More tips for a month off booze

Following on from last week’s podcast which gave some expert advice on preparing to take a month off drinking, this podcast is all about giving you some valuable tools that you might need to sustain your month off booze.  Now that we’ve reached the second week of January, it’s easy to take a successful first week and tell ourselves it’s all about willpower, or luck.  But as Laura says,

You don’t need luck to change your drinking, as that implies that willpower and wishful thinking are enough. What you really need is to plan, to learn, to surround yourself with people who are doing something similar. You need to immerse yourself in your intentions.

The key learning here is that everything you learn as you move through your drinking journey, whether it’s linear, sporadic, monthly, or several attempts later, improves your self-efficacy and your ability to get back on the horse.

This conversation was recorded back in October 2021 as part of our Global Mindful Drinking Festival and features an expert panel of people who have real-life experience of using these tips and tricks to overcome their own problem drinking. The panel is made up of Lisa Ellsworth from Be Sober, Irene Falcon from Sans Drinks, an Australian alcohol-free bottle shop, drinking coach Sober Dave, and Maz Compton, author, TV & Radio presenter. Here are their killer tips to keep you motivated on your own month off booze.

Who are our expert panelists?

Lisa Ellsworth, Bee Sober

There are two choices: you can either go into the next 30 days feeling sorry for yourself, like, ‘Oh, it’s so awful. I really need to drink and I can’t wait till the end’. Or you can see it as an experiment and focus on all the really, really good things about it. Because there are some, I promise! For anybody that sat there like ‘she’s talking rubbish’, it is pretty amazing.

Lisa is co-founder of the award-winning sober community, Bee Sober. The intention of Bee Sober is to provide support, practical advice, and face-to-face meet-ups for people embracing a sober life or those who are sober curious. Lisa is 3 years sober and believes that visualisation, acceptance, and sitting with yourself is the way to overcome your first month off booze.

Irene Falcone, Sans Drinks

My best tip is for a month off booze is to plan out a couple of really great mocktails learn to make them. Pre-buy all of the ingredients that you need and have some fun with it because I tell you, I felt tipsy last night on my spicy marguerita…I know it’s alcohol-free but I just wanted to double-check because I felt I just felt so good.

Sans Drinks is a physical non-alcoholic bottle shop in Sydney, filled with Australia’s premium non-alcoholic offerings, as well as an online AF superstore. Irene Falcone is the Founder of Sans Drinks, having come to low and no drinks from a wellbeing background. Irene’s mission is to make drinking non-alcoholic drinks fun and accessible with lots of options, mixers, and combinations.

Sober Dave

Start the day with intention by actually saying ‘Today, I am not going to drink alcohol’. That plants the seed into your mind. And you can get on with your day.

David Wilson, AKA Sober Dave, is a grey area drinking coach and TV celebrity. At the time of recording this podcast, Dave was celebrating his 100th sober day, as he had also, perhaps like you, given up drinking during January. Dave has now hosted two sober events, spoken on several panels about sobriety, started a podcast, and has trained and is working as a recovery coach in the UK.

Maz Compton

I actually decided to take a month off drinking. And so I chose January 2016, to be my 31 days alcohol-free. This is the new me. And I haven’t had a drink since.

Maz Compton is a radio host and author based in New South Wales, Australia. Having given up drinking for 31 days, Maz wrote ‘The Social Rebellion‘ which has been instrumental in Australia’s alcohol-free living movement. Maz is also a qualified Wellness Coach, owns a fitness studio and is currently studying for a degree in psychology.

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