There appears to no correlation these days to how much I drink and how I feel the next day. I can go out with friends and have a glass and a half of wine, get a good night’s sleep and wake up in the morning with a pounding headache.
Similarly, I can be out drinking all night and wake up feeling as fresh as a daisy. Dehydrated of course, but that’s the worst of it. There really is no rhyme or reason to this.
I have been thinking it’s an age thing, or a woman/hormonal (!) thing, but many of my male friends are the same, so that's not it!
Hangovers are a constant mystery to me. And I think we can all agree are evil. So, I’m always looking for a formula to beat them…but just as I think I have worked out the “sensible” amount of alcohol to escape a throbbing head, a dreadful night’s sleep and feeling slightly nauseous – the way my body reacts changes!
Similarly, hangover cures seem to vary – fail-safes that used to perk me up like Diet Coke have increasingly become ineffectual. To be honest the only three things that really work for me these days are water, green tea and spicy food (!)I am, I suppose, what experts would call a classic “social binge drinker”, where binging is anything more than two drinks. I don’t drink at home, unless we have people over. I don’t drink on my own. So, in my head socialising involves drinking to some degree. But as I said NOT a fan of the hangover, so periodically I think about becoming teetotal.
Increasingly a lot of people I know just don’t drink. They go out and have plenty of fun, without alcohol. These friends fascinate me. It seems they are able to exercise a level of self-restraint that I don’t seem to possess.
Not drinking clearly has a lot of pluses – no hangovers, good for my health, saves money, guaranteed good sleep. The problem is… I like a drink here or there.
So I thought about this possible “willpower” issue, but when I was a teenager I used smoke, a lot. Then before I had my kids I decided to give up, to “cleanse” my body of smoky toxins before I fell pregnant. So one day, I went cold turkey and gave up. It was relatively straightforward.
So I guess for me, mind-set comes into play. I believe we all have the power to do whatever we want to do. So, whilst I like the theory, in practise I don’t think I really want to give up. So, maybe limits would be better – for someone who has no concept of “middle ground” this is going to be interesting experiment.
Especially as on Thursday I’m off on holiday with my family. Maybe I will try to exercise a little self control in the first instance and have a few soft drink evenings...hmmm, I'll keep you posted…any tips?