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"Journey to the Sunnyside" is your guide to mindful living, focusing on health, wellness, and personal growth. Each episode offers insights into topics such as mindful drinking's impact on lifestyle, the science behind habit change, and more. Through conversations with experts and personal stories, the podcast provides listeners with practical tips and knowledge for a more balanced life.
Hosted by Mike Hardenbrook, #1 best-selling author, neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the #1 alcohol moderation platform. If you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15-day trial.
The views expressed in our podcast episodes do not necessarily represent those of Sunnyside. We're determined to bring diverse views of health and wellness to our audience. If you are concerned with your drinking, please seek the advice of a medical professional. Sunnyside, this podcast, and its guests are not necessarily medical professionals and the content shouldn't be viewed as medical advice. In addition, we never condone drinking in any amount.
Welcome to Journey to the Sunnyside, the podcast where we have thoughtful conversations to explore the science of habits, uncover the secrets to mindful living, and, of course, inspire your own mindful drinking journey. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial. I'm your host, Mike Hardenbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert. Today, Corey Bays shares his success story using Sunnyside. Corey's incredible health transformation and significant money savings are sure to inspire current Sunnyside users and anyone considering a more mindful approach to their drinking.
Mike:So tune in to hear about his journey from drinking a little more than he wanted to achieving a remarkable health improvement and setting future goals for a more balanced lifestyle.
Mike:Okay. Today, I am joined with Corey Baez. Corey, thanks for coming.
Cory:You betcha. My pleasure.
Mike:Well, Corey, it's exciting to have you here because Corey is a Sunnyside member, and he wrote into me with some incredible results that he had from using Sunnyside. So I'm really excited for you to share that those results with everyone listening today. But before we get into that, what did your relationship with alcohol look like before you discovered Sunnyside?
Cory:Yeah. Absolutely. So I didn't start drinking until 10, 12 years ago. I grew up very conservatively. Alcohol was not allowed, things like that.
Cory:But when I left that that culture, alcohol just seamlessly fit into my life, lowered my social anxiety, helped me to fit in. You know, I I felt like it helped me fit in, things like that. And, you know, I'd take over those years, there'd be times that I'd be doing better with it. But but at the towards the towards the end, I was drinking every day, and my normal go to pretty much every night was 3 IPAs before dinner, and then I'd start pouring bourbon after that. And I'd have 4 shots of bourbon.
Cory:So, I mean, I was I mean, in in Sunnyside, I have my my totals at, you know, around 45 per week, which is probably still on the low side.
Mike:Yeah. I mean, I think a lot of people can completely identify with that. You know, more and more you build your tolerance, takes more to do the same. Maybe you had a rule that you only drunk drink on the weekends, but, you know, Monday was hard, and then Tuesday was hard. And so Yep.
Mike:You know, I think a lot of people have similar stories to that. Were there some initial attempts that you did to moderate or change your drinking where you face some challenges?
Cory:Yeah. Absolutely. So my first my first attempt would have been, late 2019. Like, I just I'd I'd realized I was drinking every day and it was time to cut back. So what I did then is I cut back.
Cory:Alright. I'm only gonna drink on the weekends. And I did that for a few months maybe. But, you know, I was still I was still drinking enough that I was still flexing that muscle, and there was no I I didn't really I didn't really stick to it. And what I what I realized, especially once I started using Sunnyside, which which we can get into later, but is I needed to take a break and and reset my whole system.
Cory:So
Mike:Yeah. So what were some of the things that made you unhappy with the other than just saying I I drink every day, were there some things that were going on that made you say, I really wanna make some adjustments
Cory:I'm I'm 59. And I didn't I mean, I wasn't even weighing anymore, but I was I I knew I was big. You know, 2 XL shirts were fit and tight, and, you know, I'd I'd blossomed into 2 XL from larges and extra larges and just wasn't happy with that. And just, you know, anxiety, I was I was really fighting anxiety, which, you know, I was trying to drink or I was drinking to to help with that anxiety. And the more I started studying that Huberman Labs podcast on alcohol was truly a sobering event.
Cory:Listening to that, of how alcohol actually makes your anxiety worse. But I was just at that point of going, man, I I know I need to do make a change, but I'm not sure how to do it. And, you know, just just just not feel like, knowing I was I was capable of more than what I was doing at that point in my life, just just feeling beat down and and lethargic and out of breath and and all those things. Yeah. I
Mike:mean, the anxiety part, that for sure. I mean, that hit me pretty good too, and it seems pretty self explanatory that it would cause anxiety, but it also, on a short term, relieves it. So it it sends you a mixed message. So Yeah. You're at this point where you you've done a couple of experiments.
Mike:You tried the weekend thing, but then all of a sudden you maybe came across Sunnyside because, obviously, you're here to share that story. So, can you tell us about that experience and what made you wanna sign up and try it?
Cory:You know, so it's fascinating to me. I I will have ran into Sunnyside on Facebook. I I will have seen one of your your ads or something. And I downloaded it, and I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah.
Cory:I'd I'd had a fairly profound experience that involves some psychedelics, let's just put it that way, in October of of last year, where I I woke up the next morning and had no desire for alcohol. I had my first dry 5 days, I think, in forever. I couldn't remember the last time. But that was in October. And then I realized over the the months after that, yeah, the the desire for alcohol wasn't there, but it was but I but I could see it coming back.
Cory:And it was at that point that I saw Sunnyside, and I'm like, okay. Man, I'm in a great place. I've I I've proved to myself I can go 5 days without this. What what would it look like to start tracking what I'm actually doing? And, you know, as I started putting stuff in and going, holy moly.
Cory:I'm at I'm at 45 drinks per well, k. And I don't think I put my total at 45 right away. You know, I I did the the the drinker math of, well, you know, I'm probably drinking I'm probably drinking 15 to 20. So that's what I put it as as my baseline at first. But
Mike:Yeah. I hear that I hear that doctors say, take whatever they tell you and double it.
Cory:Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So once I started doing that, what I realized is that it was so powerful to look at my week ahead and to start making a plan based on that. And, you know, I I did and I still do.
Cory:I'll update my plan. I even if I plan for a dry week and then, you know, we have a social engagement or something like that. But so that's what I would do at that point. I would update my plan. I I started with Sunnyside in a couple weeks into February, and I had a a industry convention to go to.
Cory:And I knew it was gonna be heavy drinking, so I I allotted what I thought I was gonna drink and actually felt bad enough, just, like, physically did not feel good enough to eat. I I didn't even drink one of the days there, which, I mean, usually, in years past, that's been that was a free for all alcoholic free for all for me. But just that's when I started to to to plan out what my weeks were gonna look like as far as if I was gonna drink or or not.
Mike:Yeah. So you download the app. You started using it. What was your initial perception when you downloaded it? Were you like, I'm optimistic or maybe this will work?
Mike:And what kinda, like, got you to actually engage with it and start using Sunnyside?
Cory:You know, it it was so I'm a data guy. And and just seeing seeing the data of, you know, for sure, once I got my 1st week under my belt and seeing how many drinks I had saved and how much money I'd saved, that was that was a big deal. But I I don't I I never missed a day. Once I started logging, I haven't missed a day since. It just it just felt really intuitive getting started on it.
Cory:And to the audience, I swear I'm not I'm not getting paid for this. It sounds like I'm quote quoting the No. No. Yeah. Definitely.
Mike:I mean, we you're you're not the first one that's come on, but it's my it's part of my process to really pull out what people enjoyed about it so that peep other people can understand, you know, this is what was helpful. And everyone's different. Like, some people like text messages. Some people don't. Some people really like the data.
Mike:Some people Right.
Cory:It it also like, in those first days, it also and I think I've actually switched some of these texts off now. But it as evening would approach, it would the app would send a a reminder of how many drinks I'd I'd allotted for that day. That was that was really helpful for sure in the 1st few weeks or months. But then but then also the check-in in the morning going, hey. You know, how'd what was your total from last night?
Cory:That that text, I still I still respond to that one. And it's it's it's just that little hit, that dopamine hit or whatever the next morning going, hey. I stuck to the plan. This is awesome.
Mike:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I have a friend of mine that I referred it to, and he said, I can leave texts sitting there, unanswered. And he said it's almost like I'm responding to an actual person. I don't know what it is.
Mike:So, yeah, you're not the first person to have that similar story. So so what I really actually wanna get into because it isn't just a big plug about Sunnyside. This is really about success stories. And Mhmm. We kinda went over, like, where you were having difficulty.
Mike:You're trying something new. And what would fast forward us to where you are now, how you've improved. I I really want you to share that story and what you sent to me over the email.
Cory:Absolutely. So I started tracking in February. Toward the last of February, I'd I had cut back quite a bit. I could look at my SunnySide app and and see where how much I'd actually cut back. But toward the end of February, I decided, okay.
Cory:You know what? It's time for a 3 month. I'm gonna do I've got this app. It's time for a 3 month reset. I'm gonna I'm gonna see if I can go 0 alcohol for 3 months.
Cory:And so I did that, and I just man, my energy wasn't coming up. You know, I just I expected things to be feeling better than what they were. And so I'm like, alright. So maybe I've got more going on than alcohol. So I I scheduled blood work with my doctor, wanting to get on testosterone replacement.
Cory:And I got the blood work back, and, yeah, my testosterone, which, you know, normal range is, you know, 3 to 600 or 3 to 800, something like that. My my testosterone was at 152, which is really low. And fun fact, beer lowers your testosterone, which I've been drinking a lot of beer. Right? So I I found out that my testosterone was low, but then also, I found out that my a one c levels were in diabetic range.
Cory:And so that's when I knew, okay. Yep. I'm on the right path, not drinking, but I need there's there's more I need to do. So I started focus and, actually, I mean, it Sunnyside was helping me with my alcohol, but I actually signed up with a lifestyle medicine coaching service to help create sustainable habits around nutrition and and exercise and things like that. And I, you know, I don't I estimate my weight at at 280.
Cory:I know that I was, you know, after a when I got that blood work, I was 2, 3 weeks into not drinking, and I was at £275, but I used 2.80 as my starting point in my in my health journey. And so over the next 3 months, I figured out how to eat and move and drink in a way that I could get my a one c levels. I actually, in 3 months, I got my a one c levels out of diabetic range back into normal ranges and did the 3 months, 0 alcohol, went to a went to a all inclusive resort in Mexico. And, you you know, I I I always I always knew that I wasn't going to, like, total sobriety, total abstinence from alcohol from here on out. That that is not empowering to me.
Cory:Like, there's there's times and places that I wanna have a I wanna have an old fashioned in my hand. I wanna have an IPA in my hand. But but doing that all inclusive resort and I had my mug that I'd have and pour sparkling water and a splash of pineapple juice into, And we met some great friends down there. They didn't even realize it till the last day. We're sitting at the bar, getting ready to get get to the plane, and I ordered my drink.
Cory:And they're like, wait. You're not drinking? I'm like, no. I haven't been drinking the whole time. They're like, really?
Cory:You've been the life of the party, man. I was like, yes. I I can have fun. I don't I mean, I can drink or I you know what? I'm learning.
Cory:I don't have to. And it was so empowering to to be in in that environment of, you know, everybody else is is slamming them back, and I was just I was having time in my life. You know? So got my health, you know, in that 3 months, got got got on my health journey, started walking. You know?
Cory:And what I'm what I'm learning is the time the time and energy that I've put into drinking, I've put into focusing on my health. You know, now I've added workouts in. And, yeah, like, I'm I weighed in this morning at 198, so I'm down, you know, I'm down, what, £82? And just a total different person.
Mike:It's incredible. That is, like, such a inspiring story. And and even to top it off with the cherry on top, you went and had a great time. You had take it or leave it attitude in Mexico, all inclusive. You decided to leave it and had a good time.
Mike:You know?
Cory:Well, so and that's that I am so grateful for that 3 months of of no drinking just as a discipline and consistency thing to prove to myself that I can do it. I can take it or leave it. I can take or or leave alcohol. And, you know, I've I've drank I've drank since then. Most mostly 3 to 4 drinks a month is is I find is my sweet spot.
Cory:In December, I went crazy. I had 7 drinks in the month of December. And that's I'm learning. That's where I you know, the health the health detriments of alcohol, that's where I've ended up. And it's it's I can I now I can have one and get that little bit of a buzz, and I can stop there?
Cory:I don't I don't feel like I've gotta keep going and keep chasing that that dopamine and all that. So
Mike:That's amazing. Yeah. I mean, it's really easy to there's even a a little section that I wrote about in in a guide that talks about chasing that buzz and that, you know, once you get to a certain BAC level, it's just not gonna get any better than that. And so Yeah. You really are chasing it.
Mike:And all the after a certain point, all you're gonna really pile up are the negative consequences after, especially the next day. So you answered one of the questions that we have here, which is I wanted to know what are your some future goals that maybe you wouldn't have done without, like, cutting back on your drinking? So you talked about doing a lot you know, you started eating right. You started exercising and moving more. Are there any goals that that you have or anything that you have planned in the future right now that you don't think that would be possible if you didn't make this kind of right turn that you did?
Cory:Oh, man. Where do I start? So my my goal is to get down to I don't really care what the the number on the scale. I mean, it's it's data, and I use, you know, that I've lost £82 as a data point. I don't I could care less about what scale says, but I wanna get my body fat percentage down to 12 to 15%, and that's where I wanna stay at for the rest of my life.
Cory:I also I wanna start running Spartan races. I I love running 5 k's. I wanna get my 5 k time under 30 minutes. Like, I I just I wanna be I wanna be active. And, I mean, that's that's one of the biggest things that alcohol or or letting go of my dependence of alcohol has given me is is realizing how much better of a job activity does as far as anxiety.
Cory:And, like, I'm working out 4 to 5 times a week now. And, you know, it was a slog. Like, last summer when I started doing that, it was a slog. But what I'm learning is is if I wanna lessen anxiety, go lift some heavy stuff. Like, go go load up a barbell and and do a workout and walk out of there feeling like a $1,000,000.
Cory:So, yeah, I'm I'm in a I'm in a massively different place than what I've been. And, you know, we've talked a lot about the wins. I'm a small business owner, and one of the the challenges that I faced last year is, we do spray foam insulation. And I had an employee fall asleep at the wheel and total our insulation trailer that that we rely on to make the business money. And it that was in May.
Cory:So I was I was right. You know, I I was well into my 3 months, no alcohol, and I remember that happening and getting back, you know, adrenaline's coming off, got things kinda handled. And I'm walking back into the office. I'm like, I want a drink. Like, I just want this uncomfortable feeling to go away that, you know, the question of how we're gonna get through this.
Cory:I just wanna go get plastered. And I decided I I I sat with that for a bit, and I'm like, you know what? I could do that. But, nope, I'm gonna handle this I'm gonna handle this this challenge that I've got in my life. I'm gonna handle it without alcohol, and I'm gonna keep on my program.
Cory:I'm gonna you know, at that point, I was intermittent fasting and and walking a lot. And I'm like, that's that's how I'm gonna manage the uncomfortability of where I'm at right now. And, you know, Mike, without starting this journey, it was a big enough shock, and it was a big enough hurdle that I had to face in the in the coming months. Insurance you know how it is. Insurance doesn't come in quick enough, doesn't come in with enough money.
Cory:It was it was a financial shock to us. And with if I you know, the the version of me that was drinking every night, I wouldn't had the mental fortitude or the the the willpower to get through that. And I'm like, you know, it's not a feel good story, but I'm so grateful for that whole experience for what it taught me for moving forward.
Mike:Yeah. For sure. I mean, you made the right decision and you know that, but, I mean, that problem would have still been there whether you made that decision or not. Yep. The only difference would have been is if you decided to go the way that you know that didn't align with what you wanted, you just woulda had to deal with it in a lesser emotional state to deal with difficult situations.
Mike:Well, if there was something if there was something that you could say to your to your previous self, your old self that was still on the fence about, making these changes? Like, what would the the advice that you would give yourself, looking back to get you back on to get you moving forward to where you are right now?
Cory:You know what? I would say don't be afraid to pull the monster out from under the bed. Look look that fear in the eye. You know, for me, one of the one of the first steps was was looking in the mirror and saying, you know what? I'm drinking I'm drinking 45 drinks a week, which, you you know and and, I mean, what they call heavy drinking, 15 drinks a week, I think.
Cory:That's what the the medical system says. Really? You know? And, you know, I'd done all this work on my own and had got down to that 15 drinks a week, I think. And I'm like, I'm still a heavy drinker.
Cory:I can drink 15 drinks without even trying in a week. And but but I think, yeah, as as far as me looking back at that version of myself, I can see why I did it. But there's but don't be afraid to pull those monsters out from under the bed. And, hey, if if I wanted to would've wanted to keep drinking 45 drinks a week and keep feeling the way I was, that was an option too. Yep.
Cory:I'm glad I chose this option, though.
Mike:I like that saying pull the pull the monster from underneath the bed. So before we go, because we are talking to you as a Sunnyside member, if somebody was to came up to you and was like, what what is this Sunnyside thing? Should I try it? What would you say to them?
Cory:No. I I I do that all the time. And I just I I I tell them what it's done for me, and I show them I show them my stats. Like, I gotta pull this up because I use this all the time.
Mike:Pull it up.
Cory:Like, I've got yeah. I've saved. I've been tracking for 464 days. I've saved $23,300 on alcohol. I've avoided 363,000 empty sugar calories.
Mike:That's insane. That doesn't reinforce what you're doing. I don't know what does. You know? That's crazy.
Cory:But and and and what I love like, you know, one of the objections that I get when I tell people about my journey is, well, I could never quit alcohol. I'm like, I haven't quit. I I paused for 3 months, but I drink now. Well, I actually, I full disclosure, I haven't had a drink since March sometime. I'm I'm on a cut, and I'm I'm focusing on getting my body fat down.
Cory:So and alcohol, I can see it in my in my charts and everything like that. Alcohol does not serve my health journey at all. So Yep. At this point, I can I can take it or leave it? So
Mike:I mean, isn't that the goal? So well, your jury's been just, like, incredible for you. I'm really grateful that you took the time to come on here, talk about your journey. Of course, you did all the hard work, but how Sunnyside played us a part in that. I love that you've shared that and that you've just been, like, completely honest and open and transparent.
Mike:I mean, it takes a lot of courage. So thanks a lot for coming on.
Cory:Well and thank you, and thank you to Sunnyside for for the awesome platform that you have. I it is it's been a it's been a game changer for me. It it makes it so much easier to to to see where you're at and to to log your drinks and and then decide what you're gonna do with it after that. So
Mike:Yes. Well, thanks for saying that, and I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, Corey.
Cory:Okay. Thank you.
Mike:This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform, having helped 100 of thousands of people cut out more than 13,000,000 drinks since 2020. And in fact, an independent study showed that Sunnyside reduced alcohol consumption by an average of 30% in 90 days. And as one of our members shared, Sunnyside helps me stay mindful of my drinking habits. It's not super restrictive. So if I'm craving a glass of wine with dinner, I just track it and I move on with my week.
Mike:If you could benefit from drinking a bit less and being more mindful of when and how much you drink, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial. You'll get access to everything that we offer, including tracking and planning tools, coaching from our experts, a vibrant community of people just like you, and the motivation and advice to stay on track with your health goals, all with no pressure to quit. That's sunnyside.co.