How to Take a Break From Drinking Alcohol Without Being Noticed

So, there’s so many things you can strategize for the whole day too leading up to… Maybe you take a hot Epsom salt bath right before you’re going on a blind date with somebody that you met on Tinder and you don’t want to drink alcohol, but without alcohol you’ll be nervous. So, maybe you take a hot Epsom salt bath so that really relaxes your parasympathetic nervous system, and then you go meet them at a coffee shop or something. Then let’s say all of a sudden, the date asks you after the coffee or tea, “Hey, you want to go to the bar after this? So, many people could much more easily quit drinking if they did more of this upfront footwork. Okay, yeah, that’s all I got to say about that.

• That’s why many of us wonder if a month of avoiding drinking is enough to “reset” your liver back to normal.
• He was captain of the basketball team in college, very successful and bright and confident guy, but I overpowered his will in that instance because everyone knew that I was the drinker, and when I did drink, I could be aggressive.
• If you’re considering your relationship with alcohol, it’s important to educate yourself on the common risks of drinking.
• But then it really is like, so a big thing that I start out with people is really working on their urges, right?

Like, it’s like, I hate saying no, I say no to myself in so many areas of my life. To want something and to not, you know, go get it. That was like a thing that I you know, and that wasn’t just with alcohol that was with like, lots of things and like, felt awful to want a chocolate bar, and then tell myself that I couldn’t have the chocolate bar, right?

Can cutting out alcohol bring about health benefits?

And then just, we’re so used to thinking like, oh, it’s because I don’t have the drink yet. Like, the waiter hasn’t come with my order. Instead of looking and seeing like, so often, for me, the block was not the alcohol, the block was like, where my brain loves to hang out. And my brain loves to hang out in some like shitty places of like, everything I did wrong, you know, two minutes earlier, or two years earlier, everything that I had on my plate and had to get done, you know, in the next five minutes are the next five years. Like, I wasn’t very good at just like being in the present moment and allowing myself to be there and enjoy it.

How you feel when you stop drinking is largely based on how often and how heavily you drink. People who only drink occasionally probably won’t notice any physical or psychological symptoms. If you drank heavily, you may have some mild symptoms. People who have a severe reaction to quitting alcohol should seek emergency treatment.

What happens in the first week without alcohol?

It’s like it’s none of your business what I’m drinking or why I’m not drinking or whether or not I drink. What did you drink this morning when you woke up? Oh, is this a game where we get to play what we like to drink? So, I mean, that’s something that… And then the more your circle of friends and people that you’re with, the more you’re close with them, then it can usually just become a non-issue. Unless, you’re one of those people where you don’t tell even your friends and family that you had a drinking problem.

• It may be that your drinking habits calm down after the novelty of celebrating a month or two of sobriety wears off, but Dr. Koob says it’s important to keep it on your radar so you can avoid overdoing it.
• No one’s realistically going to try to do that, and if they are, they’re weird.
• I don’t have that energy going in there, like, “I hope somebody doesn’t ask me why I don’t have alcoholic beverage in my hand.” It’s been so long by now, it’s just not an issue anymore.
• I order a mocktail when I meet people for drinks because it feels good to sip a drink that has an air of indulgence to it.
• Say you don’t have any cravings when you go without drinking.

As a master certified coach, Rachel has helped thousands of women reexamine their relationship with alcohol so that they can unlock their potential. According to American Family Physician, about half of people who have alcohol use disorder (uncontrolled drinking and preoccupation with alcohol) who suddenly stop or cut back on alcohol consumption will develop signs or symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Symptoms can range from headache, elevated blood pressure, heart palpitations, and nausea and vomiting to tremors, hallucination and in severe cases death. Dr. Streem suggests starting with the World Health Organization’s Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

Don’t cover up bad behavior

Hany says that once you stop drinking, you may initially find it more difficult to fall asleep. Your sleep, he says, will be restored gradually during the first four weeks, but after that you’ll sleep more deeply and wake up more rested. The information we provide while responding to comments how to take a break from drinking is not intended to provide and does not constitute medical, legal, or other professional advice. The responses to comments on fitrecovery.com are designed to support, not replace, medical or psychiatric treatment. Please seek professional care if you believe you may have a condition.

Like if we really want to change this behavior and this habit at the deepest level, then we do have to understand how it’s helping you. Yeah, I mean, one of the things I read in your book that I thought was kind of unique, was you tell people to ask themselves, how does drinking help me? And I thought that was a really good question. Because I find that when, you know, I kind of describe them as sort of the highlights and the lowlights of drinking. I think it causes resistance and push back to imply that it was all awful, right, which is kind of what he does sometimes.