Speaker 1 1:13

Hi , hi , lone Known Nation and welcome back to this week's conversation with myself . What is the moderating middle ? That's what I want to talk to you about today .

Speaker 1 1:25

Within the world of Lone Known and light alcohol and full-strength drinking , there tend to be two camps that have the strongest voices . On one side you have the staunchly alcohol-free , those who do not touch alcohol at all for whatever reason , whether they be in recovery , whether it be allergies , whether it be religion , but they don't touch alcohol . And those people can often not always , can often be very , very vocal about the evils of alcohol , the perils of it , the dangers . They'll talk to you a lot in great detail about the links between alcohol and seven different types of cancer , the perils of it , the dangers . They'll talk to you a lot in great detail about the links between alcohol and seven different types of cancer , how their life is better because they don't drink and how your life could be better if you decided not to drink . On the other side we have those who are staunchly alcohol-full , those who believe that alcohol and drinking is part of the zeitgeist of our society , that the great British culture is built up on us having that first rite of passage pint as a 16 year old . That is what we use to wet the baby's head , it's what we use to raise a glass to ideally departed and that they don't believe that alcohol will or should ever be removed from our society and our culture . Those are two very strong , very opposing points of view .

Speaker 1 2:42

In the middle we have the moderators , those who live a life of balance between consuming alcohol and choosing times when they decide not to not to . Studies show that of the people that buy low , no and light alcohol drinks , up to 99% of them are still also buying full strength beverages . That means that the majority of people who are investigating the low no way of drinking are still enjoying a full strength drinking way of life . In fact , at the CAM Drinking Differently , low and no conference last week , they showed that 75% of people in the UK consider themselves to be moderating drinkers in one way , shape or form . Now , that may be those that choose to take time off during the week and only drink at the weekends , those who choose to give themselves a limit as to how much they can drink . Perhaps you're the kind of person that when you go out , you'll have an alcohol-full drink , then an alcohol-free , then an alcohol-full , and so on and so forth .

Speaker 1 3:45

The moderating middle accounts for the majority of drinkers and yet their voices aren't often heard . Very rarely will you hear somebody send out a post , put up a tweet , join a conversation about the fact that they choose to drink moderately sometimes and sometimes not , and I guess I can see why . It's understandable that you're going to have the people with the strongest opinions also having the loudest voices , but it's important that we give time and space to the moderating middle to show people that there are more than just your way or my way to live . It's not just my way or the highway . There is space in between for those people who choose to investigate a life with less alcohol on their own terms . Now , perhaps some of those people will be moving towards a life less intoxicated and may have a goal to give up alcohol altogether , or perhaps they are quite happy carrying on with consuming alcohol , but just making a difference to the amounts and the volumes and the quantities and the ways in which they do so . There are people in the low , low and light alcohol space who are producing alcohol free drinks , who are creating alcohol free awards , who are speaking at alcohol-free drinks , who are creating alcohol-free awards , who are speaking at alcohol-free events , who do still consume alcohol , and these people , I think , are worth celebrating , because they're the ones that are showing us that there are other ways of doing things .

Speaker 1 5:09

One of the reasons I created the magazine was to help people who are like I was a few years ago , who don't realise that they have other choices , that it's not just having to get pissed every time you leave the house , that every party you go to you have to end up with the roaring hangover the next morning , that it's OK to finish a shift at work and have an alcohol-free beer instead of having a shot . It's okay to be part of this moderating middle , because the majority of people are in this moderating middle , and perhaps if we gave a bit more of a voice to those people , perhaps if we made it so that you don't have to be in one camp or the other , the more people would be confident to add their voice to the conversation . They'd feel more accepted , they'd feel more normalized and after all , isn't that what we're trying to do ? We're just trying to normalize the choice to drink less when it suits you . So the moderating middle , I think , need to be championed . They need to be given a voice and they need to feel that they are welcome to drink at anybody's table because , truthfully , they are . And perhaps if more of us were aware of the ability or given the tools and the resources to live a life of more moderation , then fewer people wouldn't find themselves falling into that camp where alcohol becomes problematic .

Speaker 1 6:30

I know that for me in my what I've referred to before as my professional drinking days . If there were times when I could have made other choices , if I I was aware of other choices and if I felt confident to make other choices , then a lot of times would have ended in a much different way . So , wherever you are on your journey , know that it's okay to make the choices that are best for you at the stage that you're in . A lot of people are using the term now the season of life that you're in . So whatever season you're in , it's okay to make those choices around alcohol or drinking less that best serve you , as long as it's a conscious choice and you're thinking about how to make the most of your life while you do it .

Speaker 1 7:11

If you are on your journey and you'd like to know a little bit more about it , then check out the Low , no Drink drinker personality type quiz . It is the first quiz of its kind that helps people who are in that moderating middle to discern whether they are a sober curious , a moderator , a blender , a mindful drinker or perhaps a gray area drinker . You can check out the quiz in the first link below , if you're watching on YouTube , or just go to lonodrinkermagazinecom and it'll pop up as you enter the website . Thanks , see you next time .