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Around 1 in 6 people in the US are estimated to binge drink. So you're not alone. Kicking this habit is one of the best ways to stay more focused and energized throughout the day and get better sleep at night. Here at Sunnyside, we'd love to help you tackle binge drinking through reasonable action plans and accountability messages—all in a 100% judgment-free zone.
15-day free trial. Cancel any time.
According to the CDC, binge drinking is consuming 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for males and 4 or more for females. Meanwhile, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as the use of alcohol that raises your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08%—which is typically 4 or more drinks for females and 5 or more drinks for males in around 2 hours. Essentially, binge drinking is consuming a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time.
Binge drinking doesn’t make you alcohol-dependent. And it’s not necessarily a daily thing—some people may only binge drink on the weekends or during an occasional night out with friends. Other than the amount of alcohol you drink, other signs of binge drinking include hangovers, blackouts, and poor quality sleep after a drinking episode. You may also find yourself picking up a huge tab at the end of each night or in a just-leave-me-alone, irritable mood the next day. These ‘one-more-drink’ frenzies can leave you feeling very guilty, and your friends and family may have raised their concerns about your drinking habits.
Binge drinking doesn’t automatically make you a heavy drinker. Binge drinking is consuming a large amount of alcohol, but in a short time period (around 2 hours). On the other hand, the CDC defines heavy drinking as consuming 15 drinks or more per week for men and consuming 8 drinks or more per week for women. Both these alcohol consumption patterns can lead to physical and mental wellness issues, including chronic diseases and memory, mood, and sleep problems.
Understandably, it can be challenging to kick the habit of binge drinking. But it is possible with some time and commitment. You may wish to avoid certain bars, restaurants, or groups of people that encourage you to binge drink. Replacing binge drinking with other activities, such as self-care, exercise, or reading, can also help you cope with the urge to do so. One of the best ways to combat binge drinking is by setting limits and having an action plan written, all of which can be done through Sunnyside’s binge drinking app.
Sunnyside’s binge drinking app is a powerful text-message-based tool that can help you kickstart your journey in just 3 minutes. This app sends proactive text messages and daily encouragement, tips, and tricks that keep you accountable and motivated toward improving your drinking habits. As long as you’re honest with your progress and allocate a little time each day, Sunnyside can help you reach your mindful drinking goals and reclaim your wellness.
Tell us a little about yourself and your goals so we can personalize your experience. This is a judgment-free zone.
Every week we’ll give you a recommended drink plan for the week ahead to help you reach your goals, which you can adjust.
Via a simple text-message interface, we’ll remind you to track your drinks every day, and provide nudges to stack on target.
Our upbeat and positive eduation, motivation, tips, and tricks will keep you on track every day of the week.
You’re joining a community of members who have been through exactly what you’re going through and have achieved amazing results. Here’s what some of them have said about using Sunnyside to improve their drinking habits and cut back on binge drinking.
When I first started I was a bit leery about the whole thing. I am 70 years old and retired and didn’t think that I needed someone to tell me how much to drink. So I took the 15 day free trial and found out that it really helped me control my drinking. These guys are not trying to change you, just your drinking habits, which has help me a lot. Sometimes I would drink just to drink and that came to a stop. I still do what I want to do, I’m just doing it differently and it really working well for me. – Rene
Over the last two years I became a bit of a heavy drinker. After 84 days with Sunnyside, I’m now a moderate drinker, on my way to becoming a social drinking. The transition was easier than I thought. -Ted
I’ve been trying to cut back on my drinking for years and this is the only way I’ve actually done it. I’m so extremely happy with just the mindfulness that it has provided me. It’s not judgy. It doesn’t make you quit immediately. It is just a way to cut back and be mindful of your drinking and I really appreciate it. It’s honestly transformed my life. -Stefani
I love this program – it’s simple and supportive. I feel like I’m on my way to making some lasting changes without ever feeling shamed. Also the coaches are real & respond personally (not just bots). -Lucy
Sunnyside members see big results in their first 30 days, and it only gets better from there. Start with your 15-day free trial, then stick with it if it’s right for you.
Feel your best, inside and out.
Enjoy more restful sleep and brighter mornings.
Every month you’ll be cutting out unnecessary calories.
Greet the day with increased energy and focus.
Save real cash every month by spending less on alcohol.
Mindfulness lets you enjoy drinking more, by consuming less.
Every Sunnyside membership includes all the features below, plus a free 15-day trial to make sure it’s right for you.
Sunnyside gives you simple, accurate tools to track your drinks that you’ll actually love to use.
Every Sunday we’ll share your plan for the week ahead that you can adjust and customize as needed.
We have real human coaches available for when you need a nudge or a bit of motivation. But only if you need it.
We’ll share advice, education and motivation on a daily basis to keep you on track with your goals.
Drinks cut, money saved, improved sleep… we’ll help you measure success in the terms that matter to you.
Sunnyside is easy and simple to use, but is backed by proven habit change techniques reviewed by our advisors.
Sunnyside utilizes proven behavior-change techniques to help you reach your goals, and it’s all reviewed by our team of experts.
Our goal is to be transparent and honest with you about Sunnyside. It’s in our DNA. Here are a couple common questions, but please email us if you have more.
The Sunnyside binge drinking app helps you track your alcohol consumption and creates weekly, personalized plans to nurture better drinking habits. Through the support of coaches, daily motivation and tips, and text-based reminders, we hope to help you stop binge drinking. A Sunnyside subscription starts at $8.75/mo, less than the cost of two drinks. Everyone starts with a 15-day free trial to test it out. And we’re nice about refunds if it’s truly not right for you.
We believe that everyone who drinks can benefit from more mindfulness and healthier habits. You can join Sunnyside no matter what your starting point is, and we’ll help you hit your goals, even if it means stopping drinking entirely. Sunnyside offers a 15-day free trial, and you can cancel at any time.
Definitely not. Talking to a coach is completely optional. You can take advantage of the planning, tracking, behavior change, analytics, and amazing results without ever talking to anyone.
The Sunnyside app doesn't guarantee success, but it increases your chances of success. Sunnyside members cut back on their drinking by an average of 30% in the first 30 days of using the app. By tracking your drinking and forming personalized action plans, you'll have more control over your drinking habits without having to quit entirely.
By practicing healthier drinking, you'll experience better mood, sleep, and physical health. Your risk for chronic diseases also reduces in the long run. We employ proven habit-change techniques like pre-commitment, conscious interference, and belief and positivity to help you practice better habits. Our methods are reviewed by habit-change and alcohol-use experts.
We take data privacy and security very seriously. We never sell your information or use your drinking data for marketing tactics. Review our Privacy Policy
The Sunnyside community is made of thousands of people who enjoy drinking but want to create more mindfulness around their consumption, whether it’s to cut back or stop entirely. We’re moms, dads, professionals, students, and everyone in between.
Changing a habit is never easy, but very possible. Sunnyside makes the journey much easier to navigate and helps you overcome any unhealthy drinking habits without any judgment. We're here to support you every step of the way, even if it takes more than one try.
Last Updated on May 30, 2023
One of the most common alcohol-related problems that affect people of all ages is binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as drinking “a harmful amount of alcohol in one session of drinking.” What constitutes a harmful amount varies based on gender and the type and size of the drink.
For females, binge drinking is generally considered four or more standard drinks in one sitting. For males, this is increased to five or more.
A sitting is usually considered a window of two hours or less. This is because, in this time frame, the body does not have adequate time to process the amount of alcohol consumed within such a short window.
It is also important to address the phrase “standard drink” as it means different things depending on the type of alcohol. In the United States, a standard drink consists of 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol.
When you order a drink in a bar or restaurant, they are not obligated to, nor do they typically conform to a standard serving size for their drinks. So, if you order a mixed drink with dinner, it may contain as much as three times the alcohol found in one standard drink.
When people discuss drinking, they are often referring to binge drinking, heavy drinking, or excessive drinking. Often these terms are used interchangeably.
Binge drinking is frequently associated with younger adults, especially those in college. As drinking has seemingly become a ritual of the higher education experience, almost 53% of full-time college students ages 18 to 22 drank alcohol in the past month; 33% binge drank.
While young adults and college students are statistically more likely to report binge drinking, it is essential to clarify that binge drinking is not restricted to a specific age group or demographic.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, nearly 5% of youth under age 17 and 10% of adults over age 65 engaged in binge drinking in the past month. One in six US adults binge drink and at least 25% do so weekly. 25% of US adults who binge drink consume at least 8 drinks during a binge drinking episode.
As we have reviewed, the term excessive drinking is a term used to describe various types of problematic drinking, including binge drinking and heavy drinking.
While excessive drinking is the term used to describe different types of “drinking too much,” there are more definitive differences between binge drinking and heavy drinking.
Binge drinking is explicitly defined as “a pattern of drinking that brings your blood alcohol concentration to .08 or above.” For men, binge drinking is often the pattern of consuming 5 or more drinks in about 2 hours; 4 or more drinks in 2 hours for women.
For men, heavy drinking is typically referred to as consuming at least 15 drinks per week. Female heavy drinking consists of at least 8 drinks per week. Frequently engaging in heavy drinking significantly increases one’s risk for long-term challenges related to excessive or problem drinking.
There are many medical conditions that are linked directly to frequent episodes of binge drinking.
Binge drinking has both short and long-term effects on your physical and emotional health. Some of the effects of binge drinking are felt within the first five to ten minutes as the alcohol is quickly absorbed into blood.
Because alcohol is entirely legal to use, many people forget alcohol is a potent substance and can lead to significant challenges when consumed too frequently or excessively.
When your body begins the work of “getting rid” of alcohol, most of the work- nearly 90 percent- is done by your liver. Your lungs, kidneys, and other body systems help remove the remaining ten percent. Our liver can only break down about one standard drink per hour. When you binge drink, you consume more alcohol than your liver can process, leading to a higher blood alcohol content (BAC) and other effects on the body.
In the short term, a single night of binge drinking, especially in high amounts, can have several impacts on many vital body systems. Consuming more alcohol than your liver can adequately process can cause inflammation and organ irritation. But the physical effects of binge drinking extend beyond the liver.
Heavy drinking or multiple episodes of binge drinking in a short period can affect your blood pressure and heartbeat. It can also cause dehydration and problems with your kidneys as they try to regulate vital levels of certain nutrients and minerals in your body.
Alcohol also affects your body’s blood sugar levels, so if you have diabetes, binge drinking may add to challenges for your body when it comes to regulating your blood sugar, as well as maintaining a healthy gut.
Most of these effects are short-term effects. Therefore, after a night of binge drinking, most of them will resolve on their own. However, recurring episodes of binge drinking are likely to lead to long-term health problems, including long-term liver damage and disease. Additionally, research shows that long-term problematic drinking increases one’s risk for several cancers5, including those of the mouth, colon, and liver.
The effects of binge drinking go beyond physical challenges and, with time, may impact your emotional health as well. Regular, heavy drinking affects how your brain functions.
Specific chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin, are responsible for various emotions that contribute to mental health. After one drink, the brain releases more dopamine (more than “normal”), and feelings of joy, calm, and relaxation occur.
In time with excessive drinking, however, the levels of dopamine you need to “feel good” increase, and your brain cannot release enough to keep up with what alcohol produces. This can lead to the opposite effect. When your brain doesn’t get enough dopamine, it can lead to feelings of sadness, anxiety, and difficulties managing stress.
Frequent binge drinking may also impact how your brain functions. Studies suggest that regular binge drinking can lead to cognitive challenges like memory loss, difficulties with learning, and other struggles with brain functioning.
Binge drinking may also affect how you interact with and socialize with others. Because alcohol tends to reduce inhibitions, you may find you are far more “open” when binge drinking than you would be otherwise.
While this can be beneficial under certain circumstances, you may also experience challenges. Cutting back on alcohol and drinking in moderation may allow you to feel the same reduced worry but without some of the other effects that accompany binge drinking.
There are various reasons why people binge drink, but several strategies can help you continue to progress towards a healthier lifestyle. First, it can be helpful to change your environment. Think about where you are and who you spend most of your time with when you binge drink.
If you are constantly reminded of drinking, it can be challenging to cut down. It may be helpful to avoid bars or restaurants that you associate with drinking, as these triggers often lead you to consume alcohol even if you don’t want to. Sometimes airports and traveling can create a desire to just drink more as well.
In addition to potential medical, emotional, and social harms, consider how else can reducing the amount you drink improve your overall health and well-being? It is beneficial to return to your list often, especially when you feel particularly triggered to drink.
Also, consider the people you are with when you engage in binge drinking. This will help you better understand your “why.” It can also help you find and put into place different tools you can use to reduce binge drinking.
Explore healthy alternative coping mechanisms. Many people who binge drink do so to cope with negative feelings, such as anxiety and stress or manage pain. Studies show that women reported 41% more heavy drinking days during 2020’s challenging pandemic days as compared to in 2019. Also, according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, 20% of the people with social anxiety disorder also suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence.
If you experience mental health challenges or chronic pain, consider trying self-care practices such as mindful meditation, yoga, or an enjoyable hobby. You can also turn to support systems like Sunnyside for peer support and help with ways to explore a healthier relationship with drinking.
Another helpful tool to stop binge drinking is to enlist the support of family and friends to help you cut down on your alcohol use. Not only will your loved ones provide praise when you do well, but they may also help to provide a reality check when you choose alcohol over a non-alcoholic beverage.
Create a plan to help you develop a more mindful drinking relationship. Part of the planning process should include all of the reasons why it is important to you to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink.
Just like how we track our calories, steps, and women track menstrual cycles, we should be tracking our drinks just as commonly. Whether you prefer to simply keep tabs on your alcohol consumption or cut back, building mindfulness by tracking is key.
Sunnyside leverages proven behavioral psychology strategies to help you enjoy drinking, while limiting the negative effects of over consuming. You will become more mindful and empowered to achieve healthy lifestyle goals, especially outcome-based healthier drinking goals.
Your Sunnyside coach will offer proven personalized mindful drinking recommendations and targets for each week and help you customize the plan to align with your schedule and preferences.
Easily track each drink by sending a text with an emoji or number as your Sunnyside Coach cheers you on and encourages you about the day’s target.
Celebrate your achievements of more mindfully drinking, saving money, reducing your load of empty calories, dry days, and drinks you reduce.
Visualize your progress and learn more about your drinking patterns over time.
Be Conscious of Heavy Drinking Holidays
As a quick tip, it’s worth considering some of the heavier drinking holidays. Creating a plan when big drinking days come up can help you stay clear of binge-drinking tendencies. Here are some holidays that typically lead to heavy binge days, and resources that can help you stay on track with your plans:
Instead of consuming multiple alcoholic beverages when you are out with friends, consider non-alcoholic alternatives or mocktails. With the rise of mindful drinking as a popular alternative to excessive alcohol consumption, many beer and alcohol companies added non-alcoholic options to their popular beverage lineups.
Mocktails or popular cocktail drinks without alcohol are not all that different in taste from your favorite alcohol beverages. The best part about non-alcohol alternatives or mocktails is that you can drink as many as you want without experiencing the side effects of heavy drinking.
A precise definition of “moderate drinking” is challenging to find. However, most would consider moderate drinking to be between one and two drinks per day for men and no more than one per day for women8. Although drinking in moderation does not entirely eliminate potential risks connected to alcohol, it does reduce their impact.
In order to truly transform, maintain even during challenging times, or bounce back if we do revisit our previous ways, we must understand our unique why. Your why is what you feel in your mind and heart. Dig five “Why” levels deep to understand your root.
In addition to your WHY, drinking in moderation can profoundly impact your bio psychosocial health and wellness.
First, drinking in moderation helps reduce weight gain. One average serving of alcohol contains between 100 and 150 calories. In fact, ethanol, which is one of the active ingredients in alcohol, is recognized as the second most calorie-dense nutrient after fat.
Mixed drinks that include other components like milk, juice, syrups, or soda are generally higher. That said, binge drinking may add more than 500 calories to your daily intake. In time, this can increase the chances of weight gain connected to drinking.
Also, people’s diet tends to change when drinking alcohol. In a social setting, you are more likely to eat snack foods or foods that taste well with alcohol, such as pub foods (wings, fries, onion rings, etc.) and salty snacks (chips, nuts, pretzels). These food items are also high in calories and fats. Adding calories from food coupled with the added calorie intake from alcohol makes unwanted weight gain possible.
Studies suggest that moderate drinking may reduce your risk for certain cognitive impairments like dementia. Because small amounts of alcohol are believed to make your brain cells “more fit”, healthy alcohol doses may help improve cognitive function in both short and long-term ways.
Moderate alcohol consumption may also improve your emotional wellness and reduce stress. Studies into the psychological effects of alcohol suggest that those who consume low to moderate amounts of alcohol reported increased feelings of happiness, euphoria, and pleasant carefree feelings associated with psychological well-being.
Tension, depression, and self-consciousness decrease with equal doses. These improved emotions were also accompanied by decreased tension and reduced feelings of self-consciousness. Those who engage in regular binge or heavy drinking actually report greater rates of emotional challenges than those who engage in moderate drinking.
Binge drinking and heavy drinking affect the quality of your sleep. Although alcohol does have a sedative effect, ongoing heavy use of alcohol will inevitably impact your ability to fall and stay asleep. Cutting back to a moderate amount of alcohol may help improve not only your ability to sleep but the quality of your sleep. This is important for your overall health as our bodies use the hours during which we are asleep to heal and restore. In the absence of sleep, you are at a greater risk for various medical and emotional ailments.
Binge drinking can increase your blood pressure after just one occurrence. However, ongoing or repeated binge drinking can lead to long-term increases in your blood pressure. Cutting back from heavy drinking to moderate drinking can lower your blood pressure, help you maintain a healthier weight, and minimize the effects that can occur when alcohol interacts with certain blood pressure and other medications.
Heavy alcohol consumption can have a variety of effects on your skin. Alcohol can lead to dryness and problems with your complexion and cellular repair. Heavy drinking, especially in women, can increase visible signs of early aging, including under fine lines, sunspots, eye puffiness, and reduced facial volume. Reducing the number of drinks you have or alternating alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic alternatives (such as water or soda) can help limit the impacts of alcohol on your skin.
As mentioned above, the liver is the workhorse of your body when it comes to eliminating alcohol from your system. Frequent heavy or binge drinking taxes the liver. Although moderate drinking still requires the liver to process alcohol, the speed at which alcohol enters your system when you drink in moderation is more manageable for the liver.
So how do you become more mindful? What’s that special alcohol number to enjoy without the serious harmful effects?
It is not necessary to abstain from drinking to develop a healthier relationship with alcohol. At Sunnyside, our text-based tracking app is designed to help you better understand how to embrace your power over excessive drinking and alcohol. We are here to help you enjoy feeling good about going out and living your best life while waking up tomorrow and shining like the star you are.
Our focus on mindful drinking at Sunnyside means we promote a judgment-free way to learn about the benefits of mindful drinking. We aren’t here to teach you how to stop but instead how to develop safe and healthy lifestyle habits and goals.
We understand that everyone’s needs are unique, and therefore we adapt solutions to accommodate your lifestyle. Our science backed approach to habit forming and modification has helped our members achieve balance, happiness, and a healthier relationship with drinking.
Get started on your healthier drinking journey with a 3-minute Diagnostic Assessment about yourself and your goals so we can personalize your experience and plan. Cheers to a lifestyle transformation with new daily routines and more mindful drinking.
Sunnyside is a system for creating a more mindful approach to drinking to help you reach your goals. Our members are seeing major benefits, including a 30% average reduction in weekly drinks, improved sleep, a healthier diet, money saved, and an overall improved sense of well-being.
Sunnyside is not designed to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD). For resources related to AUD, including how to get support, please visit the NIH website. We’ve also partnered with Moderation Management, a non-profit dedicated to reducing the harm caused by the misuse of alcohol.
Sunnyside is a system for creating a more mindful approach to drinking to help you reach your goals. Our members are seeing major benefits, including a 30% average reduction in weekly drinks, improved sleep, a healthier diet, money saved, and an overall improved sense of well-being.
Sunnyside is not designed to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD). For resources related to AUD, including how to get support, please visit the NIH website. We’ve also partnered with Moderation Management, a non-profit dedicated to reducing the harm caused by the misuse of alcohol.