Welcome And Party Season Context

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Hello and welcome to day four of our mindful drinking audio advent brought to you today by the fabulous Geronimo Alcohol Free Wines. I'll tell you more about those at the end, but for now it's time to get your glad rags on because it is Thursday and the parties have begun in earnest. And it's likely that either yesterday or today was your first big party of the season. I remember when I was working in the bars, Thursdays were always the first day to sell out throughout December because all the officers wanted to have their party on Thursday because it didn't really matter if everybody was uh hanging out their ass on the Friday because they all went home early anyway. So this is the moment to really set your store by how the rest of the month is gonna go for you. Everybody is excited, the there's the there's electricity in the air, the drinks are flowing, uh, and there is a an unspoken sort of expectation, I suppose. Uh it might feel more like a pressure, uh, it might might feel more like an internal um pressure that you're putting on yourselves, but either way, there's this sort of expectation that you will join in, that you will be uh dancing badly to Wham, you'll be screeching loudly to Mariah, you'll be knee sliding across the floor, having uh cheeky kisses under the mistletoe, all the sort of Christmas uh craziness and frivolities. And the first thing that I want to say is that you can absolutely still do that, uh, even if you are choosing to drink differently this Christmas. Don't think that just because you're going to be sober at a specific party that it means that you can't join in and have a wild night as well. You absolutely can. But for those times when you are feeling like there is perhaps a bit too much intensity and a bit too much pressure, and you actually want to ease yourself into the party season, this might be one of those times that you see it as like a personal test. Now, I don't necessarily say that you should um frame it that way because uh often with a test we have a sort of past fail mindset, and it's really essential that you understand that even if you do drink more than you intended to, that is not a failure because once you frame it as a failure, you throw the baby out with the bath water and think, well, hang it all to hell, I might as well just go hell for leather, and that is not a helpful way for you to look towards the rest of your month. We are still only on the 4th of December. So instead, I've got a little framework for you that uh you can hold on to, and it's very simple: it's the ready steady go framework, and it's for these big party nights, uh, these big nights out, or big party lunches, whatever they are, uh, for those times when you feel like the uh call to drink might be a strong one and you're not necessarily sure you want to join in. You can use the ready steady go framework. So, ready, get ready for the night or the lunch, whatever it is. Um, the first thing you do to get ready is eat. Never turn up on an empty stomach. I don't care if you're going out for a meal anyway. Eat something before you leave the house or before you leave the office or whatever it is. Why? Food slows down the absorption of alcohol. So if you do consume full strength, alcohol, if you do it on an empty stomach, we've all done it before, we know you'll end up getting very pissed very quickly. You don't want to do that. Eat. Also, when you eat, you will feel fuller for longer, which slows down your drinking. So if you do consume alcohol, you won't drink as much as quickly, and it keeps your blood sugar high. And we know that when you have low blood sugar, we tend to be cranky, we tend to make short, uh we tend to make snappy decisions that don't necessarily uh serve us best, and you'll also be craving the sugars that occur in the drink to get that back into your system. So if you don't eat before you go out and start drinking, you'll make all the wrong decisions for what you're trying to achieve. The other part of ready is to hydrate. You will thank me for it tomorrow. I promise. I know it's not very exciting, I know it's not very sexy, but drink the water. Your body really does need it. Your brain needs the water to function, to make good decisions, your brain needs to stay hydrated. And again, if you do decide to consume alcohol, having water in your system will help you to recover better tomorrow. It will also dilute the amount of alcohol that's in your system. Alcohol is carried through the body body, through your water systems, through your blood alcohol, into other watery organs. So the more water you have in there, uh, the lower the concentration of alcohol that you'll be dealing with. Next is steady. Pace yourself. Low no and light drinks are your friends. Uh, alcohol-free drinks, mid-strength drinks, uh, how much you drink, how often you drink it. These are all different ways that you can pace yourself. But you can also try some other things like um put your glass down in between drinks. Don't just hold your glass in your hand. When you hold your glass in the hand, in your hand, it's very easy to um to drink automatically. Just not think about it. Uh, it's it's uh almost a reflex. Uh, and somebody will say cheers and you will and you'll put it to your mouth and you'll have a drink. Uh, there'll be a moment where you're trying to think of something to say, so you'll have a drink to sort of fill that gap and that silence. There's a lot of things that we do with a glass in our hand that we don't think about. So if you've got alcohol in your glass, put it down in between sips. Speaking of which, sip, don't chug, go slowly. Uh, and then take time out whenever you need it. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed, if you're starting to feel a little tiddled, if you're starting to wonder if you're in the right place or you're doing things the right way, take a break. Uh, go and stand outside, not with the smokers. Um, go and stand outside for a few moments and just give yourself a little bit of space to do some self-talk and see how you're feeling, or nip to the loo, lock yourself in a cubicle for a minute and just take some time to breathe, not too deeply. If you're in the loo, it won't be nice. But you get the point. And then the last part of the framework is go. This is really simple. Don't overstay just for the sake of it. When you're done, go. There is no reason for you to stay at these parties any longer than you feel absolutely comfortable to do so. Don't worry about other people, they will be far too busy having uh their own good time and their own situations and their own drinks to be worried about what you're doing. Make your goodbyes, however, you want to do that, whether you you feel that you want to go and specifically say goodbye to your friends, whether you just want to slip out and send a text message later, uh, whatever it is you want to do. But if you are not feeling it, don't stay there. Okay, quite simple. Ready, steady, go. And for today's Advent Drink Selection, I want to do a shout out to our day for sponsor, which is a wonderful, wonderful alcohol-free wine brand called Zironimo. Now, Zironimo have taken uh the US by storm, they're an Austrian brand who make premium alcohol-free red and white and sparkling wines using only the finest grapes. Uh, they've also recently just launched their RTD. So, you know, I love a ready-to-drink can of Xaronic, which is a fresh white and a fancy red. So they are perfect for you to drink on these festive occasions when you are on the go from one party to the next and want to feel like you've got something uh exciting, something sophisticated, something high quality to enjoy in whatever environment that you are in. So make sure you head to open today's door on the advent calendar where you will find the exclusive discount link for you to go and try some of Zeronimo's wonderful wines for yourself. I'd love to know what you think of them. And I in the meantime, I will see you tomorrow for day five of our mindful drinking advent. And until then, of course, cheers to a Christmas less intoxicated.