Alcohol Minimalist: Change Your Drinking Habits!
Change your relationship with alcohol without shame, guilt, or going sober. Join science-based coach Molly Watts to break habits and find peace through mindful drinking. Hosted by author and coach Molly Watts, this show is for daily habit drinkers, adult children of alcoholics, and anyone stuck in the “gray area” of alcohol use. Each episode blends neuroscience, behavior change psychology, and real-world strategies to help you build peace with alcohol — past, present, and future. You’re not broken. You’re not powerless. You just need new tools. Less alcohol. More life. Let’s do it together. New episodes every Monday & Thursday. Becoming an alcohol minimalist means: Choosing how to include alcohol in our lives following low-risk guidelines. Freedom from anxiety around alcohol use. Less alcohol without feeling deprived. Using the power of our own brains to overcome our past patterns and choose peace. The Alcohol Minimalist Podcast explores the science behind alcohol and analyzes physical and mental wellness to empower choice. You have the power to change your relationship with alcohol, you are not sick, broken and it's not your genes! This show is intended for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. If you are physically dependent on alcohol, please seek medical help to reduce your drinking.
Episodes
Join Mostly Dry January-The Daily!
As 2025 wraps up, Molly celebrates a major milestone—five full years of the Alcohol Minimalist Podcast. In this reflective and empowering episode, she shares five impactful lessons learned over the past five years—lessons that have shaped her journey and the lives of thousands who are building a more peaceful relationship with alcohol.
Whether you’re a longtime listener or new to the sh...
Join Mostly Dry January-The Daily!
In this special holiday revisited episode of Think Thursday, Molly explores why mental rest is essential for brain health, especially coming out of a season of overstimulation. She explains how modern life is designed to hijack our attention, keeping us in constant reaction mode and depriving the brain of the downtime it needs to function well.
Molly breaks down what happens neurologica...
Join Mostly Dry January-The Daily!
In this episode of the Alcohol Minimalist podcast, Molly tackles a common end-of-year mindset trap: the “sin and repent” cycle. It’s the idea that December is for overindulgence and January is for repentance—a pattern that often reinforces all-or-nothing thinking and keeps us stuck in old drinking habits.
Through personal reflections and practical coaching, Molly unpacks the power of pe...
Join Mostly Dry January-The Daily!
In this Think Thursday episode, Molly explains why the holiday season can feel emotionally harder even when nothing is “wrong.” Using neuroscience and psychology, she introduces the concept of the window of tolerance and explores how cumulative stress, anticipation, sensory overload, emotional memory, and disrupted routines narrow our capacity for regulation during December.
Molly walks...
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In this episode of the Alcohol Minimalist podcast, Molly explores one of the most powerful yet under-recognized tools for transforming your relationship with alcohol: the language you use in your thoughts.
She explains how common phrases like “I need a drink” or “I deserve this glass of wine” are not just throwaway expressions. These words create specific emotional reactions that drive ...
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Episode Summary
In this Think Thursday episode, Molly explores why December feels so emotionally intense and why anticipation plays such a powerful role in our thoughts, feelings, and habits. Anticipation is not just psychological. It is driven by the brain's predictive systems that simulate the future long before it arrives.
Using findings from neuroscience, including research h...
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If you’re working to change your drinking habits and create a peaceful relationship with alcohol, you’re in the right place. In today’s episode, we revisit a very special conversation with internationally renowned neuropsychopharmacologist, Dr. David Nutt.
This episode originally aired when the podcast was still called Breaking the Bottle Legacy, but the message and insights are just as...
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In this episode, Molly explores why holiday creativity is far more than a nostalgic pastime. New research highlighted in The Washington Post shows that engaging in creative activities, even at a beginner level, is associated with younger looking brains and stronger cognitive health.
Molly explains how creative acts like crafting, drawing, baking and building stimulate multiple brain net...
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If your brain is telling you, “It’s the holidays, I’ll start in January,” this episode is here to challenge that script. Molly dives into why the belief that we need a perfect time to change our drinking is one of the most misleading and damaging patterns we fall into. In this episode, you’ll discover why December is actually the ideal time to begin changing your relationship with alco...
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In this special revisited Thanksgiving edition of Think Thursday, Molly reflects on the transformative power of gratitude—how it can reshape your mindset, elevate your mood, and even improve your physical health. Originally aired in 2024, this episode has become a listener favorite for the Thanksgiving holiday and beyond.
With both scientific insight and personal reflection, Molly share...
Join Mostly Dry January-The Daily!
In this heartfelt and empowering conversation, Molly Watts welcomes Deb Gutierrez, a seasoned nutritional therapist and friend of the show. Deb shares her powerful story of surviving a life-threatening health crisis and how it reshaped her approach to wellness from the ground up.
Deb’s experience with endocarditis and open-heart surgery forced her to surrender control in ways she never ...
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In this Think Thursday episode, we're diving into a subject that touches millions of lives — Alzheimer’s disease.
Molly shares recent, promising research on dementia and cognitive decline while weaving in her own powerful experiences from World Alzheimer’s Day at the senior living community where she works.
From the beauty of a memorial garden filled with pinwheel tributes to being part ...
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In this inspiring episode, Molly welcomes special guest Jillian Fontana, a certified sommelier and founder of Mod Elixirs, a new line of thoughtfully crafted alcohol-free beverages. Jillian shares her personal journey from being fully immersed in the wine and hospitality industry to re-evaluating her relationship with alcohol—all while staying true to her passion for wine and food.
Thro...
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In this Think Thursday episode of the Alcohol Minimalist podcast, Molly explores how visual triggers—those subtle, often overlooked cues in your environment—powerfully influence your behavior. Whether it’s a bottle on the counter, a glowing screen, or a browser tab, your brain is constantly scanning for shortcuts and responding to what it sees.
Drawing on neuroscience and habit psycholo...
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Episode Summary:
In this timely revisited episode of the Alcohol Minimalist Podcast, Molly dives deep into the topic of binge drinking—what it is, how it affects your brain, and most importantly, how to avoid it. In the spirit of No Binge November, Molly reflects on the broader implications of binge behavior across all areas of life, not just alcohol. She challenges long-held assumption...
Join Mostly Dry January-The Daily!
Welcome back to a revisited edition of Think Thursday from the Alcohol Minimalist Podcast. These Thursday episodes are all about understanding your brain, challenging outdated thought patterns, and using neuroscience to support real, lasting change in your relationship with alcohol.
This week, we're bringing back one of the foundational Think Thursday conversations: The Privilege of Sel...
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In this episode of the Alcohol Minimalist podcast, Molly explores how your environment—your physical space, routines, and sensory cues—quietly shapes your drinking habits. From the shape of your glass to the spot you sit in at night, environmental triggers can powerfully reinforce auto-pilot behavior.
But here's the key: these external cues are not the full story. They don't create your...
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Your inner critic: that voice in your head that says, “You’re not good enough,” or “You’ll never stick with this.” We all have one. But what if there was a way to take back your power—starting with something as simple (and science-backed) as giving it a name?
In this episode of Think Thursday from the Alcohol Minimalist, Molly dives into the neuroscience and psychology behind naming you...
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Episode Summary:
As we close out More Sober October, Molly invites you to reflect not just on how many drinks you had—or didn’t have—but on who you became along the way. This episode brings the month’s theme full circle, offering a powerful emotional close and a neuroscience-backed perspective on identity change.
Molly revisits the month’s key concepts, including identity scripts, n...
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In this episode of Think Thursday, Molly explores the powerful difference between joy and pleasure, and why understanding this distinction matters for anyone pursuing lasting behavior change — including changing your relationship with alcohol.
We often use “joy” and “pleasure” interchangeably, but from a neuroscience lens, they activate different brain pathways and lead to profoundl...
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