Might you be drinking more during COVID than you used to? Maybe you feel that you’re drinking too much or too often. We’re certainly going through some unusually stressful times, so don’t judge yourself too harshly. Here are some tips for cutting back on your drinking:

• Set limits: set a limit on how much you’ll drink. That limit should be lower than what you’re currently drinking. The recommended guidelines by the CDC are calling for just one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. If you like the use of apps for tracking your drinks, there are lots of them out there (Drinker’s Helper, DrinkControl, IntelliDrink, R-U-Buzzed?, ALCulator, Drinking Buddy, etc.)
• Choose some alcohol-free days: decide not to drink some days of the week to “prove that you can do it”; for example, you might chose not to drink Mondays and Thursdays.
• Choose some alcohol-free time periods: decide not to drink before 7 PM; and I’m referring to your own time zone (not “it’s 7 PM somewhere”).
• Have a drink only with dinner: You might decide to drink just with dinner and skip the pre-dinner drink(s). You might want to keep the bottle off the dining table. Just pour yourself a glass for dinner and then put it away.
• Don’t keep alcohol in your home: out of sight, out of mind; if you don’t have immediate access to alcohol, that will help you cut down on drinking (or at least make it more of an effort to get that drink).
• Pace yourself: if you’re in a social setting, alternate your (alcoholic) drinks with sparkling water or club soda (perhaps with cranberry juice or lime); this will keep you hydrated and help pace yourself.
• Watch out for peer pressure: just because the people around you are drinking alcohol, doesn’t mean you have to. Pour a non-alcoholic drink into a cocktail glass and nobody will even know; and frankly, most people don’t care whether you drink or not.
• Keep yourself busy: play games, go for a hike, read a book, write a newsletter, play with your pet, pick up a new hobby.
• Find alternative ways to relax: If you’re drinking more because you feel stressed, find alternative ways to relax. You might want to try spending more time outside, meditation, yoga (sign up for my Sunday yoga classes!), breath work, hot baths, massages, etc.

You might want to pick just a couple of the tips that resonate the most with you and give those a try. Once they feel part of your new routine, feel free to add some additional tips.

If you are looking for ideas for delicious and refreshing non-alcoholic drinks, click here to get my curated list of non-alcoholic drinks.

Stay well,

Christine

P.S. New or newish to yoga? Download your FREE Starter Guide to Yoga:

Disclaimer: I am not a trained wellness coach, nor a dietician. I am simply sharing tools I have learned on my own wellness journey.