Moderation Drinking

Moderation February™ is a new concept in the last year that I created kind of riding the wave of Dry January’s popularity over the last decade. The premise is simple:Moderation February™ is a commitment to yourself using a set of tools that allows you to EASE BACK INTO DRINKING after a month without alcohol.Whereas Dry January is a fixed period of time that requires drastic behavioral changes for most participants, Moderation February™ offers tangible tools and tactics you can literally carry with you--not just in February - but any day, any week, or any month throughout the year to help lower your alcohol consumption.Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

In business and in life if you have developed a plan that you know works for your situation you have to stick to that plan. Most of the time if you go off the plan or make revisions on the fly… you fail.Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

Summer is in full swing here in Folly Beach / Charleston with temperatures mid 90’s all last week and beach traffic jams are now an every day event. And with summer comes more drunk driving incidents………It’s no surprise ,  really as more people on go on vacation, take road trips and get out on boats. According to National Safety Council June July and August have the highest occurrence of drunk driving accidents and fatalities. You would think that with ride sharing like Uber and Lyft now available just about everywhere that the number of drunk driving fatalities would be way down. But according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) alcohol related fatalities in the US jumped to 13,000 in 2022 for the first time since 2007… and surpassed that mark again in 2023.   And drunk driving deaths have increased 33% overall since 2019. We are heading in the wrong direction!  So what is going on and what can YOU do to help change this trend….  Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

Now that we are at the threshold of summer with Memorial day just a few weeks away I wanted to talk about using non alcoholic…Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

Today I want to discuss DRINKING LESS ALCOHOL AT EVENTS, be they corporate events or private parties or weddings etc.As we’ve discussed in prior blogs Dry January seems to gain popularity every year, and last month I launched MODERATION FEBRUARY and got a great response and comments as people look for ways to drink less alcohol. This trend is growing in all aspects of society and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.In fact research from Nielsen IQ- suggest that consumers of all ages are curbing their alcoholic intake altogether, or enjoying it in moderation as a part of a SOBER CURIOUS lifestyle. Nielsen is the largest Consumer Intelligence Company in the world – you know them from Nielsen Ratings from TV-- they are the ones who tells us how many people watch which shows etc. They’ve been around forever and are the best source for consumer trends.Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

It’s one of the reasons I created the First Round Last Call Challenge Coin……and The Code of Conduct to help regulate my alcohol intake as it was definitely a change that needed to happen in my life.  You’ve heard me talk about How it works with one side of the coin  First Round, have 1 drink then other side of the coin  Last Call have  a 2nd drink… and once Last Call is done I STOP DRINKING ALCOHOL FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.  That’s the CHALLENGE part of this coin…. to actually STOP at 2 drinks. This Coin has made me more ACCOUNTABLE not only with my own drinking but in other aspects of my life as well. Accountability is something I think we as a nation have drifted away from.  Our kids have grown up on video games and when things don’t go right they can just hit a reset button. And It’s become easier to blame and sue somebody than it is to own a problem we may have created. And just look at the political theater we are living in right now with the Presidential election coming up this year. Regardless of what side you’re on --democratic or republican-- I think we can all agree there is just too much fighting and scheming and posturing…. And nothing gets done. Important issues from immigration at the border, to aiding our allies who are at war—everything is in a bottleneck and NO ONE IS ACCOUNTABLE.Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

Moderation February™ is a new concept for 2024 that I created kind of riding the wave of Dry January’s popularity over the last decade. The premise is simple:Moderation February™ is a commitment to yourself using a set of tools that allows you to EASE BACK INTO DRINKING after a month without alcohol.Whereas Dry January is a fixed period of time that requires drastic behavioral changes for most participants, Moderation February™ offers tangible tools and tactics you can literally carry with you--not just in February - but any day, any week, or any month throughout the year to help lower your alcohol consumption.Host: Andy WhitesideCo-host: Sam Meader

In October 2021 Sam Meader found himself drinking, getting out of control, and with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous Sam got sober for one year.   It was surprising to Sam when he analyzed his drinking in his journal and how much more he missed the taste and social aspect of alcohol compared to the BUZZ, and he thought "WHAT IF I DECIDED TO DRINK AGAIN, and LIMIT HIMSELF" to a certain number of drinks per day. In this podcast, Andy and Sam discuss why "Dry January" isn't all it's cracked up to be.

In October 2021 Sam Meader found himself drinking, getting out of control, and with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous Sam got sober for one year.   It was surprising to Sam when he analyzed his drinking in his journal and how much more he missed the taste and social aspect of alcohol compared to the BUZZ, and he thought "WHAT IF I DECIDED TO DRINK AGAIN, and LIMIT HIMSELF" to a certain number of drinks per day. This podcast, Andy and Sam discuss the podcast and what people should expect.