Know your limits - top ten tips for cutting back on the booze

1. Decide on your ultimate goal.  Do you want to cut down to a set daily amount?  Maybe you want to avoid binge drinking?  Or perhaps you would like to give up alcohol altogether?

2. Pick a day of the next week to start cutting down.  Go for a day when you are less likely to be under pressure, so it's easier to avoid alcohol.

3. Keep a drink diary. Writing this on a regular basis will help you to work out how much you're drinking.

4. Work out how you can avoid situations that you know will encourage you to drink. For example, if
you're going out with friends suggest the cinema instead of the pub.

5. Pace yourself. Try drinking each drink more slowly or alternating alcoholic drinks with soft or low
alcohol ones.

6. Find something else to do while you drink, like playing darts or pool, or dancing. This will take your mind off your drinks and help you to slow down.

7. Get out of the habit of drinking because you are stressed or have nothing else to do. Look for other ways to relax: activities like swimming or going for a walk will make you feel better and don't involve alcohol.

8. Take stock of your progress and make sure you give yourself credit where it's due for your achievements so far. This will help you keep going to achieve your targets.

9. Try to have at least two alcohol-free days a week. Choose days when you're less likely to be in situations where you would usually drink alcohol. Always give your body a 48 hour break from booze if you do drink too much in one session.

10. Don't give up! Changing a habit like drinking takes time and hard work, and sometimes it's difficult to drink less. Focus on what you've achieved so far and reward yourself when you have met your drinking targets. If you do relapse, don't stop, just set a new date to start cutting down again.

The Chief Medical Officer recommends that men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol daily and women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units daily.

In addition, you should also take a break for 48 hours after an episode of heavy drinking to let your body recover.

Drinking regularly over the lower-risk guidelines can lead to serious health problems including certain types of cancer including breast and liver cancer, high blood pressure, increased risk of heart disease and certain types of stroke, and liver disease, such as cirrhosis.

Over a quarter of the population in England (10 million adults) drink above the guidelines for lower-risk drinking.

Of these, 2.6 million adults (8% of men and 6% of women) regularly drink at higher-risk levels.

As well as reducing the longer term health risks, cutting down on your drinking may help you to look and feel in better shape.

• There are around 16,000 premature deaths each year in England and Wales associated with alcohol misuse - double the number since the early nineties.
• Alcohol-related hospital admissions are increasing at a rate of 70,000 per year in England.
• Alcohol costs the health service in England £2.7bn per annum.

Take the Units quiz.................

Drink diary.....

It can be easy to lose track of how much alcohol you drink.  Use the handy drink diary to record how many units you drink in a week by following four easy steps.