Gray-Area Drinking: 5 Signs It's Time to Take a Look | It's Bizzy Ep. 677Gray-Area Drinking: 5 Signs It's Time to Take a Look | It's Bizzy Ep. 677
Busy Living Sober with Host Elizabeth Chance
Elizabeth "Bizzy" Chance talks about gray-area drinking and shares five signs that alcohol may be more of a problem than you think. She suggests a 30-day alcohol break with journalling as a practical way to understand your own drinking habits.
17:01•29 Sept 2026
Gray-Area Drinking: Five Signs Your Booze Habits Need a Rethink
Episode Overview
- Having strict rules around when and what you drink can signal a problem rather than control.
- Using alcohol as a crutch to handle stress, loneliness or parenting pressures may point to gray-area drinking.
- Thinking about alcohol more than you want to, including planning and checking there’s enough, is a warning sign.
- Dreading events without alcohol and needing booze to cope with social anxiety can indicate dependence.
- Trying a 30-day break, while journalling daily feelings and cravings, can help clarify your true relationship with alcohol.
“I couldn't have one, and I couldn't have 47, right? And the way I felt about myself is what mattered most.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of Busy Living Sober zeroes in on "grey-area drinking" – that confusing middle ground where someone doesn't feel at rock bottom, yet knows something isn't right. Elizabeth "Bizzy" Chance, 20 years sober and coaching since 2013, talks candidly about her own past with alcohol.
She jokes about having a wine glass that could hold an entire bottle, "wink wink", but pairs the humour with honesty about blackout nights and waking up asking, "What did I say? What did I do?" As she puts it, "I couldn't have one, and I couldn't have 47, right?
And the way I felt about myself is what mattered most." You’ll hear her break down five clear signs that drinking might be edging into problem territory: having strict rules around when and what you drink, using alcohol as a crutch to take the edge off life, constantly thinking and planning around booze, dreading events where there’s no alcohol, and secretly googling whether you have a drinking problem.
Her message is simple but challenging: people without an issue don’t spend this much mental energy on drinking. The tone stays warm, practical and very down-to-earth. Elizabeth speaks directly to anyone stuck in that grey zone – the person who keeps promising "I’m not going to have one" and then does, again and again.
She suggests a 30-day alcohol break as an experiment, encouraging journalling, noticing cravings, and paying close attention to how you actually feel, while reminding you that "feelings aren’t facts" and they change. This episode is geared towards people who are questioning their relationship with alcohol, as well as those supporting someone who might be struggling.
It’s honest, non-judgemental, and might be the nudge you need to ask: is my drinking really working for me, or is it time to take a closer look?
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