When you reach for the bottle of wine at the end of the day, go for after work drinks or buying the next round for your mates, were you really looking for a drink?
Society and culture can play a HUGE role in our beliefs, attitudes and actions around food and drinks. We can hear the message over and over again so we accept it as truth and normality. It can be another sort of being on “autopilot” (I talk more about eating on autopilot in this blog here)
We are consistently told that alcohol is needed to have fun, to wind down, to relax, to be cool, etc. If we don’t join in on this, it’s like we are portrayed the opposite. Sometimes we are called weak, no fun, missing out. Overtime, we don’t realise it but we start accepting it and even use the same language when we talk to others and ourselves.
“Tough day mate? Sounds like you could do with a drink”
“The kid’s were crazy today, I need a glass of wine”
“Congratulations! Time to pop open some champagne”
Even though I don’t finish the day with a glass of wine (I don’t even like the taste of wine), I find myself also contributing to the conversation with things like “sounds like you need a glass of wine”, not because I actually think that, but because in the certain social situation, it was a normal and expected thing to say and many people feel that way (although they may not understand the drivers behind it).
There can be a lot of associations with alcohol that we may simply accept, for example:
- Champagne with celebrations
- Shots at a party for fun
- Wine with dinner
We can link alcohol with certain situations and may think they are necessary when the occasion arises even if we didn’t actually need or want it.
However, even when you are not in a social situation, you may adopt a behaviour that is commonly and socially accepted and perhaps even expected. You may go for the alcohol after a bad day because it’s meant to make things better. But does it? It’s a question we ought to stop and think about. Are you enjoying it? That’s another question. But in those moments have you even considered whether it was something that you actually wanted or something that you needed or if it even serves the purpose you THINK it serves (“actual” and “think” are different?).
I like how Maz shares about her experience with alcohol in this podcast and talks about she recognised her unhealthy relationship with it and made changes with her alcohol consumption.
Society can write some of our food beliefs and control our eating and drinking decisions without us realising it. For you to be in control of your eating or drinking, you need to recognise whether it is you who is making those decisions in the way that best serves you or whether beliefs you have developed elsewhere are controlling your decisions.
If have any questions about how you can be in control and make the best eating decisions for your health, send me an email (perri@yummybalance.com.au) with your questions and I’ll be happy to help you out.