St. Patrick's Day is almost here and we're all gearing up to celebrate! But with the fun times also comes bad decisions and regrets. So to hopefully prevent some hangovers and general unhappiness the day after, here are some helpful tips to get you through this St. Paddy's Day:

Prepare

It's super important to start hydrating days before the festivities start. If you know you're waking up on March 17 and cracking open your first beer as soon as you peel your eyes open, then be sure to drink tons of water in the days leading up to it. Fill up your water bottle and keep it with you at all times. Water is obviously good for you and it'll help you feel not-so-awful the day after the holiday.

Eat

Getting distracted by the drinking games or the fun decorations and all the green stuff, but you need to take care of yourself. Make sure you actually have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snack in between. Bar pretzels and peanuts don't count. Sit down and have a normal meal. You can sacrifice a half hour to get some food into your body.

Pace Yourself

You don't want to be that person that passes out at the bar and you certainly don't want to be that person that throws up all over everything and everyone, because that's just plain disgusting. Don't push yourself to keep up with someone else, do your thing and just have fun.

Take A Break

There's nothing wrong with taking a break from the festivities for an hour or so, and if you choose to head back home for that time to regroup and make sure you're actually feeling okay without the bar atmosphere affecting you, more power to you. Sure, your friends might give you a hard time, but you'll also most likely be better off the next day than they will be.

Keep Hydrating

Keep drinking water. I know, it's not as fun as pounding as many green beers as you can and not having a care in the world, but you'll thank yourself the next day.

Make Good Decisions

I've been there too; being out on the town with your friends and doing whatever you want because you're drunk and don't care can be super fun. But we've all had those times when you wake up the next day and face-palm (internally, because headaches) because you did or said some seriously dumb things. Try to think through some things and decide if you're going to regret it later.

Stay Safe

Some people and places get super sketchy and it can get really unsafe. You never know what could happen so be sure to stay with friends and to keep your belongings close to you at all times. No one wants to get their stuff stolen, especially not while they're drunk and probably won't notice until it's too late. Have a backup plan in case you get separated or if you lose your phone, know who's the designated driver for the night and how to reach them, and know how to get home or at least to somewhere safe.