I Can't Stop Drinking for a Month, am I an Addict?
Things to do if you think you have an alcohol dependancy and what you can do to stop drinking beer;
How do I stop drinking beer?
Here is the best way to stop drinking beer. Actionable steps and practical tips to help you quit drinking today and what to do if you can't stop drinking.
- Don't be a Hermit
- Build your Stats
- Replace the Booze
- Have an answer to the question ‘why are you not drinking?'
- Find people just like you
How to stop drinking beer?
One of the questions we hear time and time again is “how to quit drinking beer?” In this blog post we are going to look at how to stop drinking beer naturally, which we think is the best way to stop drinking beer.
There are lots of reasons why you might want to stop drinking beer or alcohol. Some people need to stop drinking as a result of developing an alcohol related medical condition such as liver disease. Others choose to quit drinking beer to start living a healthier lifestyle.
Slow and steady wins the race
If you want to stop drinking beer as part of a move towards a healthier lifestyle, cutting down on the amount of alcohol you drink as opposed to giving up alcohol completely can help bring lots of health benefits, and can be easier to stick to. This is the first step in becoming alcohol free (AF).
Cutting down the amount of beer you drink doesn’t have to be complicated. If you drink every night, start by designating a couple of days a week as alcohol-free days.
Share your goal of quitting beer
Share you goal with your family and friends that you’re trying to stop drinking beer or any alcohol and explain why. You can even ask people close to you how to stop drinking beer they may have some real life insightful tips too.
This way, you can share your successes with them, and they’ll understand why you’ve started turning down drinks or trips to the pub.
Give yourself a pat on the back
It’s important that you acknowledge the fact that making changes to your lifestyle and reward yourself for giving up beer for 30 days.
If you slip up and find yourself having an alcoholic drink don't beat yourself up, it is so hard to stop drinking beer so always look at the bigger picture.
An easy way to keep track of how you’re doing and keep your motivation up is to give yourself short-term goals. Aim to stop drinking beer for a week at first. Then think about setting your goal to quit drinking beer for 30 days and you'll be amazed at how well you do.
Avoid Temptation
If you set a goal to stop drinking for 30 days, then in the first few days try to remove the temptation of drinking beer all together. This could mean giving up social occasions for the short term. If you like to go out for dinner, offer to be the designated driver so you know that you can't have a beer with your meal.
If you know you always drink a beer on a Friday night, try to fill this space with something else to take your mind of it. How about going to the gym or even going to the cinema and treat yourself to some popcorn and a good movie.
Identifying your triggers can be very useful on your journey to quit drinking for 30 days.
Reap the rewards
There are many positive effects when you stop drinking for 30 days and even more once you are past this. You will find that you have more energy, that you’re sleeping better, and even better still you may have dropped a few lbs or even a jean size or two.
These are only a few of the benefits you can expect when you quit drinking beer.
Practical tips on giving up beer
If you are looking to make some changes in your life to be happier and healthier, stopping drinking should be at the stop of your list. Why is it so hard to stop drinking beer? We have been socially conditioned to celebrate, commiserate and entertain ourselves with alcohol. But the strain that alcohol can put on your body has many negative long-term impacts.
There are so many physical and mental benefits to quitting drinking, even after as little as a week. You start sleeping better, your skin improves and you reduce feelings of anxiety.
addict (noun): “to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively”
I find it interesting / convenient the word ‘addict’ is more commonly associated with drug taking than alcohol consumption. Why is that? I will tell you why, it’s because we don’t like to share any commonality with this group of social outcasts. We all like a drink, so bringing up addiction and alcohol is too close to home for most of us. Statistically, at least one person in your close social group will consume more than the recommended average. More than 9 million people in England drink more than the recommended guidelines – that is 1 in 5 people. How is it possible for this to be the social norm?
You know you shouldn't be drinking so much
We live in a time where people are more self aware and health conscious than ever before. So why is it so hard to stop drinking if it's killing you?
Taking a look at the NHS guidelines it is easy to see where the problem is. The NHS say we should consume no more than 1 pint of (strong) beer / 1 standard glass of wine (which is small by today’s standards) a day, or 7 a week. For many of us, who clock up a week’s worth of units in one sitting, this is so far away from reality it becomes easy to dismiss as unrealistic, or out of touch with today’s society.
But it's so hard to quit
Let’s talk about our illustrious society for a moment and you can draw your own conclusions about how alcohol has a strangle grip on everything we do:
- Alcohol companies have been advertising to you since you were old enough to drink, earlier probably.
- Almost every social gathering is deeply associated with drinking. Well, it would be rude not to bring a bottle of wine wouldn’t it?
- Christmas, although originally a religious holiday, must be the biggest season for booze companies. Everyone suddenly wants a ‘Christmas drink”.
- There is almost no alternative. Imagine yourself in most bars, your choice of non-alcoholic drinks are water, coke, lemonade or fruit juice – or even a granny style tea or coffee. That’s it. It’s a f@#ing joke. There is more choice between the dusty bottles of champagne behind the bar.
So to sum up…
There it is, we are destined to fail. We have all, every single one of us, been tee-total at some point, either the designated driver, on medication, or maybe mandated by a significant other. It is no wonder why this was the most sinfully boring experience.
It is time for change. We are the rise of the Tee-total Socialites. It is time to listen to our bodies, and not the strange societal conventions we are now accustomed to. It’s time to stop associating sober with boring.
Follow these 5 hacks to stop drinking beer:
- Don’t be a Hermit – so many people fail giving up alcohol because they change their very natural requirement – being sociable. So just do it differently. Take up a new sport, go hiking or, mountain biking on Saturday mornings, try a spin class, juice bar crawl. Everywhere you will meet people on the same journey.
- Build your Stats – Everyone says, I stopped drinking and I felt better. What does that mean? Go get your body composition done, track your sleep, take the online NHS wellbeing test, weigh yourself – then do it again after you’ve given up for 90 days and show people in hard FACTS… this is how much better I felt.
- Replace the Booze Go to www.alcoholfree.co.uk and order a mixed case of beers – dump the old ones and restock your fridge. So when the neighbours come round for a bbq you will be holding a bottle and they will barely notice. Plus you get all the psychology of drinking, and none of the hangover. AWESOME!
- Why are you not drinking? – At some point someone is going to ask you.. why are you not drinking? It’s not a time for weakness – you need a well prepared answer that hits back. “Are you kidding me.. kids + hangovers don’t mix” “I’ve entered the London marathon and I want a sub 5hrs” “I’m doing a year off and I’m on day 57” etc.
- Find people just like you – You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Are you a booze fiend? or a healthy, happy, loving caring individual? Join a club / community / sport and get among others like you.
Quit drinking beer in 2020
We hope you enjoyed our latest post helping answer “how to stop drinking beer” and you are feeling empowered to make a change to your lifestyle and relationship with alcohol today.
These are just some of the hacks that we have an abundance of in our new challenge One Year No Beer. Whether giving up for a month, 3 months or a year – we have a thriving community to support you and tons of tools to make it easy. So no more excuses for why ‘I can't stop drinking beer', with OYNB, you can.
An entrepreneur and former senior oil broker, Ruari gave up drinking after excessive consumption almost cost him his marriage, and worse, his life. Going alcohol-free improved his relationships, career and energy levels, leading to him founding OYNB to provide a support network for others.
