I have recently realised that I am rather lacking in a plan for the next 5 years. When you are drinking, I know that thinking about the next 5 days can be a struggle, let alone contemplating where you might be in 5 years. For me though a plan is a must. Without a structure and an idea of where I am heading, I turn into a Netflix-bingeing procrastinator extraordinaire. Nothing Left to Watch I realised things had gotten out of hand recently when I was searching for my next Korean drama (I’m a massive fan!) only to discover that I had watched everything I wanted to. As I sat in front of the TV m ..read more

When I first started helping women quit alcohol I spent a huge amount of time and effort on the practical elements of giving up. It’s the information you know by heart if you’ve been trying to quit for a while:  Practical Tips  Commit to a Day One Set clear goals Commit to a certain number of days Replace your bad habits with good ones Use alcohol-free alternatives if it helps Check-in with your doctor Reward yourself along the way and at the end Understand your triggers and find healthy and better ways to manage them (there’s a freebie that will help here) Get support Be good ..read more

Work with me – Find out more about one to one coaching HERE. Much love always, Jules xxx   The post I Gave Up Alcohol – My Before and After appeared first on Sobersistas ..read more

In this blog post I will share with you the books I recommend to support your sobriety.  Reading books is one of the great joys of my life and even more so since I stopped drinking. Being able to fully focus on a novel or a personal development book since being sober has enabled me to expand my mind beyond anything I could have imagined. By the time I stopped drinking, I had been reading every personal development book I could get my hands on for about 17 years. What started out as a hope to find some answers to the difficulties I was facing at the time became an obsession, one that I st ..read more

When you are contemplating giving up alcohol, it’s entirely natural to wonder if life is better without it. I get asked this question a lot in coaching sessions and I always laugh in response – not because I’m making fun of anyone but because ‘better’ is such an insipid word to describe life without alcohol. It’s AMAZING! So many of our associations with alcohol are around pleasure and enjoyable activities so it’s unsurprising that you might be asking yourself; “Is life better without alcohol?” But have you ever thought about the role pleasure plays in your life? Childhood Pleasure As I crept ..read more

Are you struggling with your menopause symptoms or wondering if alcohol is responsible for how you’re feeling? Symptom Checker Check out these symptoms of menopause and see how many you identify with: Hot flushes Weight Gain Fatigue Bloating Night Sweats Mood Changes Sleep Problems Nausea Irregular Periods Joint & Muscle Pain Itchy Skin Hair Loss Brittle Nails Dizziness Bladder Infections Dry Mouth Difficulty concentrating High Blood Pressure Digestive Problems Headaches Weak Bladder Dry, Tired, Irritated Eyes Memory Lapses Irregular Heartbeat Osteoporosis Symptoms Related to Drinking A ..read more

Trying to imagine life without alcohol when you’ve been drinking for most of the last 20 years can be almost impossible to imagine. I know I put off giving up for years because I just couldn’t imagine how I would spend my evenings if I wasn’t watching my favourite movies for the 5th time with one eye closed. I know that might sound like no life at all but I think the routine made me feel safe and comfortable, and even on the 5th time of watching I was always able to see something new in my favourite stories, mostly because I drunkenly missed them the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th time round. Of cours ..read more

When you begin questioning your relationship with alcohol it’s likely you start listening to the voice inside your head. You probably started out by lying to yourself: YOU: “You’re drinking too much.” DRINKING YOU: “No I’m not, the woman next door puts way more empties in the recycling than I do and she has a top job, looks amazing and has perfect kids.” YOU: “It’s time to stop drinking.” DRINKING YOU:  “That’s ridiculous. Everybody drinks. I can’t possibly be the odd one out. Anyway, what on earth would I do instead – life would be unbelievably boring!” Negotiation One too many awful ha ..read more

The post Why Success Sunday Matters appeared first on Sobersistas ..read more

“I can’t do it!”   Of all the phrases I hear in my coaching sessions, this is the one I hear most often. It also crops up in the Facebook Group too. A day that was filled with so much stress, doing and overwhelm will inevitably result in opening a bottle of wine and the mental torture begins. “You see, you’re useless.” “God, I’m pathetic, I can’t even stay sober for 3 days straight.” “I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay sober for any length of time. I just can’t do it!” A whole week of staying sober is obliterated in a tirade of personal insults where you tell yourself that you’ve neve ..read more