My First Year of Sobriety: What Helped Me Stay Alcohol-Free

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Written By Lori Massicot


Episode 326

When I quit drinking on August 11, 2013, at age 45, I woke up the next day with one thought: Now what? After 30 years of drinking, I had no idea what to do next. My mantra became "whatever it takes" - I was committed to protecting myself from myself and anything else that threatened my sobriety.

If you are in your first year, I want to remind you that we are all different. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.

Listen to this episode to help you pull out what is helping you and what isn’t. It’s a great opportunity to reflect and practice loads of self-awareness. I’m with you!

Here are the things that helped me during my first year:

1. I Went “All In”

I made sobriety my commitment and priority. Despite not being a naturally disciplined person, I committed fully to myself and what I wanted more than alcohol. This commitment helped me work through the doubt and fear, holding me accountable to myself. When urges came, I'd "roll the tape forward" and remember what just one sip would lead to.

2. I Focused On My “Why”

I wanted to feel better, age better, and stop repeating the same patterns. When cravings hit, I'd remind myself: "You'll never get to where you want to be if you go back to drinking." Each week of keeping my word to myself built momentum and proof that I could trust myself.

3. I Protected Myself

I said no to anything that might jeopardize my sobriety. I avoided grocery shopping sometimes, declined social events where I'd normally drink, and never bought or stored alcohol.

4. I Kept Busy

I channeled my energy into organizing, cleaning, and growing my house cleaning business. Without hangovers holding me back, my six-year-old business flourished that year. No more canceling Monday jobs or spending two extra hours cleaning a house because I was sick from drinking.

5. Started "Project Me"

I made exercise my project, diving into YouTube videos about workouts for midlife women. That gym membership I'd gotten just before quitting drinking got used! Sunday mornings - previously my favorite drinking day - became my time to center myself in the spin bike room. At 57, I feel physically stronger and mentally better than I did at 45.

6. Read Quit-Lit

Books like Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp and Mommy Doesn't Drink Here Anymore by Rachael Brownell became my guides. Today, there's much more "quit lit" available, but personal development books like Atomic Habits by James Clear (my favorite) are great books to help you create new habits after you stop drinking.

7. Learned to Sit with Discomfort

I practiced sitting with discomfort, joy, and awkwardness without reaching for a drink. I learned that triggers and cravings pass - and don't last nearly as long as the regret and shame after drinking. Instead of automatically reaching for alcohol, I'd ask myself: What do I really need? A conversation? A hug? A nap? A walk? Or maybe just to be still?

If you're struggling to get past alcohol cravings, please seek professional help. Start with your doctor—I know it's not easy, but in today's world, there are many options available for support to overcome alcohol dependency.

8. Talked About My Feelings

I stopped "sucking it up" and started writing in my journal and talking to my husband about my fears of never drinking again. He became my greatest listener and cheerleader, even though he was once my biggest drinking buddy. Today, I have a community of midlife women who understand exactly what I'm going through, something I lacked in those early days.

If you're looking for community in midlife, check out Team Alcohol-Free. We understand where you are and we have your back.

9. Treated Myself to Sugar

I ate cakes, cookies, ice cream, and candy without guilt. Having never had a sweet tooth while drinking (my sugar came from alcohol), I suddenly craved sweets as rewards. I told myself, "Not drinking is a full-time job - I deserve a cake!" Two years later, I was ready to address the sugar habit, but in that first year, whatever got me through without alcohol was fair game.

What Is Helping You Stay Alcohol-Free?

Start with why you want to be alcohol-free, check in with your commitment to living alcohol-free, and reflect on what helps and what doesn’t. Is there an area of your life where you could recommit to more of what supports your alcohol-free lifestyle?

I would love to hear from you!

If you’re up for sharing what helps you stay alcohol-free, please email me at hellolori@lorimassicot.

 

  •  I made the decision to stop drinking on August 11th, 2013. I woke up the next day and thought, now what? What do you do? I have no idea. I drank for 30 years. I have no idea what I'm going to do. So today I wanna share with you, I. What worked for me and what I did in my first year of sobriety to help you.

    If you are in your first year, and I wanna remind you of course, we are all different. Need to put in the time and the effort and be patient with yourself and find support to get to the other side of alcohol. I'm with you here always. But I want you to reflect on the prompt today, what is helping me stay alcohol free and ask yourself that.

    And in that reflection, you may pull out some things that aren't helping you, and it's just good to practice self-awareness and to be aware and to pay attention and to also celebrate yourself. And it's funny because as I'm saying that. One of the things that I started doing when I was in that first year of sobriety, I started writing Yay me in my journal and yay me.

    Who are you? For one thing, I would never be anybody who would cheer for myself. I would always be somebody who was, well, you didn't do it good enough. You did it, but you didn't do it good enough. That type of thing. I didn't even write it in my notes for this episode, so I'm just gonna give this one an honorable mention.

    It's to be. Really proud of yourself and one of the reasons why, you know, when you listen to a podcast and you can actually walk away from it with taking some action. Let that action for you be today, where you reflect on that prompt, what is helping me and maybe what is not helping me, and then also being really proud of yourself.

    'cause that is something that started to boost the dopamine for me and started to build more confidence in myself. So honorable mention to yay me two words. Yay me. Yay you for being here. If you're new to the podcast, hello my friend. I am Lori, and if you're returning back to the podcast, hello my friend.

    Welcome back. Thank you for coming back. I'm giving you a big hug from San Diego, California. Let me just do a side note here. Whenever I say August 11th, 2013, I say it so often I could say it in my sleep. I probably do. I look back and go, wow, that seems like such a long time ago. 'cause here we are, we're going on 12 years and then I think, but it seems like yesterday, and it's one of those reminders that.

    Yeah, you made the right decision to stop drinking. I know there are people in this world that get to this point where, yeah, I'm getting older and alcohol doesn't make me feel good and I'm cutting back, or I'm quitting drinking, and then I'm moving on with my life. That's the expectation I had. But after drinking since 14 and being 45 at the time when I stopped and using alcohol to have fun, using alcohol to numb out, to celebrate to X, y, Z, all of the things.

    I couldn't move on. It's not one or done for me. I know the reason why I do this work and the reason why I will continue to do this work is because I need it too. Because I know me and alcohol was so important in my life, much more important than I was to myself. And I need to continue on doing the work.

    So even though it seems like a really long time, and I've learned so much about myself, and I'm so grateful for the past almost 12 years, I've learned so many different tools and met so many people that I would never have met if I hadn't stopped drinking. I know how close it could be, and. I still do the things that I'm gonna share with you today that helped me stay alcohol free that I did back then.

    And when I say close, it's, I remember how I felt when I took that first step. I remember what it tasted like. I remember the feeling that I had when I was with other people. I. I remember the pain that I felt after I stopped drinking, and how I did feel so alone because when I stopped, I decided to do it on my own because I had a lot of embarrassment in the fact that I couldn't drink anymore.

    I failed at drinking. The shame and, and the regrets and stuff came later about my 30 years of drinking. But at the time it was like, dang, man, you are all alone. No other woman that you know is doing this thing. You cannot have a conversation with other women about this, you're just gonna have to take the road less traveled.

    So yeah. Yeah, that date, that date is very, very important to me. And the road less traveled was what I called it back then, back in the back in the old days. But there are so many other women, midlife and beyond who are on this road today, and I hope that that helps you. I really hope that you use that. As inspiration to keep moving forward 'cause you are not alone.

    And I just know that the sober movement, and gosh, even when I started the podcast in 2018, it was really, you know, for me back then I thought, well it's really kicking up, you know, because I started talking about my sobriety in 2015. That was two years later, publicly. And then I started the podcast in 2018.

    And boy, it's. Prone so much. You hear it on the news, you hear it in blog articles. You hear it in from your friends. There are midlife and beyond women out there who don't know of this option yet, and so if you're hearing, you're hearing it for the first time, like, wait a minute, what? I can live alcohol free?

    Just know, like when I was at that point of quitting drinking, I didn't think it was an option for me. I wasn't even sure if I should, like, should I be sober? I don't even know. It's being free from alcohol and everything that you don't want from alcohol anymore. And in my first year, my mantra was whatever it takes, and that meant I was protecting myself from myself basically.

    And anything else that stood in the way of me, I. Being sober. And even back then, I wasn't writing sober in my journal. I was writing af. I wasn't saying that I was sober. I really stepped into that later on. So my, whatever it takes, what I did during my first year is what I'm going to share with you right now.

    I would say number one. I don't know if these are in particular order except for number one. I went all in. I made sobriety in myself, a commitment and a priority. I committed to myself in what I wanted more than alcohol, with the fear, with the doubt, with the uncertainty, and that commitment I. Held me accountable.

    I was able to work through the bullshit I was telling myself about my drinking with this commitment. Now, I was not a disciplined person. I was not somebody who would commit to something and follow through back then. I went all in because I didn't want what I was experiencing from alcohol. I knew that through the urges and those moments where I'm just so shocked even today that I didn't just say F it.

    I'm going back. Because they were so strong, I knew that my just one would. Play out in a way that I was no longer willing to accept for myself. When I had an urge to drink, I would roll that tape forward. I wouldn't romanticize alcohol. I would remind myself about what happens after just one sip, not one glass.

    I was fully self aware and I was in a place at that point in my life where I was accepting that level of that self-awareness. And throughout the years it has grown. Definitely. Um. Not only was I somebody who wasn't disciplined and followed through on her commitments to herself, I was somebody who avoided things, buried my head in the sand.

    I still have that tendency when it gets too hard, like, ooh, I just, I can't touch it. I can't look at it. So for me, commitment matters going all in. I call it plan A. We can say it, we can even feel it. The meaning will come. The more you do it. That's how I feel. It's saying it. It's feeling it. Like, yes, I feel it.

    I'm ready. I am ready to go all in. But finding meaning behind it, that is the next thing that I wanna talk about. It matters. The meaning has to follow up. That commitment and my meaning and what I call the reason why, my why power is. Number two, and that was why I wanted to quit drinking. There were so many reasons why I wanted to drink.

    I had to pull out that reason. I wanted to feel better. I definitely wanted to age better. I wanted to stop repeating the same year, month, week, and day and moment over and over again. I wanted better for my life, and I knew that if I went back to drinking, I would totally be putting my future self off. And the cravings that would come up and the reminder that I would give myself is you're never going to get to the point.

    Where you wanna be if you go back to drinking alcohol. And I know that sounds so easy to do, right? Keeping my word to myself, the more I went, even after a week of doing it, because if I could get through a week and definitely a Sunday. That was my biggest drinking day. I felt like, okay, gives you a little bit more momentum and it gives you a little bit more proof that you can hold your word to yourself.

    So that was very important to me. So commitment and my why, power. Those are the things that I did. The third thing I would say is I protected myself by saying no to anything that I knew might jeopardize my sobriety. I protected myself in the grocery store. Sometimes I didn't even go grocery shopping. My husband would do it.

    I said no to any kind of social events where I would normally drink for quite a while. I took a wine tasting trip in those first few months of my sobriety, and that was like the catalyst for me, like coming home from that and being in tears like I will never do that again. I haven't. Another thing that I protect myself by, I don't buy alcohol.

    I've not bought any kind of alcohol since August, 2013. I didn't store alcohol. I don't store alcohol, and I was not in places, like I said, where I would typically drink. I went on lockdown, I went into protection mode, and back then it felt like I was missing out. I could definitely feel alone in that. I felt like I was the only one.

    After that first year milestone, I realized, wow, I. If you did that, you could do anything. You are a badass. I'm saying that to you. You are a badass and I'm saying it to myself. I realize that I didn't need a test. You know, I've heard that several times from women as I've coached over the past seven plus years.

    You know, I feel like this will be a good test for me to go to Aunt Sally's 4th of July barbecue. This is gonna be a great test. Like, ooh, let's rethink that. We're not testing ourselves here. What is the test? I mean, honestly, you're strong enough, you can do it, but do you really wanna do it? And I started to realize in that first year from me saying no to certain things like, oh.

    Kind of feeling the JOMO instead of the fomo. And that's how I feel today. So give yourself time, especially if you're in that place where you do feel like you're testing yourself there. Sobriety is not a test, it's a lifestyle. And if you're gonna do it and you're gonna make it that priority and that commitment, protect yourself and then start finding other things that you can do for yourself.

    Oh my goodness, there's so many other great. Self-care rewards, and that's what I'm gonna be talking about in the upcoming month. And even beyond that, like things that you can do for yourself to really treat yourself when you're in that place of protection. Another thing that I did, what are we on? Number four, keeping busy.

    I was organizing, I was cleaning, working. I owned a house cleaning business at the time. It was six years old at the time. I focused on growth that first year and it blew up. I grew that business not only because I focused on the growth, but because I wasn't hungover cleaning. I was getting to a point, especially on Mondays where I was canceling jobs and cleaning while hungover.

    Is not fun. It is not fun. And I do remember one day when I was in this house and it was a huge house and I was so sick and I thought, oh my goodness, what am I gonna do? I have to get through this. Well, I did. I always had water. I always brought like almonds or protein bar or something with me. I never really like ate lunch when I was cleaning.

    I just would snack. So. I ate something, I had some water, and I remember that house that day took me like two hours longer than what it would normally have taken me. Yeah. Hangover plus cleaning. Ooh, not fun. Especially when you're doing it for somebody else and you're getting paid for it. Mm-hmm. Another thing that I did, let's see, what are we on Number five.

    I wish I wouldn't have numbered these, but we're too far in right now. Number five. I didn't number them on my notes, so bear with me. I really got into exercise and I really got into YouTube videos and having a project, it was project me looking back on it like, how do I work out? I'm in perimenopause, my body is changing, I'm cleaning a lot, and I wanted to have muscles and strength, and I had never been somebody who was consistent with my workout.

    Again, I wasn't disciplined. I would commit to something and then fall off. So I really started to dive into the best exercises for midlife women and what can I do to. Feel better in menopause. I started reading Dr. Christian Northrop's books. I started reading other literature on menopause and perimenopause, and I watched countless YouTube videos on how to squat and how to.

    Do lunges properly and all of the things. And I loved going to the gym. I got myself a gym membership right before I stopped drinking because that was one of those things, I don't know, maybe like the hundredth gym membership in my lifetime, but I thought I'm gonna really start going and exercising. So after I quit drinking, I thought, well, I got a lot of time on my hands.

    Let's do that. And I am so happy that I did. I just got done with a workout this morning. Oh my goodness. I am just like kicking my butt right now in my workouts and I feel so. Physically strong and and better mentally and emotionally too at 57 than I did back then. I'm just going, going, going, I'm just never gonna give up on this.

    I just love it so much. So that was something new. So if you're looking for a project, project U, project Me, however you wanna call it, that's a good project. You know that quote, if you don't know what to pursue in life, pursue yourself. That's what I was doing in that first year. Also, I realized during that first year.

    Of course I was intimidated by quitting drinking and, and not being in the that party girl identity that I once was. I was really intimidated by the gym and I would avoid the gym. So I would go on Sunday mornings. That was my favorite drinking day. I would go to center me on that day because the Sundays were long for me.

    I was a brunch or I was a day drinker. Um, I was a Sunday scaries, let's numb everything out drinker. So I would go Sunday morning and I would go into. The spin bike room, it was a big, huge dark room in this gym, and it had a movie screen and they would play like. Bike tours through Italy or whatever was on the screen, and I would plunk in my music, which is my other thing that I did that really helped me stay alcohol free.

    I would listen to m and M's Recovery album on repeat, and that would just fire me up. So learning how to take care of myself, embracing my body as I was getting older, taking my knowledge to the gym and having that project. That was something that was very helpful to me. Number six of this list, I read Drinking A Love Story by Caroline Knapp, and that is such a great book.

    I'll link it in the show notes. And then there was another book Mommy Doesn't Drink Here and her name is Rachel Bromwell. That came up on my Kindle. I remember just thinking, oh, okay, I am gonna read this book too. That was a very helpful book as well. There wasn't a lot of the, the quit lit as there is today.

    Definitely not. But there were other things that I could have read. If you're getting burnt out on sobriety and quit lit books. Do like a personal development book. One of my favorite books is Atomic Habits by James Clear. I will also link that in the show notes. Um, there are so many different personal development books that I.

    Are available to you. So that helps you. And now we can listen through audio and then all the podcasts you're here. You're probably a lover of podcasts, right? So there's so many great resources out there. So if that is something that helps you embrace those things, lean into those things for sure. Number seven, I learned to set in the discomfort.

    I learned to set in the joy I learned to set in the awkwardness. I learned how to be in that first couple of years of sobriety to not reach for a drink, but to pause and breathe and notice I. What it was, and notice that if I do set in it, it passes. I learned that discomfort during triggers and cravings passes, and it doesn't last nearly as long as the regret and shame I felt the day after drinking.

    I really paid attention and listened to what I needed as a woman, a 45-year-old woman, what do you need? You don't need a drink. You don't deserve a drink. Maybe you need a conversation. Maybe you need a hug. Maybe you need to take a nap or eat or drink some water, or take a walk or put that music in or go to the gym.

    Maybe you need to just do nothing and to just be. You don't need to be busy and tune everything out. You need to tune into yourself. And some of the things, like I've mentioned, like being busy and organizing and working and listening to music and working out that, yeah, that all helped me greatly in those moments.

    There were also moments where I sat in it, and that's something that I had never done, and that has taken a lot of time and patience. And today, if I'm stressed or I'm anxious, I typically like to be up and moving. That's my personality. I can't really rest or relax. I'm working on it. I'm getting better at it.

    I like to write, which is one of my other things that I wanna mention that. Helped me during that first year. So we've gotta make sure that we are listening to ourselves and what we need. And it's such a practice 'cause it's so hard to do because especially for women in the middle of life, so many of the women that I've talked to and worked with over the years, well, you know, I'm so used to helping others.

    I'm so used to keeping all the balls in the air and I've got my to-do list and all of those priorities, and then it's like, oh, what do I do? When I have more time for myself, it's difficult. Again, tune into some episodes that are coming your way. 'cause I do wanna talk about just that self-care and prioritizing yourself.

    It is a challenge if you can make sure that you are sitting with that discomfort on days where you just can't do anything else with it and not drinking. Just know that you're working through it. It's gonna be so helpful for you. The next time it comes up, it's important. As a reminder, if you are having a difficult time working through cravings, you're definitely not alone.

    It's good to reach out to your doctor, to a professional to get support because there are options for you and if it's something that you are just feeling like you cannot get through it. I want to encourage you to ask for help and support. It's not what I did, but remember, we gotta find out what works for us and what will help us.

    If you are in that place, again, you are not alone. You are not the only one experiencing this. It's so difficult to get past those hurdles. There are options for you out there, and especially today. The next thing I did, number eight, talking about how I felt with myself inside my journal pages. That was new to me.

    And then also talking to my husband. I wasn't sucking it up anymore, trying to pretend that I was fine and good. I was talking about my fears of never drinking again, and my doubts that I really could do it. I was talking about how I felt I truly wanted to be free from alcohol in my heart and soul. I was done.

    I have found that. When I want something, I need to talk about it. I need to say it out loud to myself first, and then it's helpful to talk to others about, and my husband is gonna sound real corny, but he is my best friend. He is the greatest listener, and he is my number one cheerleader. It's true. And we've been together since 1997.

    Also, he was my biggest drinking buddy. He did stop drinking when I stopped drinking. He drank occasionally throughout the first couple of years. Socially, we weren't socializing very much at all, and still to this day, he will drink maybe a few times a year. He just said the other day, he's like, I think I'm gonna get some non-alcoholic beer for the 4th of July.

    I'm like, party it up. Go for it. Do you boo? He's just very supportive. I know that I am very fortunate. I'm not saying that him listening meant that he understood, but he listened and that was helpful for me because I needed to get it out today. I have so many women in my life who have chosen this lifestyle for themselves.

    It's so helpful to talk about the things. That's why I run a community. Our environments matter when we're around other women, especially in midlife and beyond. I feel this way and we wanna work on something. We need other women to give us their inspiration, their insight, their support. Them saying, I've got your back.

    I have that now. And that's why I believe that community and connection to other women, I. Midlife and beyond is so important because they do understand and it's really nice to hear somebody say, I understand how you feel. You're not the only one. That was one of my biggest fears in life in general growing up.

    I don't wanna be on the outside. I wanna fit in. Then after I stopped drinking in my forties, like, oh, I don't wanna be the outcast. I don't want anybody paying attention to me because I'm not drinking alcohol. I just want somebody to say, I totally get how you're feeling. I didn't have that, but I did have my husband and he was a great, great, I.

    Resource for me and still is, and then writing about it in my journal. I cherish those early day journals that I would write and I look back on them often and I just think, man, those words, the yay you that came up. I have my journal sitting next to me right now. This is something that I use to this day, again, to work through anxiety, stress, just check in with myself and go, okay, what are you making that is so big and bad right now?

    And how can you change that around? Because at the end of the day, I know the things that I worry about and stress over and the things that I used to drink because of are not that big and bad, and I can work it out on my own. So those tools, talking about it, writing about it, reflecting with yourself. Are very, very helpful.

    I believe that we are on number nine of this list that I wish that I wouldn't have numbered, but now that I did it, we're gonna go all in and we're going to finish it. Whatever it takes meant that I would eat cakes and cookies and ice cream and candy. I had never had a sweet tooth while I was drinking.

    I was very strategic. I would drink on an empty stomach. Get that buzz going. And then at the end of the night or whatever it was that I was drinking, the end of the day, whatever I would eat and I would eat and eat and eat and eat, and then the next day I would eat to soak up the alcohol. I wasn't a big sugar eater, so on the holidays like pumpkin pie and all that kind of stuff, I always passed on it.

    My. Sugar came from my alcohol. Then after I stopped drinking, not only had a sweet tooth, it was more of I deserve something, I like, a treat, I wanna reward. I'm all for it. Like there's so many other ways that we can treat and reward ourselves. But if it's that sugar and that candy rush, like I totally get it.

    I also wanted the boost, 'cause I got the boost from alcohol. So I started to eat Betty Crocker cakes and you know, the tub frosting and I had junior mints, my favorite candy cookies, anything like that. That lasted for the first couple of years of my sobriety. I was good with it until I wasn't, and then I realized I'm starting to feel hungover from it.

    I don't. Feel good after I eat sugar. So I started to transition out of that. I did a whole 30 to do like a reset of my eating and I started focusing on nutrition to go with my exercise. So that came into play two years in. I hear this from women. I. I stopped drinking and now I am eating too much sugar. I stopped drinking and now I'm shopping too much.

    It is a thing where we are transferring. One thing to another thing for me, and this is totally my opinion, I did whatever it took to not drink, which is the theme of this episode, and what that meant for me was if I wanted cake and cookies or if I wanted to shop and buy myself a treat or reward, I'm gonna be okay with it.

    I'm gonna be okay with it, and then when I'm ready. I'm gonna work on that, but for right now, I'm not drinking. That's a priority. That's a commitment. That is an effing full-time job right there. I deserve a cake. I deserve some cookies. I deserve some ice cream, and all of those things I love, and I don't have any problem with having a little bit of it.

    Every now and then, I just don't eat sugar anymore because it does make me feel really junky. We just had a little celebration for my son. We celebrated Pride and we got a cake from a local grocery store. It was heavily buttercream, frosted, and it was a marble cake. It had Bavarian filling in the middle.

    It was so. Good. I started off with, why don't you cut me a sliver? I'm just gonna have a sliver. And then after the sliver me, I have no filter for this kind of stuff. That's why I don't drink anymore. Same thing. I went in, cut a bigger piece. I went in for the second, I cut a bigger piece, and I enjoyed that piece of cake so much.

    It was so good. But the next day I didn't enjoy it. I didn't regret it, but I felt a little junkie, so I just choose to. Have less sugar and I choose to live an alcohol free lifestyle. So these are the things that have helped me stay alcohol free in that first year of sobriety. And I'm wondering what is helping you?

    I wonder if you've gone through this episode and you're thinking about the things that are helping and maybe the things that aren't helping you, it being alcohol free and staying alcohol free is a priority too. You must make it a priority. Every single day. It's really not, you know, I'll stay sober until a tragedy happens, or I'll stay sober until summer.

    It's, I will continue to do whatever it takes, not drink alcohol, because I know if I go back, I won't move forward in my life. I'm moving forward and I'm not looking back. How about you if you recognize what's not helping me is buying alcohol. Having it in my house, buying it for other people, being okay with that.

    It's okay to say no, I'm not going to buy alcohol for the 4th of July barbecue or anything else. I'm not gonna have it here. You can bring your own and then also please take it with you when you go. 'cause I don't need it around. I would love to hear from you on this topic. What is your, whatever it takes, what's helping you and.

    What did you recognize today? If anything that isn't helping you, send me an email at Hello laurie@lauriemascot.com. If you're not on my email list and you wanna receive a weekly email from me weekly ish, you can subscribe via the email link in the show notes. Coaching opportunities this summer. I don't know if I have any private coaching spaces left.

    When this episode airs, but you can email me to learn about private coaching. I'm doing six week packages right now, but if you really want that support from other midlife women who are doing the damn thing, living an alcohol free lifestyle, get into team alcohol free. It is the best community we are going and growing together.

    You're gonna find so much love and support, inspiration, and friendship there. July is such a great time to start. We are talking about. Authenticity, being vulnerable, truly being ourselves and letting other people do what they want, drink what they want. And like I mentioned in this episode, our environment matters.

    When we're around other people who are doing what we wanna do, we feel understood, we feel I. Inspired and motivated because I don't know about you, but I need to keep that top of mind and that's why I'm in a community for my workouts. I definitely need to keep that top of mind and have that extra support 'cause it's so helpful.

    So go and check out Team Alcohol Free Link is in the show notes and I will be back next week with a brand new episode. I thank you so much for listening today. I'm sending you out with a big hug. Take care of yourself this week, my friend. Peace.

 

Resources Mentioned:


 

The best online alcohol-free community only for midlife women (that’s what makes it the best)

Gain access to weekly meetings, daily inspiration, and lots of connections with midlife women who are living alcohol-free. 

Plus, you will receive long-term support for a one-time investment, + additional resources added monthly.

TAF was established in 2023, and we are growing stronger together! If you feel like you've been missing out on alcohol-free girlfriends and coaching, join us today! 

Go here to enroll


Check out these episodes next:

Staying Alcohol-Free on the “Patio” This Summer

Listen When You Feel Left Out Because You’re Not Drinking

Life After Alcohol: Learning to Love Yourself More




Help me spread the word! There is another option besides drinking in midlife.

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So many women out there don’t know there is an “alcohol-free” option and are struggling with their drinking.

Your support will help these women find the podcast this week and learn about an alcohol-free lifestyle later in life.

➡️Click here, scroll to the bottom of the page, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.”

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Thank you!










Lori Massicot
Next

Life After Alcohol: Learning to Love Yourself More