Do not blame the authorities placing some strict rules on alcohol consumption: units and other guidelines, they should be treated as an advice. Yet different countries have slightly varying set of limits, be it daily 3 units, or not exceeding 28 units a week.
However everyone agrees that you should have at least 1-2 alcohol free days. I clearly can see the benefit -you train your liver to recover and on Saturday night you drink one more glass of wine, especially when your night in or out with friends is going so well.
Yet the idea of not having a glass (just one!) with your dinner could be daunting.
First of all, think about the mental challenge – who is in charge, you or your mind (that is now whispering: you, you, but let me have that one glass of vino tinto!)?
It can be relatively easily done, i.e. by starting an intermittent fasting (5×2) diet. You will not want to spend that extra portion of limited calories. See my own experience here.
Also, I found it beneficial to replace the drinks for something, maybe not as healthy as water, but non-alcoholic. My favourites are: sparkling water and a part of your favourite juice, cranberry and tonic with a slice of lime, and if you want something warm I recommend a ginger and lemon tea.
Final hint for those who want to try is to think about a dinner meal that is not an obvious choice for wine. In example, I hardly can imagine myself having any kind of steak or roast without a satisfying red. It won’t be failure that I can envisage even now. Foods that are normally hard to match are the spicy ones (they can be OK with the sweeter or off-dry wines, i.e. sweeter riesling and gewurztraminer with curries and pad thai), and very light ones like sashimi and sushi. You have plenty of choice, just find something exciting to do in the evening and I am sure you can do it – tested!
