Sober Fit Life

I haven't talked about this publicly before, but today I'm going there.

Toward the end of my drinking, I got really good at damage control. After a heavy night, I'd wake up feeling completely wrecked, dehydrated, anxious, foggy, with my stomach in knots, ashamed, and I'd start looking for the fastest way to undo it. That usually meant calling an IV clinic. Sometimes they'd come to my house. I'd load up on hydration, vitamins, glutathione, anti-nausea medication, whatever they'd give me. And I'd spend up to $300 to $400 a session trying to erase what I'd done to myself.

Here's the thing I didn't understand at the time: you cannot magically undo a hangover. And in this episode, I break down exactly why (starting with what alcohol actually does inside your body ) and what I was really looking for every time I called that IV clinic.

Spoiler: it wasn't the IV. It was relief from how awful I felt physically and mentally. And the only thing that actually gave me that was stopping drinking altogether.

In this episode I cover:

My personal history with hangover IVs, party supplements, and expensive damage control strategies that didn't work

What actually happens in your liver when you drink, and why a hangover feels as brutal as it does

What glutathione is, why I kept asking for it, and the truth about whether it can undo the damage

Why sweating it out, greasy food, and Advil are all myths

The mindset shift I needed (I was working incredibly hard to keep drinking, just without consequences)

How the hangover recovery industry has normalized a cycle that deserves a closer look

My 4R method, Recognize, Replace, Rewire, Renew, and how it applies to breaking out of the damage control loop

The difference between practicing wellness and practicing damage control

What it actually feels like to not need recovery from drinking anymore

Resources mentioned:

Six-week Alcohol Reset with kickoff call September 21st (waitlist open now!)

Free webinar: It's Not Your Fault, It's Chemistry — September 9th

💬 Want to learn more about the tools I offer? 👇

Am I Drinking Too Much Quiz

Six-Week Alcohol Reset

Drink Less By Monday

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Follow me on Instagram

If any of this hit home, I want to hear from you. Email me at maureen@soberfitchick.com — I read and respond to every single one. Or visit my website to learn more about working together and grab your spot in the reset.

Long before anyone sits down to have "the talk" about alcohol, kids are already watching. They're watching how we unwind after a hard day. They're watching what we reach for at dinner parties. They're absorbing the message that this is just what adults do.

This week I'm joined by two people who know how to talk to kids about alcohol — Samantha Straub and Dr. Melissa Wellner, the duo behind the Parenting Shrink Wrapped Podcast. Sam is a licensed counselor, parenting coach, longtime educator, and founder of Teen Savvy Coaching. Dr. Wellner is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and owner of Annapolis Psychiatry. Together they bring clinical expertise and real, practical parenting wisdom to the conversations families are actually having around their kitchen tables.

I grew up watching cocktail parties in the 70s. I served hors d'oeuvres at my parents' dinner parties and thought it was the most sophisticated thing in the world. It logged something in my brain early. And sure enough, I became a martini drinker. That pattern started long before anyone handed me a drink.

That's exactly what this episode is about.

In this episode we cover:

How kids form beliefs about alcohol before anyone says a word — and what parents are accidentally modeling every day

Why "I know you're going to drink, so just call me" is actually giving tacit permission (and what to say instead)

The cool parent trap — why hosting parties at your house doesn't keep kids safer and actually takes away their escape hatch

The power of and — how to hold values AND stay connected to your teen without going all or nothing

Why teens wildly overestimate how many of their peers are drinking (the real number is much lower than you think)

"I need a glass of wine" vs. "I'm going to have a glass of wine" — why that language difference matters more than you realize

What to do when you yourself are using alcohol as a coping tool and you know your kids are watching

Building resilience and self-efficacy as the long game — and why it matters so much more than one conversation about drinking

Connect with Sam and Melissa:

Sam: teensavvycoaching.com — grab her free guide How to Have a You Screwed Up Conversation with Your Teen plus her LOVED Framework video series

Dr. Wellner: annapolispsychiatry.com

Parenting Shrink Wrapped Podcast: available on all major platforms and YouTube

Email them at parentingshrinkwrapped@gmail.com

If this episode resonated with you as a parent and you're realizing your own relationship with alcohol might be part of the picture, I'd love to talk.

Email me at maureen@soberfitchick.com or visit my website to learn more about working together. No labels, no judgment, just honest support.

💬 Want to learn more about the tools I offer? 👇

Am I Drinking Too Much Quiz

Six-Week Alcohol Reset

Drink Less By Monday

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Follow me on Instagram

I have been thinking about this question ever since a woman in one of my groups asked it out loud and I knew I had to dedicate an entire episode to it.

She said, "Why am I working so hard to keep this substance in my life?"

That's it. That's the whole question. And I promise you, if you sit with it honestly, it will shift something.

Because most of us (and I was absolutely one of them) are not asking that question. We're asking how I can moderate better, how I can drink less, and how I can keep the fun part without the consequences. We are in the negotiation cycle endlessly. And this one question interrupts all of it.

This is a solo episode, and I go deep on why this question matters, what it reveals, and what to do with it. No shame, no labels, just honesty and brain science.

In this episode I cover:

The question one of my group clients asked that stopped me cold, and why I wish I'd asked it years earlier

The detox-retox negotiation cycle: what it looks like, why it's exhausting, and why willpower will never be enough to break it

Why most of us aren't actually protecting the drink — we're protecting what we think the drink gives us (relief, confidence, connection, reward)

Fading effect bias — the sneaky reason you always end up back at the store after a few good days

Why shame and self-blame will never create lasting habit change — and what the science actually says works

My 4R Method — Recognize, Replace, Rewire, Renew — and how it works

💬 Want to learn more about the tools I offer? 👇

Am I Drinking Too Much Quiz

Six-Week Alcohol Reset

Drink Less By Monday

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Follow me on Instagram

This guest is the literal definition of Sober Fit Life, and I could not wait to share her story with you.

Laney Dimezza is a certified personal trainer based in New Jersey who ditched alcohol while navigating perimenopause at the same time. She's also a licensed drone pilot and real estate photographer, a mom, and honestly, one of the most quotable people I've ever talked to.

Lainey was a national championship cheerleader as a kid, literally on top of the pyramid at Nationals with the Pop Warner Rockets in 1991. But like so many of us, high school brought a whole new set of pressures and alcohol became her way of fitting in. That pattern followed her into her 20s, through mommy wine culture, and all the way into her 40s, when she finally decided enough was enough.

What I love about Laney's story is that she didn't lose everything before she made a change. She was still showing up, still running her business, still being a great mom. But she knew something was off — the off switch was broken, she was stepping over her own lines, and the detox-to-retox cycle was wearing her down. So she stopped digging.

In this episode, we talk about:

Growing up a national championship cheerleader and how that go-getter energy eventually got applied to partying

The mommy wine culture trap and how those TJ Maxx signs and memes aren't there by accident

Why the moderation games never work, and the mental gymnastics that go along with trying

How COVID accelerated everything and finally pushed Laney to seek out alternatives to traditional programs

Shaping your own algorithm, how Laney intentionally controlled her inputs (podcasts, books, social media) to rewire her environment around sobriety

"Rock bottom is simply when you stop digging" and why you don't have to lose everything to decide you're done

Her mantra: The woman I'm going to be in a few years is counting on me

Finding your tribe at the gym and building real human connection that isn't alcohol-dependent

$15,000 saved in 620 days of not drinking (yes, really)

How getting sober gave her the time and mental space to become a certified personal trainer

Find Laney:

Personal training at SmartBodies in Marlton, NJ

Community at Royal Fitness in Barrington, NJ

Instagram

💬 Want to learn more about the tools I offer? 👇

Am I Drinking Too Much Quiz

Six-Week Alcohol Reset

Drink Less By Monday

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Follow me on Instagram

Ready to explore what alcohol freedom could look like for you? Email me at maureen@soberfitchick.com or visit my website to learn more about working together — no obligation, just science-backed support that actually works.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but honestly, this conversation should be happening all the time. There's something that's still missing from too many mental health conversations, and I'm just going to say it: alcohol.

We've come a long way in talking openly about depression, anxiety, therapy, and medication. But the thing nobody wants to name? How much alcohol might be quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) working against every single thing you're trying to do for your mental health.

This is a solo episode, and it's personal. I've struggled with depression for most of my life. I tried therapy, medication, journaling, exercise, prayer, supplements, and I was doing all of it while still drinking. And here's what I know now that I wish I'd known then: you cannot out-supplement, out-exercise, or out-therapy a drinking habit that's actively pulling your brain chemistry in the wrong direction.

In this episode, I walk through exactly how alcohol interferes with the most common mental health tools people are using right now — and then I share my 4R method for what to do instead.

Some topics I cover are:

Why alcohol is still the missing piece in most mental health conversations, from patients to doctors to therapists

How alcohol actively interferes with therapy, antidepressants, sleep aids, journaling, exercise, and supplements

The shame spiral and fading effect bias, which is the cycle that keeps so many of us stuck

Brain shrinkage, rebound anxiety, and what expert brain imaging research actually shows

If this episode hit home, I want to hear from you. Email me at maureen@soberfitchick.com I read and respond to every single one. And if you're ready to dig in, head to my website to learn more about working together.

💬 Want to learn more about the tools I offer? 👇

Am I Drinking Too Much Quiz

Six-Week Alcohol Reset

Drink Less By Monday

Book a FREE Discovery Call

Follow me on Instagram