Navigating Alcohol Choices When Vacation Season Comes to an End

The sun is shining, the BBQ is sizzling, and summer is in full force. Like most of us, you may have loosened the reins on your routine and have been going with the flow of the season. Old habits die hard, and summer is the perfect time for building, strengthening, and maintaining them.

First and foremost, know that you are not alone. If navigating our way out of some unhealthy habits was easy, we wouldn’t need to talk about it. Summer is a live-in-the-moment-worry-about-the-consequences-later type of season! However, as summer begins to fizzle out, we’re often left with some questionable habits. One of the most common questions ALAViDA coaches get is: how do we move away from these behaviors and back on track to a healthy, sustainable lifestyle? Here are some steps and strategies to help you move towards balance, reconnection and purpose.

Let’s Get Honest About Habits

The first step towards change is to become aware of the behavior itself. Here are the top three alcohol-consuming behaviors we pick up along the sunny summer way.

Day drinking: The time we pick up our first drink tends to inch closer and closer to that noon hour. Often, this is because we’re already engaging in social activities, in the sun or searching for a beverage to cool us down.

Binge drinking: Binge drinking is defined as 4 or more drinks for women, and 5 or more drinks for men. The more social gatherings we attend, and the earlier we begin drinking, the more likely we are to engage in binge drinking.

Daily drinking: Drinking is often associated with rewarding ourselves, and we never fall short of reasons to grab a beverage at the end of the day, especially in the summer.

With any decision we make related to alcohol use, there is an inherent risk within it. It is often overlooked that alcohol is a carcinogen that can lead to 7 different types of cancers, with most cases being breast or colon. It has been suggested that reducing your alcohol intake is one of the top 10 behaviors you can do to minimize your risk of cancer. Although for many years we were told that alcohol in moderation was good for us, recent research has demonstrated that drinking alcohol increases the risk of developing various cardiovascular and liver diseases.

We now know that alcohol is not good for our heart. Drinking increases the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke. The Word Heart Federation released a brief in 2022 saying that no amount of alcohol is good for your heart.

Beyond our physical health, alcohol negatively impacts our physiology. ‘Hangxiety’ is a term used to describe the anxiety you may experience after a night of drinking. Aside from waking up with uncertainty and possible embarrassment, drinking also makes you more sensitive to stress over time.

Keeping in mind that no amount of alcohol is good for your health, if you do plan to drink, less is better. There are many different approaches to help you minimize the risks associated with alcohol use. A new terminology is emerging called “substance use health”. Substance use health is a way to describe approaches we can take to minimize the health and mental health risks associated with consuming substances, including alcohol.

Substance Use Health

Substance use health strategies are intended to minimize the risks associated with alcohol consumption. It is a non-coercive approach to change, that focuses on empowerment and improving your overall wellbeing. Many of the individuals we speak to here at ALAViDA are looking to change their relationship with alcohol, whether that be abstinence, drinking less, or minimizing the harms that come from drinking. Substance use health strategies are a perfect way to balance this relationship.

We’ve provided some simple but effective strategies to shift you from vacation-mode and back on track to improving your overall wellbeing.

Harm Minimization Strategies

Increase water intake: Introduce a cup of water in between drinks. Water intake helps with hydration and slows down the drinking process.
Bring your own drinks: When you are headed to an event or gathering, bring your own drinks. This encourages you to set a boundary for yourself and commit to the number of drinks you brought.
Low-alcohol options: Try the low-alcohol options as an alternative to standard alcoholic drinks.
Delay the time: Challenge yourself to have your first drink an hour later than you typically do. In doing so, you’re building the confidence within yourself to know you can reduce your alcohol intake and you’re more likely to consume less.
Alcohol-free days: Invite yourself to an alcohol-free day. But rather than white knuckling it, plan a day that feels fulfilling to you. Try something new, get out in nature, rest and nourish yourself.

Ways to cope

As the days of sitting by the water and enjoying the sun are pausing, you may be experiencing those summer blues. It’s normal to feel discouraged, sad, and apathetic as you transition from one season to the next. In order to embrace what the next season will bring, allow yourself to experience your emotions. It may feel dreary right now but remember, with a new season comes new opportunities. To help guide you through this transition, and away from resorting to substances, here are some coping strategies you can start right now:

Create a goal for yourself: Setting small, manageable goals gives you a sense of purpose and accomplishment.
Try a new activity: Challenge yourself to try an activity you’ve never done. This could be playing an instrument, trying a new board game, attending a yoga class, or getting involved in a sports team.
Prioritize self-care: When life gets busy, our self-care often gets pushed to the bottom of our list. Set aside a regular self-care practice. Exercise, massages, sitting down at your favorite coffee shop, reading your favorite book, and connecting to nature are all great ways to begin to reconnect back to yourself.
Focus on routine and structure: Having a healthy, balanced routine creates a sense of purpose. Thinking through your routine also gives you the opportunity to incorporate self-care, new activities, and rest.
Change your environment: Changing the environment around you can change how you feel within yourself. Declutter, rearrange, or add your favorite decor to your space.

The carefree days of summer may be ending but the opportunity for regrowth and improvement is just beginning. Moving away from vacation-mode and into routine gives you an opportunity to start fresh. Creating new goals, reestablishing your relationship with alcohol, and prioritizing your needs will help you move through this transition with ease.

About the author:

Brianne is a Certified Canadian Addiction Counsellor, a Registered Professional Counsellor – Candidate, and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She is a registered member of the Canadian Addiction Counsellor Certification Federation and the Canadian Professional Counselling Association. For over a decade, she has been committed to training and supporting individuals and families within the private and public sector. Brianne brings a unique, holistic approach to understanding and treating substance using behaviours.