My Relationship with Alcohol

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Since January of 2021, I have been doing a deep dive of exploring my relationship with alcohol. Before we get into the concept of “Intuitive Drinking” let’s set the stage of my relationship with alcohol in a timeline (sort of)…

High School

• First exposed to alcohol at the age of 16 (excuse me, what?!)
• All the “cool” kids drank so I thought that I had to drink to fit in (don’t worry, I have already unpacked this in therapy LOL)

College

• Blacking out and not remembering nights out was the norm at Penn State
• Life revolved around tailgating and partying
• Alcohol was used as a way to numb emotions
  • Anxious, lonely, happy, sad, etc? We drank.
• Alcohol was used to give me false confidence in myself
  • This was at the peak of my disordered eating days so when I didn’t like my body I could just drink and “forget about it” for the time being

Post College (extension of college)

• Hoboken, NJ – extension of Penn State (most bars in 1 square mile in the US)
• All social plans were based around bars & restaurants
• My post college years was when I started gaining awareness that I really didn’t feel physically or emotionally pleasant from alcohol but didn’t do much with this information

“Adulting” Stage…moved to Florida with my husband

• As many of you know, I am the co-host of @whattheactualforkpod which used to be named @drunkdietitians
• We rebranded because we quickly outgrew this name; Click here for our What the Actual Fork Podcast Episode covering “Sammy & Jenna’s Relationship with Alcohol”
• I started diving deeper into my Intuitive Eating work. Through this work, I have become very present in my body; it has became very clear that alcohol does not make me feel physically or emotionally pleasant
  • Physically: sluggish, brain fog, out of control, headache
  • Mentally: anxious, unmotivated
• This led me to the million dollar question…”why do we drink alcohol?”
• This is such a GREAT question to sit with, journal, and allow your thoughts to come out onto a page. We all talk about diet culture, but you don’t often hear people talk about the societal ‘norms’ of party culture.

Present Sammy still trying this whole “adulting” thing

• In a recent Instagram post, I shared that my husband and I have been struggling with infertility since August of 2019. 
• When we committed to seeking fertility treatments in Fall/Winter of 2020 my drinking started to decrease dramatically.
• As soon as January 2021 hit, I stopped drinking completely to ensure my body felt physically, mentally, and emotionally pleasant going into our first round of IVF.
• Everyone else was naturally falling into ‘dry January’ during this time so I figured…sure, why not join in on the sober curious fun?!

Here is what I learned by giving up alcohol for 40+ days & digging deeper into my relationship with alcohol…

1. You feel ALL of your emotions and you don’t get numb them away with booze. I was alarmed by how much was coming up for me at first, but then I leaned into what we teach our clients. Become CURIOUS about why all of this is coming up instead of judging yourself for feeling emotions.
2. Before I gave up alcohol, I went to therapy consistently and I highly recommend having someone you can talk to so you can deal with your feelings directly.
3. Social events were still fun – I packed my Grüvi Beverages and still enjoyed my beach getaway (without the hangover and with the sunrise beach walks!)
4. I still drink alcohol on occasion (not during fertility treatments), but now I can sip it a lot slower and savor it instead of pounding as many ounces as possible. Sometimes I go weeks without alcohol and don’t even notice.
5. I don’t feel guilt or shame when I drink and I also don’t feel the need to “have to” drink if everyone else is drinking.
6. I hope I don’t NEED to say this one but you are still cool if you don’t drink…duh
7. No hangovers ever is pretty cool. Your Sunday mornings aren’t bogged down by a sluggish feelings + a headache?! Again…duh but pretty life changing.
8. Alcohol free beverages still taste good and give me the ambience that I am partaking in drinking! My go to has been Grüvi, since they have a wide variety of both alcohol-free beers & wines and they actually taste like the real deal! Click here to check out Grüvi Alcohol Free Beverages using code findfoodfreedom15 for 15% OFF your purchase!

We get SO many questions about how alcohol fits into intuitive eating and is there such a thing as “intuitive drinking”? Why not have the question answered by the anti-diet OG herself…Christy Harrison! Click here to listen!

The short answer…absolutely yes, alcohol can fit into an intuitive way of life. In the same breath, alcohol is not a required macronutrient for survival. The more we educate ourselves on alcohol and how it affects our body, the more we can make informed decisions that honor and align with our individual journey.

This is not an “anti-alcohol” blog, but an invitation to explore your relationship with alcohol…

• Why do you drink alcohol?
• What do you like about alcohol?
• What do you not like about alcohol?
• Do you notice any recurring behavior patterns associated with drinking alcohol?

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