Change your social circle and engage in a radical (to you) sport that requires lots of stamina and endurance (Muay Thai). In short, the lifestyle you have loves conjuncting with alcohol. Sports are a major player. Not only the body gets hammered but the mind as well. I used the same method before to quit smoking. Even if you will show up at social events you won't have the same longing for Booz as you used to. I firmly believe this apply to the general public. Athletes in general do not drink as much as the average joe ( If they do at all). It's funny how people want an easy not so harsh solution to their problems, because there simply isn't. Once the elephant in the room starts ballooning you need to set your ego aside and admit you need change; major change.
Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
11–20 of 59 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#12Drink hard liquor.
It may depend on the culture of your country and social circle, but cutting beer, wine and cocktails has allowed me to drastically cut my alcohol intake.
For example, people around me will often drink wine while eating lunch or dinner. Or they might offer you a beer if you're coming in on a hot sunday afternoon. Or if you're watching TV together. In all of these situations, drinking hard liquor or asking for it would be strange socially speaking. There are only a few occasions (before dinner with appetizers, after lunch as digestive, while having "a" drink after work...) in which it's okay to drink liquor and to be the only one doing so. And if you're invited, it would be rude to ask for a lot of liquor from your hosts (because it's more expensive than wine and they likely did not prepare for it anyways so the supply is short).
IMO It's also easier to feel you're getting drunk with liquor, because it's not as gradual as beer: when you stand up after having 3 or 4 drinks, it hits you right away that you've had too much. So you know it's time to switch to water.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#13Change your social circle and engage in a radical (to you) sport that requires lots of stamina and endurance (Muay Thai). In short, the lifestyle you have loves conjuncting with alcohol. Sports are a major player. Not only the body gets hammered but the mind as well. I used the same method before to quit smoking. Even if you will show up at social events you won't have the same longing for Booz as you used to. I firm…
I second this one. It is difficult to just change a habit on a whim. A high intensity sport (like a martial art) requires changing lifestyle habits if you really want to see serious progress.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#14Drink hard liquor. It may depend on the culture of your country and social circle, but cutting beer, wine and cocktails has allowed me to drastically cut my alcohol intake. For example, people around me will often drink wine while eating lunch or dinner. Or they might offer you a beer if you're coming in on a hot sunday afternoon. Or if you're watching TV together. In all of these situations, drinking hard liquor or…
This is terrible advice.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#15> there are times I drink too much and forget what happened the night before That's bad. You may not be able to reduce your alcohol consumption. Not everyone can. But... > I only ever drink on a weekend and not throughout the week. That's a good sign. So what's happening here is that alcohol lowers your inhibitions. When you're sober, you have control over yourself, which is why you can get through the week. When you…
My fear is that OP is an alcoholic (yes, you can be an alcoholic without drinking - it's that you're genetically predisposed to having a drinking problem). In this case abstinence is the only answer. If you have problems to which you cannot give up even a weekend then that's a red flag.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#16My grandfather was an alcoholic. It came about because of the great sorrow he felt after his own father died in a car accident. A small drink each day became a larger one. This iterates. Time passes. I remember when he was in rehab once, as a child I was brought to visit him. His genuineness was so magnified. He was such a good man sober; well known and loved by many in the town through his small business. He never broke free for long though. Never violent but never fully there because his faculties were always suppressed by the effects.
After many years, when his health was failing, he begged us grandchildren not to follow this path. The regret was so palpable. This was later in my college years, and with all the parties it was hard to pull back. Augustine once wrote, "To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation". It is a respectable path especially for anyone too far along. I am no teetotaler either though. Moderation is also admirable.
I set two limits and they have worked fairly well in my own life:
1) No more than two reasonably sized drinks in a day.
2) Never drink alone.
I nurse those drinks along and savor each tiny sip. It has worked well for over ten years and prevented ramping up into anything further. A suggested third rule that has grown on me is:
3) Drink only to amplify joyful occasions never to drown sorrowful ones.
It may not be for everyone however perhaps this will help some. Godspeed.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#17Change your social circle and engage in a radical (to you) sport that requires lots of stamina and endurance (Muay Thai). In short, the lifestyle you have loves conjuncting with alcohol. Sports are a major player. Not only the body gets hammered but the mind as well. I used the same method before to quit smoking. Even if you will show up at social events you won't have the same longing for Booz as you used to. I firm…
1990 Theo Fleury (and most of the rest of the NHL) doesn't agree with your assertion that athletes in general do not drink as much as the average joe.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#18> there are times I drink too much and forget what happened the night before That's bad. You may not be able to reduce your alcohol consumption. Not everyone can. But... > I only ever drink on a weekend and not throughout the week. That's a good sign. So what's happening here is that alcohol lowers your inhibitions. When you're sober, you have control over yourself, which is why you can get through the week. When you…
My fear is that OP is an alcoholic (yes, you can be an alcoholic without drinking - it's that you're genetically predisposed to having a drinking problem). In this case abstinence is the only answer. If you have problems to which you cannot give up even a weekend then that's a red flag.
Yes, I share your concern. That's why I framed the answer the way I did. But not everyone who occasionally drinks to excess is an alcoholic.
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#19> there are times I drink too much and forget what happened the night before That's bad. You may not be able to reduce your alcohol consumption. Not everyone can. But... > I only ever drink on a weekend and not throughout the week. That's a good sign. So what's happening here is that alcohol lowers your inhibitions. When you're sober, you have control over yourself, which is why you can get through the week. When you…
My fear is that OP is an alcoholic (yes, you can be an alcoholic without drinking - it's that you're genetically predisposed to having a drinking problem). In this case abstinence is the only answer. If you have problems to which you cannot give up even a weekend then that's a red flag.
This tenet of 12-step programs has generally been proven false, and is possibly harmful.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-addiction/...
Re: Ask HN: What are your tips to reduce drinking alcohol?
#201. Build a budget for drinking. Nothing caps it like limiting the amount that you can spend on it. 2. Have your socializing focus on activities as opposed to drinking. E.G. If you are bowling you'll be more focused on the game and than you are on the drinking. 3. Drink a glass of water in between each drink. Double bonus for reducing hangover effects 4. Buy a breathalizer. Yep! A weird one but you can keep the BAC be…
What if your workplace is part facilitator? Many a startup's fridges are full of beers and other alcohol in full view. Which, I think makes both 1 and 2 a challenge.
For 3, i feel like drinking a glass of water in between drinks, though a good though, only eggs you on to drink more drinks since you know you are countering it at each turn.