Stronger Bolder Wiser

Struggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.Get your free guide → https://bit.ly/4qOiGUwMost women who recognize themselves in this episode do not identify as alcoholics, and that is exactly why the term grey area drinking exists. It is the space between the every now and then drinker and physical dependency, and it is where a whole generation of midlife women are quietly living.In this solo episode I explain what grey area drinking actually is and walk you through the seven signs that you are sitting in it. I was a grey area drinker for twenty-nine years and I now work with women aged forty to seventy, so I know how normal this looks from the outside and how loud it feels on the inside. I cover the rules we make and break, how alcohol arrives as a solution long before it ever looks like a problem, and why alcohol hits women so much harder through perimenopause and beyond. If you have ever silently asked yourself am I drinking too much, this one is for you.Key Topics Covered- What grey area drinking really means and where you sit on the one to ten scale. - The drinking rules we keep breaking and the counting, justifying and rewarding that keep us stuck. - Why alcohol-free breaks like dry January never seem to stick. - How alcohol affects midlife women differently, from 3am wakeups to anxiety and rising tolerance. Timestamps:Not An Alcoholic? You Could Be A Grey Area Drinker (00:00)What Is Grey Area Drinking?(00:35)The 1-10 Scale For High Functioning Drinkers(01:20)Sign 1 Counting And Justifying Your Drinks(02:18)Sign 2 You Keep Breaking Your Own Drinking Rules(02:34)Sign 3 Wine Has Become Your Reward(04:33)Sign 4 Your Dry January Never Sticks(05:57)Sign 5 You Keep Asking Am I Drinking Too Much(06:38)Sign 6 Alcohol Takes More Than It Gives(07:37)How Alcohol Hits Women Harder In Perimenopause(08:00)Sign 7 Rising Tolerance And Getting Defensive(09:00)The First Step To Changing How You Drink(10:16)***Sarah Rusbatch is an accredited Health and Wellbeing Coach and one of Australia’s leading experts on grey area drinking. Her podcast, Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, is the go-to space for women who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, navigating life alcohol-free, or simply curious about what life could look like on the other side of the bottle.If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven’t already, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a review to help more women find this community.***Find out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don’t always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women’s Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze

Struggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.Get your free guide → https://bit.ly/4qOiGUwYour brain is knackered by 5pm because you've been stuck in middle gear all day, and that exhaustion is exactly why the wine starts calling.In this episode I sit down with Dr. Tommy Wood, neuroscientist and author of The Stimulated Mind, to unpack the three cognitive gears (high, middle, low) and why constant task switching leaves midlife women depleted and reaching for a drink. We cover what a real low gear brain break looks like, why so many of us have lost the ability to rest, and the link between perimenopause, brain health and dementia risk in women. We finish on the most hopeful message of all: it's never too late to protect your brain.Key Topics Covered- The three brain gears (high, middle, low) and how each feels day to day- Why middle gear quietly exhausts you, since the brain can't truly multitask- The 5pm wine trigger, and why alcohol is the fast but costly off switch- What a real low gear break looks like (green space, breathwork, one thing at a time)- Time blocking and why feeling out of control drives poor cognitive outcomes- Perimenopause and the brain: verbal memory, estrogen, and vasomotor symptoms- Why dementia risk is higher in women, and the factors behind the gap- Why it's never too late, with evidence people in their late 60s still improveDr. Tommy Wood is a neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the University of Washington, where his research focuses on brain health across the lifespan. He holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Oslo. Alongside his academic work he is a performance consultant to elite athletes, including Formula 1 drivers, through Hintsa Performance. He is the author of The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age, and co-hosts the Better Brain Fitness podcast with neurologist Josh Turknett.Website: https://www.drtommywood.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtommywoodThe Better Brain Fitness podcast, co-hosted with Dr. Josh Turknett, available at https://www.betterbrain.fitness/ and on regular podcast platformsThe Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age: https://www.amazon.com/Stimulated-Mind-Future-Proof-Brain-Dementia/dp/0593797817TimestampsThe Three Gears Of Your Brain (00:00)What High Gear Focused Work Really Means (02:24)Low Gear And Why Rest Matters (04:33)How Your Phone Kills Rest Time (06:37)The Midlife Woman's Mental Overload (11:21)Why You Reach For Wine At 5pm (12:40)Quick Brain Breaks That Actually Work (15:34)Music Breathwork And Calming Your Brain (21:49)How Time Blocking Regains Control (23:11)How Perimenopause Changes Your Brain (29:48)Does MHT Help Your Brain (34:21)Why Women Get Dementia More Than Men (38:40)Does Stress Raise Your Dementia Risk (45:07)What Alzheimer's Actually Does To The Brain (52:17)The Best Exercise For Your Brain (55:17)Start With One Small Change (58:20)Why It Is Never Too Late (01:00:21)***Find out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don’t always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women’s Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze

Feeling like alcohol has quietly become your default way to unwind, reward yourself, or take the edge off?Join my October Reset Challenge, a supportive, guided reset to help you break the daily drinking habit, reconnect with yourself, and prove you can feel good without the glass of wine.Join the October Reset → https://bit.ly/4gJyKSYIs sugar addiction real, and why do so many women swap alcohol for sugar the moment they stop drinking? In this episode of Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, I sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. Jen Unwin, a leading expert on sugar and ultra-processed food addiction, to answer exactly that.We unpack why sugar is the hardest addiction to quit, how it wires the brain's reward pathways from childhood, and why willpower was never the problem. Jen walks us through her CRAVED self-assessment for spotting food addiction, explains food noise, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and the damage of decades of low-fat diet culture, and shares the practical steps to break the sugar cycle for good. From trigger foods and protein-rich breakfasts to sleep, exercise, hormones and HRT in midlife.Key Topics CoveredWhy sugar is the hardest addiction to break, and how childhood exposure wires the brain for itWhy women who quit alcohol so often swap it for sugar and secret pantry bingesThe CRAVED framework: a simple 6-point test to know if you have a food addictionHow ultra-processed "triple threat" foods (salt, sugar, fat) override your natural off switchWhy being overfed but undernourished drives cravings, and how protein and fat switch them offPractical steps to quit sugar: clear trigger foods, rebuild breakfast, protect sleep and exerciseDr. Jen Unwin is a consultant clinical health psychologist with over 30 years in the NHS and a leading voice on ultra-processed food and sugar addiction. With her GP husband Dr. David Unwin, she pioneered drug-free type 2 diabetes remission programs featured in the BBC's "The Truth About Carbs". A food addict in recovery herself, she co-founded the Collaborative Health Community, co-created the CRAVED screening tool, and wrote "Fork in the Road: A Hopeful Guide to Food Freedom".Website: https://www.the-chc.org/X: https://x.com/drjenunwinTimestamps:Sugar addiction and whether it's actually real (00:00)Why sugar is the hardest addiction to quit (01:38)Why sugar is the first gateway drug (08:16)Hidden sugar in foods marketed as healthy (13:00)How the CRAVED test screens for food addiction (18:19)Food noise and how GLP-1 weight loss drugs affect cravings (29:28)How low fat diet culture failed women (32:12)How nutrient dense eating kills sugar cravings (36:35)How to quit sugar and where to start (44:13)How to identify your sugar trigger foods (47:45)Handling social pressure and finding support quitting sugar (51:53 )The hidden self care load women carry (57:52)How hormones and HRT affect sugar cravings (59:31)Food rules Q&A in a rapid fire round (01:05:57 )What life after quitting sugar looks like (01:11:57)Final takeaways on quitting sugar for good (01:14:39)***Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.Get your free guide → https://sarahrusbatch.com/free-guide-100-things-to-do-instead-of-drinking?utm_source=sbw&utm_medium=ep28&utm_campaign=100+things&utm_content=list+building Find out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don't always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women's Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze

By 5pm the kids are screaming, you've had 77,000 tabs open in your brain all day, and a voice says you deserve a glass of wine. That voice isn't weakness, it's your brain reaching for the fastest exit it knows. I take you deep into what's actually happening in your body when stress hits, and why alcohol keeps showing up as the solution even when you know it isn't serving you. I walk you through nervous system 101, the fight or flight trap so many of us are living in, and the biology of GABA and why perimenopause leaves us more depleted and reaching for wine. Then I share my seven favourite tools for handling stress without alcohol, the exact practices that helped me and the thousands of women I've supported. Whether you're sober, curious, newly alcohol-free, or just want better strategies for managing stress, this one is for you.What We Cover:- Understanding the fight or flight stress response and why so many women are living there for years rather than hours.- The open tabs and middle gear phenomenon, the chronic low-grade activation that keeps you wired but tired all day long.- Why alcohol works as a GABA agonist in the short term and quietly makes you more deficient over time.- The perimenopause and GABA connection that leaves women naturally more anxious and reaching for a drink to cope.- How drinking raises your baseline cortisol and creates the next-day anxiety loop most women never connect to alcohol.- Seven practical tools including low gear breaks, walking, breathwork, alcohol-free rituals, the "of course" exercise, shaking to discharge adrenaline, and calming hands-on activities.TimestampsNervous System 101 (00:00)The 5pm Wine Trap (04:46)Living In Middle Gear (09:34)Why We Seek Oblivion (15:16)How Alcohol Hijacks GABA (17:42)Alcohol Borrows Calm From Tomorrow (23:05)The Research On Women And Anxiety (28:38)Rewiring The Stress Loop (32:12)Seven Tools For Stress Without Wine (34:38)Your Personal Toolkit (51:44)***Sarah Rusbatch is an accredited Health and Wellbeing Coach and one of Australia's leading experts on grey area drinking. Her podcast,  Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, is the go-to space for women who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, navigating life alcohol-free, or simply curious about what life could look like on the other side of the bottle.If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a review to help more women find this community.***Feeling like alcohol has quietly become your default way to unwind, reward yourself, or take the edge off?Join my October Reset Challenge, a supportive, guided reset to help you break the daily drinking habit, reconnect with yourself, and prove you can feel good without the glass of wine.Join the October Reset → ⁠ https://bit.ly/4gJyKSYStruggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.Get your free guide → https://sarahrusbatch.com/free-guide-100-things-to-do-instead-of-drinking?utm_source=sbw&utm_medium=ep28&utm_campaign=100+things&utm_content=list+building Find out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don't always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women's Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze

Ageing isn't decline, it's the beginning of something incredible, and the choices you make today are quietly building the woman you'll be at 80.I sat down with gerontologist and biohacker Zora Benhamou, host of the Hack My Age podcast, who has interviewed more than 200 women across 50 countries about how they experience menopause. We got into why so many of us reach for alcohol in perimenopause without realising it's a short-lived fix for a real hormonal shift, and why removing it changes almost everything. Zora walked me through the three phases of the menopause transition, the levers that protect our long-term health, and why building your 80-year-old self starts decades before you get there. This one is packed with practical, hopeful information about movement, bones, nutrition, and taking your health into your own hands.Zora Benhamou is a gerontologist and biohacker on a mission to disrupt menopause stigma and ageist stereotypes. She holds a Master of Gerontology from the University of Southern California, has traveled to over 50 countries interviewing women about their menopause experience, and hosts the Hack My Age podcast. She is the author of the Longevity Master Plan and the cookbook Eating For Longevity.Connect with Zora Benhamou:Website: https://hackmyage.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/hackmyage Free menopause guide at https://hackmyage.com/biohacking-menopause-101/Other resources:Free book: Fracture Proof Your Bones by Dr. John Neustadt https://www.nbihealth.com/fractureproof/The list of 103 symptoms of menopause https://wearemorphus.com/blogs/signs-and-symptomsTimestampsWhat Menopause Looks Like in 50 Countries (00:00) The 3 Stages of Menopause Explained (03:06) 103 Menopause Symptoms Doctors Never Mention (05:19) Why Women Turn to Alcohol in Perimenopause (09:47) How Quitting Alcohol Transforms Menopause Symptoms (16:10) How to Build Your 80-Year-Old Self Now (20:04) Exercise: The Biggest Longevity Lever for Women (24:28) How Alcohol and Smoking Destroy Bone Density (30:28) What Your DEXA Scan T-Score Really Means (36:19) REMS: A Better Way to Test Bone Health (40:19) How Much Protein Do Women Actually Need (43:57) The Truth About Fasting for Women Over 50 (49:50) How to Silence Food Noise in Your Head (54:53) The Bone Supplement Most Women Get Wrong (01:03:26) Rapid Fire: Habits, Sleep Hacks and Biohacks (01:09:38) The One Thing to Start Doing Today (01:13:43) ***Sarah Rusbatch is an accredited Health and Wellbeing Coach and one of Australia's leading experts on grey area drinking. Her podcast,  Stronger, Bolder, Wiser, is the go-to space for women who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, navigating life alcohol-free, or simply curious about what life could look like on the other side of the bottle.If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven't already, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a review to help more women find this community.***Struggling to know what to do when stress, boredom or big emotions hit?Download my free guide "100 Things to Do Instead of Drinking", a toolkit for sitting with those feelings instead of reaching for a glass of wine.Get your free guide → https://sarahrusbatch.com/free-guide-100-things-to-do-instead-of-drinkingFind out more about my other programs here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/If you want to join a space where women feel safe to be seen, ask the questions they don't always say out loud and connect with others going through the same, join my free Facebook group, Women's Wellbeing Collective here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/342319476897067And if changing your relationship with alcohol is something you want to explore further, you can find my book Beyond Booze on Audible, Spotify, Kindle and Amazon. Click the link here: https://sarahrusbatch.com/beyond-booze