How to avoid drinking at a party

How to avoid drinking at a party

If you have committed yourself to a non-drinking lifestyle, it may be difficult to resist the temptation of taking a sip of alcohol when everyone around you is drinking.

However, that does not mean that you need to avoid attending all the new year parties. Health website WebMD has some tips you can try to avoid the lure of alcohol.

Plan ahead

Create a game plan. Visualise yourself arriving at a party, getting a non-alcoholic drink and making conversation instead of drinking.

Most people get sloshed towards the end of the party, so plan on leaving before all that happens.

Just say no

When your friends or host egg you on, just look them in the eye and say 'no', says Dr Mark Willenbring, former director of the division of treatment and recovery research at the United States National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Avoid triggers

Avoid any activity that is closely related to alcohol.

For example, if you had the habit of drinking when you smoked socially, then avoid social smoking.

Be the designated driver

It may be odd when you are the only one sober and your friends will definitely be instigating you to have a drink.

Offer to be the designated driver so that people will be more accepting of your decision. However, this would mean a greater level of responsibility on your part to get everyone home.

Think positive

Keep thinking positive thoughts.

By not drinking you will not have to suffer from a hangover and you will not be harming your body.

And here is another thing to consider: 'Maybe when you drink too much, you behave like a fool,' says Ms Donna Cornett, founder and director of the Drink/Link Moderate Drinking Program in Santa Rosa, California.

'Avoid drinking so your reputation and self-esteem will be intact the next morning," she said.

Nursing a hangover

Are you suffering from a festive hangover? A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physician, a bartender and a nutritionist give some tips on how to get rid of that morning-after feeling.

TCM physician

Grind 30g of dried orange skin, add a pinch of salt and mix with 250ml of drinking water.

Alternatively, break 250g of water chestnut (including the skin) into pieces.

Add 60g of sugar and boil both ingredients in 300ml of water. Filter the juice and consume accordingly.

'These recipes work by clearing the heat in our bodies. Heat arises when too much alcohol is consumed,' said senior TCM physician Yu Zhe Kai, who practises at Eu Yan Sang TCM Clinic.

Bartender

'Prevention is better than cure. Stick to just one spirit a night. As the alcohol content in spirits vary, you tend to get a hangover a lot faster if you mix your alcoholic drinks than if you were to stick with just one type,' said Mr Jeffrey Yap, a bartender at Home Club.

Nutritionist

'Mix a few teaspoons of lemon juice in water the day after the party. This helps stimulate the liver for it to detox the alcohol faster,' said Ms Sigrid Grobys, a nutritionist at An apple a day.

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