Moderation or habit?

According to Collins online dictionary – moderation means ‘avoidance of excesses or extremes’.
Moderation is highly open to individual interpretation.

For me, moderation might mean a glass of wine with dinner only on a Sunday night, but someone else might think that 4 beers after work every day is moderation.

The term is not quantified, meaning there is no specific amount that actually confirms, yes that is moderate consumption, or no, that is excessive. The problem with the advice ‘everything in moderation’ is that it can allow people to use it as a scapegoat for poor behaviours and habits. For many people moderation may look like this…

Monday is an office morning tea, so you have a doughnut
Tuesday is takeaway because you’re exhausted from work
Wednesday afternoon the kids have literally driven you to drink (a whole bottle of wine)
Thursday you feel hungover so you grab a bacon and egg muffin with a large full fat latte on the way to work..

You get the picture… Each of these single ‘acts’ may indeed be moderate, but over time they are no longer moderate, they’ve become a habit, they’ve reached the excesses and extremes that moderation means we avoid.

My advice here… Remember that you are the product of your seemingly minute daily habits. Instead of using moderation as an excuse, use it as a gentle reminder to yourself about the potential habits you are forming.

Question yourself first and ask, is this really a one off, or is this part of a larger pattern? At the end of the day, it is only your own self-honesty that can answer.