Alcohol and the holidays

This week is one of the best times of year in New York City.  The air is finally brisk, there's a dusting of snow, work is light, the holidays are coming, and the carolers are knocking on your apartment door.  Okay, maybe no carolers.  And then there's the social calendar -- yes, all the holiday parties.  I've got a packed dance card from here until I go back to Michigan, which means one thing: trying not to drink too much.

For me, alcohol is a bigger issue than eating a bunch of sweets.  I'm generally off sweets, and if I do have a little something, it usually doesn't stick with me.  I'll fast a little, and I don't keep sweets in the house, so my core routine is good.  Drinking too much alcohol, on the hand, can destroy my sleep, give me a serious hangover, and kill the entire next day.  And the times when I've gotten sick over the past three or four years almost always involve unseemly amounts of alcohol.  That is way more damaging to the life I want to lead than an occasional bit of sugar.

What's the old saying?  It only takes one drink to get me drunk...the problem is, I can't remember whether it's the 14th or 15th.  It's not that I have a drinking problem.  (They always say that.)  I'm just a social guy.  Which means for the next two and half weeks, from now until New Year's, I will almost certainly be averaging 3+ drinks a night.

So for me, this year, I'm following a few guidelines:

• Drink early (that means I can coast on just a couple of drinks to increase sociability)
• Stop early (that means at least a couple hours before bedtime)
• Avoid sugary mixers
• Stick to one type of drink (mixing and matching is a bad idea)
• Have a glass of water in between drinks
• Oh yeah, and drink less (almost forgot that one)

And gentlemen, this means being confident enough in your posture to not constantly be nursing a beer.  (You'd be amazed at how many bros feel awkward at parties without a drink in their hand.  It's like a security blanket.)

Anyhow, I'm off to dinner at Takashi for some offal (courtesy of French TV), and then going to drop by Tim Ferriss' release party for The Four Hour Body.

Wish me luck.