Moderating?

If you have been significantly cutting back your drinking this festive season, you've likely gained some insights into how much other people drink around you. These are often your close mates. Perhaps you've had a few sliding door moments, thinking "that was me last year". How has this landed with you? Has it reinforced your mission to continue drinking less?

I thought a little reminder on moderation was timely if in case this might be something you are presently doing or seeking to do at some point.

First up, if you are drinking a bottle or more a night, then check in with your GP or the clean slate clinic for advice on how to safely stop so as to avoid any medical complications associated with physical addiction.

If you are not physically addicted but feel caught on the drinking merry go round, start with a clear 6 weeks off to begin with. Can you do it? Treat it like an experiment. Extend this to 100 days if possible, and then keep going. A year is terrific! It's ok to attempt this in small steps, pulling back little by little. It's also ok to get some medical (like Naltrexone) or counselling assistance to get there too.

I thought I'd run through why it is difficult to keep one foot in the moderation camp when you are in your first 12 months of significantly cutting back alcohol. It's good to know.

Moderating is less than you think

For moderation to “work”, you need to only have one or two drinks when you are out once a week maximum. Plus you need to drink them mindfully and slowly. Most people’s idea of moderation usually resembles binge drinking. A single drink impacts the pre-frontal cortex - our reasoning and rational thinking - and often leads to another, and before you know it, the line between moderation and excess is blurred. So moderation is a tricky game of control.

The All or Nothing Mindset

Many struggle with an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to alcohol, ie "I'm being good" or "stuff it, let's go!". The best approach is to be consistently present and mindful, neither "good" or "bad", just I am making the healthiest choice for me in the moment right now.

The Pleasure Principle

Alcohol triggers the brain’s reward system, releasing dumps of dopamine and GABA and creating a pleasurable sensation. This is what we really crave. Not alcohol. We are after relief. Sadly the relief lasts for 20 minutes and then we feel restless as our blood alcohol level falls, so we long for another. This biochemical response can make it difficult to stop after just one drink.

Also, drinking keeps your brain hooked on alcohol-related dopamine dumps and does not allow it to recalibrate into healthy base-line production, so you will continue to feel flat and low when in those non-drinking moments in between binges and drinking sessions.

Emotional Triggers

Emotions play a substantial role in our relationship with alcohol. Stress, sadness, or even happiness can trigger a desire to drink. Using alcohol as a coping mechanism for emotional turbulence prevents us from learning to self-regulate and "do life" without our safety blanket. Whenever we feel these emotions we automatically reach for alcohol, making it exceedingly difficult to stick to moderation goals. Abstaining for a lengthy period allows us to become more emotionally resilient over time.

Constant State of Withdrawal 

Unlike abstaining from alcohol entirely, moderation involves keeping your body in a constant state of withdrawal. Even with a glass or two, your body needs to get rid of the alcohol in your system immediately, involving the release of stress hormones. With that comes a feeling of restlessness and anxiety, uncomfortable feelings which often lead you to want to drink some more to avoid.

Obstructing New Habit Formation

Moderation does not allow the time and space for you to develop new neural pathways that allow healthier habits to form without alcohol. It makes the process of breaking free a lot longer, making the process of drinking less long term even harder to achieve.

The longer you can allow yourself to be alcohol free or with as little alcohol in your system along the way as possible, the more resilient you will be in the long term to say no.

Need More Support?

My online course, The Alcohol Revolution, has been completely overhauled with fresh content designed to resemble mini counselling sessions to support you to drink less. (If you have purchased this course, you will already have free access to the updated version.)

Alternatively (or in addition to), sign up for my Feb 2025 Challenge to kickstart 2025 with intention. Doors are open. Spots are already filling up.

Finally - I am always here for a chat, so feel free to book a 30 minute no obligation chat. 

Warm regards

Isabella