I’m not entirely in the my-body-is-a-temple camp, but I am learning to love, respect and appreciate my body a little more. Part of that is making sure I can go out for one or two drinks without spending the following day with my head in the toilet.

So, I started to add some smarts to my drinking game – strategy, you know? Working with my body, not against it.

And although I seriously don’t want to endorse binge drinking, I do want to endorse some responsible drinking hacks. These’ll keep you slinging hearts on the dance floor till the sun comes up instead of falling asleep on your bathroom floor next to an empty bag of Doritos.

Eat Dinner Before Hand

I can’t stress this enough. Eat before you take the first sip of a drink. Eat a big bowl of carbs topped with carbs.

This will help you both on the night, and in the morning. As although eating before you drink won’t stop you getting as drunk as you otherwise would have, it will slow the process down. And usually, the drunker you get, the faster you drink, which adds up to a very messy night very early on.

Plus, let’s be honest, it’s always a tinsy bit embarrassing to be the person drunk off two glasses of wine.

Stick To The Same Spirit (Or Other Kind Of Booze)

It took me a while to learn that mixing different kinds of alcohol makes you sick(er), and boy, is my tummy glad that I did.

It turns out there is some truth to the ol’ saying, beer before liquor, never been sicker, liquor before beer, you’re in the clear. As Kevin String, PhD, explains if you start drinking something with lower alcohol content, your body gets used to getting drunk at a certain rate. When you switch to something with higher alcohol content, your body still thinks it’s getting drunk at the rate of the first drink, so you drink faster, and subsequently, you get more sick.

So even though it’s more about order than substance, I’ve made a blanket rule to stick to the same boozy woozy all night.

Don’t Be Scared To Take Water Breaks

I know, I know, I sound like your Nanna.

But I also know the feeling of continually wanting a drink in your hand on a night out. And we all know the drill: finish one drink, get another (sorry bank account!).

It’s seriously not a bad idea to make a beeline for the water at the end of the bar. Your body will thank you the following morning for it. Plus the gap in sipping on the booze will help you slow your pace, and last longer without getting seriously messy drunk.

Be Weary Of Shots

It’s taken me 7 years of getting on the frothies to learn that shots are not my friend.

Shots are like a bad tinder date. They’ll seem attractive from the beginning, get you all excited, slip down your throat, and then leave you alone crying in the bathroom.

My advice: be very careful of shots. And if your friends don’t accept, “I don’t do shots but thanks!!!” screamed over blaring music, then suck up their slurring sassiness for 5 seconds before they move on to something shiny across the bar.

So, all in all, even if you don’t care about long-term health effects of binge drinking (Nanna’s back), then care about being able to get out of bed the following day. Plus, you get the bragging rights of having a night you can actually remember while your mates were blacking out in the Uber home.

(Lead image: The Office/NBC)