You are listening to the Drink Less Lifestyle Podcast with Dr. Sherry Price, episode number 74.

Welcome to Drink Less Lifestyle, a podcast for successful women who want to change their relationship with alcohol. If you want to drink less, feel healthier and start loving life again you’re in the right place. Please remember that the information in this podcast does not constitute medical advice. Now, here’s your host, Dr. Sherry Price.

Well, hello my friends. How are you? I’m doing okay. I have to say that this time of year is probably the most challenging time for me. And as I was reflecting on why that is I think it’s the East Coast in me that I can’t seem to shake even though I’m a West Coast girl now. I know as the end of February hits and the beginning of March I always notice that my mood isn’t as exciting, isn’t as high.

I think it’s all those year spending in the cold dreary months that I had maybe Seasonal Affective Disorder that wasn’t diagnosed and I just wanted to escape to somewhere warm and tropical. And even though I live in a warmer place I still have these feelings of March seems like a very long month.

So, I notice that my anxiety starts to creep in and it’s very fitting that in Epic You we will be focusing on managing anxiety for the month of March. And I have to say that’s really helpful for me as I’m practicing these tools and trying to reduce my anxiety with the tools so I don’t turn to drinking. So, drinking doesn’t become the way I escape. And so just having those self-care techniques has really been good for me. And so, if that is something you want to learn, manage your anxiety, manage your restlessness. You can feel free to join us inside Epic You.

For the month of March, we will be diving into some of those tools and how I use them in my life, how I use them for my daughter who has anxiety as well. And I think it’s also tax time. That always, I don’t know, gives me cause for pause and cause for concern I guess from a previous experience where I owed a lot of money and that was unexpected. So, so interesting how these memories stay with us over time and how they continue to affect our biology and even our physiology. So, noticing that come up for me is just a place where I’m at.

I also wanted to let you know that everybody’s been asking about the next retreat. I’m super excited that you ladies are excited. We are in the planning phases of that and we are starting a wait list. So, by the time this podcast airs there should be a wait list on my website. And if there’s not you can email me directly if you want to get on that wait list. So, you’ll be the first to know. It’s still going to be a smaller size. I want to keep it capped at a smaller size. So, I am anticipating it will sell out. So, if you do want to get on the wait list for that please do let us know.

Alright, so today I want to dive in and talk about euphoria. So, you could call it the high from alcohol, you can call it that feel good feeling. You can call it basically the euphoric effects. And so, I really want to dive into that a bit more because this has come up in the past. And it really helps to understand if this something you crave from alcohol and how to get underneath that. So, let’s call it the buzz, the high, the euphoric effects that woohoo, that outer body experience kind of. It’s like woohoo, that feeling.

And so, some people are really drawn to that and that’s why they overdrink. So, let’s lay it all out on the line. So, when I’m coaching women it’s really understanding what is so magical about that experience? Really what do you look forward to in the euphoria? So, if you were just to say not just the feel good, or not just call it the euphoric effects, or just call it the high, or the buzz, or however you describe it. What exactly is so appealing about that? And I want you to list that out for yourself because I want you to see what you’re really after.

So, one of the things I hear a lot from women is, “I want that feeling where I’m just not responsible. I could just go and pour myself a glass of wine, sit in the corner and not feel responsible for the kids, for answering emails, for doing laundry, for just anything. And I would say that’s probably the most common response that I get. So, I love to just play that out, just really play out that are you really not responsible in that period of time where you have the buzz, or you feel like I have my quiet time over here with my wine, or my cocktail, or my beer, or whatever.

So, let’s go to that place where you are buzzed and you have the lack of feeling responsible. Now, let’s just keep playing that forward. What if your house catches on fire, are you responsible for getting yourself out? Are you responsible if you are a mother and you have small kids or kids living at home, are you responsible for getting them out? Or are you responsible for getting your spouse out? And when we look at it that way I think it’s quite clear we can say, “Oh yeah, we’re still on the hook. We’re still responsible for calling 911, trying to out the fire, trying to get everybody out of the house.”

So, I just want you to see that this feeling of not being responsible really is a feeling you’re after but in reality you’re still responsible. If something bad goes wrong you’re just still responsible. Let’s take that to operating a car. Now, most people are responsible in that they won’t operate a car once they get buzz, but some people may. And are they responsible if they wreck and hit another person? Yes, they’re still responsible. So, I want you to see it doesn’t change the fact at all. You are still responsible.

So, this is one of those smokescreens, those little white lies that I say that alcohol gives us. It gives us this feeling that we’re not responsible but in reality we really are responsible for our actions. And I’d also like to point out, it doesn’t change the fact that you have to get up the next morning and go to work, or take care of the kids, or take care of the house, or whatever your normal daily routine is. It doesn’t change the fact that we still have chores, we still have emails coming in, we still have laundry to do. It doesn’t change any of that.

However, it’s very interesting that our mind will think it does. So maybe you’re just after the feeling that you want to be left alone and not bothered. And I just want you to see that. I want you to really be clear that maybe it’s really not about the buzz in that situation. It’s just about I want some alone time. I want to be left alone. I don’t want anybody bothering me. I don’t want to hear mommy, mommy. I don’t want to hear if anybody asks me any questions. I just want to be.

And that you can give yourself that without the buzz. You could go to your room or you could go to a quiet place in the house, and you can lock the door. You could just say, “I need 30 minutes, I need 20 minutes, I need an hour.” Just take what you need. You can give yourself that permission without using wine or alcohol in any form to get there.

Now, sometimes I’ll hear objections like, “Well, who’s going to take care of the kids or who’s going to do this, or who’s going to bathe them, or who’s going to put them to bed?” All of that. And I just want you to see that those are objections that you can definitely overcome. And that’s what I help women do. If they want to carve out time for them there is a way to structure your life where you can carve out time for you. Because yes, we all deserve downtime. Yes, we all deserve some time that we can self-replenish.

So, I love pointing this out because I’ll hear a lot of times on our calls is like, “Oh, that’s what I’m really after. I’m not really after the buzz. I’m really after some just time by myself where I’m not bothered.” And this helps them see alcohol differently. It helps them see it where they can meet this need without overdrinking or without drinking at all. And isn’t that the best news ever? It’s like you could still give yourself what you want and not require the alcohol.

So, as we peel back the layers what are we doing? We’re really dropping our dependency or our codependency on alcohol as our gateway drug to give ourselves permission to have alone time. So, as you ask yourself, what comes up for you when you say you want the buzz, you want the euphoria?

Another one I will hear is that, “I just want to check out of life.” And I find that so interesting because let’s again play that forward. If we want to check out of life, what does that actually mean? When some people say, “I want to check out of life”, they actually mean they don’t want to live anymore. They want to be not alive. So, when you say, “I want to check out of life”, does it mean you really don’t want to be alive? Is life so terrible that you’d rather be dead? And if so, go get help on that because that is not how most humans feel about life.

A lot of us are looking to extend it, and stay healthy, and stay active and so we can prolong it, so we could see our kids grow, we could see generations come after us and all of that. We can experience life and most of us want to be around for a long time. So, if we’re wanting to check out, really evaluate what you want to check out from. Now, if you say check out from life, maybe there’s major depression going on, maybe there’s something going on for you that you want to get evaluated medically.

But what I find when we say we want to check out of life, there’s a piece of life that we’re just not happy about. Maybe we’re not happy with the way we’re showing up or the changes at work that are occurring, or our kids, or what they’re experiencing in the household, or unemployment, or a different type of employment. Or there’s just a piece of our life that we’re not happy about that we want to check out from. It could just be the stress of the day we want to check out from. That’s a lot different than saying, “I want to check out from my life.” Do you see it?

So, I really like to identify what we want to check out from because if that part is stressful we want to look at ways that we can solve for that. We want to look at ways we can fix that issue that we’re not happy about. And let’s really analyze the truth. The more alcohol we have, those problems will not be fixed. We’re just avoiding them. We’re not really checking out from them, we’re just avoiding them. You can’t really escape your problems, they remain with you. They’re still a problem as you’re drunk and they’re still a problem when you’re sober.

The problem itself hasn’t changed. And now you’ve complicated that problem by first ignoring it or avoiding it, meaning it’s still going to be there. Then you have from overdrinking, the effects of overdrinking running through your body which makes it harder to think of solutions. And it makes it easier to think alcohol is the escape the next day and the next night. And then you have all that leftover affect which I will be talking about here momentarily, from the alcohol which is further depression, further anxiety. And it just compounds the problem.

You know what’s way better than checking out from the problem? It’s actually fixing it. It’s actually doing something about it. And this is exactly what I help women do inside Drink Less Lifestyle. I’m working with women now who we are fixing their job where they can enjoy it more or looking for new jobs. We are fixing marriages that haven’t been going well, have been stressful during this pandemic because we’re spending so much time together but really not enjoying one another. So, you can learn to put back the zest in things with the right tools and tactics.

There are solutions to these problems. And I say when you face them and you’re ready to fix them so they’re no longer an issue then you don’t develop a codependency on alcohol that leads to no goodness. So go after the life you want. Don’t feel you have to get stuck with the life you have if it’s not the life you want. And a lot of women go to alcohol because their needs aren’t getting met, because their desires aren’t getting met.

Through their life their wants aren’t getting met. Maybe they want to lose weight. Maybe they want more love from their partner. Maybe they want something more exciting. If those needs are not getting met then of course alcohol becomes attractive because then you could just numb. And if you’re just numbing that is way different than going to alcohol for the euphoric effects. And I have to say it’s quite easy to get the wants that you want in your life. Your brain will say it’s hard, it’s going to take a long time. Oh my gosh, I don’t know how to go about it.

But what you find is exactly the opposite. Actually, there’s two clients right now that I’m working with who are in the second month of the program and their life is already radically different than when they started by leaps and bounds, not just for them but their partners, their kids are noticing the difference. They have more energy and they’re more vibrant in just a short period of time. So don’t believe your brain when it says it’s going to be oh, so hard and take so long. It doesn’t have to take a long time. If you know the work to do you can get there very quickly.

And I will tell you, if you’re putting off your wants, and your goals, and your desires in life, you’re not going to feel good about yourself. And when you don’t feel good about yourself you don’t care how much alcohol you’re putting into your body because you just say, “I don’t care.” And the problem just grows and that’s not what you want. That’s not a solution. It’s putting you further behind the eight ball in your own life. None of us want to be actually doing that.

Another reason that comes up for women is they say, “Well, the buzz, I think I just want to feel better.” Okay, fair enough, so what does that mean for you to feel better? Is that to be happier? Is that to be less stressed? Is that to have more fulfilment in life? Is that to have more contentment, more satisfaction, or is it because you’re disappointed in some area of your life and you don’t want to feel disappointed, you want to feel differently? So really drill down to what does it mean to feel better.

And then really look at where those emotions are coming from. Do you want more kids? Do you want a bigger house? Do you want a better paying job? Do you want more friends? Do you want more connection? Do you want more quality time with your spouse? Do you want your spouse to help out more around the house? Do you want actually not to have that spouse and now change to an opposite spouse? Or how are you not getting what you want out of your life?

Because if we just stay on the surface level, I want to feel better we will always be drawn to alcohol because alcohol temporarily allows us to feel better. But you’re only creating a codependency on it for your emotional state rather than solving for the true issues in your life. And when you solve for the true issues in your life and you’re actually content, and happy, and satisfied in your life, guess what you want less of? You want less of escaping it. You want less of having to go to wine to make the night feel better because you already feel successful and happy.

And this is a big one for women. We want to be contributors to society. We want to contribute in a meaningful way and this comes up all the time in my calls. It’s not that we want to be attached to alcohol, we are not showing up in a way that feels good in our lives and so we turn to alcohol as a way to escape it. There is things going on in our life that are causing us anxiety, that are causing us grief, or that are causing us turmoil or angst. And we want to fix it but sometimes we can’t see how to fix it because we are in it. And I love it when we come to the calls and we talk about this.

We get to the root issue so we can solve it because I could see solutions that you cannot. That is the power of being outside of the problem. That’s why people have a coach. If you look at Kobe Bryant, after he hired certain coaches his shooting got much better, his playing got much better. Because the coach is able to see what was going on for Kobe that he needed to improve, things that needed to change, things that he didn’t see but it took an outsider to see.

And that goes for any athlete who wants to improve, they all get coaches because they want that outside perspective, they want new strategies, they want new tools in how to do the game better. Just like the Olympics and those Olympians, they have coaches.

So, I always like to think, do I want to feel temporarily better or do I want to feel permanently better? And we all know when you don’t drink for a while you feel amazing. Your body does not require it and does not want it. Too much of it slows the body down, slows our cognitive ability down, slows all of our senses down. And we just become more meh in life.

Alright, another area that I see come up for women when we really drill down, I want to feel this way, or this is going wrong and this is why I’m drinking. And we keep drilling down with questions and a lot of times where a lot of women land is that when they drink it’s the place they feel safe. It sounds so weird but when you have enough alcohol to dull out the noise of the world you don’t feel judged, you don’t think about how you think about yourself. You don’t have the inhibitions like if I say this how will it come across? If I do this how will it come across?

You’re not worried about how other people perceive you when you overdrink. And for some people they feel that that place is where they can be themselves and it feels safe because they don’t hear the criticism then. They may hear the criticism the next day especially from their own heads, like why did you drink so much? I can’t believe you said that. I can’t believe you can’t remember the conversation. So, the critic does come back but temporarily the critic isn’t there.  And that is a place of safety.

I don’t want to say it sounds really odd but I bet you many of you can relate to that. Maybe you feel criticized by people in your household. Maybe you’re your own worst critic. Maybe you’re criticized by a boss. And you just want to go to this place where you don’t feel all that judgment. But here’s what I want to tell you ladies, as a grown woman you can act how you want to act. You can say what you want to say.

And I will tell you, when you have too much alcohol in you, you generally don’t act how you want to act and you definitely don’t say the things that you want to be saying. You go overboard, or a different personality comes out, or you don’t remember the conversation to follow up on it the next day so you have to have the conversation all again. And it just complicates life more, it really does complicate life.

If you want to live a simple refined life you’re not going to want to overdrink because it just really complicates things. It complicates your health. It complicates relationships? It complicates the precious relationship you have with yourself. So, if you need safety, if that’s a big thing for you, you can create it outside of the alcohol, outside of the buzz. Many people just don’t know how to do that. And here’s the thing, many women don’t feel safe to act how they want to act. So, we really have to look at the barriers to what’s holding them back.

So just notice if you go to the buzz or you overdrink because it represents this place that’s safe to you, where you feel free from criticism. And just notice the illusion of that safety because it’s generally not safer to get drunk or buzzed. And then alcohol will trick your mind to thinking so but the next day, I don’t know about you, but that internal critic came back really hard. So, it’s believing these delusional thoughts that we are safe or we can’t be criticized in this moment. So just notice how that’s all an illusion and it’s an illusion that’s harming our health.

Too much alcohol harms our body in numerous ways. So, do you see this ladies? I really want you to see this. I want you to see this for your life because what if this is the thing that changes everything for you. I hear a lot of women say, “I want to stop doing this. I want to stop doing this. I want to stop this self-sabotage I keep doing to my body, and my mind, and my soul.” And if you want to stop you really have to get under the reasons why you’re doing it, why it’s so desirable. And then you go to work dismantling all of that.

And you’re right, it’s not just kids that need a safe environment, adults need a safe environment too. So, if your environment is not safe let’s look at the reasons why and create a safe environment. And then you can see how this would break the habit for good. Maybe you have some emotional healing work that needs to be done. Well, we can heal it, not a problem.

I just did some powerful healing at the retreat, the ladies felt such a dramatic shift in their bodes leaving that retreat. It was amazing. I could do this on a Zoom call. It doesn’t have to be a hurdle anymore in your life if you don’t want it to be. Because think of all the time, the hours you spend drinking, getting buzzed, recovering from the buzz, recovering from the hangover. And then really going over and over that routine again, and again, and again and just feeling confused. Why does this keep happening?

And in the meantime, what you’re doing is training your neurons, training your brain cells that this is the way to solve the problem. And the pathways in the brain get deeper and deeper and then they want more alcohol. And then one becomes two, two becomes three and then we’ve had this pattern where we overdrink because our bodies can’t metabolize it, especially as we get older we need even less. Because our bodies don’t keep up with the metabolism of it.

And then you look at your life and you have more relationship issues, you’re despondent at work or you’re not excited about your job but you can’t think of another job that you’d rather do. And you feel in this place of stuck or trapped. I hear it all the time from successful women who’s like, “On paper my life looks amazing.” I know, I was there. But not going after the real problem is going to keep you feeling stuck and trapped.

So, I love taking an inventory of life as we write down the different pie pieces of our life where are you fulfilled? Where are you not fulfilled? What brings you joy and satisfaction? What stopped bringing you joy and satisfaction? Is there an issue that you know that you are avoiding? And if not, okay, let’s look at your entire life pie and find out by doing an inventory what is troubling you.

Because I assure you, we can figure out how to get the life you want, guaranteed. It’s actually not complicated like splitting the atom or putting a rocket into our space. These are common life problems and there’s tons of solutions to them. And I think solving our problems is a way better use of our time, our energy and our resources.

Okay, so now I’m going to transition to talking about the buzz in a different way, actually in a supportive way. That may surprise you. So, this came to be when I was working with one of my clients and she mentioned she wanted a buzz around the holidays. And so, we did a whole inventory of her life. We looked at if she was unhappy anywhere, she mentioned she was at her goal weight, all her labs were within normal limits. She’s very healthy.

She has an awesome relationship with her kids, an awesome relationship with her husband. They travel, they do a lot of things. They have tons of friends, they are with friends a lot, their connections are so strong in their life which is great. So, there wasn’t anything coming up on the inventory of her life. She was satisfied with the amount of money. She was satisfied with how she’s set up for retirement. All of the things were checked.

So, we really drill down and say, “Are you using this to cope in any way? Are you disappointed anywhere? Are you feeling unfulfilled? Are you feeling not satisfied?” And everything was checking out squeaky clean. And I said, “So what’s the true reason you want the buzz?” She said, “I just really want a slight buzz, not often, just around the holidays, maybe one other time of year, I just want to have a little buzz because it just feels good.”

And since she doesn’t drink routinely anymore she says, “It only really takes two, two and a half drinks to get the buzz, maybe up to three depending how strong the drinks are.” And then we went through how that scenario would play out. She would be at home with her husband, at the fire, looking at the Christmas lights, not driving, doing everything responsible. But she just wanted to feel a little buzz because it’s the holidays. So, then I say, “Wow, it doesn’t sound like you’re using it to escape, you want a little bit of a buzz, it’s your life, you get to do that.”

She knew she wouldn’t black out or pass out with that quantity and she was fully aware of why she was doing it. And that she just wanted to do it once or twice a year. It was well thought out, it wasn’t to escape difficult things in her life and it truly was just for the pleasure of a little buzz now and then, a controlled way. I personally don’t see any harm to this. Her goal isn’t to be alcohol free for life and she just wants to enjoy it on her terms. And she’s made it clear what those terms are.

And I love that for her, that felt right for her, that felt good, that felt a healthy relationship that she wanted to have with alcohol. So, she went and had the alcohol, had a little bit of buzz, had a great time with her husband at The Fireplace and no regrets the next day. And she didn’t drink the next day. And this type of control makes you feel so powerful my friends, so powerful. Somebody even termed it clean drinking because we’re not using it as a crutch. We’re not using it as a coping mechanism. It’s not a way to become codependent on it.

It’s just to say, “Hey, this is what I want for tonight. This is what I’m going to do and that’s what I did.” Clean, no strings attached, no desire for it the next day. And why not, it’s your life, as long as there’s no negative consequences coming from it, it’s a great thing.

Alright, now I want to switch gears and talk about the downsides of the buzz. So, we talked about why we would want the buzz, how to get through all of that thinking, what is exactly going on for us, what exactly are we desiring, when is it healthy versus unhealthy, all of that, peeling back the layers. Now I want to talk about the downsides of the buzz because we all know what goes up must come down. So, if you get a buzz you have a high going on. And the body will recalibrate by adjusting and going to a low.

So just think about it like a rollercoaster. What goes up, the higher it goes up the bigger the buzz, the more overdrinking, what’s going to happen when that rollercoaster comes down? It’s going to come crashing down. So, it’s like a dose response, the higher the dose, the greater the amount of alcohol, it’s going to cause a harder crash. So, think about that.

A higher high leads to a lower low. And this is what is known as the post drinking blues. It could be a severe hangover or it could be just really these blues that last, the mental fog. It’s harder to concentrate. It’s harder to think. It’s harder to get motivated because your feelings are in the toilet. You have more anxiety. You have more stress. You’re more depressed because alcohol is a depressant.

So, if you took a lot of alcohol in the night before your body will recalibrate the next day. And so, it’s like, hey, you drank all that depressant, no wonder why you’re feeling crumby, no wonder why you’re feeling awful. And that awfulness can last hours to days. Alcohol is also a diuretic so you’ll feel more dehydrated the next day. You’ll be thirstier the next day. All that sugar in your body will cause you to crave carbs and eat more sugar. And you’ll have sweet cravings. And you’ll have the crashes from that.

And I don’t know about you but any time I had a hangover vegetables didn’t sound good to eat. I wanted to go to the nearest fast food chain restaurant, get a burger, get some tacos. I needed that bready carby stuff to absorb all the alcohol. That’s what would feel like would take the hangover effects away. So just notice if you do want the buzz there’s going to be a crash the next day. This is a reality. This is how the drug works because we all know what goes up must come down. We all know that if you got super high there is a super low associated with that.

Now, other things don’t cause this type of super high and super low because the things in nature that make us happy, or content, or bring us some joy, they are not drugs. So, they don’t have super therapeutic levels in our brain, in our body. And so, when you have super therapeutic levels meaning ultra-high, you’re going to get the ultra-low.

Now, here’s another kicker. Because your brain had the ultra-high and the ultra-low, now when you do any activity that you used to enjoy, after you’ve chronically been doing this to your body, guess what? It’s not going to enjoy those natural pleasures. So, reading a book is going to feel like meh because it’s not going to give you that ultra-big high that alcohol can.

So, I hear this with many women. It’s like, “I don’t know what to do to cut back because nothing else brings me pleasure. I feel indifferent to the things that used to bring me fun. I used to want to paint. I used to want to do art. We used to want to garden. And those things just aren’t as exciting to me anymore.”

Well, yes, because your brain has been hijacked by alcohol, and the dopamine, and all the neurotransmitters that come along with the high. And then your body needs time to recalibrate so it goes into this low period for a while. And you think the only way out of that is to have more alcohol. I’m so stressed, I had such a bad day, I’m such a low place right now. I just can’t get happy. I just can’t find solutions to my problems. I hear this over and over and it’s common because it’s the way the drug is acting on your brain.

So, if you drink for the buzz just realize what’s coming the next day. And if you think reading a book or taking a bubble bath is going to have the same kind of effect right away your brain is like, no way. We’re used to these super high effects. And then you get mad, you get mad at your brain. You get mad at your life. You get mad at trying to clean it up and then it doesn’t feel good and you’re frustrated and the you give up and you cave.

And this comes up a lot. Especially as we hit January a lot of women will allow alcohol to be in their lives more over the holidays. And I certainly did this past holiday season. Yes, and then to recalibrate your body after that will be more challenging because you have allowed more chemical into it that’s produced these super highs. So, then you have to go through this period of lows. That’s how the drug works. It’s not that you’re defective, which is great news. There’s no shame, there’s no guilt around that.

It’s just, this is how the drug works. Okay, if I did that then expect this. And then you go do it. I don’t make it an issue. And a lot of ladies in my Epic You program, we’re losing weight this month, we’re shedding the pounds and I’m actively shedding pounds. And yes, it’s work, it’s hard but it’s not so hard. You know what’s so satisfying? Seeing the pounds come off, having my clothes fit differently. I could focus on what’s harder. I can say, “I’m getting the life I want. I’m getting the body back that I want.” That’s empowering.

I’m taking things off autopilot and I’m really going after what I want intentionally, strategically because I know how to get results. What feels worse is feeling trapped and saying, “Oh my gosh, I’m stuck here. I don’t know what else to do.” And when you’re there that feels weak, and dependent, and yuck, I don’t want to be there. And I’ll tell you, when you constantly pump your body up with alcohol and sugar you can’t have clarity on things. It messes with your brain.

These things I say give you tunnel vision. It’s like, I have alcohol, want more alcohol, want more alcohol, want more alcohol. You don’t see the beauty of life around you. You’re just so focused on alcohol. Alcohol became so important to me. I wouldn’t do anything without alcohol in terms of my social events. Everything had to revolve around alcohol. My brain didn’t see life any other way. It totally had tunnel vision.

And thankfully I don’t have that tunnel vision anymore because it really deadened my passion for my life, my passion and drive for other things in my life. It even diminished how I felt about my life and the purpose I have in my life. And if you’re just drinking to get that buzz, to get that euphoric effects you’re going to want to check out more and more. And guess what? There’s never enough alcohol. And then you look around, you become mad at the people who can control it. Maybe that’s your spouse, he could take it or leave it or he can be one and done. Why isn’t that me?

Or you get mad when you’re drinking because you’re like, “I hate this, I’m feeling judged and so I’m just going to drink some more until I no longer feel any more judgment.” Or what’s even worse is you have so much judgment on yourself. You just feel crappy about what you’re doing and you’re not making progress in a sustainable way. I get it, I have been there for years, years.

So, as I’m wrapping up this episode, think about do you drink for the buzz? Why that is. What’s really the result that you want from that buzz? And as you heard, you can drink for the buzz on rare occasions as long as you’re not using it as a coping mechanism. Because when we use it as a coping mechanism the brain learns it’s a coping mechanism and it’s going to want to continue the trend, going to want to make a habit of it. And drinking becomes a problem when we’re doing it daily and we can’t control it, and we keep overdoing it.

Or we overdo it and binge on a weekly basis. And let’s just be honest, this doesn’t lead to the life you want to be living. And so, look at your reasons for wanting the buzz, is it an illusion? I bet you it is an illusion. And here’s what I want to suggest as an alternative, is to create a life that you love that you don’t want to escape from. Make your life so epic and so amazing that too much alcohol deters from it. And that’s the life I’m working on having and creating for myself each and every single day.

That’s the focus we do in Epic You, is getting the results and the life that you want. Because I don’t want alcohol to be important to my happiness or to my satisfaction in life. Yes, I get to have it when I choose it but it’s not that important to me. And that’s how I became a woman who can take it or leave it. Alright my beautiful friends, I will see you next week.

Thanks for listening to the Drink Less Lifestyle. If you’re ready to change your relationship with alcohol, check out my free guide, How to Effectively Break the Overdrinking Habit at sherryprice.com/startnow. That’s sherryprice.com/startnow. I’ll see you next week.