For many people, the winter holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve – come with parties, celebrations, time with loved ones and more drinking. January 1st, on the other hand, often comes with a resolution to get healthier, drink less alcohol or quit drinking altogther. That might sound easy, but you might find New Year’s Day and the first few weeks in January to be challenging without the same amount of beer, wine or booze. Whether you are giving Dry January a try or just looking to cut down on your alcohol consumption, here are a few tips that can set you up for success:
Remove Alcohol from Your Home
The first order of business is to get any remaining alcohol out of your home. Start fresh. If you know there’s wine or wine in the refrigerator and the liquor cabinet is just a few steps away, you are more likely to drink. Quitting drinking or cutting down isn’t about testing your willpower. It’s about finding ways to adjust your life so that it supports your sobriety goals, and that means removing temptation when you can. If you wouldn’t buy a boatload of snacks for the house when trying to lose weight then you shouldn’t keep alcoholic drinks in your home if you’re trying to quit drinking alcohol.
Avoid Parties, Bars or Other Places That Serve Alcohol
Another way to reduce the temptation and quit drinking is to avoid events and places where alcohol is served. Although you might be at a phase where you’re able to safely stop drinking without struggling with withdrawal symptoms because you haven’t developed alcohol use disorder, you should try to be conservative and cautious for the first month of this process. Whether you’re limiting your alcohol intake or going completely dry, you should avoid parties, bars and other places where alcohol is readily available.
Drink Something Festive – a “Mocktail” Instead of a Cocktail
There are a growing number of fun holiday drinks you can enjoy that are alcohol-free, as well as zero-alcohol beer, wine and other beverages that can be made to taste just as good as the real things and are conducive to your recovery goals.
Keep a Cup in Your Hand
There aren’t generally a ton of parties in January, but for those times when you’re at a party, restaurant, bar or club, a great way to avoid the temptation to answer “yes” to “Do you want a drink?” is by always having a cup in your hand. Peer pressure and the simple question “Do you want a drink?” can be triggering for those looking to stay sober. Even if it’s just soda, cranberry juice, or water, this is an easy way to avoid the question altogether and keep yourself accountable.
Just Say ‘No’ and Make No Apologies
“No” is a complete sentence. Practice saying no to people who might encourage you or even push you to drink. You can say, “No thanks, I’m trying to cut back,” or “I’m getting healthy for the new year.” While it’s nice to be kind when rejecting any offers to drink alcohol, it’s also important to be firm and stick to your goals.
Take Charge of Your Health
For many people, alcohol is a crutch for coping with stress, exhaustion, and even symptoms of poor mental health – anxiety and depression, in particular. That’s why a great strategy for limiting your alcohol consumption – especially for the wrong reasons – is to take good care of your physical and mental well-being. This means eating a healthy diet, drinking lots of water every day, getting a solid 7-8 hours of sleep, practicing self-care – yoga, meditation, journaling – or any other positive habit you can incorporate into your daily routine. When we care for ourselves in this way, we rely less on harmful and self-destructive habits to make us feel better.
Create Healthy Habits
If you’re constantly thinking about the alcohol you aren’t consuming, cutting back on alcohol or quitting drinking may be more difficult. If drinking daily became your norm during December, it can be difficult to get your mind off alcohol and leave that all behind in January. Instead of focusing on the alcohol that you’re not drinking, find new ways to fill the gaps in your day and take your mind off booze. Create healthy habits and incorporate other activities into your routine, like regular exercise, self-care, and finding other ways to spend time with loved ones.
Recruit an Accountability Partner
It’s often easier to stick to an agreement when you have someone to keep you accountable. Tell a friend or family member about your goals, check in with them consistently and give them permission to encourage and even push you. Get an accountability partner today.
Get Help If You Need It
If you can’t stop thinking about alcohol and your attempts to quit or cut back haven’t been successful, it might be time to get some support in form of counseling, detox, inpatient or outpatient treatment. There are lots of options and if you are struggling, there’s no reason to do this alone.
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