Drink Less to be Happy and Healthy During the Pandemic

Drink Less to be Happy and Healthy During the Pandemic: I have been hearing an increasingly common story among us and friends, family and random acquaintances. Everyone is noticing that their alcohol stash diminishing at a rapid rate. Those ubiquitous boxes of wine - gone in three days. The ice cold beers that used to be a treat after a day of working outside - hmm… Already time to replenish? FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO HIGHER ALCOHOL USE So what is happening? Well multiple factors are merging together to create an atmosphere ripe for shall we call “excess alcohol indulgence”. These factors include: ● Boredom ● Anxiety ● Fear ● Children underfoot 100% (hey we love them, but what we wouldn’t give or a playdate at somebody else’s house) ● Too much together time with your partner ● Boring house and yard projects that now must be faced as the excuse bucket is empty ● Bad news constantly ● A deluge of virtual happy hours that start at 4:30. WHAT IS A SERVING OF WINE ACTUALLY IS First off a little education about what constitutes a serving size of wine. To figure out really what one serving of wine is do the following: ● Take your bottle of wine and get a measuring cup out and pour in ½ cup. Then, very carefully add 1 more tiny ounce. Look at it very closely. What you have in front of you is considered one serving of alcohol. Yep!! That small, piddly and insignificant glass of wine is considered one serving of wine. Sorry folks. Serving sizes are always smaller than we like. FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MODERATE YOUR ALCOHOL USE: 1. If you plan to drink alcohol on a particular day - then you must delay, procrastinate, put off the hour you have your first drink. If you start drinking at five, and bedtime is at eleven, most likely you are going to consume more than that tiny little 5-ounce glass alcohol in six hours. Many folks have told me they like to drink wine while they cook dinner and this is fine, but be aware of how much you consume cooking, during and after dinner. It can add up. 2. Make the alcohol difficult to get to, so when you want to have another glass you have to go through a hassle or some kind of discomfort to access it. Put it in a high cupboard behind annoying other stuff. Place it in the garage behind a mess of old tools and other miscellaneous junk that has accumulated out there so that just thinking about climbing out there feels overwhelming. 3. Spread it out. Intersperse alcohol use with other non-alcoholic beverages, such as water, sparkling water, tea, coffee, juice, etc. 4. Have a schedule so there is some kind of structure to your day and or evening. If you find yourself out of work and the days loom long and endless, this is particularly important. Get out your calendar and write or type up something. 5. Don’t buy a lot of alcohol at once. Buy only what you plan to drink for the week.. Opening the fridge or pantry with lots of alcohol will tempt you to drink more than you should. If you are looking for some more help with moderating alcohol use click to here for a free 15 minute consultation.