If you've been thinking about the effects of alcohol on your health, you might decide you could cut back a little on your drinking. If this seems like it might be tricky, don't worry: there are plenty of ways you can make cutting back a bit easier.
Drinking in moderation, or even a small reduction, can make a big difference to your health and NHS Choices have put together the following tips to help you cut down on how much you drink:
Before you start drinking, set yourself a limit on how much you're going to drink.
Only take a fixed amount of money to spend on alcohol.
If you let your friends and family know you're cutting down and that it's important to you, you could get support from them.
Try and cut back a little each day - then every day you do is a success.
You can still enjoy a drink but go for smaller sizes. Try bottled beer or a small glass of wine.
Cut down the alcohol by swapping a strong beers or wines for ones with a lower strength (ABV in %) - you'll see this info on the bottle.
Drink a pint of water before you start drinking and avoid using alcohol to quench your thirst - have a soft drink instead.
Have the odd day here and there each week when you don't have a drink.
The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good way to check if you’re a healthy weight.
Click here to find out what your BMI is by entering a few details into our Calculator!