Am I Drinking Too Much? The 7 Signs of Grey Area Drinking Every Woman Over 40 Should Know | Grey Area Drinking Coach Sarah Rusbatch
Stronger Bolder WiserShow 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
Most women who recognize themselves in this episode do not identify as alcoholics, and that is exactly why the term grey area drinking exists. It is the space between the every now and then drinker and physical dependency, and it is where a whole generation of midlife women are quietly living.
In this solo episode I explain what grey area drinking actually is and walk you through the seven signs that you are sitting in it. I was a grey area drinker for twenty-nine years and I now work with women aged forty to seventy, so I know how normal this looks from the outside and how loud it feels on the inside. I cover the rules we make and break, how alcohol arrives as a solution long before it ever looks like a problem, and why alcohol hits women so much harder through perimenopause and beyond. If you have ever silently asked yourself am I drinking too much, this one is for you.
Key Topics Covered - What grey area drinking really means and where you sit on the one to ten scale. - The drinking rules we keep breaking and the counting, justifying and rewarding that keep us stuck. - Why alcohol-free breaks like dry January never seem to stick. - How alcohol affects midlife women differently, from 3am wakeups to anxiety and rising tolerance.
Timestamps: Not An Alcoholic? You Could Be A Grey Area Drinker (00:00) What Is Grey Area Drinking?(00:35) The 1-10 Scale For High Functioning Drinkers(01:20) Sign 1 Counting And Justifying Your Drinks(02:18) Sign 2 You Keep Breaking Your Own Drinking Rules(02:34) Sign 3 Wine Has Become Your Reward(04:33) Sign 4 Your Dry January Never Sticks(05:57) Sign 5 You Keep Asking Am I Drinking Too Much(06:38) Sign 6 Alcohol Takes More Than It Gives(07:37) How Alcohol Hits Women Harder In Perimenopause(08:00) Sign 7 Rising Tolerance And Getting Defensive(09:00) The First Step To Changing How You Drink(10:16)
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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.
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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
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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.