Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom

EP 122 | Embracing Sobriety: A Journey with Jen Hirst

• Season 2 • Episode 122

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Deb Podlogar and Jen Hirst explore the journey of sobriety, the importance of community, and the transformative power of mindset. 

They make Jen's easy mocktail recipe, Momma Doesn't Have Time, using one of their favorite water enhancers, Stur. 

Code MOCKTAILMOM to save 15% off Stur. 

Jen shares her personal story of overcoming alcohol addiction and how she now helps other women embrace sobriety through her programs. 

They discuss the significance of creating easy mocktails, building supportive networks, and establishing healthy habits to thrive alcohol-free. The conversation emphasizes the joy of living sober and the transformative power of connection and self-care.

Takeaways

Sobriety can be embraced with a positive 'get to' mentality.
Mindset shifts can help counter feelings of FOMO.
Creating easy mocktails can enhance social experiences without the need for alcohol.
Community support is crucial for long-term sobriety.
Sharing personal stories can inspire others on their journey to sobriety.
Healthy habits play a significant role in maintaining sobriety.
Staying connected with others in sobriety helps reduce feelings of isolation.
Practicing gratitude can shift your perspective on life.
Physical activity is essential for mental and emotional well-being in sobriety.
Protein intake can stabilize blood sugar and reduce cravings. 


Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Sobriety and Community
03:02 The Power of Mindset in Sobriety
05:50 Creating Easy and Enjoyable Mocktails
08:45 Building Connections in Sobriety
11:37 Programs and Support for Long-Term Sobriety
14:40 Empowering Women to Become Coaches
18:07 Journey to Sobriety: Jen's Story
20:46 The Turning Point: Embracing Change
23:07 Emerging from the Sober Closet
24:44 Building Healthy Habits for Sobriety
30:14 The Power of Community and Support




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You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Speaker 1:

Okay, hey friends, it's Deb. Welcome back to Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail. Mom, how are you? I am so excited to be here. We have Jen Hurst. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I am doing great, I'm feeling great today. So it's a good thing, because right now you're moving. You look so beautiful.

Speaker 1:

You look so beautiful, seriously, and I am so excited to have you in today to just learn more about your story, what you have going on up in Minnesota, and just have the audience get to know you a little bit. Can I share your bio real quick? And then Absolutely, we're actually going to make a mocktail together and we're making a super fast mocktail. Okay, so let me read your bio and I'm going to tell everybody what we're going to do. We're going to make a mocktail and we're going to haveety, let's say, society. Well, you could be a society. You could be a society too, Whatever you want, whatever. See, we're already not. We're not reading the bio correctly.

Speaker 1:

People know the founder of Lighthouse Sobriety, a supportive community where women stay accountable, build connections and stay alcohol-free together. She also leads Lighthouse Academy, a 12-week no-fluff program that teaches women how to become confident, sober. Coaches and Jen's programs support women to embrace sobriety with a get-to mentality, and I absolutely love that because we get to be sober, we get to. It's such a privilege, such a joy. Didn't think it would be, never thought it would be. I thought it'd be drudgery, you know.

Speaker 2:

And it can change everything. I mean it's a simple shift. I mean you hear it all the time, probably on social. It's like you don't have to, you get to, but it really is as anytime you're feeling FOMO or anytime you're feeling well, I can't do this or this. It's like, well, you're choosing this for a reason. And once we can kind of reframe, it's like I might not be able to do that, but look at what I do get to do. It's like really countering our old limiting thoughts and those intrusive thoughts and just really focusing on the good is okay, I might not be going out at midnight, but I also get to wake up and I get to see the sunrise, which then is a domino effect to better sleep and feeling good and all of those things. It's like, okay, this is actually pretty good. So just getting into that practice, so what we have in, like my programs, I know I'm kind of getting into it right away.

Speaker 1:

Go right, go right to it. I want to talk about it. Yep, we're talking about it all.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, is this? Get to Saturdays? Because a lot of times we can feel this FOMO on Friday night, but I always feel like it's really FOMO when you're sober and you're still drinking, and not, you're sober and still drinking, but if you're drinking and looking at someone who's sober, you get the FOMO in the morning of someone who's you might be hungover in bed, or maybe you have friends or family who are hungover in bed, or maybe it's a holiday weekend or the day after a holiday, something like that, and you get up. It's really weird. We do it for the mornings where we can get up, we can feel good after a good night of sleep, we can go for a walk, we can make our coffee and not want to barf, like all of those things.

Speaker 2:

I think either side still feels FOMO, but we get to have the best of it, right, I might feel a little FOMO on Friday night, but I can change that to what do I get to do? I get to have an amazing Saturday morning or a relaxing Saturday morning or a productive Saturday morning, and I think that's really where sobriety pays off. Is having that sort of mindset of playing the tape forward to how do I want to feel in the morning. I want to feel good and I'm going to probably get to bed after nine, like at 9pm, because nothing good happens after 9pm.

Speaker 1:

So just go to bed. True, it's so true. Just go to bed.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I love that I've never thought about that Like that FOMO of like when I was I'd wake up with a hangover, scrolling, feeling horrible. And FOMO of people who ride her out, hiking or, you know, walking or just like doing something, going to a farmer's market. There's a gal in my membership. She's over a thousand days alcohol free and every Saturday she goes to the farmer's market and buys herself flowers since she became sober. So it's that same thing Like like. Now she can enjoy that. We get to have our Saturday mornings, we get to have these experiences we never would have, never would have had, we weren't having.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I really feel that too is as a mother I now have a nine and 11 year old. I really feel that when you know, in the mornings, or when my kids get sick, of you know, remembering to be the tooth fairy or put out that stinking elf on a shelf.

Speaker 2:

I'm whispering because my kids are upstairs but I get to take care of them. If they come in at 2am, I'm there, I'm present. They can wake me usually unless I'm in a really deep sleep, they have to like shake me, but I'm not still drunk, right, right, that's where I really feel that it pays off, is gosh. I'm so glad I'm able to drive them if they need me, if something were to happen, if they need me to pick them up somewhere, I'm able to do that. And it's those little but big things where it really makes it worth it of oh gosh, and just some things we don't think about when either we're drinking or in sobriety of when they do happen, it's like thank goodness I'm sober.

Speaker 1:

Right, so true, so true, so true. Yes, the wake up, boy. When you just said tooth fairy, my girls are older, so I have a 23 and 17 year old, but I missed the tooth fairy days several times, to say the least, with my Lily. I mean so many times it was like, oh, the tooth fairy didn't come, like, oh, bad tooth fairy. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and this has nothing to do with sobriety, but I always get so anxious with trying to slip my hand under them. Sneak it in, I'm like no wake up.

Speaker 1:

No, wake up. She was a good. Yeah, they're deep sleepers.

Speaker 2:

They were deep sleepers, mine are not, and so I'm like you stick that next to your bed. I'm not digging under that.

Speaker 1:

I did see a thing. There's a thing on TikTok this guy makes and it's like a little thing. You hang on the door, it's like a little door hanger, and the kids put the tooth in there and the tooth fairy comes to the door.

Speaker 1:

Okay, maybe we'll do that next time, yeah, you might need to get that, we might need to have a whole. And it's like gone viral, like it's this little door hanger, it wooden thing that this guy carves an older gentleman and you hang it on the door and the kids put the tooth in it, and then in the morning, the tooth fairy's come, the tooth is gone, brilliant, brilliant, yeah, yeah, yeah. Isn't that smart? So then, yeah, parents, when your kids aren't heavy sleepers, deep sleepers, you can still get the tooth fairy there.

Speaker 2:

They are. I mean, they're on the verge of like okay, do I believe in?

Speaker 1:

so terrible. I know you're like this, but yes, it's just fun, it's fun. It is Our childhood weren't ruined because we believed in Santa Claus.

Speaker 2:

No, they just made it so much Magical, a little magical, yes, magical, yes, magical, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Okay, we have to make a mocktail. We're going to make a mocktail. This is like one of your favorites. This is your go easy. I'm all about easy. We're not getting complicated.

Speaker 2:

I need things fast. I don't have time.

Speaker 1:

I mean it's great if I have some time to like okay, I'm going to heat this up and then I'm going to like, muddle it and I'm like, no, we don't need to do anything today, let's just make an easy mocktail.

Speaker 2:

Easy, whether it's pre-made, but it's something I have done for years and it's so stinking simple. I don't know if you heard of like the. I think it was like a TikTok viral thing, like the sleepy girl mocktail or something like that. But all you're going to use, I get a fancy glass. I got these on Amazon.

Speaker 1:

That's so funny.

Speaker 2:

I have the same one.

Speaker 1:

We didn't plan this, we didn't plan it. Okay, look at that, guys.

Speaker 2:

These are the best glasses.

Speaker 1:

And they're nice. They're so pretty it has a nice feel to it.

Speaker 2:

I love these. You feel fancy? Agree, so I actually usually make them in like a cooler, like this, to keep them cold, because I like everything cold, but you want to put some ice in there first and then any flavor of sparkling water you can use plain, you can use club soda, anything like that. I always love bubbly lime. It's my favorite and it's not that expensive.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

So you're going to pour any flavor you like, you can do, you know, strawberry, whatever, perfect. A little too much, because you want to leave some room for the tart cherry juice, okay, and then what we want to do is just take a sprinkle. I don't know, I don't measure this out, I just open this up. This is from Walmart, because that's all I have where.

Speaker 1:

I live.

Speaker 2:

It's the organic. You want to get 100% tart cherry juice, and what's great about tart cherry juice you probably know this too is that it has tryptophan, so it can increase. Okay, let me see what ChatGPT says about tryptophan. It can increase our total sleep time and improve our sleep efficiency. So it's going to be less tossing and turning, more restorative rest. You can also use tart cherry juice to help your muscles recover. So if you did a hard workout, it's going to reduce inflammation. So all of these great things to help you sleep. So you're just going to want to sprinkle it in. Be careful so you don't spill it. You just want to add just a little bit, however much you want, whether it's a fourth cup, half cup, totally up to you.

Speaker 1:

Measure with your heart therapy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, measure however much you want, and then what I like to do. You can actually just drink it like this. I like to have a little bit more flavor. Oh, you've got stir too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love the stir. I love the stir, so I'm using the orange clementine I've never tried that one, and they have ones with electrolytes in them. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 2:

So what do you have? Which ones do you have? I got the limited edition. Is this how you say it? Lychee, martini, fun.

Speaker 1:

I think it's, I don't know. Is it lychee, lychee, lychee? I don't know. I say nothing. Right, jen, nothing, I mean literally.

Speaker 2:

Well, and this is so. It is actually for a mocktail.

Speaker 2:

So it's a lychee martini with them, because I love them, because I take them with me. I take them in my purse when I'm traveling. I take them in my backpack when I'm going out. I love them because you can make a mocktail with them. If you go to a restaurant and they don't have anything there especially where I live there's not a lot of options. So all you do is order a club soda, you add a little bit of stir and you have a mocktail in like two seconds.

Speaker 1:

It's perfect. Yeah, so easy.

Speaker 2:

Love it, so you add just one squirt Again. Measure with your heart's desire. I do a little bit. I don't know if you could see that you could stir with a knife or stir with a straw or whatever you want. I have a little stainless steel straw Yep yeah. Okay, Big time cheers.

Speaker 1:

Jen Seriously Thank you so? Much for being here on the podcast. I'm so happy to make this with you.

Speaker 2:

Guys, that's so good. You can even drink this after a workout too. Yeah, it's like a nice post-workout drink. Yeah, and you can drink this like an hour or two before bed. It's supposed to again put you in some deep sleep, help you sleep better, help muscle recovery, reduce some inflammation, and it tastes delicious, it's so good and. I know it took a little bit longer for us to make it because we were chatting, but you can literally make this 15 seconds, 15 seconds, this is a 15-second mocktail.

Speaker 1:

15 seconds, 15 seconds. This is a 15 second mocktail 15 seconds.

Speaker 2:

Sparkling water, tart cherry juice squirt.

Speaker 1:

Done, love it, love it, love it. Okay, perfect so good. Okay, thank you, and you don't even have to garnish. I mean, you can, if you want to.

Speaker 2:

No, you can.

Speaker 1:

you can make it fancy, but I like yeah, and I like that you can just put it in your Tumblr. It's something perfect you can have with you. Yes, and you can even make this like if you're going to go out, what I usually do since.

Speaker 2:

I'm not going to walk into a. I don't go to a baseball game like that's probably my son's baseball game. You can put this in one of these and just carry it with you and have a little mocktail in your cup. So if. I'm going out, I take a cooler with me with a bunch of my stuff that I need, or going there with an entrance drink, take a tumbler, keep refilling and you always just have it with you.

Speaker 1:

I like that An entrance drink. I've never heard that phrase before. I like that An entrance drink.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because you don't want to go into a get together or event or holiday. I mean you can, but you always want to bring your own. I always bring my own everywhere, because I can't rely on someone else to supply me with non-alcoholic drinks. That's not their responsibility. My sobriety, what I drink, is my responsibility.

Speaker 2:

So I always walk in. I have a little cooler purse, or else I keep it in my car to get a break, to grow, a refill. I come in with either a calming tea because I have that anticipation, anxiety of oh my God, it's a lot of people, so I walk in calming myself down, or I walk in with my drink so that reduces the chances of someone asking hey, do you want to drink?

Speaker 1:

What can I get you to drink? I?

Speaker 2:

already got one. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

Yep, that's brilliant.

Speaker 2:

I call it my entrance drink.

Speaker 1:

I love that. Yeah, that's a great tip. That's fantastic. That's so helpful because it is. There's so much anxiety, even like I'm not an anxious person necessarily, but I mean sometimes going into it. I went to an event last week. It was a big event in a ballroom. They had no mocktails, nothing. I did have that sense of like what am I going to order? It was open bar. There was no alcohol-free options. I ordered sparkling water. I didn't have my stir with me, but I had a little packet of oh my gosh, what's the name of it? I can't think of it. One of those little flavorings packets craft mix what is it? I can't even think of the name.

Speaker 2:

Is it? Like an element, or I know recess has flavoring, it's like a craft mixer.

Speaker 1:

I feel like it's craft something or other. Anyway, I'll look up the name, but it was just like a little packs mix or something like that and I just mixed it and made a little margarita right there at the table for myself. But same, exact same concept as like a stir, just get a sparkling water and you can make your own drink in any event, yeah, yeah, and you know what it's so cheap you just say I just want some club soda, they don't charge you Exactly. Really, oh, you just want yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Perfect so just like I used to sneak in alcoholic drinks I used to cut a hole in my purse to put in my booze I now sneak in these to restaurants. You can even put like, put it in your bra, you can take this. Yes, okay, let's see, here we go.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I don't have much anyway, no one will ever know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, see, we're ready to go and you have a little tank on there. It's like Will Ferrell in Elf when he takes out his maple syrup he's like, oh, I already got some, put it in your cup, but literally people in my programs.

Speaker 1:

they know I'm obsessed with stuff.

Speaker 2:

This stuff, like the recessed powder drink mixes. I brought those on vacation. I always just bring something, so all I need to do is add water. You can literally get water anywhere or club soda, which really you can get at any bar or restaurant.

Speaker 1:

Yep totally.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they're a lifesaver.

Speaker 1:

Really, it's really really smart. Okay, perfect, Okay, I want to hear about what you have going on in your life, everything that's happening besides the baseball field, and what you do to kind of stay on track.

Speaker 2:

What do you do to help the women in your membership stay alcohol free? Yeah Well, we have my membership, so that's open all the time where we have daily meetings to help them get sober, to stay sober. It's really. The membership is really for long-term sobriety and we have a book club, there's workouts, we have guest speakers I know you were on in July which was amazing.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, it was so fun.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it's just a place to connect with other women who are alcohol-free, who are sober, curious to stay together, to do this together when we can't be in the same spot. So a lot of the women I'm sure, and yours too, are from all over the country and all over the world. That it doesn't matter. I mean it matters to have in-person friendships and sober connections, but sometimes that's just not possible at first. So it's kind of like the first step to starting to meet people who are also alcohol-free, which then you can create these friendships, these connections, these best friends. And so now what we have going on right now are like some little mini retreats where we get together.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to Austin in a couple months for the Sands Bar just to kind of visit, and so we're all going to go together and go to that. And so these just little opportunities where it's so fun, because wherever you go, there's probably someone in Lighthouse or in your community that you can call up, you can meet for coffee, go for a walk and connect that way, because that's really how we stay sober is to have sober connections, sober friendships, because maybe if you're the only one in your group who's not drinking, it can be really lonely and like maybe there's something wrong with me and if we surround ourselves with people like that for that long we might start to think like maybe we can moderate.

Speaker 2:

So having that support is freaking huge. And then I also have my programs, my group coaching program. So I have AF75 coming up September 29th. So, that's 75 days where we focus on six daily habits to help you get sober. That's going to help you feel better in sobriety, or in early sobriety when we experience a dip, and also coach you with how to get through the holidays sober. So going through how do I?

Speaker 2:

go to a holiday event? How do I set a boundary? What do I do with all this time that I have? What do I actually do? Because I'm so stressed out and it seems like you know, drinking would be the logical solution for that. So I'd really take you through how to live sober, how I would have wanted to know what, you know what to expect the first seven days. Okay, now going into this week, how to manage emotions. How do you actually process something? Because we used to just numb out, and then I go into and I've created Lighthouse Academy, which I think that's. A natural.

Speaker 2:

Next step for women after they get sober is now they feel like they want to help other women because they're feeling so good. And that was the question I got asked the most is how did you do it? How did you become a coach? I'd be like, well, you can do it this way, you can do it that way, but if I did it, this is actually how I did it, and so I thought, what if I just created a program to show you how I did it, what you really need to know to help other women get sober? And so my whole goal just probably like you is to help as many people as possible get sober and do it in a way that feels good and yeah, and so that's why I created Lighthouse Academy and it's so cool to see the women. So that was brand new to see the women graduate. Okay.

Speaker 2:

So, did you just do a first one of those?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Over the summer. My first round. I didn't realize that. I didn't realize that. Great. So there's brand new coaches out in the world right now. Who coached, who learned under you? Yeah, amazing, jen.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it's so cool, not only to see them go on.

Speaker 1:

Yes, how incredible.

Speaker 2:

And it's not oversaturated, and I'm literally showing you how to do what I do Exactly, but everyone's what they want to do is so different. I have women a woman that is teaching and hosting meetings in person. She bought an office, she decorated it. She's hosting meetings. I have two women that actually teamed up in the program to do these Instagram lives.

Speaker 2:

They're doing these monthly workshops together and, yeah, it's so cool to see them just flourishing in this and taking it in so many different directions with, of course, the overall goal to help people who want to get sober To help people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, to help people, yeah, and to know that we're not alone. We're not the only woman who is like okay, what on earth am I doing, that I'm drinking more than I intended to? Yeah, what brought you into sobriety? My story, yeah. How did you end up here? How did you end up?

Speaker 2:

as a sober coach. How much time?

Speaker 1:

do we have Sorry? Yeah, we've got 12 minutes.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, I'll do this really quick. I'm an overachiever, I'm an Enneagram 3, a perfectionist.

Speaker 1:

Are you?

Speaker 2:

And I used drinking to calm all of the things, all of the thoughts that I had to achieve and all of the expectations that I couldn't live up to. It actually started when my second boyfriend wanted to go on a break, and that's actually when I started to abuse alcohol.

Speaker 2:

It went from having fun in college to actually. I want to take this feeling away. I do not want to feel this pain, and it didn't happen overnight. From the moment I started to abuse it to the moment I got sober, it was about 10 years. That's why it's so sneaky. But on my spectrum, the way I drink, the way it progressed, especially the year before my wedding which is why I show pictures of my wedding day, because I was not there, I was drunk, I was not remembering a lot of it, I was under so much stress, I was so nervous because I'm an introvert and wanting to perform and put on this big show that I did everything that I could to pull it off and I literally just collapsed. But I ramped up pretty good and so on the spectrum, I was a very severe case where my drinking took me.

Speaker 2:

I have two DWIs. I started to drink mouthwash because I was rotating my liquor stores. I was drinking every day as someone who got good grades, my parents rarely drank. I never saw them drink. I've never seen them drunk.

Speaker 2:

That to now I couldn't go a day, even two days, without drinking. I was having horrible withdrawals, I was shaking, and so I've been to three inpatients. I've been to Hazelden twice. I've been to eight outpatients, I have done house arrest, I've been on a date in jail All of these things because I always thought that I can control it and I felt like I was in a big hole and I didn't know how to get out. And this all transpired the day after my wedding is that I had been drinking like this for a while, but no one knew about it, because I was hiding it, I was a closet drinker.

Speaker 2:

It progressed to that point where not even my husband knew what was going on until two days after our wedding. So he's like, oh my gosh. So just began, after I got married, a year and a half journey of actively figuring out what's going on, going to my first AA meeting, because 13, 14 years ago that's all that was around, and it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the label scared me so much. If I have to say that, what is that going to do to my image of people like Jen? She can do this, she's won this, and to know that she's an alcoholic, it's like, oh my God. And so, yeah, I did all of those things and it just got to a point where I was in detox for the second time. I blew a 0.34. I was in detox for the second time. I blew a 0.34 and I was just. I woke up and I had lost almost everything. I'd lost my car, I'd lost my job, I had no money, I was really homeless, my parents didn't know what to do with me and I just had like an out-of-body experience where I looked down at my life. I'm like what is going on? And I was always just, I just wasn't ready. You know, I really wanted to get sober, I just wasn't ready. And at that point it's like I woke up. I'm like I'm done, I am so freaking done with losing everything.

Speaker 2:

I didn't know if I was going to wake up another day and I was 31 or no. It was, yeah, 31 when I got sober. Wow. And from that moment on I didn't expect anybody to believe me. I just did the next right thing. I biked to a local printing shop to get just a simple job.

Speaker 2:

I did all of the aftercare I did yeah, I got the parole officer, got the intoxilizer in my car for two years and slowly but, surely things got so much better. Wow and all I was doing was not drinking. But once I stopped trying to fight it, everything got so much easier. Even though I was in such a rut now internally and you probably felt this too I was done, I knew it and I didn't have to lie.

Speaker 2:

I could be honest, yep, and it took time for people to actually believe me. But my gosh, within four months I got pregnant with my son. Four months I got a job back in my field. Six months I was promoted. Within like a year and a half we got our first house and it was just. All of these things started to happen and, yeah, I had a lot of stuff to clean up but slowly but surely, within two years, I had erased, I had gotten, took responsibility for my actions and just kind of took off from there.

Speaker 1:

The next right thing. The next right thing, it's just the next right thing.

Speaker 2:

But I also was in the sober closet for four years because I didn't think people cared and I thought that's what was supposed to be, we weren't supposed to tell anybody, we weren't supposed to talk about it, and I always felt this pull, that why, and I started I don't know and you can look more into my story and I can definitely able to talk about it but it's all of these things kind of led into me sharing my story socially which was very new to me.

Speaker 2:

I was not. I never took pictures of myself. I did not share a lot about what was going on, and so coming out of the sober closet in 2017 was so nerve wracking but so needed, and that changed my entire life.

Speaker 1:

Wow, wow, wow. And now to have a business and a coaching program and to be impacting thousands and thousands of people. Could you have?

Speaker 2:

ever imagined.

Speaker 1:

It's crazy, it's so amazing. Such a miracle, it's a miracle, you're a walking miracle.

Speaker 2:

Well, so are you. And the thing is, the one thing I never liked to talk about is the one thing I love to talk about, and I knew I was meant to do something. I just didn't know what that was. I thought I was supposed to be an art director for magazines. I was going to move to New York and do all these things and I always felt like there was this hole I was trying to fill. I always talk about this hole and when I got sober you know I didn't have the eating habits that I have today I was trying to fill it, still with food, and sometimes over-exercising, and I would still stuff. And it wasn't until and it's just crazy, but it wasn't until I started coaching, that hole began to dissipate.

Speaker 2:

Interesting and I didn't feel the need to numb anymore because I was helping other people and it felt good. It was first with fitness nutrition. Then that turned into oh okay, I don't think I'm supposed to help women lose weight, I think I'm supposed to help them get sober.

Speaker 1:

Amazing.

Speaker 2:

Weird.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, it's awesome. It's crazy how that stuff happens.

Speaker 1:

It's so awesome. Thank you for sharing your story so impactful. So impactful, Okay. What habits? What are the habits in your program that you talk about?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I started doing these a few years ago and they made a huge difference in how I feel. So I decided to implement them into my programs to keep women and I love it because it helps with that dip that we can feel in early sobriety. When our dopamine is low, we might be feeling a little lost, a little lonely, maybe a little sad.

Speaker 2:

Again that stuff doesn't last. But these things can help you to feel better, whether you're in sobriety or whether you're already sober and just kind of feeling like you want to feel better. And so I started implementing these, and they provide some structure, they can boost your confidence, they give you something to do If you're like what do I do with this time that I have.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of time right. There's time and sobriety. Nobody tells you like you're going to get, like you're going to get 10 hours a day, You're going to get five hours a day. You never had. Yeah, yeah, yep.

Speaker 2:

So now I teach them to the women. And so the first one, above all else, is to stay sober, which is the most important, and I'm actually switching it up for my next program, which I just decided before this, because I've been talking about it forever and I never do it, and it's so important. So maybe there's seven habits or whatever, but above all else, our biggest goal is to stay sober by any means possible right.

Speaker 2:

If you can't get to the other habits, the most important one is to stay sober, because everything depends on your decision to stay alcohol-free. Now, all of these habits help you to stay sober, but the second one is water, because it helps carry nutrients to our cells. It actually lowers anxiety, it helps you sleep, it helps clear and cleanse your liver, it helps with brain fog, it can boost your energy. So, really, getting half your body weight, an ounces of water every single day at least.

Speaker 1:

And.

Speaker 2:

I'm not talking about sparkling water or water flavored with stir, even though I love it. It's like plain water and people are like plain water, really Plain water.

Speaker 1:

I'm shocked that you're saying this Really. Yeah, I'm like, I flavor everything, I put electrolytes in it. I don't think I ever just drink plain water.

Speaker 2:

Does it make?

Speaker 1:

a difference?

Speaker 2:

Really it does, and you can add if you'd like, like lemons, you can add like whole fruit to it if you'd like, but I want it to be plain water because we really want to cleanse and you can have all the fun stuff too, like the mocktails, but plain water.

Speaker 2:

And then the next one is reading 10 pages of a book, like a personal development book or a sober book, every day. So this made a huge impact on me because I got so much clarity why I am the way I am, why people act the way they act. The let them theory is a big one. It's a huge one.

Speaker 2:

I mean any sober quitlet like Beyond Booze is a really good one that I like. Or this Naked Mind can help so much in giving you clarity and when you know better, you do better, just like.

Speaker 1:

Maya.

Speaker 2:

Angelou says, and so that's so, so helpful. We then get into and boosting our happiness through gratitude of finding the things, of getting to of that get to mentality, finding the good, and so what I want women to do is writing down five things that they're grateful for every single morning from the past 24 hours.

Speaker 1:

Because when we can get specific, I like that as opposed to like I'm grateful for and it's something, yeah, my health.

Speaker 2:

It's like, yeah, that's great, but it doesn't have a big impact. And so I got this actually from Rachel Hollis, who wrote Girl, wash your Face, and I started doing it in 2018. And I didn't know what to write for my gratitude. I'm like I don't know and I'm like the sun. Yeah, that was so stupid, but I was in that mindset, and so I actually had to Google. What do I be grateful for?

Speaker 1:

What are other people being grateful for yeah.

Speaker 2:

And once you start to practice, you're going to start to find those small things that happened yesterday, that went well, and it can be super small, like oh my gosh, I got a Starbucks coffee or the weather was beautiful. I mean here in Minnesota like, oh my gosh, I got a Starbucks coffee or the weather was beautiful. I mean here in Minnesota it's like prime time for weather.

Speaker 1:

Perfect yeah.

Speaker 2:

And over time you start to see what's going well and your whole attitude and outlook on life can change once you do that, and you know you're going to do that tomorrow, so you're going to be looking for those things that are going your way today. I love that. The next one is exercise. I'm a big component in movement. I don't think you need to do I actually don't recommend you do HIIT training or any like triathlon unless you really want to, I'm talking walking.

Speaker 2:

Walking is so stinking helpful. I'm really into weightlifting right now, especially for women in your 30s, 40s, 50s. Weight training is non-negotiable If you want to preserve your muscles, if you want to be mobile when you're older. It is so important to keep that muscle. But for sobriety, it helps to reduce stress. I think it's one of the main benefits of exercise.

Speaker 2:

It's just going to reduce your stress. It helps process emotions. It's going to boost your confidence. It's going to increase blood flow to the brain, which is super important because alcohol decreases it and that's a big component for dementia. It's going to boost your energy. It's also going to boost dopamine, naturally. But a simple 10 to 20 minute walk is really all you need, and it doesn't have to be a lot. And so, whether it's walking, yoga, pilates, anything, just get your body moving.

Speaker 1:

Moving.

Speaker 2:

That is huge. That's awesome and then the last one is checking into a community every day, whether it's you just pop into the app. You attend a meeting, you comment on someone's post, you go into Marco Polo. Just staying connected to sober community and checking in once a day to keep that lines of communication open is so, so helpful, whether you want to engage a lot or engage just a little bit, but having that support is key.

Speaker 1:

So even if it's just a little bit common on somebody's post or just something, just check in just to be stay connected, even if it's just a little tiny bit little string, staying connected.

Speaker 2:

Yes, a little bit, and the one I'm going to add because I talk about it all the time.

Speaker 2:

it's so simple, but it's protein. I have done a lot of work on myself this past year with blood sugar, with hormones, sleep protein, and I say I've been teaching about it all the time in my program for years. But having protein number one every three hours, but the habit would be having it at around 3 pm, so around before the transition time if you have a job, from work to home life, or around that time that late afternoon when we can feel the pull for happy hour or anything. You want to make sure your blood sugar is stable, because low blood sugar can manifest as cravings, it can heighten anxiety and put you in a state of stress. So making sure, again, you're eating every three hours, but the habit would be have some good quality protein around 3 to 4 pm, before your trigger hour, before the 5 pm to help keep your blood sugar stable, which is going to put you in a much better place mentally to handle any triggers that might pop up.

Speaker 1:

Brilliant. Okay, you have to add that, yes.

Speaker 2:

I know it's so important.

Speaker 1:

That's getting added right there. Yeah, that's brilliant Okay.

Speaker 2:

It's done. I mean, at the end it's going to be like 20 habits.

Speaker 1:

Well, you do this do this, do this do this, do this, and then you'll be fine. No, but those are great. Just such great practice. I love that they're not overwhelming. Like it's not like go, like it's not the 75 hard. You know it's like go for a 10 minute walk. You can do that after dinner. You know it doesn't have to. Not putting a burden on these habits aren't putting a burden on somebody. They're helping to relieve the burden of alcohol.

Speaker 2:

They're helping to boost your energy to make you feel good and, like you said, taking a walk after a meal just a note, super helpful for blood sugar control, Whether or not you have diabetes or whatever. Taking a walk after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner, either any one of those or all three is really going to help you regulate so your blood sugar doesn't spike too high and it doesn't go too low. It's going to really keep it. Even something I've learned and applied recently.

Speaker 1:

So smart, yeah, and I've increased my protein and it feels I feel. I feel I feel more human. Yeah, I'm trying to get to a hundred grams each day. I don't I probably get 80, but that's a ton more than I used to get. I mean, I used to get like maybe 20, you know, and I'd get like a thousand, you know, grams of carbs. Yeah, I'm doing better. Yeah, just doing better, I think that's the thing is just moving forward and making doing the next right thing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and even finding like easy sources of protein. You know, the 3 pm snack, cottage cheese is like 20 grams If you can have dairy. I can't, so I have to find other sources. But cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, super easy, you can just take it and go, but are packed with protein that again are going to make you feel full, feel satisfied, lower stress and make you feel ready to like take on that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, take on the transition time. Yeah, I'm going to take on that 5 pm.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to reframe it and feel good along the way.

Speaker 1:

Jen, thank you so much. I could talk to you. You're phenomenal. I want to join your program Seriously, like I just love you. I really love what you're doing. Thank you so much for everything that you're putting out into the community and for just the women that you're supporting, and for all these coaches now. Now, all these coaches who are now going to be going out into the world. You know, after being under your program.

Speaker 2:

Phenomenal. It's so cool to see.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing, amazing. Yeah, okay, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for coming into the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. So happy you were here. Thank you for this delicious mocktail.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thank you for having me guys. Easy peasy or one two three.

Speaker 1:

What are we gonna say? Bam bam, bam, bam, bam duh duh, duh, duh duh duh, duh it's the 15 second mocktail people okay, big time cheers to you, thank you, thank you bye.