Hangovers are easy to avoid. Don’t drink. Or at least don’t drink too much. Because physicians do not absolutely know what causes a “hangover” there are many suggestions for a) avoiding them and b) for recovering quickly when a) fails.
I’m sure you all had a joyous Holiday weekend, and I don’t know about you, but I might have had a little too much of the God’s amber liquid. It happens! I don’t beat myself up too much, I just follow these tricks before crashing out, and make sure I’m taking care in the morning.
While you’re out:
If you can: One drink an hour. Drink a glass of water with every beer/mixed drink/glass of wine you have. Don’t mix drinks. Stick with either beer, or wine, or hard alcohol. Stay away from bourbon. The same amount of bourbon as compared to vodka will give you twice the hangover. Some liquors really will kick your ass.
When you get home:
DRINK WATER. I plan ahead. Usually, I have a Nalgene or a Sigg water bottle on my nightstand anyways. But, before leaving, I put out a 2nd. I also put one in my bathroom. If I see it, I’ll drink it! I know it will help in the morning. It’s also a great idea to replenish with vitamins, electroyltes and minerals. So, mix yourself a Powerade drink, which will replenish your depleted stores. Take a multi-vitamin, eat a banana.
In the morning, when you’re yacking or when the battering ram in your head refuses to cease or both:
Sleep. Drink more water. Drink more powerade (B-Vitamins.) Eat. Complex carbohydrates such as bread and pasta will raise your blood sugar level. Bananas are excellent because they contain complex carbohydrates, potassium and Vitamin C. And if your stomach can’t face food? Chamomile tea is best, and make the first cup really strong. The chamomile will help your stomach, and if you take in quantities of water with the tea, it will ease the pain. Don’t drink your tea too hot though.Eating fruit is a good idea, as it will help replenish vitamins.
If you need meds, have an over-the-counter painkiller such as aspirin or ibuprofen, to help ease the headache. Do Not have acetaminophen-based pills; these can be dangerous when mixed with the alcohol in your system. Take the pills in the morning, not before going to bed when the alcohol is still prominent in your system.
I knew that I may have had one or two more beers than was good for me, yet I was still up and at ‘em at 9:30 this morning for a lovely 5 miler! AND OH, DO I LOVE RUNNING! I even maintaned a 9:45 minute pace. I felt great the whole run, not too sluggish, surprisingly. I have no idea what happened when I got out of the shower though, I was exhausted. Battering ram in my head full force, I crashed on my bed, wrapped in a towel, the sun soothing on my skin, and was out for another 3 hours. ** I want to comment on how amazing running is to me. More then any other workout – plyo, spinning, Zumba, I’m such a huge fan of running, and I hope that I can kill this knee problem, because it sucks to run in pain, but sucks even more to not run at all.
Well, upon waking, all I wanted to do was be a slug on the couch. And, that’s all I did for a few hours, until finally putting myself together and heading out for some of my favorite shopping! The food kind!
Check out the goods! I only spent 35 bucks, too. I’m hoping this will tide me over until the weekend. I bought roma tomatoes, white peaches, spinach mix, grapes, whole wheat english muffins, spinach, frozen blackberries, frozen blueberries, Orginal Gardenburgers, and yogurt galore! I just love yogurt, and these were like 39 cents apeice?! Each only have 80 or 90 calories, too. Soymilk in Vanilla, little bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and instant oats from the bulk section. It was a successful trip. 
What about my 4th of July though? Well, Clayton and I went to the rooftop bar to have dinner, brewskies and watch the sky light up!
We started with this colorful array of fresh made tortilla chips and chipotle salsa. Yummmers.
I ordered this pizza, holy smokes, so rich! The mediterranean veggie is so delicious. I only had half and saved half for lunch this afternoon Same with the tots! LOVE ME SOME TOTS!
And a few pitchers of beer, oh my!
In the health blogging world, I’m not sure where alcohol and alcohol consumption fit. In my world, I most definitely allow for the occasional liquored indulgence, and much more recently, a real beer indulgence. I love good beer. The hoppier, the more heavenly. The maltier, the more magnificent. I also live in Oregon, where a plethora of small breweries exist for my budding tastebuds to explore. I really just started drinking beer mere months ago, when the weather started turning, the sun started coming out … I was craving, yearning, itching for something to soothe my soul and quench the thirst. Hello, India Pale Ale!
I think that living and eating healthily is all about moderation. I enjoy beer for its rich flavors and light refreshing qualities. I hope that I can learn to incorporate this delicious amber liquid into my healthy lifestyle with success!
Hope you all had a great holiday.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: beer, beer love, exercise, food love, gardenburger, Grocery Shopping, hangover cure, holiday, knee pain, oats, rooftop, Running, soymilk, spinach, yogurt
I love your takes on beer and all about moderation. It is so true–we need to enjoy what we love!
I did not have a hang over this weekend, but I did feel some of the alcohol hanging around my system for longer than I wanted! haha. I mostly just drank bacardi and diet coke with lime….but Sangria was involved too and that definitely went through me real fast. Do you like Sangria? I loved it!
Well, in case of the family …. I would hope you didn’t have any Frank the Tank moments! Sangria is so delicious, and so classy. The bacardi with diet coke and lime sounds delicious!
Great hangover tips!! I find eating something before bed always helps me too. Not pizza though! More like some toast or cereal
I totally agree it’s all about moderation. I don’t drink to the point of drunkeness much anymore, but I never feel guilty when I do. It’s all about balance – and knowing when letting loose and having fun is worth whatever health repercussions that follow
Hope you had a great time!
HAHA, no, thank goodness too, this pizza wasn’t a greasy pizza, it had very very little cheese on it. I think foods like that make me feel worse!
yes, hangovers DO happen.. but hopefully few and far between! good tips in this post though, for sure. i think exercise is my best cure for a hangover even though it is the LAST thing i want to do. but sweating it out is for sure the key. nice grocery haul! bargain shopping at it’s best. ha the tots remind me of napoleon dynamite. have a great monday!
Haha, lay off my tots! I was wondering too, whether or not I should put exercise as a cure … but considering I felt worse after my 5 miler yesterday? And then there’s new studies that show getting schweaty may make things worse?!