Expert advice: how to drink safely and enjoy it
Georgia Foster is a leading clinical hypnotherapist and author of the Drink Less Mind, a book and DVD (visit georgiafoster.com).
She says women in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s are becoming increasingly dependent on drink. The first thing I stress to them is that, in the majority of cases, they are not alcoholics. They are simply fallen into a habit of drinking – usually wine – which is so easy to form.
Usually these women are comfortable off, they work hard, they don’t have small children any more and they use alcohol as a punctuation to their working day. It’s what I call ‘learned behaviour’. Alcohol tunes down the negativity we all feel within ourselves – ‘I didn’t handle that meeting very well, or ‘I shouted at the children’. What you have to do it look at the reasons why you drink. Why are you being negative about yourself? What is driving you to need that ‘confidence pill’? Women, especially if they are on their own, can create little ’solo parties’ with a bottle of wine, as it’s an easy way to entertain yourself.
My 10 top tips for enjoying alcohol sensibly
1. Aim to drink half of your present intake: don’t set yourself up for failure by saying, ‘I won’t drink at all.’
2. Often, the first glass doesn’t even touch the sides – and that is because you are dehydrated. So, at the beginning of the evening, drink a glass of water, because often you are simply thirsty.
3. Always have something to eat if you are drinking a glass of wine
4. Put your glass down between sips and make a conscious effort to drink slowly. Try to appreciate the taste.
5. Always have a glass of water after you’ve had a couple of glasses of wine, and try not to drink more then two small glasses a night
6. Some nights, with friends, you might have three or four glasses – but try not to have any more then that, even on a ‘heavy night’, and stick to the water rules.
7. Aim for two alcohol-free days a week, and try to increases that to four.
8. If you feel you’ve drunk too much one week, do something else when you feel the urge to drink more – pick up a book or watch a file you love. The urge won’t last long.
9. Take regular exercise. It will help you to process the alcohol much better.
10. Once you’re in control of your drinking, stop worrying and enjoy it.
My drinking is at a level that I’m really happy with. Sarah Francis, 38,
is the company director of a marketing firm and lives in Surbition, Surrey with her husband, Marc. The couple have a nine-month-old baby, Mia. ‘I am very careful about how much I drink. I really enjoy drinking, but I’m very aware that, in my career, it’s all too easy to get into the habit of having a glass of wine with a client at lunchtime, then a few glasses after work, and before you know it, you could be drinking a bottle a day.
Over the years, I have brought my drinking to a level that I’m really happy with. The secret, I think, is to drink masses of water. As soon as I get home from work I have a big glass of water so I’m not thirsty when I sit down to dinner, and then I have another big glass of water. Wine to me is a treat, and I sip it very slowly appreciating the taste. I try to drink a good quality wine. At the most I drink about 13 units of alcohol a week, and I often go two or three days without a drink at all. If I’m going to watch a rugby match, or whatever, I’ll think ‘I will have one pint of beer’ and at dinner parties, I set myself limits. I don’t want to give up drinking, as I would really miss it. It’s a great pleasure, but it is also a responsibility’
She says women in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s are becoming increasingly dependent on drink. The first thing I stress to them is that, in the majority of cases, they are not alcoholics. They are simply fallen into a habit of drinking – usually wine – which is so easy to form.
Usually these women are comfortable off, they work hard, they don’t have small children any more and they use alcohol as a punctuation to their working day. It’s what I call ‘learned behaviour’. Alcohol tunes down the negativity we all feel within ourselves – ‘I didn’t handle that meeting very well, or ‘I shouted at the children’. What you have to do it look at the reasons why you drink. Why are you being negative about yourself? What is driving you to need that ‘confidence pill’? Women, especially if they are on their own, can create little ’solo parties’ with a bottle of wine, as it’s an easy way to entertain yourself.
My 10 top tips for enjoying alcohol sensibly
1. Aim to drink half of your present intake: don’t set yourself up for failure by saying, ‘I won’t drink at all.’
2. Often, the first glass doesn’t even touch the sides – and that is because you are dehydrated. So, at the beginning of the evening, drink a glass of water, because often you are simply thirsty.
3. Always have something to eat if you are drinking a glass of wine
4. Put your glass down between sips and make a conscious effort to drink slowly. Try to appreciate the taste.
5. Always have a glass of water after you’ve had a couple of glasses of wine, and try not to drink more then two small glasses a night
6. Some nights, with friends, you might have three or four glasses – but try not to have any more then that, even on a ‘heavy night’, and stick to the water rules.
7. Aim for two alcohol-free days a week, and try to increases that to four.
8. If you feel you’ve drunk too much one week, do something else when you feel the urge to drink more – pick up a book or watch a file you love. The urge won’t last long.
9. Take regular exercise. It will help you to process the alcohol much better.
10. Once you’re in control of your drinking, stop worrying and enjoy it.
My drinking is at a level that I’m really happy with. Sarah Francis, 38,
is the company director of a marketing firm and lives in Surbition, Surrey with her husband, Marc. The couple have a nine-month-old baby, Mia. ‘I am very careful about how much I drink. I really enjoy drinking, but I’m very aware that, in my career, it’s all too easy to get into the habit of having a glass of wine with a client at lunchtime, then a few glasses after work, and before you know it, you could be drinking a bottle a day.
Over the years, I have brought my drinking to a level that I’m really happy with. The secret, I think, is to drink masses of water. As soon as I get home from work I have a big glass of water so I’m not thirsty when I sit down to dinner, and then I have another big glass of water. Wine to me is a treat, and I sip it very slowly appreciating the taste. I try to drink a good quality wine. At the most I drink about 13 units of alcohol a week, and I often go two or three days without a drink at all. If I’m going to watch a rugby match, or whatever, I’ll think ‘I will have one pint of beer’ and at dinner parties, I set myself limits. I don’t want to give up drinking, as I would really miss it. It’s a great pleasure, but it is also a responsibility’