The Signs of Gray Area Drinking with Kari Schwear
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Release Date: 02/07/2024
Life After Alcohol: Navigating Thoughts About Drinking Without Drinking
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode #335 Drinking thoughts can be frustrating after you stop drinking. I have had many conversations with women recently that prompted this episode. If you're in "them", you're going to get through them. Drinking to quiet the thoughts only makes them stick around. In this episode, I talk about the most common thoughts many midlife women experience, like "I could have just one," "I deserve a drink," and "Why can’t I drink like others?" I share a walk-through of what my day looked like after I stopped drinking—from waking up proud of not drinking, through the...
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Changing Your Drinking and Supporting Loved Ones Through the Process with Amber Hollingsworth
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 334 Hello! Thank you for being here today. This episode offers hope to anyone seeking to change their drinking, as well as to family members who wish to support their loved ones through the process with compassion and understanding. I'm honored to welcome our guest, Amber Hollingsworth, to the podcast. Amber is a master addiction counselor, founder of Hope For Families Recovery Center, and creator of the YouTube channel Put The Shovel Down. With over two decades of experience, she’s helped thousands of families navigate addiction recovery using innovative,...
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A Conversation About Seasons of Life, Aging, and Recovery with Leigh and Anne Walkup
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode #333 Hey there! I'm so happy you're here. Today, I'm talking to two of my favorite people, Leigh and Anne Walkup. The sisters are back on the podcast to share their thoughts on aging (the joys and the challenges), perimenopause, and we talk about the different seasons of life. We also talk about recovery and sobriety in the news - it's good news and it's here to stay, as you will hear. The sisters share their thoughts about what recovery is like and why it's beneficial to embrace. They also share their favorite beauty product at the moment, what they're reading and...
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Ideas for Celebrating Sober Anniversaries for You and Loved Ones
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode #332 Hello, friend! Welcome to To 50 and Beyond, where we talk about living alcohol-free later in life. I'm glad you're here! Have you ever wondered whether you should celebrate your sober anniversaries—or those of loved ones? I sure did! I wasn’t sure if my first year was worth celebrating or how to celebrate it, but over time, I figured it out. I just celebrated 12 years on August 11, 2025, and in this episode, I talk about my favorite ways to celebrate. I also talk about: Why celebrating every sober milestone, big or small, makes a...
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Listener Appreciation: I'm Proud of You Keep Going
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 331 A heartfelt message from me to you. Thank you for listening to the To 50 and Beyond podcast. Whether this is your first time or over 400th time, I appreciate you more than words can say. I recorded this episode to share my appreciation for you and empower you to keep going towards the life you want in midlife and beyond! I'm with you 100%! I will be back with a new episode on August 27th. I'm in my "normalizing breaks and honoring flow" era;) To join my community, Team Alcohol-Free, If you would like to share your feedback for the podcast or a topic, ...
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Make Your Morning Routine Work For You
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 330 Hey there! I'm so happy you're here. I LOVE talking about morning routines! Morning is your time. That’s what having a morning routine is all about. It’s you saying, ‘I matter.’ Everything else can wait. All the responsibilities and to-dos—they’ll get done, just not before you take care of yourself. A morning routine that works for you is not about getting up early—unless you want to. It’s about dedicating at least 10 minutes to doing something for yourself after you wake up - whatever time that is. In this episode, you’ll discover: The signs you may need...
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Listen to Help You Get Centered On Why You Don't Want to Drink
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 329 Hey there! One of the biggest things I share is what’s helped me stay alcohol free—focusing on why I didn’t want to drink more than why I did. That’s not easy, but it’s powerful. I call it Why Power—something I started saying years ago in a community meeting: Why Power over Willpower. In this episode, I invite you to reflect on your reason why you don’t want to drink. If you’re like me, you could always find reasons to drink—or you didn’t even need a reason. This reflection will help you get started in living alcohol-free or reinforce your choice if you're...
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Everyday Self-Care to Support Your Alcohol-Free Lifestyle
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode 328 Do you have a consistent self-care practice? If you said no, chances are there is one thing you are doing for yourself that you may not identify as self-care. By the end of this episode, I'll help you define what self-care is and feels like for you, and start calling out what you're already doing for yourself today. What you'll hear inside: The definition of self-care and how to find the meaning for you My self-care before and after I stopped drinking Why consistency (in self-care) matters to help you be proactive when you experience drinking urges/triggers The common...
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Listen to Help You "Play the Tape Forward"
To 50 and Beyond - Sobriety for Midlife Women
Episode #327 I'm so glad you're here! Please if you need help in working through the "drinking chatter" and any romantic thoughts about drinking, if you are working on living an alcohol-free lifestyle. If you’re a woman in midlife working on living alcohol-free, this episode is for you. “Playing the tape forward” is a favorite practice of many women who are working on living an alcohol-free lifestyle. One of the biggest challenges is the thoughts and ideas about drinking - the “drinking chatter” as I like to call it. What “playing the tape forward” means: It’s about...
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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...
info_outlineEpisode 279
Have you ever found yourself questioning your relationship with alcohol?
It's not like your drinking is “that bad,” but it's far from being something you can manage and still feel your best as you get older.
You've noticed some downsides to your drinking, but quitting altogether feels like a big leap.
The fear of judgment around being a non-drinker adds another layer to the mix. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. You might be a Gray Area drinker, joining a rising community of individuals navigating this middle ground. Let's explore together.
In today's episode, I have invited Kari Schwear, a Gray Area Coach and Founder of Gray Tonic, here to explore the topic of gray area drinking and the signs.
Kari shares her perspective, kindness, and wisdom to create a supportive space for anyone exploring their relationship with alcohol.
To read this episode's show notes, click here.
Thank you for listening today!
Let's stay in touch!