My guest today is Ashleigh who came to a workshop back in 2018 – and she’s been sober ever since! In this episode:- Ashleigh realised that there could be a problem when she found herself making lots of rules and then promptly breaking them So if you find yourself thinking I'm not going to drink during the week or I'm only going to drink at weekends then perhaps it’s time to reflect on what’s going on If you keep making rules and keep breaking them, then just recognize that you do have an issue and you need to make some changes. You heard Ashley say that by the end of the workshop she had gained enough new information to realise it would be pointless to try to moderate. She had to go all in. She knew that she'd crossed thatline into dependence, and that there could be no going back, only going forwards. Ashleigh felt confident as she was leaving the workshop. She had her toolkit. She had some new information. She had some new sober buddies. She knew she could do this. At the beginning of her journey, she decided to treat herself to all the sweet things that she wanted. She drank hot chocolate. She often had coffee and cake, and she decided to just focus on not drinking which is very sensible. At Tribe Sober we say that we can only chase one bunny at a time – so at the beginning we need to focus on the not drinking bunny. The dieting bunny can wait a bit – our metabolism will work more effectively when we quit drinking so you might not even need to diet! In Ashleighs case she weaned herself off the sugar, off the sweet things, and she's lost an amazing 10 kgs. She talked about the many benefits of sobriety and these days she is much less anxious and more confident. So it's been a huge win on every front. For Ashley, the workshop was really a turning point in her life, so at the age of just 40, she's got a whole different future ahead. In fact, she fully recognized that if she hadn't taken this step, she could have found herself in a very difficult place in five years time. As she said, it's a slippery slope or indeed a slippery fish, as I think she called it. Many of us who’ve quit drinking can look back and realise that taking that hard decision to quit was a catalyst for changing our lives and building a happier and healthier future. Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program. If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today - here is the link. Help us to spread the word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help. Please subscribe and share. We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can join our private Facebook group HERE PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).
