#277 Is it Time for a Tactical Break from Alcohol? With Andy Ramage (Re-Release)

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Alternative Health, Mental Health

4.8 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2022

⏱️ 117 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is part of my re-release series and was first aired in 2019.

How does alcohol fit into your life? Have you ever given it any thought?

My guest on this week’s podcast is Andy Ramage, a performance coach and author. He’s also one of the founders of One Year No Beer, a habit-changing programme that invites people to try 28, 90 or 365 days alcohol free – and see what it does for them. Andy was like many of us, he was not an alcoholic but he was what he calls ‘a middle lane drinker’. He would drink a little bit to unwind, at work events, when he saw his friends and probably a little bit more on the weekends. Andy started off on a 30 day trial without alcohol and now hasn’t drunk any alcohol for six years and says he can’t envisage doing so again. But his agenda is not to make you stop drinking for good. It’s to demonstrate that taking a break from the booze can bring a surprising host of benefits, even if you don’t think of yourself as a problematic drinker.

Andy and I delve into just what some of those benefits might be. We discuss how alcohol is so ingrained in our social lives and often our work culture that often we don’t even consider what life would be like without it. It’s linked to every part of our lives from relaxation and fun to social bonding or even just relieving boredom. We talk about societal expectations and peer pressure and both of us share our own individual stories and our own journeys with alcohol. Finally, Andy shares some brilliant, practical tips to help anyone who maybe considering tactical break from alcohol.

This is a really inspiring conversation. Whether you’re already thinking of cutting down, it’s not something you’ve considered, or even if you’re already abstaining, I hope you’ll find some life-enhancing lessons in this podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The people that I worry about most are generally the 30 to 60 year old, that bracket that have grown up in that sort of lad culture of alcohol.
0:09.0	And it's just part of how we celebrate, commiserate days that end in my first birthday, second birthday, full-tiff birthdays.
0:16.0	It's just imbued with alcohol. And that's why I worry about that group of people that are not problematic in the sense, but they're just grinding the gears constantly of having this long-term drinking career
0:29.0	that is affecting them. They just don't realise it. This is the reason I'm here. I'm not here because of the stopping alcohol thing. I'm here because of what happened next.
0:37.0	Yeah. I'm here because of the energy and the vitality and the meaning and the purpose and all these wonderful things that happen after I took a break from alcohol.
0:45.0	That is what inspires me. That's why I'm out on social media live every day, like cheering people on and smiling and come on do this, because I know what's at the other side for them.
0:55.0	Hi. My name is Rongan Chasji. Welcome to Feel Better Live More.
1:06.0	Hey guys, how you doing? This is another one of my special Sunday re-release episodes. And it's a conversation that first adds all the way back in November 2019.
1:16.0	And it's a conversation that is all about alcohol.
1:20.0	So what is your relationship like with alcohol? Do you enjoy your drink? What do you sometimes feel a social obligation to drink, even if you don't feel like it?
1:30.0	Well, in this conversation, I speak to the performance coach and author Andy Rammage, who co-founded One Year No Beer.
1:37.0	I have a change program that invites people to take tactical breaks from alcohol.
1:42.0	No wonder he used to be like so many first, not a full blown alcoholic, but what he calls a middle lane drinker.
1:50.0	He would drink a bit to one wine, when seeing his friends at work events, and possibly a little bit more, the weekends and almost ten years ago.
1:58.0	Andy decided to try a 30 day trial without any alcohol at all. And he's still going now.
2:05.0	In fact, he says he cannot imagine bringing alcohol back into his life. Now his agenda is not to convince you to give up alcohol, not at all.
2:14.0	It's simply to demonstrate that regular breaks from alcohol can provide a host of different benefits, even if you don't consider yourself to be a problem drinker.
2:26.0	In our conversation, we discuss what some of those benefits might be, how ingrained alcohol is in our lives to the point where many of us have never taken a moment to imagine what our lives may be like without it.
2:40.0	This really is a powerful conversation that I hope results in you being a little bit more intentional about your own relationship with alcohol.
2:49.0	I hope you enjoy listening.
2:51.0	Before we get started, just a quick shout out to Athletic Greens who are supporting today's show.
2:57.0	Now, good quality nutrition is an essential pillar for our physical health, but also our mental health.
	...

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