How to take a break from alcohol

 

For many, alcohol is a go-to substance to ease stress, relieve boredom, promote relaxation, or as a social lubricant. In many cultures, having a drink after work, with dinner, with a friend, or with a group is a perfectly acceptable (and sometimes expected) behaviour. But once you piece together all those drinks in all those settings, the amount you’re consuming might surprise and alarm you, and the effect on your health may be dangerous.

Taking a break from alcohol can give your body a much-needed rest from breaking down those toxins, and your mental health can also benefit.

Here are a few strategies for taking a break from alcohol.

Work out the ‘why’

Establish what your motivation for taking a break from alcohol is. It may be something like health, money, family, or relationships. Having a firm motivator is important to remind you of why you’re taking a break and the benefits that will follow.

Make a plan and keep yourself accountable

You may have a goal in mind for how long you want to kick the booze. It may be a month, six months, or indefinitely. Either way, it’s a great idea to write down a plan for how you’re going to replace alcohol in your routine, and what you’ll do in scenarios where you know you’ll be tempted.

Taking up a hobby such as sport or painting can be a healthy replacement for your 6pm drink and planning ahead for social occasions will mean you’re better prepared for temptations. If you feel like you’re going to cave in, always go back to your plan.

Find supporters and avoid peer pressure

If your circle of friends or family are regular drinkers, they may question your decision to take a break, and even tempt you to forget the whole idea. Peer pressure is a big factor that contributes to people’s decision to drink more quantities of alcohol more often than they ordinarily would.

It’s a great idea to find a friend or a few people to get on board with your choice and help support you through it. These individuals may also come to your assistance in social drinking settings or when you’re getting the third degree from others.

If you know your circle includes people that will pressure or question you, driving you to reconsider things, arm yourself with a handful of firm answers and statements for when you’re confronted, and stick to your guns!

 

Pay attention to how you feel

Taking a break from alcohol can have many health benefits for both body and mind. Pay particular attention to how you’re feeling and when you notice improvements such as more energy, less anxiety and depression, improved skin health, better sleep, and healthy weight loss.

The more you take stock of these benefits, the better equipped you are to keep going.

A whopping 35% of us report regularly having trouble sleeping.

Your brain might decide to analyse all the problems of the universe as soon as you hit the pillow, or it might wake you up at some ungodly hour and will not be convinced to go back to sleep.

Regardless of the type of sleep interruption, it has a huge impact on many areas of your life from affecting your immune system to your cognitive function when performing any task.

Luckily, there are a few simple tools you can use to get good quality sleep and wake up feeling rested, restored, and ready to face the day.

Start a sleep routine and stick to it

If your bedtime is all over the place, it may be contributing to your lack of sleep quality. Without a regular sleep routine, your brain doesn’t consistently get the signal that it’s time to sleep, and your window of opportunity will close.

Aim to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. This will help to train your brain to properly recognise sleep cycles when it’s time to rest, and when you’ve had enough. Try to avoid long naps (especially in the afternoon) and stick to short power naps instead.

Treatments that aid relaxation

Some people find Reflexology Indian head Massage Reiki and Aromatherapy Massage help to relieve stress and tension thus aiding in a good nights sleep.

Ease up on the caffeine

Easier said than done for those of us who are fiends for caffeine, but monitoring your intake is vital to a good night’s sleep. Caffeine can come in many forms from your run of the mill coffee, to that can of soft drink you had with lunch. It can be tempting to use it to replace the energy you’re not getting from sleep but can have both immediate and long-term negative effects on your body.

Try to confine your caffeine intake to before lunch and avoid any caffeinated drinks after midday. This will help your body return to its normal energy levels by time you’re ready for bed.

Keep up with regular exercise

Exercising has an impressive list of benefits and improving your sleep quality is a major one. Exercising triggers the body to release some of our cortisol build-up (the stress hormone) and helps restore balance to your body’s hormone levels.

Exercise can also leave you feeling energised, so try to get your workout in early if you can, or at least a few hours before bed.

 

Create an environment that promotes sleep

You may look around your bedroom and start to notice a heap of distractions that affect your sleep. This may be background light/noise from a TV, using the wrong pillow, or a temperature that is too hot or too cold.

Make a list of everything in your environment you think might hinder sleep and start to change or remove them. This might mean replacing your TV with meditation music or leaving your phone out of arm’s reach to remove temptation. Assess your mattress, covers, and pillows, and work towards finding the right ones to suit you and your sleeping preferences.

I would think that you have heard the old saying that prevention is better then cure, well it certainly is when it comes to insect bites.

They can turn into a very nasty infected area of skin. I have found that using Bugs Away oil  a natural insect repellent keeps those pesky little blighters at bay. This oil contains all natural products and is perfect for those nights in the garden when bugs and flies are all around.