Summer is lovely, but it’s also a pain in the backside.

Whether you’ve got teenagers who are endlessly bored and need constant funding,

Or like me, you’ve got little terrors who need ever more creative ways of being entertained,

Or maybe you don’t have kids at all, and you’re trying to get things done, but you can’t because everyone else has buggered off for the season.

So for this silly season, I thought I’d do something a little different with the podcast.

Instead of my usual weekly show, starting this week, I’m launching my new summer series – Everyone’s Asking.

Six weeks of shorter, more direct episodes answering your biggest questions about mindful drinking and moderation in midlife.

What Is Everyone Asking?

The mini-series launches this week with episode 1, Everyone’s Asking: Is Moderation Really Possible? Starting with the most obvious, but not always easy questions, including:

· Is Moderation Just a Stepping Stone to Sobriety?

· Is Moderation Possible for Everyone?

· Will I Ever Be a Normal Drinker Again?

Then, over the next five weeks, I’ll be jumping into the topics asked about most often:

· What does ‘moderate’ actually look like?

· How do I drink less without giving it up?

· How do I moderate around other people?

· How do I handle setbacks and urges?

· What happens when I change the way I drink?

Who Is It For?

If you’re new to the show, think of the summer series as your quick start guide.

And if you’ve been listening for a while, this will be where we bring it all together for you, into an easy-follow listening series to help you take back the power of choice from alcohol and start your journey to a life less intoxicated.

The summer series is free. Just continue to listen to the podcast as usual and make sure to subscribe or follow so you don’t miss a week.

Find me on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you prefer to listen - mindfuldrinkinginmidlife.com

p.s. If you love it, please leave a rating and review, as it really warms my cockles!

___

Here’s to taking back the power of choice from alcohol

You’re inside The Vault - the place where all the theory and mindset work that we do together on the podcast and in the articles gets put into action.

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or subscribe to The Vault to download your Catch & Release tool, helping you stay focused the morning after you drank more than you intended.

This tool was inspired by ep#185. What to Do After Drinking More Than You Intended.

We’ve all had those ‘morning after the night before’ moments.

Whether it’s the “walk of shame”, the nagging hangxiety, or the feeling of self-disappointment as you once again drank more than you intended, we all have a nasty habit of believing the worst in ourselves, which sends us on a spiral of doom, landing with the feeling that “I just can’t do this.”

But you can.

You just need the right tools in place to help support you while you figure it all out.

If you want to stop beating yourself up for not having the perfect night out drinking, and start learning how to use your evening as data to help you lay a foundation for a more mindful moderation experience, this is the tool for you.

Download it now, then save it (or print it) somewhere you'll actually find it tomorrow morning. That's when you'll need it most.

Why Become a Member?

Join me today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join a community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

✅ For less than a round of drinks on a night out, you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added every month…

🙋🏽 As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemmas.

➕ Plus: Substack Vault members also get exclusive access to personal email mentorship from me to help you work through those real-life drinking moments that matter.

🌱 Level up, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to The Vault today

Read more

You’re inside The Vault - where all the theory and mindset work that we do together on the podcast and in the articles gets put into action.

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or subscribe to The Vault to download your Functional Drinks Glossary.

From adaptogens to valerian root with a stop at nootropics, lion’s mane and CBD, functional drinks are exploding on the alternative drinks scene at the moment.

But do you really have any clue what they’re on about?

I didn’t.

So I did some research and put it all together for you in this week’s Vault Tool, so you never again have to stand in the middle of Holland & Barrett wondering whether you should be paying £27 for 3 micrograms of plant essence!

Why Become a Member?

Join me today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join a community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

✅ For less than a round of drinks on a night out, you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added every month…

🙋🏽 As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemmas.

➕ Plus: Substack Vault members also get exclusive access to personal email mentorship from me to help you work through those real-life drinking moments that matter.

🌱 Level up, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to The Vault today

Read more

You’re inside The Vault - the place where all the theory and mindset work that we do together on the podcast and in the articles gets put into action.

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or subscribe to The Vault to download your Driver Decoder.

The Wrong Solution to the Right Problem

Most moderation attempts don’t fail because you’re bad at moderating.

They fail because you’re solving for the symptom instead of the cause.

You notice you’re drinking more than you want to, so you set a limit: two drinks max; no wine on weekdays.

Whatever the rule is, you set it — and then Thursday rolls around, and all your planning goes straight out the window, and you’re left wondering what’s wrong with you.

Nothing is wrong with you (promise).

The issue is that the rule you set didn’t account for why you reached for the drink in the first place.

Was it a habit? Was it the stress of the day? Was it a trip down memory lane, and suddenly the wine was just... there?

Each of those situations calls for a completely different response — and if you’re applying the same strategy to all of them, you’re going to keep coming unstuck.

That’s what episode 175 of the podcast is all about (175. 6 Causes, 6 Questions: What’s Really Driving Your Over-Drinking?).

Six real drivers behind why you’re overdrinking — craving, social pressure, habit, reward, fatigue, and mood management — and the questions that help you work out which one you’re actually dealing with in the moment.

Because when it comes to moderating your alcohol intake, it really is a case of horses for courses.

Your Vault Tool

This tool takes the framework from the episode deeper, adds an extra important question for each driver, and puts it somewhere you can actually use it.

• Part 1 — The 6 Drivers gives you a clear, plain-English breakdown of each cause — what it is, what it feels like, what to ask yourself, and a practical first move to try. This is your reference card. Keep it somewhere you can get to it quickly.

• Part 2 — Examples in Action shows you how the same logic plays out across real situations — a free bar at work, a habit night in with Netflix, a craving that appears out of nowhere at any time.

• Part 3 — Your Situation Log is where the actual self-knowledge starts. Use it after any occasion — planned or not — where alcohol was on the table. You’re not grading yourself. You’re gathering data.

  Over time, patterns emerge: the drivers that keep showing up for you, the techniques that actually land, and, importantly, the ones that don’t.

• Part 4 — Review & Reflect is what you come back to after you’ve filled in a few log entries. Take what you’ve learned about yourself and figure out how to pay it forward to future you.

Because the better you know yourself, the better you can treat yourself with or without alcohol.

Why Become a Member?

Join me today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join a community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

✅ For less than a round of drinks on a night out, you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added every month…

🙋🏽 As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemmas.

➕ Plus: Substack Vault members also get exclusive access to personal email mentorship from me to help you work through those real-life drinking moments that matter.

🌱 Level up, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset AND book a personal 1-2-1 mentoring session with me, so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to The Vault today

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or subscribe to The Vault to download your glossary.

KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid

I remember being part of a panel discussion once about mid-strength drinks.

We’d been introduced by the host and had started fielding her list of questions about the current growth and the future potential of the category. We talked enthusiastically about how the serves, challenges and consumers of light drinks versus full-strength versus low/no.

It all seemed to be going swimmingly…

And then, as we neared the end, one hand went up in the audience:

“So what actually defines a drink as mid-strength?”

It was a simple question. A fair question. And a question that should have been answered before it was asked.

It was a classic case of the ‘curse of knowledge’, where the organisers (including all of us on the panel) assumed that everybody in the room had the same basic knowledge as everyone else.

But sometimes, you just need to know what the heck those basics are before you can feel confident in going any further.

This glossary does just that for you.

Your Vault Tool

I’ve split it into three simple sections for you to easily find a reference you need when you need it:

• Part 1 - Drinks

• Part 2 - Mindful living

• Part 3 - Production & technical terms

🙋🏾‍♀️ Don’t know what the difference is between alcohol-free & non-alcoholic - it’s in the glossary.

🙋🏻‍♂️ Want to know what the difference is between a kombucha and a sparkling tea - it’s in the glossary.

🙋🏽 Not sure if the ‘pink cloud’ is something you want to be riding - it’s in the glossary.

➕ Plus

For the terms I get asked about most often, I’ve added links to articles, podcast episodes, and other Vault tools that will help you dive deeper, like my functional mushroom podcast episode with Fungi Consultant (yes, that’s a real job), Oli Genn-Bash & an article on when’s the best time to take a booze break, and many more.

Why Become a Member?

Join me today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

✅ For just £10.50 a month (cheaper than a cocktail at your local), you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added every month…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemmas.

➕ Plus: Substack Vault members also get exclusive access to personal email mentorship from me to help you work through those real-life drinking moments that matter.

🌱 Level up, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to The Vault today

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or subscribe to The Vault to download your Drinking Impact Calculator

Your Data, Your Call

In When Stepping Away Is Part of Moving Forward, and Sometimes it Takes a Year, we talked about how sometimes the moment isn’t quite right.

Maybe you’re not quite ready to make that leap into a different way of drinking, but you still know that something needs to change.

That’s OK, we’re all on our own path. But while you’re taking the time you need, there’s untapped value that you’re ignoring if you don’t start to take notice of how your drinking is really affecting you.

Your Vault Tool

The Drinking Impact Calculator (£20 if bought separately) is one of the most powerful tools inside The Vault.

It lets you see your personal tipping point on light, medium and heavy drinking occasions by measuring both how you felt in the moment and the impact on your next day.

Use the DIC regularly for a few days, and you’ll walk away with your actual performance numbers so you can see where the real difference lies in the way you choose to drink.

Why Become a Member?

Join us today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

For just £7 a month (cheaper than a cocktail at your local), you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added frequently…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemma.

➕ Plus: Upgrade, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to The Vault today

p.s. Get in early: As The Vault grows, so will the price. Lock in today’s price for the best value!

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or upgrade to The Vault to download your Habit Breaker

It’s Not About Willpower

Willpower alone will never work.

We are habitual creatures for a reason, and to be honest, it serves us well in most parts of life.

But when you want to make changes that last, like drinking differently on your own terms, you need more than willpower to make them stick.

I wrote about this for you in Breaking Decades of Drinking Habits: Why Willpower Alone Won’t Work, and in ep#111. Drinking on Autopilot: How Daily Stress Fuels Your Evening Habits, and now the Habit Breaker will help you put it all into practice.

Your Vault Tool

It breaks down the three stages of a habit, including which one is working against you and which one is in your control.

Then two trackers help you to put your personal observations to work and implement new strategies that give you what you want without taking anything away.

Why Become A Member?

Join today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

For just £7 a month (cheaper than a cocktail at your local), you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Drinking Impact Calculator (normally £20)

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added frequently…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemma.

➕ Plus, upgrade, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Subscribe to The Vault

p.s. Get in early: As The Vault grows, so will the price. Lock in today’s price for the best value!

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of this post or upgrade to The Vault to download your Mindful Drinking Night Out guide.

Night’s Out Your Way

Just because you’re drinking differently, it doesn’t mean you don’t still want amazing nights out, great stories and genuine human connection.

Sure, that might look a bit different now, but different isn’t a bad thing.

In A Grown-Up’s Guide to Mindful Drinking Nights Out, I break down the before, during and after of a night out with less booze.

It’s not rocket science, but because they're easy to do, these tips can often get overlooked.

Your Vault Tool

The Mindful Drinking Night Out guide takes you through all stages of the evening and prompts you to really think about and then plan exactly what you want for your night.

And if things start to go a little awry? There’s even a section on how to get out gracefully.

The morning after the night before is where you put it all together and come up with a forward-looking plan for how each social event can get better — no matter what role you decide to let alcohol play in the evening.

Join us today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

For just £7 a month (cheaper than a cocktail at your local), you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

· The Drinking Impact Calculator (normally £20)

· The Habit Breaker

· Surf the Urge

· And more tools added frequently…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemma.

➕ Plus, upgrade and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to access all tools

p.s. Get in early and lock in today’s price now; as The Vault grows, so will the price.

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of the post, or upgrade to The Vault, to download your Surf the Urge tool.

Is this normal?

In Reduce, Replace... and Then What? we look at the three R’s of mindful drinking, and in ep#169. 20 Small Shifts That Changed How I Drink (5 Years In) I share 20 tips that have helped me change my drinking habits for good.

Topics like these matter because no matter how well-intentioned we are with our drinking choices, cravings (and nostalgia) will always poke their beaky noses in where they are not wanted.

It’s important that you know that that is normal, and definitely not something to beat yourself up over.

Your Vault Tool

When you need a little help in managing those moments, Surf the Urge helps you to:

• Recognise it for what it really is (hint: it’s not actually about the alcohol)

• Ride it out until it naturally passes

• Replace it with something else

You’ll get a printable chart to help you keep track of what actually works for YOU when different cravings strike.

Why Become a Member?

Join me today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join a community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

✅ For less than a round of drinks on a night out, you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added every month…

🙋🏽 As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemmas.

➕ Plus: Substack Vault members also get exclusive access to personal email mentorship from me to help you work through those real-life drinking moments that matter.

🌱 Level up, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

Upgrade to The Vault today

p.s. Lock in your membership early; as The Vault grows, so will the price.

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of the post or upgrade to The Vault to download your Moderation Menu & Tracker.

You Can Drink Your Own Way

Episode #163. 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About the Pros & Cons of Different Moderation Techniques, is one of the most downloaded episodes of the podcast of all time.

Why?

Because, quite honestly, I think we’re all fed up with being told what to do, what we should drink, what’s good for us or bad for us, and that life would be a bowl of chocolate-covered strawberries if we just followed this guru’s instructions for how [not] to drink.

We want to make up our own minds and find a way to bring a balance to our lives that feels natural, not forced.

Your Vault Tool

The Moderation Menu is exactly that.

First, you’ll understand the different types of moderation techniques – which ones are passive and which ones are active.

You’ll go through the five questions to help you decide which techniques could be a good fit, then download and print the moderation tracker to get real feedback on which approaches work best for you in different situations.

Use it to build your own personal moderation guide.

Join us today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Vault tools are available to paid subscribers. Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

For less than the price of a cocktail at your local, you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Drinking Impact Calculator (normally £20)

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools added frequently…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemma.

➕ Plus, upgrade to founding, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

UPGRADE TO THE VAULT

p.s. Get in early: As The Vault grows, so will the price.

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of the post, or upgrade to The Vault, to download your Usual Suspects tool.

Friendly Fire

In ep#161. The Real Reason Your Friends Can’t Take ‘No’ for an Answer, we took a really honest look at the reasons why some of the people you love only seem to love you when you’re drinking.

Not out of malice, but from a lack of understanding of what’s driving their own wants and habits and where that all fits into your new way of drinking.

How your friends and the people around you might react is a big stumbling block for a lot of midlifers who are new to drinking differently - nobody wants to go from being a Party-Pete to Billy-No-Mates just because they want to look after themselves a bit better.

Your Vault Tool

The Usual Suspects helps you to read the room before you even get there.

- Who’s likely to be at the event?

- What are they likely to say?

- And how can you respond and still stand in the power of your choices?

It helps you identify if a night is even worth your time – too many suspect characters and you might be better off on the sofa with a bit of Netflix and chill 😎

Join us today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Vault tools are only available to paying subscribers.

Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

For just £7 a month (cheaper than a cocktail at your local), you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

· The Drinking Impact Calculator (normally £20)

· The Habit Breaker

· Surf the Urge

· The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

· And more tools are added frequently…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemma.

➕ Plus, upgrade to yearly, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

UPGRADE TO THE VAULT

p.s. Get in early: As The Vault grows, so will the price. Lock in today’s price for the best value!

Read more

TLDR: Scroll to the bottom of the post, or upgrade to The Vault, to download your 30 Day Booze Break Timeline.

Thinking of Taking A Booze Break?

In When’s the Right Time to Take a Break From Alcohol? and in episode #113: Thinking of Doing Sober October? There’s a Better Way, we explored if and when there’s a right time for you to take a break from alcohol.

You might be thinking of doing a Dry January, Sober October, or even a longer break like Sober Spring.

Or maybe you’ve just decided on a random Tuesday afternoon that you’d like to lay off the sauce for a few weeks.

But what can you expect, and when will you actually start to feel the benefits of going booze free?

Your Vault Tool

This ‘30 Day Booze Break Timeline’ shows you exactly what to expect, week by week.

On the last page, you’ll find a printable tracker that you can use at home to rate your sleep, mood, energy and cravings.

Use it to spot the patterns that signal personal progress, rather than guessing and comparing your journey to everyone else’s.

Join us today to get access to this and all the other tools in The Vault.

Join our community of over 1,500 midlife mindful drinkers looking to take back the power of choice from alcohol.

For just £7 a month (cheaper than a cocktail at your local), you’ll get access to all the Vault has to offer, including:

• The Drinking Impact Calculator (normally £20)

• The Habit Breaker

• Surf the Urge

• The Mindful Night Out Game Planner

• And more tools are added frequently…

As a paid member, you can also request tools and resources tailored to your specific mindful drinking dilemma.

Plus, upgrade to yearly, and you’ll also get access to the 4-Week Midlife Mindful Drinking Reset so that you can put everything you learn inside the Vault into action and commit to lasting change for a life less intoxicated.

UPGRADE TO THE VAULT

p.s. Get in early: As The Vault grows, so will the price. Lock in today’s price for the best value!

Read more