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Are you a moderator, a mindful drinker, or are you sober curious? Maybe you're a flexible drinker. Is there even a difference? And does it even matter? The words we use to identify ourselves, even if we don't say them out loud, can have a big impact on how we treat ourselves. So it's worth noting the difference between these terms if it matters to you. And that's what today's quick episode is about. You're listening to the Mindful Drinking and Moderation in Midlife podcast, where it's my goal to help you take back the power of choice from alcohol. I'm your host and mindful drinking mentor, Denise Hamilton Mace, and this is the start of your journey to a life less intoxicating. Okay, now I'm gonna be completely honest with you. I am feeling ever so terribly unwell this week. Ah, and so I'm cheating today, and I'm taking inspiration for this week's episode from the new Fast Answers series on the lownoDrinker.com blog. Now, there's a lot of great material uh on the new website, but sometimes you just want to get to the meat of your question quickly, and that's what the Fast Answers series is about. And because I feel like death warmed up, that's what this episode is going to do today, too. But I know, I know that you'll forgive me for this because I've got the best listeners out in all of podcastem listening to this show. So let's jump straight into it.

What Sober Curious Really Means

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Uh, what is sober curious? So, a sober curious drinker is someone who is considering what life could look like if they drank a little less booze a little more often, and whether removing it altogether could lead to a permanent overall improvement. Now, a sober curious person isn't necessarily hanging up their drinking hat tomorrow, but it's certainly a possibility for a future version of their lives. So, in the present day, they practice various moderation and mindful drinking and reduction techniques to see how it all fits and what could work best for them in the long run.

Mindful Drinking Without Quitting

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And then we have mindful drinkers. So, a mindful drinker, on the other hand, has no foreseeable plans to quit drinking, but they do want to minimize the negative effects when they do consume alcohol. So, mindful drinkers are looking at various ways to moderate uh in lots of different situations, uh, different circumstances, social gatherings, groups of people, and they are aiming to find ways to keep alcohol as part of their social life, but to relegate it to more of a supporting role than the lead character that it might have been playing up until now. And then we

Flexible Drinking And Taking It Or Leaving It

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have flexible drinkers. So, a flexible drinker, this is a slightly newer term, uh, and it refers to people who sometimes drink and sometimes don't drink at all. They can take it or leave it, and that choice is made in the moment based on what will serve them best. So it's very similar to um, you might have heard of the flexitarian diet, which is about people who choose to eat less meat and eat more plant-based, uh, but they're not necessarily vegetarian, but they might live a vegetarian lifestyle sometimes. Um, so flexible drinker is very similar, but it's with booze instead

Moderator As The Umbrella Term

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of meat. Um, and then we have your moderators. So a moderating drinker is the sort of umbrella term for someone who's trying various uh drinking less or drinking differently techniques in their life. So, put simply, in simple terms, a moderator is anyone who is actively considering altering their drinking patterns rather than it just being a passing thought or something that doesn't require much effort, they're actively practicing the act of moderation.

Why The Label Matters Less

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So, which one are you? Are you a are you sober curious? Are you a mindful drinker? Are you a flexible drinker? Are you just a moderator? Do you have to pick one? Does it in fact matter? Um, the beauty actually of finding your way to the mindful drinking and moderation in midlife platform, whether you are reading this on the website or you're listening to the podcast, is that I don't really care what you call yourself. None of us here call care what you call yourself. It really doesn't actually matter. What does matter is that you've recognized that there is a change that you want to make to the way that you allow alcohol to show up in your life and that you are taking steps to better your relationship with booze, such as being here today. This is one of the steps that you are taking. So please pat yourself firmly on the back, all right? Because you don't always have to know what the outcome will be or where you want this exploration to take you. I personally have gone through um being so I called myself sober curious when I started doing this. Uh, I then moved into mindful drinking. Now I think I'm flexible. Sometimes I'm just moderating, sometimes I'm just a chick who doesn't fancy having a drink, and sometimes I like to have a little glass of Bailey's in the evening. So, you know, you don't have to have a label. Um, a lifetime of abstinence, if that's what you end up choosing, is completely fine if that's what's going to be right for you in the long run. As is continuing to keep alcohol in your life in some way, shape, or form, if that means it becomes something that you enjoy rather than something that takes enjoyment away from you. You do not need a label to take back the power of choice from alcohol. All right, as

Next Week Hangxiety

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promised, short and sweet today. I hope that you out there are feeling and doing better than I am today. But I will be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week with a great episode that I've got prepped on anxiety. So I will catch you next Wednesday, and until then, my darling, cheers to a life less intoxicated.