Tips for Being Alcohol Savvy
Given summer is on it’s way which means we are generally more partial to a drink or two I am doing a mini series on Alcohol. The first articles covered both the effects of alcohol as well as some common myths. This article is to give you a few tips for being alcohol savvy and my next posts in the mini series are going to include some non-alcoholic alternatives as well as some healthier cocktail recipes so keep an eye out for those ones too.
// Don’t mix your drinks
Mixing your drinks is a sure fire way to end up drinking a lot more than you originally intended to as well as almost guaranteeing a hangover the next day. Stick to either beer or wine, vodka or rum – whatever you intend on drinking stick to that for the evening and don’t change over half way through – unless you are only having one or two.
// Know your standard drinks
Knowing that a premix vodka drink has two standard drinks per bottle and that your bottle of wine has eight standard drinks per bottle helps you gauge how much you are actually drinking. Who has been guilty of saying but I only had three glasses of wine last night, when in actual fact those three glasses were a whole bottle and had 8.9 standard drinks in it? Think in standard drinks when you go out, not how many actual glasses you’ve had as often the actual glasses are a lot bigger than the standard drink size.
// Get to a happy place
Find out where your happy place is. For some it may be one drink, for others it may be three. This is the spot where you feel a little bit buzzed but are completely in control of what is going on around you. It is the spot where you are feeling a bit more confident than without a drink and will boogie on the dance floor with your friends, but where you know that there is a creeper on the other side of the room and you want to stay away from them. Not only does this help you stay aware of your surroundings and potential dangers it also helps to ward off hangovers the next day as you haven’t overdone it.
// Don’t mis-feed your hangover
I know, this is a hard one. After a big night often all you want is a burger or a big fry up. If you really feel like this then try have a poached egg with a couple of bits of bacon, it tastes naughty but isn’t really too bad! Eating crappy foods following a big night will only make you feel worse and more likely to laze around on the couch all day. Get a substantial nutritious meal into you and get out for a gentle walk so the fresh air can help wake you up.
// Eat, then Drink
Please whatever you do, don’t go out drinking on an empty stomach! I’ve heard of so many people skipping dinner so they have more calories for drinking. It’s seriously just not worth it. While it makes you a cheap drunk it also means you generally drink a lot more and don’t have anything in your system to help soak up some of the alcohol. Eat before going out, or at least drink while you are out and before you’ve downed a handful of cocktails!
// One Alcoholic Beverage, One Water
Sticking to the one glass of water for every glass of alcohol rule helps to not only slow down you alcohol consumption it also helps to keep you hydrated as alcohol leaves you dehydrated. It also means you are less likely to end up with a hangover the next day as you are starting to flush some of the toxins out of your body.
Keep an eye out for my next posts with a number of non-alcoholic alternatives as well as some healthified cocktail recipes for those times when you want to let your hair down and celebrate with an alcoholic bevy or two. After all the silly season is upon us!
What is your best tip for being alcohol savvy? – Comment and let me know, I love hearing from you 🙂
I think my biggest thing is listening to your body in the moment. It will tell you how much to have that day. I think the mistake people make is to say, well, I can normally have 5 beers before I feel ill (or do something silly) and they stick to that amount, without thinking about whether they’re really run down, have lost weight, haven’t eaten, are in a funny mood that day (drinking tends to bring that out) etc. My husband tends to do this. He’ll be like, “I only had x amount of drinks LIKE I PLANNED, so why do I feel so gross??”
I’m all, “You didn’t listen to your body or slow down enough to stay aware!”
YES, YES, YES! Totally agree, what worked for you last time you drunk isn’t likely to work for you this time due to so many different factors! Same goes for nutrition and exercise as well actually! Things change,we change, our body changes, today’s circumstances are different from yesterday. Listen to your body is the best advice!
That’s some great advice there, Amanda. I usually head for the water after a few – I’ve been brought up to be a responsible drinker 🙂
With regards to your tip about mixing drinks -I’ve often heard the phrase “beer, then wine, that’s fine. wine, then beer, oh dear” -is there some truth in this?
Thanks Lucy.
I would shy away from mixing drinks all together! If I did mix I would only mix like with like ie. different types of wine together / light spirits / dark spirits.
These are great tips! I hope that “new” drinkers will take some of this advice. It’s so much better than learning the hard way (though I’m not sure anybody believes that until it’s they’ve experienced it 😉 ).
I really like the last suggestion and reminder you give to follow the one alcoholic beverage, one water rule. You talk about how this helps you to moderate how much alcohol you are consuming and it helps you to stay hydrated, too. I definitely agree that using this rule will help you to be aware of your body’s reaction to alcohol and it will help you to stay healthy after you consume a larger amount of alcohol. I will be sure to remember this the next time I go out– thanks for sharing!