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Refraining from alcohol can help you reset mentally, reduce your caloric intake, improve your sleep patterns, and make you feel all around better. Instead of a vodka soda, order a soda water with a splash of lime. And if and when you do decide to have a drink, DO NOT get behind the wheel. Mixed drinks are deliciously sweet, and while their taste makes them desirable, their sugar levels make them some of the most unhealthy boozy beverages you can consume. According to Livestrong, a margarita contains 400 calories, a long island, 425, a white Russian, 500, a piña colada is a whopping 600 calories. You can easily clock in a couple days’ worth of calories in one night when ordering these high-calorie, high-sugar concoctions.

Fear of an Inability to Cope Without Alcohol Can Deter You From Trying

how to drink moderately

“Moderate consumption” is limited to one to two alcoholic drinks per day for healthy men and one alcoholic drink per day for healthy women. One drink is equivalent to 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, Sober living home or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. So now you know some of my favourite tips on how to be successful at drinking moderately.

We will help you decide

  • For instance, in January of 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement saying that no level of alcohol is safe.
  • People may rely on alcohol to cope with stress, anxiety, or other emotional challenges, leading to a pattern of compulsive and problematic drinking behaviors.
  • Binge drinking is linked to various physical and mental health risks, including potential long-term damage to organs.
  • No more than 14 drinks per week, and not more than 4 per occasion.

Connecting with medical professionals and a peer support network can give you the tools to reach your goals, and set you up for long-term success. Through understanding the different ways ‘drinking in moderation’ can look, you can decide how you’d like that to look for you. Drinking responsibly will not only result in longer-term health pay offs, but lovely added bonuses like fewer headaches and hangovers, too. If drinking less or less often than you typically do is something you’re committed to, pull out a pen and paper and write down some concrete goals how to drink moderately for yourself. This provides you with the opportunity to create a plan that feels good to you and increases your accountability to those goals. We encourage you to take the Alcohol Self-Assessment Tests on this website to start developing a better perspective on your drinking behavior and whether abstinence or moderation might be best for you.

Short-Term Risks

Studies have found that with the same amount of drink, blood alcohol concentrations are at their highest just before menstruation and at their lowest on the first day after menstruation. Sometimes people decide that abstinence from alcohol might be a better way to proceed. Despite their best efforts to drink less and in healthy ways, they continue to overdrink and alcohol continues to negatively affect their lives. In fact, for many people, abstinence is the best way to avoid alcohol-related problems.