Last Updated on February 12, 2026

Most people who drink regularly don’t think they drink that much.

They’re not hiding bottles, or not blacking out, or waking up hungover every day. In their minds, it’s just a glass of wine here, a cocktail there. Normal. Earned. Controlled.

That’s exactly where Ada Avdic thought she was.

“I [thought], I don’t really feel like I had a problem,” she says. “But I do drink. And I feel like I drink a lot of days.”

For Ada, a full-time content creator, beauty expert, and mom who works from home, drinking didn’t look dramatic. It looked like the end of the workday. Four or five p.m. rolls around. The laptop closes. The day’s done. Why not pour a glass?

What actually changed the game for her? Tracking her drinks on the best drink tracking app: Sunnyside.

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The Gap Between Perception and Reality

Before she started tracking, Ada held a belief that might feel familiar: At the end of the day, it’s usually just one drink.

“I would have this thought of, ‘Oh, I only had one drink last night,’” she says. “And the reason I chose to do Sunnyside is because I wanted to really see, am I only having one drink?”

Because when you don’t track, “one drink” can quietly turn into refills. Larger pours. A second glass that somehow doesn’t count. The frequency becomes unclear, too, as similar evenings begin to blur together.

“I also didn’t believe it was as frequent as it was,” she says. “So Sunnyside was kind of the first step to actually get realistic and bring me to earth.”

This wasn’t about shame or labels. Ada didn’t sign up thinking she needed to change her life. She approached it more like an experiment.

“I don’t have a problem,” she says. “But I want to just check in and see… and kind of do a little challenge with myself.”

That mindset — curious, not punitive — is where tracking works best.

Awareness Without Judgment

What surprised Ada wasn’t just the numbers. It was how neutral the process felt.

“No one else is gonna tell me yes or no, what’s right or what’s wrong,” she says. “I needed to just do it for myself.”

Tracking didn’t tell her to quit. It didn’t scold her. Instead, it reflected her own choices back to her. And that reflection was enough.

“I think that’s what made me realize, okay, yeah, there is frequent drinking,” she says. “And it’s definitely more than one drink.”

But because Ada’s approach was rooted in curiosity, not punishment, that new information didn’t feel bad. Instead, it opened up possibilities.

Cutting Her Drinking In Half

When Ada looked at her weekly totals, the number caught her off guard.

“When I originally started tracking drinks, I think I was somewhere in like the 15 drinks a week,” she says. “And when [I heard] that, I’m like, oh my gosh.”

Fifteen drinks doesn’t look extreme when it’s spread across dinners, happy hours, and casual nights at home. But stacked together, it felt different.

“At this point, I’m really aiming for five to nine a week,” she says. “Which is pretty much cutting it in half or a little bit more.”

Her success in achieving this goal came primarily from planning — deciding in advance how much she wanted to drink, then checking in with herself in real time.

“When you have the first drink and you clock it, the app will text you back and say, okay, you’ve had your one drink,” she says. “You plan to have another one. Let’s keep it within that limit.”

If she hits her planned number early?

“It’s like, okay, well, you hit your limit that you planned for yourself,” she says. “Let’s have a think before you choose to have more.” That pause is where change happens.

Why Moderation Can Feel Harder Than Quitting

Ada is clear that sobriety isn’t her goal.

“I’ve always made this joke that I will never be sober unless I’m pregnant,” she says. “It’s not gonna be something that I would choose for myself.”

What drew her in was the middle ground.

“I feel like there’s always kind of a discussion about, are you a drinker or are you sober? There’s no in between,” she says. “And that was really what attracted me to Sunnyside.”

Moderation often gets pressure from both sides. Drinkers assume you’re overthinking it. Sober communities sometimes assume you’re in denial.

“For me, it’s really important because I choose to drink,” she says. “I don’t wanna be judged for it, but I do wanna stay on track.”

Tracking supports that tension. It lets you drink — and choose how much — without pretending alcohol has no impact.

When WFH Turns Every Day Into A Friday

For Ada, flexibility played a role too.

“I am at home all the time and I work from home,” she says. “So when four or five hits, you’re just like, whoa. The day’s over. Let’s have fun.”

Without commutes or hard stops, drinking cues blur. There’s no clear line between workday and weekend.

“It absolutely makes it a lot harder,” she says. “If you’re at home all the time, it does feel like, okay, well, let’s have a drink. Not doing anything. Why not?”

Tracking didn’t remove that urge. It gave it context.

Numbers Without Shame Are Easier To Change

One thing that helped Ada normalize her experience was seeing how different everyone’s goals were.

“We’re all on different journeys,” she says. “What our tolerance is, what our weight is, is it a girl or a guy — it’s all about your own perspective.”

Seeing other people’s entries also made her less likely to spiral.

“It helps me realize that we’re all in it together,” she says. “Different parameters of what success means to each of us.”

That matters, because shame makes people hide. Awareness makes people adjust.

How Tracking Interrupts the Loop

Ada describes drinking as a treat. “I feel like it’s a treat at the end of the day and I deserved it,” she says. “That’s my treat.”

That framing is common, especially in corporate culture, where happy hour is positioned as the reward for productivity.

“You’ve done a great job at work and now you get to enjoy a treat,” she says.

Tracking doesn’t take the treat away. It separates the reward from autopilot. “It really does make me think like, no, I told myself I was gonna have two,” she says. “I don’t wanna be ahead of my limit.”

One unexpected shift?

“I feel like your tolerance starts to change as well,” Ada says. “The more you’re drinking, the more you need to drink to feel that buzz.”

Drinking less didn’t feel restrictive. It just felt different. “Some weeks, I feel like, you know, I can totally do this,” she says. “It’s not that hard.”

Why Tracking Works When Motivation Fades

Ada now tracks daily — without drama. “It’s part of my everyday routine now,” she says. “If I don’t do it, I feel weird.”

That’s the quiet power of tracking. Once established as a habit, it doesn’t rely on motivation; instead building awareness into your day.

“I haven’t missed a day,” she says. “It’s just one of those things that’s part of the day.”

Tracking didn’t tell Ada she had a problem or judge her. It showed her reality — gently enough that she could respond to it. “I feel like I needed to just do it for myself,” she says. And that was enough to cut her drinking nearly in half.

Get started on your own mindful drinking journey with a 15-day free trial of Sunnyside, the best drink tracking app.

What is Sunnyside?

Sunnyside is a mindful drinking and alcohol moderation app that can help change your habits around alcohol using a proven, science-backed method. Whether you want to become a more mindful drinker, drink less, or eventually quit drinking, Sunnyside can help you reach your goals. We take a positive, friendly approach to habit change, so you never feel judged or pressured to quit.

When you join Sunnyside, you’ll start by completing a 3-minute private assessment so we can learn a bit about you. Once that’s done, you’ll get a 15-day free trial to test out everything, including our daily habit change tools, tracking and analytics, community and coaching, and education and resources. It’s a full package designed specifically to adapt to your goals and help you reach them gradually, so you can make a huge impact on your health and well-being.

Sunnyside is a digital habit and behavior-change program that is incredibly effective on its own, but can also be the perfect complement to other work you’re doing to cut down on drinking, whether that includes talk therapy or medication such as Naltrexone.

Get your 15-day free trial of Sunnyside today, and start living your healthiest life.