Changing drinking habits can help us keep our drinking under control – Marin Independent Journal

Some Southern California casinos are serving mimosas on the menu for Easter. (Getty Images)

Quitting your nightly drinking is hard, but if you want to cut back, you can.

Sauvignon Blanc has been my favorite drink for over a decade. My husband prefers Chardonnay. I consider us casual drinkers, but is that true or is that just clever denial? We’ve never been charged with drunk driving, but have we ever driven while intoxicated? Yes, and we’ll be lucky if we never get pulled over. Sound familiar?

Excessive alcohol consumption is a danger to everyone’s health.

In 2005, I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive lymphoma. After months of grueling chemotherapy, a blood infection that nearly killed me, and a psychotic reaction to medication, I still needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. While that grueling year of treatment gave me years of life I wouldn’t have had otherwise, my immune system will always be weakened. But don’t get me wrong, I feel good. So good that I’ve never worried that wine could harm me.

Chronic alcohol consumption can weaken the immune system – and pose a whole host of other health risks. And many of these are subclinical, meaning they occur without us being aware of them (until it may be too late). Google is a chatterbox if you want to learn more about the risks of chronic alcohol consumption.

In January we decided to have a sober month. Some nights it was a real struggle to resist the booze, but we managed it anyway. At least until January 31st, when we went off the booze. We joked that we should have chosen February, with only 28 days.

Then we asked ourselves: What did this dry January mean? Would we go back to our old habits or would this be a new pattern? We chose the latter. We wouldn’t give up drinking, but would only indulge on “special” occasions. In February it was Valentine’s Day, my husband’s birthday, and we raised a few glasses at the “19th hole.” It was fun and we reduced our consumption from more than 60 drinks a month to three “happy hour” occasions with a maximum of two drinks.

How do you define your special occasions? Maybe it’s when you finally get the bags out of the garage for Goodwill. Maybe it’s when you’ve fertilized the houseplants or sorted through the receipts. It’s up to you to decide. Just be careful with “It was such a crappy day” or “I need to relax.” This can be a touchy subject.

Skipping happy hour with no end in sight can take a lot of determination.