10 Tips to Take a Break from Drinking

Hello. And welcome back to the alcohol tipping point podcast. I am your host, Deb Masner. I am a registered nurse health coach and AFBA that's alcohol-free bad-ass. And today I wanted to talk about. Some really practical tips for you. So I'm going to give you 10 tips to take a break from drinking. And so these are 10 things to set yourself up so that you can have a successful break from drinking. And that could be whether your break is for a week, a year or forever. Right. And you don't have to say forever. I know that that can be really daunting for a lot of people and I get it. It's hard to know. What your relationship's going to look like if you don't take a break and just examine. What drinking is doing for you and what your life is like without it. And so that's why I'm really passionate about leading these 30 day. Groups and breaks. I call them alcoholic days. So I want to make sure, you know, you always have the option of joining an alcohol a day. I'll put links in the show notes for you, but. Going back to the language that you use around taking a break. And what that looks like for you. I think it's, it's so personal. I mean, a lot of people aren't ready to give up drinking and a lot of people are, but then they're scared too. And they're scared to say that they're never going to drink again because what does that look like? And had heard Annie grace from this naked mind talking about. Why she doesn't use the word forever or that she's never going to drink again. And the reason she gave was because how would you know, when you hit your goal? You wouldn't know unless you were dead. And to me, I was like, whoa, that's true. So I, I, I just say, I'm not drinking. I'm not drinking now. I'm done drinking. I'm sober and I don't put a deadline on it. And so again, that's whatever works for you, but the purpose of this show today is I just want to give you some practical tips and tools. So that you can have a successful break from drinking. So let's get into it. I like to start with biology first. So my number one tip. Is always eat. Eat. Make sure that you are eating often and enough. So people that are heavy drinkers have chronically low blood sugar. And the reason why is because when we drink. Our body goes to work processing alcohol and the key organ in our body. That's doing all that is the liver. And the liver is responsible for making blood sugar, for making glucose. And what happens when we're drinking is all other processes of our body related to metabolism and food breakdown. They all get shut down because our body is recognizing oh, Alcohol's in the system. I'll cause a poison. I've got to get rid of it. So your, your liver effectively stops making glucose stops, making sugar. And so a lot of drinkers, like I said, have chronically low blood sugar. You may notice it at the end of a night of drinking where you're just like they Amish. Ish. And you just, you need to eat, you need to eat something and now you don't care what it is. And you know, that's, those are those late nights. Snacks, concoctions. Whatever take out gross stuff. I used to make the. Grossest stuff. You guys. I would purposefully not eat dinner. Because I wanted to keep my, my buzz going and I knew if I ate it would slow down my bus. I would purposefully not eat dinner. I would drink. And then around 10 30 at night, I would be so freaking hungry. And I would make the most disgusting concoctions. Of. Just like noodles and. Potato chips. And I mean, just, you know, you know what I'm talking about. But all that to say is. When you're taking a break from drinking. You are going to have lower blood sugar. And so it's really important to keep a steady blood sugar level in your body. And you do that by eating and you do that by eating often. And look, I don't care what you eat. I am not a proponent of having this break be about dieting and losing weight. In fact, I think that. Can be. Difficult and can set yourself up for a slip ups, basically, because if, if you're using this time to like, oh, I'm gonna lose weight and I'm gonna get super fit and. And whatnot, then you kind of lose track of what you're really doing is which is giving yourself a break from drinking. And what really happens and what we tend to see is you end up with bigger cravings. And so low blood sugar and the symptoms of low blood sugar. They can mimic the symptoms of a drinking craving. You get shaky, you feel anxious, you you're physically hungry. You, you may be. Upset. You may just be like, your body is looking for something is looking for dopamine. It's looking for sugar. It's looking for alcohol is looking for something. So if you can prevent those cravings. You are going to help yourself so much in the longterm. So if you want to eat, ideally, that would be having something with protein and fat, something to keep you full, having like peanut butter on Graham crackers, having a cheese stick and nuts, something like that. But if you're just popping Skittles, pop some Skittles, I don't care. But your body is going to need something. At just to keep its blood sugar levels stable. So that is my number one tip. And then to go along with that, how has. I recommend having your dinner early. A lot of the times, our biggest triggers around dinner time, or right before dinner time are Tess free to seven hour, four to seven hour, you know, the witching hour. And so if you can shift your dinner to old lady time dinner, I'm not even kidding. Y'all at like four o'clock, four 30. That is going to help you so much just to keep that belly full to keep protein in your body. So that. Excuse me, your cravings. Aren't so bad. So eat number one, number two, kind of goes along with eating and that is a tress. Your thirst first. Another thing that drinkers have is dehydration when we drink. It also acts as a diuretic and a diuretic means that makes you have to go pee a lot. And so you will find, oftentimes you are very dehydrated and again, those symptoms of dehydration can mimic the symptoms of a craving. You know that heart racing, the anxiety just wanting something in your mouth. I mean, you're physically thirsty. So address your thirst first. Drink a big old glass of water. Drink a diet Coke drink. Just, I don't care. What you're drinking besides alcohol don't drink alcohol, obviously. But make sure you are staying hydrated and that's really going to help set you up biologically for success because. We're going to do whatever we can biologically first, and then we can address the mindset. But it, especially those first few days, those first few weeks, when your body's getting used to not having the alcohol. That's where you really want to be conscious of these eating and drinking tips. Tip number three, go to bed early. We are becoming little old ladies and that's okay. We're just doing that this in the short term. If you can shift your schedule to where you put yourself to bed at an earlier time. You put your pajamas on you, brush your teeth, you get into bed physically. If that's possible for your situation, then do that because. The majority of our drinking's taking place in the nighttime. And that's when a lot of our cravings are. So if, if we can just shift that so that we don't have so many hours of the night where we're thinking about drinking, Then that's really gonna help you too. And I mean, just think about once, once you've put your pajamas on and brushed your teeth and crawl into that bed. Like that's when your body knows, like, okay, it's time for bed now. I'm not going to go drink right now. I'm not going to go out. So that can be really helpful for you. The other thing that that kind of helps do also is just shift your rituals to earlier in the day. So going to bed earlier and then waking up earlier. And maybe doing something kind for yourself or just jotting in a journal or doing yoga or whatever that looks like. Just kind of. Shifting your schedule so that you're getting up earlier and you're going to bed earlier as well. That can be helpful for you. And those first. Few days, weeks, months. All right. Tip number four. Is to replace neuro-transmitters. So. When we are drinking, we are artificially stimulating neurotransmitters in our brain. The main ones are dopamine. Serotonin and Gabba. And dopamine is the one you probably heard the most about. And that's the one that's related to reward. It's related to pleasure. It's. It's related to motivation is related to wanting more. And what happens is your body gets used to these levels of dopamine. And then when the next day, when you're not drinking, it's depleted and your, your body is like on a dopamine hunt is what I call it. It is looking for some hits of dopamine. And that's also partly why you crave sugar so much because sugar does give you. A really strong hit of dopamine. And so find other ways to replace your dopamine. Replace your serotonin replace your Gabba. You can do that by getting adequate sleep. You can eat higher protein meals. Also just from like lean protein. Nuts, tofu, soy. Those will all help increase your neuro-transmitters. You can listen to music. That's one. I, I just smile about because. Kind of forget about listening to music. I, I see my kids so much because they're so into music and a new album will drop. I don't know if that's the word now. Someone will release something new and they'll just listen to it again and again. And I just remember, you know, being a kid. Being a teenager. Laying on the floor of my bedroom and just listening to music and really enjoying that feeling. Well, that is actually releasing dopamine and serotonin. And so that's why it can feel good. So that is a, that's a fun tip. Do we meditation's practicing mindfulness. That is something that naturally increases our, neuro-transmitters getting a massage. So treat yourself to a massage, make that part of your. Built-in rewards for taking these breaks from drinking. You know, maybe once you're a week out or two weeks out, you give yourself a reward and that could be something like a massage. Cutting down on sugar. That is going to help you. I know I talked about, if you've got to do your Skittles, you go do your Skittles. But it will help to cut down on sugar. So just making sure you have a variety of foods that you're eating. That's going to help you. You can increase your magnesium intake. You can take a magnesium supplement. You can also make sure you get adequate vitamin B all those B complex vitamins will help. You can also take us up, limit off those. You can drink green tea. You can get out in the sunlight, you can just enjoy nature. So those are all natural ways that you can increase your neurotransmitters. I do recommend some times for people, especially if they're having trouble sleeping. When they're giving up drinking, you may want to take a gab supplement and that's G a B a. And that's the one that is going to help with your anxiety and with getting better sleep. So something to look into something to talk to your doctor about. But, but definitely. Key factors that come into your break from drinking and why you might be feeling. Different and cravings and whatnot. It has been said, it can take, you know, it could take as short as like 30 days. To get back to normal dopamine levels, but it might take longer depending on like how much you were drinking. Some medical professionals suggest that 90 days is kind of a general estimate for dopamine recovery. So just keep that in mind as, as you are navigating this life without alcohol. Keep in mind that your brain is resetting and it needs some time to do that. And that's, that's why the brakes are so. Affective. Just if you can get some of these streaks of not drinking that is going to help use so much. I understand that it's very hard. And that's why I want to give you these practical tips so that you can set yourself up for success. But just recognizing like, oh, that's my brain. That's my brain. Just looking for a dopamine hit like, oh, that's just my brain. It's used to drinking right now at five o'clock. Sometimes that can just help you kind of remove yourself from the craving that you have. Okay, we're on to tip number five. And that's to replace the ritual or the habit. A lot of drinking. It's just a habit. We've just gotten into autopilot. We've just gotten used to drinking. At a certain time of day at a certain event, like that's just been our go-to. And so if we can find ways to replace the. Ritual. Of drinking. Then that's going to help you as well. And that's why I, I like having mocktails or having some N a alternatives. Because. Mostly, it was just a habit of getting home, going to the fridge and grabbing a beer, opening up a bottle of wine or whatever. And so. Without changing what you're doing. But changing what's in your glass. That could be helpful as well, you know, until you get further and further away from removing the actual alcohol may be helpful to have a substitute like an N a beer. Now for some people that can be triggering and make you actually want to drink regular beer. So if that's the case, don't do that. But do you think about. What are, what are some of the habits? What are some of the rituals you've gotten into the habit of doing around drinking and how can you switch that up? What would that look like? I mean, it could even just be a diet Coke or. Or something else that you're doing at that time without drastically changing your environment? So replace the ritual, replace the habit. That's tip number five. Tip number six. Probably one of my favorite is data not drama. I got this sane from Elizabeth Benton. Who's the host of primal potential podcast. And I just find that it's so it's so easy for me to remember data, not drama and it can be so effective. So the idea behind it is that. If you do drink, say you do drink. That is data. Right. What happens is we add all this drama to when we have had a slip up. So are the thoughts go? Something like this? Oh, it's so the fact is the data is okay. I drank last night, I had four, 12 ounce. Bottles of beer, right? That's data. That's that's a hard fact. The drama comes in. When you start thinking all the thoughts around it, all the thoughts of, oh, I messed up. I'm a failure. I'm never going to get this. What's wrong with me? I must be broken. That's the drama. And so if you can just get really factual about owning your drinking. Okay. I consumed four 12 ounce bottles of. ETO H. Period. Like just let go of some of that drama that you add to it. Right. Because that is just layering on the shame it's layering on just additional. Heaviness and which makes it even harder to get out because when we feel that. Ha shame and that heaviness and that disappointment. That makes us more likely to turn to drinking. Because we want to feel better. And we also feel like we'll fuck it. That kind of leads to the case of the fuck. It's like, well, I drank last night, I guess this month is over. So I really want you to just focus on owning if you drink. And, and just putting a period behind that. Right. I drank last night period. And then moving on and really focusing on the turnaround. You know, how fast can you get back on track? How fast can you let go of that day? Because there's nothing you can do about it. You can learn from it. And then you can let it go and you can move on. I really want you to focus on the days that you're not drinking and what makes you successful those days? Instead of focusing on the days that you drink and why you're drinking. If that makes sense. So I am always. Trying to just help people, just reframe their thoughts around drinking and reframe how they move forward so that you can move forward in a positive way. Cause I cause you guys, if beating yourself up, if that worked. You wouldn't even be listening to this podcast. Right. It doesn't work. Shaming yourself does not work. And so it's just owning what you did. And acknowledging that you're, you're doing something about this. You're not perfect. No human is, and it's going to take some time. And so when you can acknowledge it and move on, that's really going to help you. All right. Number seven is connection. So finding connection with someone. That gets what you're going through. Right. They get it, they get the, this is a thing. They know that this is hard. Not everyone gets it. You know, the people that don't get it, they just don't get it. You might as well be talking about corn. We always laugh about. Belle Robertson. She talks about like how. For people that don't get it. It's almost like you're just talking about corn and how like, oh, I had like six corn on the cobs last night and just cool. They just don't get it. And so finding people that know. This is a thing, and this is a hard thing, can be so helpful. So you can find those people. You can find a friend that gets it. You, I mean, you honestly just need one person that gets it. You can go on Facebook groups. You can go on Instagram, you can sign up for there's a whole bunch of sober apps or like reframe apps or take a break apps. There's a whole bunch of those that you can. Download, you could be as anonymous as you want. Another little plug for taking an alcohol a day. That's the group that I run. It's a monthly drag group. You're going to be with a bunch of people that get it and you're going to be all together doing it together. And that is so, so helpful. So 5g connection, whatever that looks like. Tip number eight is education. And that's just learning what you can about alcohol and the effects on your health. And, and learning about like different ways that you can tackle this issue. I think. I, you know, that kind of also goes along with awareness because. For so long we've been drinking or you've been drinking without really being aware of it. And, and maybe even not having an issue with it probably. Right. I like to say, remember back in the day when like ignorance was bliss, When you could just drink and the next day. I'd be like, oh, I'm hung over. And then move on with your life and not beat yourself up. Well, once you've opened that door to okay. Now I know I have issues with drinking. I have a drinking problem, or I need to give up drinking or my life could look better without drinking. Once you open that door in your brain. You just can't go back. Can't go back to being like how you drank before. Without consequences. And those might just be emotional consequences and that's, that's okay. That's how we change. And that that's how you move forward and you learn and uncover like, Okay. Well, what do I want my relationship with alcohol to look like? Do I want to be done? Am I divorcing? I just taking a break. Like, what does that look like? And. Education can help us figure that out. And education can also just help you become more aware of what drinking has been doing to your health. To your mental health, to affects of depression and anxiety to your physical health, to your sleep the effects on your heart, your liver. Your skin. I mean, every organ of your body is affected by alcohol. So. I find that education is, is a really effective tool to help you when you're taking this break. My other tip tip number nine is to do a cost benefit analysis. This is sounds like business school or something. But what that is is it's a way to break down the reasons for drinking. Or not drinking. And break them into four different categories. So what you can do with a cost benefit analysis, and you can find this on the smart recovery website, but you can also just do this on your own. So you can just take a piece of paper. And you can divide it into four quadrants. And at the top of your sheet, you can put. A plus side. For your left upper quadrant and a negative sign for your right opera, upper quadrant. And those would be all the positive and negative effects of drinking. And that's usually where people stop. Okay. What are all the reasons for drinking? What are all the negative effects for? Drinking. But those bottom four are the bottom two quadrants. Those are going to be not drinking. And you're going to again, have all the positive reasons for not drinking and then all the negative reasons for not drinking. What you can do is make this list. You could make one. Now you can make it to be general. Or you could make one every day. A smart recovery facilitator. I had talked to said he recommends people in the first 30 days. Do a cost benefit analysis every day and just get really specific. And do it before you drink. And if you decide you're going to drink, then own that decision, but make sure you do your cost benefit analysis ahead of time. And what you will usually see is your reasons for drinking. Our short term. That it's it's that immediate effect. It's the socialization. It's the buzz. It's the calmness, right? That's all short term. Your reasons for not drinking are longterm. You know, there are affected to your. You know, they are about your health, about sleeping, better about having more positive relationships about doing better at work, about just showing up better as a mom, as a parent, whatever that looks like for you. And then you will find in that fourth column. Which is all the reasons not. All the negative affects of not drinking. Those are usually your triggers. And usually in there is maybe like social awkwardness. That, that can be a huge one. And so what you would do is just recognize, okay. I really need to pay attention to when I'm going out. When I'm in a social setting, I really need to pay attention to. What I need to be successful, practicing, not drinking that day. What does that look like? Maybe it's not going to the event or maybe it's going to the vet and making sure I always have another drink in my hand. Maybe it's telling a friend. Something like that. When you're looking at all your positive short-term reasons for drinking. Those are the things you need replacements for, right? Usually what you really need. You need some calmness, right? You need a way to tap out a way to relax a way to. Navigate the social setting. Way to have joy. Right. So, so really thinking about, okay, well, what are some other ways that I can find joy in my life? What are some other ways I can feel comfortable at this party? What are some other ways that I can relax? And come up with a list of other ways, creative. So, so that's why I really liked doing a cost benefit analysis. I find also just getting things out of your head and onto paper is, is really helpful. Okay. And then our last tip tip number 10 for having a successful break from drinking. Self-compassion. Oh, my gosh. Self-compassion remember we talked before, like beating yourself up, does not work. So really, really being kind to yourself and just acknowledging that you're, you're doing something hard. And that you are okay. And that you are learning, you are growing, you are changing and that takes time. Can I give you some, some five tips. About developing self-compassion skills. And those are acknowledging mistakes. And then letting them go. So at totally own it, when you drink own that own, that shit. And then let it go. You know, It can be empowering because of the thing is it's your choice. When you drank, you decide to drink. And when, if you do drink, like tell yourself I am deciding to drink. And when you don't drink, tell yourself I am deciding not to drink. And the reason why is because that is really empowering. So much of our drinking feels out of control. And I just want you to recognize there's so much in your control, so really own. You're drinking or you're not drinking. If you do drink and, and slip up when you have an intended to acknowledge it and then let it go. Let it go. The other. Self-compassion tip is to remember you're exactly where you need to be right now. Whoa. Why. You are exactly where you need to be right now. Things are happening for you. They're not happening to you. And sometimes. This is part of the process. Aye. I felt like I had to go through so many day ones, so many years of trying. To get to where I'm at now. And I don't think I would change it. I think that really made me grow and made me stronger as a person, as a sober bad-ass. As someone who's helping other people change their drinking. Aye. I think it was all supposed to happen. And I know that's whew. I've gotten more. Woo. The older I get in life, but I think it's it's a reminder that you're exactly where you need to be right now. Okay. Another tip for self-compassion is choosing to focus on self growth. And that's what your two 18. I mean, you should feel so proud of yourself. You are changing your drinking, and that is focusing on self-growth. And you are worth it. And that's a wonderful thing. Tip number four for self-compassion skill is speak to and treat yourself as you would a dear friend. Or your child. I know that you're capable of, that I have seen and talk to you all. You are so carried. You are wonderful, wonderful people. And I know I could probably call any of you up and. Tell you some woe that I have, and you would be so comforting to me. So I really want you to turn that around on yourself. And be as comforting to yourself as you can, you know, it's just kind of going back to reparenting yourself, being kind to yourself. Because that's how you get through it. Like I said, beating yourself does not. Work. It doesn't work. So really just being as kind to yourself as you can, and just, you know, telling yourself it's okay. You were working on this, you are changing and change takes time. And you're okay. And then the last self-compassion skill is to cut yourself some slack and give yourself permission to move on. I kind of goes back to acknowledging mistakes and letting them go like CA give yourself some slack and then give yourself the permission to move on. And try other things and keep trying. And that's how we move forward. That's the only way we can move forward. And it's so, so important. That's why I talk about self compassion a lot. And what I want for you. All right. So those were the 10 tips to take a break from drinking. I'll just go over them real quick. So it's eating. Addressing your thirst first going to bed early. Replacing your neuro-transmitters. Replacing the ritual or habit. Data, not trauma. Connection. Education. Do we in a cost benefit analysis. And then number 10 was self-compassion. All right. So I just want to invite you again. If you need help taking a break from drinking, I'd love to have you join the next alcohol a day. They start every month. So this is coming out March 1st. We're going to have one starting. Today, March 1st and what it is, it's a month long break from drinking. It is a private group. Private small group that you can be a part of. There are twice weekly meetings. There is a daily module that you get. There is a journal. There is a tracker, there is a private feed where you can interact with other people who get what you're going through and like talking about corn. And it's just a really great, safe way to take a break from drinking. So you can find that at I'll call to pinpoint.com/alcohol a day, it is only $79 and you can use the code love. Oh, V E all caps to get 20% off. So I'd love to have you join the alcoholic day and if not, I'd love to have you reach out and just let me know how you're doing. And I wish you the very, very best you are worth it. You can do this.