Lifestyle Health Jennifer Garner Worried About Her Alcohol Intake During the Pandemic: 'What Is the Right Amount?' Speaking with friend Judy Greer, the actresses said that they started doing "sobriety binges" when they would go alcohol-free for weeks or months By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Twitter Julie Mazziotta is the Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 3, 2021 05:42 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Jennifer Garner. Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic The COVID-19 pandemic left many people changing up their alcohol consumption. Alcohol sales were up nationwide with people drinking more, while others went in the opposite direction, opting for sobriety. For friends Jennifer Garner and Judy Greer, they landed in the middle. Chatting during an Instagram Live on Tuesday, the two actresses shared that the pandemic had them reevaluating their alcohol intake. "We drink differently — I have a little bit almost every night," Garner, 49, said, with Greer 46, adding that she's "the other version, where I can go like five days but then I like, hit it hard on the weekends." Gwyneth Paltrow Has Had 'Barely Any Alcohol' This Year as She Prioritizes Health After Having COVID Garner explained that she didn't do much drinking in high school and college, and only really started after she became a mom to daughters Violet, 15, and Seraphina, 12; and son Samuel, 9, with ex-husband Ben Affleck, viewing it as a reward after a long day as a caretaker. "It was just like that little sip that I would have, and it felt like I'd earned it and I deserved it," she said. "And then it feels like it's become part of a code among moms, 'Your wine, oh my gosh, you must be dying to have it!' " A few months into the pandemic, Garner noticed another uptick and began worrying that it was too much. "I started thinking, I'm having a little bit every night and especially during the pandemic," she said. "If I have half a glass every night, and if my half a glass is probably really a glass, that's seven glasses a week, and say I have two on the weekends, then suddenly I'm close to 10 glasses of wine a week! And that raises your risk for cancer — it's like, gosh, what is the right thing to do? What is the right amount?" RELATED VIDEO: Jennifer Garner on Parenting During the Pandemic and Why She Won't Have a Cooking Show Anytime Soon The Alias star decided to go "sober-ish" and stop drinking for 10 weeks this summer, with a short, one-night break during a late-September trip to New York City. "I really wanted to choose the night," she said. "I took a couple months off and during that time, I went to a party, I traveled to New York, which is one of my favorite places to enjoy away from kids." Greer took more time off, going sober from New Year's Day to Memorial Day, when she had a pre-planned wine tasting trip in Napa Valley. She continued drinking through Labor Day, but then decided to go sober again, with one break for the release of her new movie, Halloween Kills. Jennifer Garner and Judy Greer. Jennifer Garner/Instagram "That felt like a special occasion, and it was managed, and I was conscious of what I was doing and I made a choice to do it," she said. "I just feel like right now, everything in my life is so much better when I'm not drinking. I wish I didn't like being sober so much. I wish I didn't like how I looked. I wish I didn't like that I lost a couple of pounds. I wish I didn't like how much extra energy I have." Garner and Greer said they're now finding out how they want to handle their alcohol consumption moving forward. "I'm just figuring it out," Garner said. "I'm going to have a new relationship with it post-pandemic."