases it might behoove a person to engage in a structured and intentional effort to curb their drinking or perhaps even stop drinking altogether. Below are some specific strategies to try, and you can add your own at the end. Check off how to control drinking perhaps two or three to try in the next week or two, then add others as needed. If you haven’t made progress in cutting down after two to three months, consider quitting drinking altogether, seeking professional help, or both.

However, others find that non-alcoholic beverages do not change how much alcohol they drink meaningfully and may even prompt more thoughts of drinking. You can review recent research here to help you make the right decision for yourself on whether non-alcoholic beverages will be part of your toolkit. Information provided on Forbes Health is for educational purposes only. Your health and wellness is unique to you, and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment plans.