The 3 Types of People Who May Derail Your Alcohol-Free Journey
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Release Date: 08/16/2023
My First Year of Sobriety: What I Did to Stay Alcohol-Free
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 325 Hello, friend! Thank you for being here. If you're in your first year of sobriety, congratulations! I'm very proud of you wherever you are on this road to alcohol freedom in midlife. During this episode, I'm sharing the things that helped me stay alcohol-free during my first year. I stopped drinking in 2013, choosing to go it alone. I stuck to simplicity because that is all I knew. I wasn't sure if I was doing things "right," but here we are today, almost 12 years later. I've been able to sustain sobriety because I've done what works for...
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Life After Alcohol: Learning to Love Yourself More with Paula Muller
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 325 Hello! I'm so happy you're here! This podcast is all about living alcohol-free later in life, and my guest today, Paula Muller, is living proof of living alcohol-free later in life. Paula is an incredibly supportive member of my online community, who brought this wonderful topic of learning to love yourself more to me as a topic. When I heard it, I was "all in!" Paula shares her story of starting to drink at 13, how alcohol became part of her identity, and what led to her decision to stop drinking for good on April 8, 2024—a night in a hotel room...
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Staying Alcohol-Free on the "Patio" This Summer
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 323 Welcome back to the To 50 and Beyond Podcast! I've missed being here with you. Coming your way are brand new episodes for the summer, starting with today's episode, which is all about staying alcohol-free on the "patio" this summer. Your "patio" is any challenge, including a literal patio, that you are concerned may come between you and your alcohol-free lifestyle. What you’ll hear: I'll help you identify what your specific summer triggers are instead of feeling overwhelmed by "not drinking all summer.” The reason why trying to live the same summer as when you...
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Listen When You Feel Left Out Because You're Not Drinking
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 323 Hello, friend! This episode is one to come back to whenever you feel alone in choosing to live alcohol-free. Whether you’re at home watching your favorite show where drinking is everywhere (hello, Real Housewives!) or at a party surrounded by drinkers, your choice to be alcohol-free is a badass one. You’re never truly left out when you’re choosing what’s right for you, and you always have support and community here with me and with other women making the same choice. I’m right here with you. Thank you for listening. If you liked this episode and want to hear more,...
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Negotiate for Yourself Not Alcohol
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 322 Hey there! Thank you for being here. We are on a break after today. 💗 New podcast episodes will be coming your way in late spring. This episode is dedicated to the women worldwide who are doing the work to live an alcohol-free lifestyle and build a better, more trustworthy relationship with themselves. I see you and I stand with you. With summer approaching faster than we'd like and warm weather months ahead, I want to talk about shifting our focus from negotiating with alcohol to negotiating for ourselves to live the life we want. Summer can be challenging, and the...
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What Are You Aware of About Your Relationship with Alcohol?
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 321 The purpose of this episode is to take a moment to check in with you and your relationship with alcohol in honor of April being Alcohol Awareness Month. Whether you're alcohol-free curious, navigating early sobriety, or embracing long-term sobriety, this episode serves as both a reminder and a reflection—a chance to reconnect with the truth about you and alcohol. As a recovering "avoider," I share my story and the level of acceptance I reached when I stopped drinking, along with what I’ve come to know for sure about my relationship with alcohol after 11 years of...
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Never-Ending To-Do Lists and Playing Catch Up
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 320 Tired of long to-do lists and playing catch-up? Yeah, me too! If you feel like you're working hard at catching up and have to wait to relax until you do, this episode is for you! I've had an epiphany about the unrealistic expectations I put on myself. One day, a few weeks ago, I said ENOUGH! I'm working towards being more intentional with my time and energy to get done what is important and taking a break even with a long list of to-do's! In this episode, I share my truth and encourage you to be honest and realistic with yourself if you need more time for...
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The Next Chapter: Rediscovering Who You Are After Alcohol
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 319 Hello friend! I'm glad you're here. If you're working on living alcohol-free, yay, you! It is a bada** move. If you are or have experienced the big, confusing questions like "Who am I now? or What do I even like to do?" after alcohol, you are not alone. When I stopped drinking at 45 after starting at 14, that first year was a complete identity crisis. In this episode, I talk about the transition to the "next chapter" alcohol-free. The identity crisis after drinking, and why you are not alone if you feel unsure of who you are and what you enjoy doing after...
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The Midlife Sobriety Movement is Here
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 318 The Midlife Sobriety Movement is here and I’m here for it! I felt compelled to share this episode because of the incredibly strong women in my community, private coaching sessions, and email network. Over the past seven years, I’ve had the honor of connecting with midlife women from around the world who are choosing to give up alcohol as they embark on this next chapter of their lives. Their motivations are diverse—whether for health reasons, recognizing an unhealthy reliance on alcohol, or because drinking no longer aligns with their values and beliefs. In 2025, many women...
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The Benefits of Going "All In" with Leigh and Anne Walkup
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
info_outlineEpisode 259
Hello friend! I'm happy you're here.
Today, we are talking about how to manage relationships without drinking.
One of the biggest fears most women face when deciding to choose an alcohol-free lifestyle is how their choice will impact their relationships.
Our choice to live free from alcohol should not be anything less than celebrated, especially by the people we love, but that is not always the case.
In this episode, I talk about how to set and uphold personal boundaries around three types of people that may derail your alcohol-free journey:
The Supporters: These folks respect your choice to no longer drink, and want to know what they can do to support you.
The Enablers: The enablers can also be supporters, they may say they respect your choice, but they also want to know when you’re going to drink with them again.
The Curious: The curious ones are people in your life who want to know why you aren’t drinking, and question your choice as if it’s unheard of not to drink alcohol.
Also in this episode, I share a short lesson from my 30-Day Challenge: The Alcohol-Free Habit Kickstart that helps you understand the importance of how our beliefs shape our behaviors.
Click here to read this episodes show notes.
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