Show Notes
Struggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?
Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.
Get your free guide → https://bit.ly/4qOiGUw
If you cannot bounce back from two glasses of wine the way you did in your twenties, you are not imagining it. There are three biological reasons women process alcohol less effectively than men, and all three get stronger as we age.
In this solo episode I walk you through the three reasons women cannot metabolise alcohol as effectively as men. I cover the body composition difference, the enzyme we produce less of than men and less again as we age, and the hormonal piece almost no one talks about. I also share what I learnt in my menopause coach training about shrinking liver volume in midlife, and the health risks that arrive faster for women. Then I give you the three tips I use with the twelve thousand women I have supported through my alcohol reset challenges. I was a grey area drinker for twenty-nine years, so none of this comes from a place of judgement.
Key Topics Covered -Less water and more body fat, and why a man dilutes the very same drink far more effectively than you do. - The enzyme that clears alcohol, and why men produce more of it than women do from the start. - Why aging stacks the odds, as we make less of that enzyme every decade that passes. - The harms that arrive faster for women, from liver disease and stroke to addiction and breast cancer. - Oestrogen and where you are in your cycle, and why two glasses can feel like nothing one week and floor you the next. - The shrinking midlife liver, and what that means for the organ doing most of the work. - Adding something in when you take alcohol out, because a break with no plan for stress and fun rarely holds. - Awareness first, then thirty days of data, tracking sleep, mood, energy and anxiety so the decision is yours.
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Sarah Rusbatch is an accredited Health and Wellbeing Coach and one of Australia’s leading experts on grey area drinking. Her podcast, Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, is the go-to space for women who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, navigating life alcohol-free, or simply curious about what life could look like on the other side of the bottle.
If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven’t already, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a review to help more women find this community.
*** Find out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/
If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don’t always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women’s Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067
And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze
More from Stronger Bolder Wiser
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Lift heavy or lose the fight against aging is the default advice for midlife women, and it leaves too many of them injured or on the sidelines. There is another way to build muscle, and it takes 20 minutes and light dumbbells.
Taking 30 days off alcohol in midlife rarely feels the way social media promises. Boredom, flatness and broken sleep often come first, and none of it means you're doing it wrong.In this video I share the five most unexpected things women discover in their first 30 days without wine, from the 5 to 7pm boredom to the friend who suddenly goes quiet. I explain why your brain can feel flat once alcohol stops lighting up your dopamine reward centre, and why sedation is not the same as restorative sleep. Most importantly, I explain why all of it settles.Key Topics Covered- Why boredom hits hardest between 5 and 7pm when you stop drinking, and why taking alcohol out means adding something in, like an evening walk, a class or a hobby.- Feeling flat after quitting alcohol: how years of drinking dysregulate your dopamine receptors, and why it evens out with time.- What to do when friends get weird about you not drinking, and why talking to your closest friends first helps.- Why sleep without alcohol can get worse before it gets better, and how to ride the emotional rollercoaster of the early weeks.Timestamps What Happens When You Stop Drinking For 30 Days (00:00) Thing 1: Boredom Between 5 And 7pm (00:40) Thing 2: Feeling Flat After You Stop Drinking (02:01) Thing 3: When Friends Get Weird About You Not Drinking (02:44) Thing 4: Why Sleep Gets Worse Before It Gets Better (03:37) Thing 5: Feeling Emotional Over Nothing (04:40) Free Support To Change Your Drinking (05:20)Also Watch My Previous Episodes:- Seven Signs You Are a Grey Area Drinker- Six Reasons Successful Women Are Quietly Quitting Alcohol- Three Reasons Women Cannot Metabolise Alcohol as Effectively as Men***Struggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.Get your free guide → https://bit.ly/4qOiGUw***Sarah Rusbatch is an accredited Health and Wellbeing Coach and one of Australia's leading experts on grey area drinking. Her podcast, Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, is the go-to space for women who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, navigating life alcohol-free, or simply curious about what life could look like on the other side of the bottle. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a review to help more women find this community.Find out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don't always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women's Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze
Nobody walks into a marriage planning to leave it, yet so many midlife women are quietly asking whether to stay or go. Your body often knows the answer first.