The Alcohol Myth Podcast
Is It Harder to Quit Drinking or Keep Drinking?
Send us Fan Mail Is it harder to quit drinking or keep drinking? The honest math on both columns. You have already priced out what quitting would cost you. The Friday nights, the explanations, the evenings with nothing in your hand. What nobody prices is the other column: the arithmetic running all day, the planning, the recovery hours, the low-grade "less than good" you stopped calling a hangover because it never fully lifts. That comparison is rigged. You are weighing a cycle you know intimately against a life you have never lived. Your only data on not drinking comes from the times you wanted a drink and could not get one, and you project that one uncomfortable hour across the rest of your life. Ellen Biggs spent years doing exactly that, certain not drinking would be unbearable, while overlooking that the cycle was already unbearable and simply familiar. The choice was never hard versus easy. The choice is which hard has an end. What settles it is data rather than motivation. Every stretch of alcohol-free days gives you something real to compare against, and it is the only evidence that answers it. Ellen's verdict, once she had enough of it: her life was more manageable without alcohol, and for someone who dislikes doing hard things, not drinking was the least expensive option on the table. Moderation, the sensible-sounding middle path, was the most expensive of the three. The hard part also ends, which is what the cycle never offers. Research cited on the episode puts a craving at roughly twenty minutes. Two or three strong ones on a bad day is an hour out of twenty-four, and each one you ride out makes the next one cheaper. Jonathan Ball calls these FFTs, the freaking first times, and the point of a first time is that it stops being first. Try the inventory this week. What is drinking costing you mentally, physically, financially and relationally, and what would move into that space if it were gone? Work with Jonathan: https://livecreativeaf.com/ | Work with Ellen: https://ellenbiggscoaching.com/ CHAPTERS 00:00 The myth: quitting is the hard part 02:46 What the cycle already costs you 05:32 Projecting today onto future you 08:18 The alcohol math that never stops 11:04 Comparing the data both ways 13:50 Why moderation is the hardest option 16:36 Alcohol made the hard things harder 19:22 More easy hours than hard ones 22:08 FFTs and the first Friday without it 24:54 100 days is a blip in time 27:40 Take the inventory, then dream bigger FROM THIS EPISODE "Not drinking is the easiest of all the options for me." QUESTIONS THIS EPISODE ANSWERS Q: Is it harder to quit drinking or to keep drinking? A: Quitting drinking is harder for a short, defined stretch, while continuing is harder with no end date. The cycle carries daily mental arithmetic, physical recovery and no finish line, whereas the effort of stopping drops off measurably as your brain builds new patterns and cravings lose their intensity. Q: How long do alcohol cravings last? A: Alcohol cravings last around twenty minutes, according to research cited on the episode. Even a difficult day usually holds two or three strong ones, so the genuinely hard part is roughly an hour out of twenty-four, and every craving you ride out makes the next one cheaper. Q: Why is moderation harder than quitting drinking? A: Moderation is harder than quitting because it keeps the decision permanently open. Every occasion needs a fresh negotiation about how much, when to stop, and whether you are still managing it, so the mental effort never ends and the desire is never actually resolved. Q: Does it get easier to stop drinking over time? A: Stopping drinking does get easier over time, and the change is physical rather than motivational. As alcohol-free days accumulate your brain forms new pathways, so what took real effort at thirty days takes almost none by sixty, and the desire fades into the background. You do not need to wait for rock bottom. You do not need more willpower. You just need a new way to understand what you are feeling and why you are reaching for the next drink. If this episode resonates, please like, share, subscribe, and leave a comment with what stood out to you. We would love to hear what you want more of. Send your questions, stories, or ideas for future episodes to thealcoholmyth@gmail.com. We read every message. We really do. CONNECT WITH US Email: thealcoholmyth@gmail.com Jonathan Ball, CreativeAF Coaching: https://livecreativeaf.com/ Ellen Biggs Coaching: https://ellenbiggscoaching.com/ LISTEN ANYWHERE Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-alcohol-myth-podcast/id1861472231 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7DzVqvW3ZkyV80jDYDSOjt Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/88964cf0-2b6f-4976-9676-2aa8a36d25be All episodes: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2562590 Subscribe for more episodes pulling back the curtain on the alcohol myth. #AlcoholFree #SoberCurious #QuitDrinking #GreyAreaDrinking
