Moderate Drinking – Should You Be Cutting Back On Your Alcohol Intake?
How much are you drinking each day or each week? Do you believe that you are consuming a reasonable amount of alcohol or do you think you need to cut down? Have you experienced problems in your life because of your alcohol intake? What is moderate drinking and do you fit into that category or are you consuming far more than you really should?
Most of our clients love to bury their head in the sands when it comes to issues such as drinking too much until they start to experience problems. They know that nightly bottle of wine probably is way too much alcohol but they persist in their drinking habits because it helps them to deal with their stress or they use it as a method to sleep. They only start to worry when they start going just that little bit further and panic that they have a problem. We help our clients take back control.
What is Moderate Drinking?
Moderate drinking guidelines differ depending on the country that you are in. In the UK it is around six pints of beer a week or 7 glasses of wine (175ml). Meanwhile, in the US the guidelines are even lower with advice to say a man shouldn’t drink more than 2 drinks a day and a woman 1. It is also worth noting that the UK limits are not designed to be drunk in one day and should be spread evenly over a number of days.
I know from experience that a huge amount of people are not drinking anywhere near this moderate drinking level. Most of my clients are drinking the recommended levels in a day rather than a week! These people are not alcoholics in the traditional sense. Instead, they are people who are holding down good jobs, running a family and generally doing ok as far as society is concerned.
Drinking in Moderation
Many of these people have for the most part kidded themselves that they are drinking in moderation. They stopped noticing the size of their wine glasses ages ago. They ignore the fact that they are ordering cases of wine and beer in their weekly shop. The money they spend for the most part is barely noticeable as many of these people are mid to high-income earners. They are proud of their new kitchen with the wine fridge. Their friends are jealous of the conversion of their basement into a wine cellar. Surely they are the epitome of successful?
Yet behind this facade, there is another story to tell. Here are some of the reasons why these people drink too much.
Stress
I mentioned this earlier. Stress is the number one issue that makes people rush for the booze. Had a hard day at work? I need a drink! Kids playing up? As soon as they get to bed I’m going to open a bottle of wine. Something not going the way you want it to? I need a beer. Alcohol has become an accepted means of switching off for far too many people.
Confidence
A number of people that have a problem with alcohol also have issues with confidence. Confidence or shyness issues or whatever you want to call it makes people feel self-conscious in front of others. Yet when these people have a few drinks the problem fades away a little. Many people use alcohol as a coping mechanism to overcome their fears but it never resolves the underlying causes.
Sleep
Sleep problems are another big issue. It can be a bit of a chicken and an egg type situation. At one point in their life, they had a bad night’s sleep. So they used alcohol the following night to make them drowsy and help them switch off. A few years later they convince themselves that they can’t get a good nights sleep without having a drink first.
There is never any need for alcohol to be used to switch off to sleep. In fact, you sleep is worse after you have had a drink and certainly not as good quality as it needs to be. A simple self-hypnosis for sleep download can make a big difference and help to quieten your mind.
Their Partners
Ever heard of FOMO or a fear of missing out? It can be hard to resist drinking when your partner insists on having a drink every night. Many people could quite happily cope without anything at all but when they see their partner open a bottle of something they can’t resist. This is why getting their other half to change their habits can create significant improvements.
Other Emotions
Alcohol drowns out the negative self-critical voice in our heads. So if we are sad or guilty or angry having a drink makes it temporarily stop. People may continue drinking for years as a coping mechanism instead of resolving the real underlying problem.
What is Light Drinking?
Have you heard of light drinking? This was supposed to be the way forward when scientists ran a study and showed a glass of red wine had some health benefits. Doctors started to think that drinking just one drink a day would have a positive health impact and called this light drinking. Just so you are aware moderate drinking has been classed at around 2 drinks a day, heavy drinking around 3 and a half and alcohol abuse around 5 to 6 drinks a day.
Moderate Drinking Benefits
So could light drinking work or even moderate drinking? Are those health benefits really there. Research is still divided and changing all the time but what is clear is that if you drink more than around 7 drinks a week your chances of death increase. Under that level and there are some possible health benefits of light drinking such as stronger bones or a lower chance of getting diabetes in women.
Learning to drink moderately is what we aim to help our clients to do. The science backs up the statistics and shows how important it is to try and drink as little as possible. No our clients don’t have to be saints who abstain completely but it is important to get the message across that drinking every single night is beyond problematic and has a serious impact on health.
Self-Help for Problem Drinking
If you are drinking significantly more than the government guidelines then it is important that you take steps to try and change your drinking habits right now! Open your eyes and start listening and paying attention to the real facts about alcohol and resolve to start taking steps to make a difference in what you drink.
Our article How to Drink Less Alcohol in 5 Steps can help to start you on your journey. You can also read about How to Stop Alcohol Cravings which could derail all your good intentions.
To really start to change the way your mind thinks about alcohol and to attack any subconscious needs then our Drink Less Hypnosis Download has been designed to help your motivation and willpower. Self-hypnosis for drinking can make a difference by helping to boost your motivation and willpower which in turn can help you to cut down on what you drink. Listen to the alcohol hypnosis download every day to change the way that you think and to help you make the changes that you need.
We also have created our Drink Less Alcohol Worksheets to help you monitor and track your drinking habits and cravings. These printables have been created to help you increase awareness of your drinking and assist you in making changes to bad habits. Use the worksheets to look at who or what might be making you crave alcohol and then put in place a plan of action to alter what you have been doing. These are the perfect tool to help you improve your health and wellbeing.
Online Therapy – Hypnosis for Drinking
At times we could all do with a helping hand to make changes. If you feel that you are unable to make the changes that you need on your own then we have a four-session drink less therapy program which could help you. In this program, we concentrate on helping address underlying issues relating to stress or anxiety to help lessen the need to drink. In addition, we can help you to understand any underlying emotional causes for your drinking that you may have been unaware of.
Hypnosis for alcohol consumption can help to make a difference in the way in which you drink by the use of positive suggestions and visualisation techniques. In addition, it can make you aware of thoughts and feelings that are often buried underneath the surface which can create the need to switch off through drinking. Discover the underlying problem and you can then start to aim therapy at the real issues instead of guesswork.
If you would like to join our moderate drinking program then simply fill out the form below to make contact and we can arrange your sessions.
You Might Also Want to Read:
The Lowdown on Alcohol and Weight Loss
Hypnosis to Stop Drinking – Can it Help?
How to Drink Less at Christmas
*This site is owned and operated by rewirethemind.com. Rewirethemind.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Love Words That Start With T - February 23, 2023
- Trading Hypnosis – 40 Ways It Can Make You A Better Trader - February 20, 2023
- A Limiting Beliefs List – Find Out What’s Holding Your Back - January 15, 2023
