5 Benefits of Drinking Less You Probably Haven’t Thought About
Welcome to Journey to the Sunny Side, the podcast where we have thoughtful conversations to explore the science of habits, uncover the secrets to mindful living, and of course, your own mindful drinking journey. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform. And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free fifteen day trial. I'm your host, Mike Hardinbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast and habit change expert.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to Journey to the Sunnyside. I'm Mike Hardinbrook, and today I want to talk about the unexpected wins that come when you cut back or take a break. And I'm not talking about the everyday stuff that we all know about, things like you're going to sleep better, maybe you won't have a hangover. I'm talking more about the quieter, more sneakier, in a good way, benefits, the ones you might not even notice at first, but once they show up, they're hard to ignore. And these are gonna be the reasons that people like you keep going once you start.
Speaker 2:So let's jump into the five unexpected reasons and benefits from cutting back or taking a break. So number one, this was the number one for me is that you get real time back. You save yourself a lot of time. And a lot of us usually think about drinking. It takes up a couple hours when you're drinking.
Speaker 2:However, that's just the start of it. There's so much more time that you actually lose if you count the next morning when you're slow, when you're groggy, maybe you're unmotivated. Think about those Sundays that maybe Saturday night really pretty much stole that whole Sunday. Maybe it's just to dos that you had on your list that you skipped that day. Maybe you didn't go work out.
Speaker 2:Maybe you had big plans for that day, and you're just like, this is not the day I can't think clear. The ideas are just not flowing to you because you were off. And why were you off? Well, because you're not really sticking to your plan. And when you start to do that so when you cut back, you start noticing how much more time you actually not only have, but all the productivity that's happening.
Speaker 2:And time back doesn't always have to be productive and efficient. Sometimes it can just be leisure, but you're in the moment. You're enjoying it. And this happens because your brain and your body are actually showing up at full capacity. And suddenly, there's all this time.
Speaker 2:So, actually, I've talked an entire episode on this once. And when I look back at all the time that I spent, even though I only drink a couple hours in the evening, if I added up poor sleep, sleeping in, going slow in the morning, skipping things, I actually was losing on average for every single night that I would have drinks, I would lose about 30% of my day, which is insane. If you think about how much time that is over a year, add it up with how many extra days that I would be drinking. So when I got my time back, it was life changing. And not only that, not only do you have time for the things that you have already planned, all of a sudden you find yourself opening up to new things.
Speaker 2:You have this time. You have clarity to be able to explore new opportunities, and all of a sudden, this time, this newfound time opens up so much more than you could even plan. And research actually backs this up. So there's a study by the Journal of Occupational Medicine that found that even low level drinking reduces productivity the next day, which we already know that. So even if you felt foggy just a couple drinks in from the day before, once you start cutting that back the amount or the frequency, you're gonna notice a big difference.
Speaker 2:Number two is your mood levels out. And this one's huge. You know, you think about alcohol, it helps you to relax, but that's really only in the short game. When your dopamine spikes when you drink, you then are going to have a crash later. So your stress hormones will spike in response to that.
Speaker 2:And then the next day you might be anxious. We have the term anxiety. You might be irritable. You might be short. And if you're not sure why, it's pretty easy to track it back to that.
Speaker 2:And so for some of us, we might feel like we're constantly trying to manage our mood. And when we take a step back, we realize how alcohol actually was causing a lot of those swings or those shifts in our mood that were hard to manage. So when you start drinking less or you take a break, all of a sudden, maybe those little things that were setting you off now are just little things. I know that in my experience, any amount of problems that would come my way were much easier handled when I didn't overdo it the night before. And there's a chemical reason for this.
Speaker 2:Alcohol disrupts things like serotonin, GABA, and cortisol, and these are your mood regulators. And in 2020, a study found that even moderate drinkers were more likely to report symptoms of both anxiety and depression the day after drinking. So if you're feeling low, it's really not random. It's kind of a cycle that once you take healthier steps, you're gonna notice how much better things get when it comes to your mood. Number three, this one surprises a lot of people to find out.
Speaker 2:Your food tastes better. And it sounds random, but it's actually real. So when you drink on the regular, alcohol can dull your taste buds and your sense of smell, and it affects your zinc levels, which are tied to your flavor perception. But after about a week or two of drinking less or taking a break, you may notice a difference on how your sensitivity to food and smell improves. So fruit might taste sweeter, coffee may have more depth to it.
Speaker 2:You might actually enjoy food better. I know I did, but I didn't actually know this at the time. But all of a sudden, I had more of an appetite. I enjoyed eating better. I actually didn't feel as bloated after I ate.
Speaker 2:So food just altogether was more enjoyable. So actual studies do show that people who cut back significantly from alcohol had noticeable improvements in their taste of smell and sensitivity within weeks, and your body is literally restoring itself and food becomes more satisfying. And in addition to that, sugar cravings, which are often associated with alcohol, often drop because the dopamine system isn't chasing those quick hits as much anymore. Alright. Number four is you stop feeling out of sync with yourself.
Speaker 2:You feel more authentic, and this was a big one for me. I really felt inauthentic when I wasn't aligning up with who I thought I should be. And I felt very authentic and nothing to hide in any way when I was aligning my behaviors with who I valued myself as. So when your habits do not match who you really are, you start to feel fake. That's what I'm trying to describe was my experience.
Speaker 2:Maybe you value your health. Maybe you want to be more present. Maybe you want to set a good example. But if you're drinking in the night doesn't align to how you see yourself in that way, over time, that's going to create friction with yourself. And a lot of times, we don't realize that this is going on, this internal tension that's dragging us down until we step out and align ourselves with who we are.
Speaker 2:And that was my case. So you stop pretending, you start living more in alignment, and that makes you feel more clear, more confident, more solid with yourself. And in psychology, this is called cognitive dissonance, the stress that we feel when our actions clash with our values. And studies show that reducing the gap improves self esteem and reduces anxiety. So you don't need to be perfect, you just need to be honest with yourself.
Speaker 2:Alright, number five, the final one is rebuilding trust in yourself. And this might be the most important one in the list. So when you see things like, you know, I'm gonna have one drink tonight, and then you don't stick to your plan. Or maybe you tell yourself, I'm going to take a break this week, and then Friday comes around. We all know that.
Speaker 2:It's Friday. You know, you got the weekend ahead of you. It's been a long week, and then all of a sudden, you know, next time. Look. We've all been there, but the problem is that really starts to hurt your confidence and trust in yourself.
Speaker 2:However, when you do the opposite, when you even just make these small things that are follow through and promises to yourself, even just once, they start to build, they start to stack up, and they start to shift into rebuilding trust in yourself. And you start believing your own words, you stop second guessing yourself, and you prove to yourself that you're the kind of person that can make and stick to a plan. And in behavioral psychology, this is what's called self efficacy, the belief that you can direct your own behavior. And once that belief comes back online, it's going to start to spill over into everything, your work, your relationship, your parenting, your confidence. And just making these small little shifts are gonna change your trust in yourself.
Speaker 2:And cutting back isn't just about the alcohol. It's about who you're becoming. Alright. So those were the five. Let's run through those five surprising benefits cutting back that go way beyond just hangovers and improved sleep.
Speaker 2:Number one, you get your time back. Number two, your mood levels out. Number three, food actually tastes better. Number four, you start feeling like yourself again. And number five, you rebuild trust in yourself.
Speaker 2:Okay. So these might sound simple, but they're not small. They are all stackable wins. And once you start showing up, you realize it's not about what you're missing. It's about everything that you get back.
Speaker 2:You don't need to be perfect. You don't need a label. You just need to be curious and pay attention this week. Notice what's changing, not just in your body, but maybe in your identity. So thanks for listening this week.
Speaker 2:If this episode or any episodes that you've listened to have given you value, it would mean the world to me if you could leave me a review. A very small percentage of people actually take the time to leave a review. And so if you have done that, thank you very much. And if you can do that, know that I appreciate that so much. I hope you have a beautiful week and cheers to your mindful drinking journey.
Speaker 1:This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform, having helped hundreds of thousands of people cut out more than 13,000,000 drinks since 2020. And in fact, an independent study showed that Sunnyside reduced alcohol consumption by an average of 30% in ninety days. And as one of our members shared, Sunnyside helps me stay mindful of my drinking habits. It's not super restrictive, so if I'm craving a glass of wine with dinner, I just track it and I move on with my week. If you could benefit from drinking a bit less and being more mindful of when and how much you drink, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free fifteen day trial.
Speaker 1:You'll get access to everything that we offer, including tracking and planning tools, coaching from our experts, a vibrant community of people just like you, and the motivation and advice to stay on track with your health goals, all with no pressure to quit. That's sunnyside.co.
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