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Hi, I'm Jessica Cording. I'm a registered dietitian health

coach and author today. I want to talk to you

about mindful drinking. So what is

mindful drinking? This is a practice of being aware of

why you drink alcohol and how much you consume?

You know, what role it plays in your life. So rather

than focusing solely on completely cutting out

alcohol though. You certainly can. This is much more

about coming to a place where you understand your relationship with

alcohol. Think about how much alcohol you drink?

How many servings how often?

Is it more about is it more than would be

considered moderate? So for example, what's defined as moderate

drinking is up to one drink per day for women or

up to two drinks per day for men that said, you

know, we do know that even moderate drinking carries

some health risk. So some people benefit from

drinking less than that. So what is it about alcohol

that appeals to you? You know, is it the ritual

or is it the taste of it?

Or maybe is it the social occasions that you associate with

drinking alcohol?

Other things to think about too are you drinking with others or

are you drinking by yourself at home?

And is it alcohol is something that you're consuming? Just

when you go out is it something that you're also drinking at home?

Whether that be by yourself or with other people and these

are just a few examples, you know, I think it's also

important to think about how you feel when you drink, you know, emotionally physically

both how you're feeling, you

know, before you drink alcohol. Like are you turn into

a drink when you're stressed out? Because that's something you associate with relaxation,

or is it something

that you drink when you don't want to think about stuff or you're

trying to process something you drink when you're anxious to

calm down all things to really consider

and then thinking about how you feel when you are drinking,

you know, are you feeling are you feeling good? Are you

feeling like? Oh, actually I'm not feeling so great.

You know, I'm feeling kind of like exhausted or my you

know, I get flushed I get headaches.

Does it how does it affect your sleep how do you feel the next

day? Do you get hung over all things that can factor in?

but I think that once you

figure out why you drink and also paying

attention to how you feel when you're drinking and

How you feel after drinking, you know that can really guide you in

making mindful decisions around when to consume alcohol

and what to drink. So for example, you might notice that certain amounts

of alcohol are certain types of alcohol impact you

in different ways. So let's

take one example if you drinking daily at home, and because

you're stressed out or you notice that

it's a ritual that helps you mark the end of your work day

consider other beverages that you'll enjoy instead of

alcohol. I'll often

I'd recommended to my patients and clients, you know, if you like

more than ritual closing out your work day with a drink, you

know, maybe you have something not alcoholic but you put it in a really nice glass.

So it still feels like a special occasion or maybe

you explore some non-alcoholic beverages, you

know, or the alcohol is wines not alcohol

distilled Spirits, for example, there's so many

options to consider or making a mocktail just if you

enjoy the ritual crafting a drink right you could look at other activities

that you might do instead of

To kind of Mark that space and make Mark

that end of day, you know work life home life. So

maybe you take a walk or you practice yoga.

You meditate read watch a

show that you like or do a hobby that brings you Joy. There's no

rules. It just really is about what's gonna be approachable and

sustainable and enjoyable for you.

If drinking is a major part of your social life because

this is a conversation I've had with many patients and clients

over the years one way to practice more mindful

or intentional drinking is to plan outings with

friends that don't revolve solely around alcohol consumption.

And I understand it might feel weird at first

if that's really been how your group has

connected, but you might be pleasantly surprised to

find that others in your circle are also

interested in mindful drinking and that if

you know you find that it does create a lot of strain and

those relationships, you know, that's also a really important thing to

consider, you know, do you want to be surrounding yourself

with people for whom drinking is such a central part with their

life? I know that some heavy stuff to consider, but the

it's not just what we eat. You're not

just what we drink what we're putting in our body. You know Wellness is

really also about how we're spending our time who are spending

it with and these are all really important things to consider around mindful

drinking.

I also should add that if you're finding this process really challenging

or you're struggling don't have to go along.

So I hope you found this information helpful. Again. I'm Jessica cording registered

dietitian health coach and author. It was lovely

to see you today. I hope you have a wonderful day.