Is Drinking Your New ‘Bad’ Habit?
Have you made the pandemic a really good reason to drink daily?
With working from home, homeschooling kids at the same time and all the stress and uncertainty we experienced this year many women are drinking more wine or bubbly ‘low calorie’ alcoholic drinks more than ever before.
The Impact of Drinking Alcohol on Your Health & Happiness:
Weight Gain: At the time of this podcast recording we’ve been in the pandemic for approximately 50 weeks. If you had, one drink 5x per week over this time that would add 15-20 lbs of weight gain. Perhaps we need to stop wondering where the weight gain came from!
Sleep Disruption & Snacking: When you drink alcohol in the evening you’re likely to be tired next day and less likely to do your morning exercise (or if you do exercise experience lower performance during your workout). You get lower quality sleep when you have even 1 drink in the evening. This contributes to you being a bit tired the next day, which often leads to snacking and poor food choices.
Talk about feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel!
Self-esteem Takes a Hit: Just like biting your nails, it’s common to personalize bad habits and judge yourself when you’re struggling to get in control of something you know isn’t the best for you. If you’ve developed a new ‘bad’ habit with drinking more often, there can be shame and guilt to admit you’re not choosing what is healthiest for you.
If you joke or use humour when it comes to drinking (Mommy Wine-Time anyone?), be aware that this may be you trying to make light of how you’re really feeling.
Unhealthy Numbing / Coping for Stress & Loss: For many months now, we’ve experienced a loss of connection with others through many different physical and social distancing measures put in place. As well, there has been extreme stress and uncertainty at different moments especially for women in high stress jobs.
Alcohol is a numbing agent and does very little to actually relive loss. And when it comes to mood regulation, although you think you are ‘unwinding’ at the end of a stressful day, alcohol is a depressant as it slows down the function of your central nervous system.
Have kids? Think about what you’re modelling for them as part of your evening routine and what you’re showing them is how to cope with a tough day.
Costing Your Budget: If you became a “moderate” drinker since the start of the pandemic, you’ve paid $800 to gain weight and feel like crap the next day. Awesome… :(
How Much is “Too Much”?
Are you no longer an “occasional or social drinker” and closer to being a Moderate or Excessive drinker?
1 drink per day is considered “moderate alcohol use” for women (i.e. drinking 1 drink, 7 days out of 7 days in a week)
“Excessive drinking” is defined as more than one drink per day for women (i.e. a couple of glasses of wine in the evening)
Alcohol Abuse Disorder & Dependence:
Drinking too much at any time — can be a sign of “alcohol use disorder” (AUD). AUD is the umbrella term for problem drinking that stems from alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence. While both are marked by problems stopping or controlling alcohol use, they're not the same.
Do you have AUD? Take this Assessment from the American Psychiatric Association > HERE
Mild AUD is diagnosed when a person has two to three symptoms. This may indicate alcohol abuse. Moderate AUD is diagnosed when a person has four to five symptoms. This may be caused by alcohol abuse or dependence. Severe AUD is diagnosed when a person has six or more symptoms. This is caused by alcohol dependence.
Three Symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorder I commonly see with working women since the start of the pandemic:
Were there times when you ended up drinking more, or longer, than you intended? Yes.
More than once, have you wanted to cut down or stop drinking, but couldn't? Yes.
Have you continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or adding to another health problem (e.g. weight gain)? Yes.
Please take the diagnostic and reach out for the appropriate level of support.
Oh…. and the alcohol industry is targeting YOU!
Have you noticed the rise in: zero carb drinks, sugar-free bubbly mixes in a can, extra dry ‘low carb’ wines, lovely & attractive end-displays at your local liquor store, feminine bottles – pink, shape, bubby, appealing to female eye?
Yeah, I have too. And this is because the alcohol industry is specifically targeting women, particularly working women (Yes, targeting YOU!)
Women with rising socioeconomic status are the hottest “un-tapped” market and the alcohol industry wants a piece of your spending so it’s giving you want it’s research shows you will buy (i.e. "healthier" alcohol choice in packaging and marketing that resonates with you).
How the Alcohol Industry is Targeting You:
1) By targeting women with ads and promotions that tap into use of humour about it ('Wine O’clock' ‘Mommy Time-out’ etc.),
and
2) Using the female 'empowerment' trend to get us to buy more alcohol. Alcohol marketing "often links drinking to perceptions of what women are seeking; friendship, relaxation and empowerment. We see that alcohol companies are using EMPOWERMENT as a form of market segmentation" reports a recent BBC article that looks at the Feminisation of Alcohol Marketing (read article HERE).
Talk about low hanging fruit to be happier & healthier… reduce your alcohol intake!
How to Break Drinking as a “Bad” Habit
Habits can be hard to break! This is because once a habit has been formed, the decision to do it or not has moved out of the part of your brain that uses analytical/rationalizing mind into an older part of your brain called the “reptilian'“ part of your brain that uses habits for survival – you just do it!
Three-Step Process to Break a Bad Habit:
Step 1: Get specific about what habit you’re aiming for. “Cutting down” or “doing better” doesn’t give you anything to work with. For example, if you’re currently drinking 5 out of 7 days of the week, get specific about what you want to change like drinking only 2 out of 7 days per week, OR abstaining for an entire month.
Step 2: Dismiss the habit voice. When your habit voice starts up do not engage it! Simply dismiss it. For example, say to yourself “I don’t drink during the week. Drinking daily doesn’t exist for me anymore.” Avoid falling into an internal argument or rationalization. You will very likely fail if you do - remember, habits are in a part of your brain that does NOT follow rationalization.
Step 3: Take action to disrupt the old pattern. If you poured yourself a glass of wine in the evening, mix yourself a non-alcoholic mocktail, or go for a walk, or brew a cup of tea. Any action to get past the ‘habit hour’.
Confession: I know I’m 100% guilty of falling for the low-carb bubbly marketing and using humour for all the margaritas I’ve drank after a stressful work day! But I’m educated and now informed. So I immediately starting making changes this winter. I no longer use drinking humour to mask the difficulty I’m experiencing with stressful work situations and I’ve switched to regular mocktails and alcohol-free beers.
I sure do feel A LOT better and A LOT more in control.
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