Alcohol Minimalist: Mindful Drinking & Behavior Change

Latest Episodes:

Six Keys to Changing Your Relationship with Alcohol 2.0 Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast we're revisiting an episode I originally published in June 2021, Six Keys to Changing Your Relationship with Alcohol.

These six keys are the ideas that underscored my success in changing my own relationship with alcohol. Embrace these keys to help you change your drinking habits.

Change is simple but it's not easy.
Change is Incremental.
Change is Slow.
Change Comes with Discomfort.
Commitment is Key to the process.
Never Give Up.

Resources Mentioned:

To learn more about the Results Cycle check out Episode #11

To hear how about "Trying to Moderate and Hoping to Abstain" check out Episode #17

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

Abstinence from alcohol Abstinence from alcohol is the best choice for people who take medication(s) that interact with alcohol, have health conditions that could be exacerbated by alcohol (e.g. liver disease), are pregnant or may become pregnant or have had a problem with alcohol or another substance in the past.

Benefits of “low-risk” drinking Following these guidelines reduces the risk of health problems such as cancer, liver disease, reduced immunity, ulcers, sleep problems, complications of existing conditions, and more. It also reduces the risk of depression, social problems, and difficulties at school or work.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

What is "Low-Risk" Drinking? May 25, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast I'm defining what I mean when I say "low-risk drinking".

I'm sharing where the recommendation comes from and the importance of understanding the limitations for these recommendations.

I'm comparing and contrasting the ideas of mindful drinking, moderate drinking and "low-risk" drinking to help you determine how best to create your own peaceful relationship with alcohol.

Resources Mentioned:

www.mollywatts.com/resources

Episode #31

Episode #2

Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

Catching up with Sunnyside: Mindful Drinking with Ian Andersen May 18, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast, I'm catching up with Ian Andersen, co-founder and CGO for Sunnyside, formerly Cutback Coach.

We're talking about the vision for Sunnyside and how people are using the app to support mindful drinking.

From the website: "Some people think that cutting back on drinking is all about having less. But at Sunnyside, we’re all about having more. More rested mornings, more days when you’re feeling your absolute best, more energy and positivity. We’re not here to say “don’t go out” or “never drink”. We’re here to help you to enjoy your life AND wake up ready to shine your brightest."

"Sunnyside is a system for creating a more mindful approach to drinking to help you reach your goals. Our members are seeing major benefits, including a reduction in weekly drinks, improved sleep, a healthier diet, money saved, and an overall improved sense of well-being."

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Mindful Drinkers Community

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

Debbie Hampton-Best Brain Possible May 11, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast I'm speaking to Debbie Hampton.

Debbie recovered from a suicide attempt and resulting brain injury to become an inspirational and educational writer. She is the author of Beat Depression And Anxiety By Changing Your Brain and a memoir, Sex, Suicide and Serotonin: Taking Myself Apart and Putting Myself Back Together Debbie writes for The Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, and more. On her website, The Best Brain Possible, she shares information and inspiration on how to better your brain and life. Resources Mentioned: The Brain That Changes Itself Sunnyside.co/minimalist The 6 Principles of Neuroplasticity

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

My Alcohol Experience 2.0 May 04, 2022

Show notes

In this week's episode I'm sharing my experience with alcohol. From my life as a child of an alcoholic parent, to creating my own disordered alcohol use, I'm talking about all of it.

My transformation from a 25+ year daily drinker to creating a peaceful relationship with alcohol and sticking to low-risk limits included a lot of support, education and work over a two-year period. It's also possible for anyone who is willing to commit to learning how their brain works and is ready to be accountable for their own feelings and actions.

To learn more about Proof Positive, my 1:1 and small group coaching program starting in June 2022, visit me here.

Programs mentioned:

One Year No Beer

100 Days of Lasting Change

Take a Break

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

"The Urge: Our History Of Addiction" with Dr. Carl Erik Fisher Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast, I'm speaking to Dr. Carl Erik Fisher.

Carl Erik Fisher, M.D., is an addiction psychiatrist, bioethics scholar, and author. He is an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, where he studies and teaches law, ethics, and policy relating to psychiatry and neuroscience, especially issues related to substance use disorders and other addictive behaviors. He is the author of the nonfiction book The Urge: Our History of Addiction, an intellectual and cultural history of addiction, interwoven with his own experiences as an addiction psychiatrist at Columbia and as someone in recovery himself.

Our conversation covers:

Th origin of the word "addiction" and why we might need to reframe how we think about the word.
Physical dependence vs. pyschological dependence--is it important to separate the two?
Should we be using people's happiness as a better gauge for whether or not they're "addicted" to something
How the recovery industry needs to focus more on the core of what drives people toward addiction and less about abstinence.

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

The Urge: Our History of Addiction

Dr. Carl Erik Fisher

Flourishing After Addiciton

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

Believing you can CHANGE Your Drinking Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast I'm talking about believing that you can CHANGE your drinking.

We get stuck in past patterns because we don't believe change is possible for us. Our evidence seems to prove to us that we can't change.

What does it take to believe new things?

I'm sharing three things I did to help myself believe that change was possible for me, as well as some inspiration from other people who are working on their thoughts around alcohol and finding true change.

You can create a peaceful relationship with alcohol. Choose to invest your time and believe that you can.

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Chasing Cupcakes

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

Alcohol Awareness: How Can We Build It? Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

Did you know that April is Alcohol Awareness Month?

That's ok...most people don't know either. The initiative, started in 1987, is not widely promoted and illustrates how far we have to go as a sociey to increase our alcohol awareness.

In this episode, I want us to ask how we can build awareness ourselves to help incease alcohol awareness for the people around us.

Two questions are pivotal to helping build your own alcohol awareness.

1) How much are you drinking on a weekly basis. The answer needs to be a specific number of standard drink units.

2) What are your thoughts about alcohol? What stories do you hold on to, that fuel your desire to drink?

Join me and the Alcohol Minimalists in honoring Alcohol Awareness Month with an alcohol-free weekend on April 15, 16 & 17th.

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Episode 8 Dr. David Nutt

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

Drinking Habits and the Reptilian Brain Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast I'm diving into the Triune Brain Model and why I'm changing how I talk about the "lower" brain.

Learn why the Triune Model isn't accurate with regards to evolutionary process, but why it still holds value to descibe the functional hierachy of the brain. It's still a valuable tool to understand human behavior especially the interactions between cognitive and emotional pathways.

Books to read: 7 1/2 Lessons about the Brain

Video to watch: 3 Brain Systems That Control Your Behavior Reptilian Limbic Neo Cortex Robert Sapolsky

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

"How to Be Happy, Dammit" with Karen Salmansohn Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

This week on the podcast I'm talking with author, designer and personal development coach Karen Salmansohn. Hear about her own journey to overcome anxiety, emotional eating and use her extraordinary creative talents to make the world a better place.

Her website says it all: Supersize your courage, abilities and mindset.

We talk about how she has incorporated research and science, with humor, sass all of it with a spoon full of eye candy to help the development go down.

She is sharing some of the wisdom from her best-selling books, wonderful and affordable online courses and life in general.

Join me, Karen, Chop the cat and Lily the dog in this fun episode!

Learn more about Karen Salmansohn here: www.notsalmon.com

Buy: How to Be Happy, Dammit

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 23 (Cutback Coach now Sunnyside)

Sunnyside.co/minimalist

Buy Breaking the Bottle Legacy: How to Change Your Drinking Habits and Create A Peaceful Relationship with Alcohol on Amazon or most online retailers.

Join my private FB group Alcohol Minimalists here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/changeyouralcoholhabit

Has this podcast helped you? Please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram: @AlcoholMinimalist

Have you grabbed your free e-book, "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" Get it here.

Low risk drinking guidelines from the NIAAA:

Healthy men under 65:

No more than 4 drinks in one day and no more than 14 drinks per week.

Healthy women (all ages) and healthy men 65 and older: No more than 3 drinks in one day and no more than 7 drinks per week.

One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. So remember that a mixed drink or full glass of wine are probably more than one drink.

If you' are unsure about whether or not you have alcohol use disorder, please visit the NIAAA for more information.

★ Support this podcast ★

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Alcohol Minimalist: Mindful Drinking & Behavior Change

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected