Tonight we will be ringing in the New Year with booze and friends. Tomorrow we will be waking up looking through our phone for bits and pieces of the night, a pounding head and our mascara halfway down our cheeks.
After 3 and a half years at college, I have come to give you advice on how to pull your life together when it all fell apart just 8 hours before.
I want to start out with some tips to help you before you go out:
1. Make your bed, and lay out your PJs, make up remover (if you're wearing it), and hair tie and brush (again, if you need it) on the bed. Coming home drunk to a nice made bed and your essentials ready for you will only make life better.
2. Set out your gatorade and/or water on your nightstand along with some asprin. I'm talking like multiple bottles. 2 or 3. Maybe more. Drunk you will thank sober you 1,000 times. Bonus, wrap some slices of bread in some cling wrap and put it there too. Or the whole loaf. Whatever makes you happy.
3. Set your trashcan with some trashbags next to your bed. Some of us aren't lucky enough to have a bathroom in our room, and if we do, sometimes we don't make it. Take it from me.
4. Tidy up any major messes. Tripping over your clothes all over the floor will only make things worse. You don't have to deep clean by any means, but if your room is chaotic, make sure you clean up the floor so you won't get hurt on anything or throw up on your roommates favorite slippers.
5. Eat a big, greasy meal before you go out. It will help slow down the breakdown of the alcohol.
Now that you have set yourself up for when you come home drunk, it's time for some tips on the next day. There is no real cure for a hangover, though. You just have to wait for all that alcohol to get out of your system. But this will help make the process a little better.
1. STAY HYDRATED. I say that again. STAY. HY. DRA. TED. Drink water or gatorade, The cause of a hangover is because you are dehydrated. Water will keep you hydrated, and sports drinks will replenish all those electrolytes you last night dancing your heart out at the Attic. Or whatever bar you turn into a shit show in.
2. Eat food. Some people can't eat certain things when they are hungover. For example, me and my roommate usually take a Burger King trip, because greasy food makes us feel SO much better. Soup is a great remedy, because it has sodium and is light on the stomach.
3. Sleep. If you are have nowhere to be the next day, sleep. Although you'll pass out pretty quickly, alcohol affects the REM cycle of sleeping, which is the most crucial part of sleep. So, after you drink some water and eat some soup, go back to bed.
4. Light exercise. Ew, exercise after a night of drinking? Yeah, exercise after a night of drinking. Don't do anything strenuous by any means, but a light jog will help.
5. Shower, preferably cold. Just standing there with the water running on you will help you feel refreshed and less icky.
6. Take some asprin. Not Tylenol, but asprin. Tylenol will have to make your liver work harder, so stick to your asprins.
7. Hair of the dog. Something I don't recommend, but I've seen it done. Just keep drinking when you wake up. You'll get quick results, but it'll only be worse later. So pick your poison here!
8. Alka-Seltzer. This is something I've never tried, but I know people that LOVE this stuff. It will help with a queasy stomach, but probably not much else.
9. Coffee. This is something else that can be good or bad. If you are an avid coffee drinker, this may or may not help. It could make you feel worse, but it can also help. So maybe don't chug a whole pot of coffee. Take a few drinks and see how you feel in half an hour. If you aren't much a coffee drinker, just skip this and drink your water.
Ultimately, it's extremely important for you to know your limit. Your gender, weight, race, age, experience of drinking, will all effect how drunk you get in how much time. Never ever ever EVER drink and drive. Call a cab, call a friend, but NEVER drink and drive. Please drink responsibility! So maybe things can go wrong on a night meant to have fun, and no amount of alcohol is worth it. So have fun, but have fun like the smart adult you are.
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