Have you ever completed 30 days without alcohol, felt amazing, and then found yourself right back in the same drinking pattern a few weeks later?

In this episode, Lindsay breaks down why taking a 30-day break from alcohol can be incredibly valuable but why completing Sober September, Dry January, or another alcohol-free challenge doesn't necessarily mean you've changed your relationship with alcohol.

After years of using 30-day breaks as proof that she could control her drinking, Lindsay knows firsthand what it feels like to make it through the month only to return to the same daily negotiation: Am I drinking tonight? How much? When can I start? Maybe I'll just wait until Monday.

In this episode, she explores what happens when you stop focusing only on the number of alcohol-free days and start looking at the patterns, situations, relationships, and emotions that make drinking feel like the answer.

In this episode:

• Why 30 alcohol-free days and lasting change aren't necessarily the same thing
• How alcohol can become part of your workday transitions, celebrations, relationships, and coping strategies
• Why generic advice like "practice self-care" isn't always enough
• How to identify what happens right before the thought of drinking begins
• Why your hardest drinking moments can reveal exactly where your plan needs work
• How to prepare for the end of the workday, Friday nights, social events, and other high-risk situations
• What to say when friends, coworkers, or your partner ask about your decision not to drink
• How to ask your partner for the kind of support you actually need
• Why drinking during an alcohol-free challenge doesn't mean you've failed
• How to use difficult moments as information instead of turning them into shame
• The difference between enduring the absence of alcohol and learning how to live without making alcohol the answer
• Why self-trust comes from collecting evidence that you can rely on yourself
• Lindsay's Identity, Practice, and Trust approach to lasting change
• When another 30-day challenge may not be what you actually need

If you've done Sober September, Dry January, or multiple alcohol-free challenges and keep finding yourself back in the same drinking loop, this episode is for you.

You don't need another perfect streak. You may need to understand what happens in the moments when your old plan falls apart—and build a new plan around your actual life.

And if this is your first alcohol-free break, let September give you information. Pay attention to when you want to drink, what happens beforehand, what you're expecting alcohol to do for you, and what becomes easier or harder without it.

You don't need to wait for a new month, a Monday, or perfect conditions to make a change.

The goal isn't simply to prove that you can go 30 days without drinking.

It's to start building a life where you can trust yourself around alcohol.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

Have you ever wondered if you can change your relationship with alcohol without having to identify as an “alcoholic,” follow a specific recovery program, or hit rock bottom first?

In this episode, Lindsay sits down with Ryan Kennedy, host of Rock Bottom With Ryan, to talk honestly about addiction, recovery, vulnerability, AA, and finding your own path to sobriety.

After years of heavy drinking, repeated attempts to control his alcohol use, hospitalizations, injuries, seizures, and relapse, Ryan finally reached a point where he knew he needed help. Now, nearly two years sober, he’s using his experience to help others through honest conversations about recovery, mental health, trauma, and second chances.

Ryan and Lindsay also discuss his unique approach to AA — embracing the community and connection while taking what resonates and leaving what doesn’t.

In this episode:

•  Ryan’s journey through addiction, relapse, and recovery 
•  Why you don’t have to hit rock bottom to change your drinking 
•  How comparing your drinking to others can keep you stuck 
•  Finding your own approach to AA and recovery 
•  The power of community, friendship, and connection 
•  Why vulnerability can be a turning point in recovery 
•  How shame and emotional avoidance can fuel drinking 
•  Why you don’t need a label to change your relationship with alcohol 
•  The “normal drinker” mindset and why it can keep you stuck 
•  How sobriety can unlock your potential 
•  Ryan’s plans to become a sober coach 

If you've been questioning your drinking but don't relate to traditional recovery language, this conversation is for you. You don't have to call yourself an alcoholic, hit rock bottom, or follow someone else's path.

Sometimes the first step is simply being honest about what alcohol is actually adding to or taking away from your life.

Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and remember that you get to build a path that works for you.

About Ryan Kennedy

Ryan Kennedy is the creator and host of the Rock Bottom with Ryan podcast. After overcoming years of addiction, Ryan now shares honest conversations about recovery, mental health, and second chances.

As he prepares to become a sober coach, he’s also building a business dedicated to promoting individuals, organizations, and businesses making a positive impact in the recovery and mental health community.

Ryan is a passionate advocate for people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, while also raising awareness about trauma, abuse, grief, and the challenges that can contribute to addiction and mental health struggles. Through his work, he’s helping break the stigma and show that healing, hope, and long-term recovery are possible.

Connect with Ryan

Instagram: @rockbottomwithryan

Podcast: Rock Bottom with Ryan on Spotify

YouTube: Rock Bottom With Ryan 

TikTok: Rock Bottom With Ryan 

Email: [email protected]

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

🎟️ Reserve your free seat for Lindsay's live summer workshop series:
Free Feel Good AF Summer Workshops

Are you tired of making rules around drinking, taking breaks, starting over on Mondays, and still finding yourself back in the same cycle?

In this episode of the Feel Good Alcohol-Free Podcast, Lindsay reflects on the many strategies she used to try to control her drinking before realizing that moderation was actually keeping her stuck. From endless drinking rules and fresh starts to quit-lit books, sober retreats, and 30-day breaks, she shares what she learned from each attempt and why information alone wasn't enough to create lasting change.

Lindsay explains why moderation can keep alcohol at the center of your life, how the constant mental negotiation becomes exhausting, and why you don't have to wait until your drinking is "bad enough" to decide that it's no longer working for you.

You'll discover:

• Why constantly creating new drinking rules can keep you trapped in the moderation cycle
• How "I'll start again Monday" can turn one drinking decision into days of abandoning your goals
• Why consuming more information about alcohol isn't always the same as taking action
• The difference between knowing what to do and actually practicing new behaviors in real life
• How 30-day breaks like Sober September or Dry January can provide valuable information without becoming another way to earn permission to drink
• Why your intention for an alcohol-free break matters more than simply making it through the month
• How to communicate your decision not to drink without overexplaining or making excuses
• Why you don't need to prove that your drinking is "bad enough" to make a change
• The question Lindsay believes is more useful than comparing your drinking to someone else's
• How alcohol can become the automatic answer to stress, boredom, celebration, connection, and the end of a difficult workday
• Why treating a slip as information rather than failure can help you keep moving forward
• How identity, practice, and self-trust work together to create lasting change
• Why self-trust is built through the evidence you collect every time you follow through on a decision
• Practical ways to create three alcohol-free wins in the next 48 hours
• Why eating before your usual drinking window can make a bigger difference than you might expect
• How to identify the situations where you're most likely to negotiate with yourself about drinking
• Why you are allowed to change your relationship with alcohol simply because your current experience is no longer acceptable to you

If you've spent years trying to moderate, making promises to yourself, taking breaks, reading the books, or waiting for the perfect Monday to begin again, this episode is a reminder that none of those attempts were wasted. They gave you information.

The goal isn't to find a better rule that allows you to keep drinking without the consequences. It's to discover what your life can look and feel like when alcohol no longer needs to be the answer and to build the skills and self-trust that make that life possible.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

🎟️ Reserve your free seat for Lindsay's live summer workshop series:
Free Feel Good AF Summer Workshops

Have you ever wondered whether your drinking today could affect your brain decades from now?

Many women worry about memory changes as they get older but don't realize how closely brain health, alcohol, and everyday lifestyle habits are connected. In this episode, Lindsay sits down with occupational therapist and dementia care specialist Rachel Wiley to explore the relationship between alcohol, cognition, dementia, and healthy aging.

Rachel shares her expertise on how the brain changes over time, the lifestyle factors that support long-term cognitive health, and why early awareness matters. Together, they also discuss the often-overlooked impact of caregiving, why caregivers are at higher risk for burnout, and how alcohol can become a coping mechanism during one of life's most stressful seasons.

You'll discover:

• The difference between cognition, cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease
• The six pillars of brain health and how they support healthy aging
• Why social connection, sleep, movement, and meaningful activities are essential for cognitive function
• How alcohol affects sleep, nutrition, exercise, and overall brain health
• The connection between long-term alcohol use and alcohol-related brain damage
• What Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is and how it's linked to chronic alcohol use
• How vascular health, alcohol, and dementia risk are connected
• The difference between normal age-related memory changes and signs that warrant medical attention
• Why early cognitive screening and self-advocacy with your healthcare provider are so important
• How dementia affects not only memory but also communication, balance, behavior, and daily functioning
• Why caregiver stress is a major health concern and how alcohol can become an unhealthy coping strategy
• Practical ways caregivers can access support, respite, and resources before reaching burnout
• Why taking care of the caregiver is one of the most important parts of dementia care
• Simple lifestyle habits you can start today to support your brain health for years to come

If you've ever wondered how alcohol impacts your brain, want to reduce your future dementia risk, or you're currently supporting an aging parent or loved one, this conversation offers practical guidance, hope, and evidence-based insights to help you care for both your brain and the people you love.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Dementia Collaborative – https://DementiaCollaborative.com
Explore evidence-based resources, online courses, caregiver education, professional training, consultations, and a directory of occupational therapists specializing in dementia care.

Rachel Wiley, OTR/L – https://RachelWileyOT.com
Learn more about Rachel's work as an occupational therapist, dementia care educator, speaker, and consultant, and access additional educational resources and professional services.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

🎟️ Reserve your free seat for Lindsay's live summer workshop series:
Free Feel Good AF Summer Workshops

Have you ever found yourself saying, "I deserve this glass of wine" after a long day?

If wine has become the highlight of your evening, not because you love the taste, but because it feels like the only way to finally switch off, you're not alone. In this episode, Lindsay explores why so many high-achieving women mistake alcohol for self-care when it's actually keeping them stuck in a cycle of exhaustion, poor sleep, and broken promises to themselves.

Drawing from her own experience as a former high-functioning drinker, Lindsay explains why the nightly glass of wine can feel like a reward while quietly taking away your energy, clarity, confidence, and self-trust. She shares how to break free from the "I deserve it" mindset, rebuild healthier reward systems, and create evening routines that truly support the woman you want to become.

You'll discover:

• Why wine feels rewarding even when it's making your life harder
• The difference between relief and a true reward
• How alcohol trains your brain to associate drinking with relaxation
• Why your evening routine shapes how you feel the next day
• The hidden cycle of drinking for relief, waking up depleted, and craving relief again
• How alcohol affects your sleep, recovery, mood, and emotional resilience
• Why willpower isn't enough to change your drinking habits
• How to separate your real needs rest, comfort, connection, pleasure from the habit of drinking
• Why alcohol-free alternatives often feel "boring" at first and what that actually means
• How practicing new evening routines helps rebuild self-trust and lasting change
• A simple "Reward Reality Check" with five questions to help you rethink your nightly drink
• How creating rewards that truly give back can help you feel more energized, present, and aligned with the life you want

If you're tired of believing that wine is the only thing helping you unwind and you're ready to create evenings that leave you feeling genuinely restored, not just temporarily relieved. This episode will help you redefine what a real reward looks like and show you how to build a life you no longer need to escape from.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

🎟️ Reserve your free seat for Lindsay's live summer workshop series:
Free Feel Good AF Summer Workshops

Have you ever wondered where your ambition went?

If you used to love taking on new challenges but now even the thought of more responsibility feels exhausting, you're not alone. In this episode, Lindsay explores why so many high-achieving women mistake burnout or a lack of motivation for losing their ambition—when alcohol may actually be draining the energy, clarity, and self-trust they need to feel like themselves again.

She shares her own experience of feeling successful on the outside while privately feeling flat, depleted, and disconnected from the driven woman she once was. You'll learn why simply "functioning" can keep you stuck, how your evening routine shapes your mornings, and why rebuilding your capacity, not forcing yourself to be more disciplined is the key to getting your spark back.

You'll discover:

• Why functioning isn't the same as thriving
• How alcohol quietly drains your energy, motivation, and emotional capacity
• The difference between being burned out and being under-recovered
• Why ambition requires physical, mental, and emotional capacity
• How the nightly wine routine can keep you stuck in a cycle of exhaustion
• Why your actions must align with how you want to feel and live
• How alcohol affects sleep, recovery, and your brain's reward system
• Why replacing alcohol with meaningful rewards is essential for lasting change
• A simple three-day "Ambition Audit" to help you uncover what's really affecting your motivation
• How rebuilding self-trust can reconnect you with the version of yourself who feels energized, capable, and excited about life

If you're tired of merely getting through your days and you're ready to feel clear, energized, and connected to yourself again, this episode will help you understand why your ambition isn't gone, it may simply be waiting for the space to come back.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

🎟️ Reserve your free seat for Lindsay's live summer workshop series:
Free Feel Good AF Summer Workshops

You know alcohol isn't helping anymore. You've read the books, listened to the podcasts, and promised yourself you'll stop... but somehow you keep ending up in the same cycle.

In this episode, Lindsay explains why information alone isn't enough to create lasting change and why knowing what to do is completely different from being able to follow through when the moment arrives. She shares her own story of early failed attempts to quit drinking, the lessons she learned from her first alcohol-free experiences, and why practicing new responses—not collecting more knowledge—is what finally changed everything.

If you're tired of making promises to yourself in the morning only to negotiate them away by the afternoon, this conversation will help you understand what's really keeping you stuck and how to start building lasting self-trust.

You'll discover:

•  Why knowing alcohol is harming you doesn't automatically change your behavior 
•  The difference between information, motivation, and true transformation 
•  Lindsay's story of her first 30-day alcohol break—and why "failing" became part of her success 
•  Why the morning promise turns into the afternoon negotiation 
•  How repeated practice—not willpower—creates lasting change 
•  The hidden reason high-achieving women often struggle to quit on their own 
•  Why self-trust is built through small, repeatable decisions—not bigger promises 
•  How coaching and support interrupt the stop-start drinking cycle 
•  Why one difficult night doesn't have to turn into another six months of starting over 

If you're ready to stop negotiating with yourself and finally build a calm, confident, alcohol-free life, this episode will show you where lasting change really begins.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

🎟️ Reserve your free seat for Lindsay's live summer workshop series:
Free Feel Good AF Summer Workshops

If you've ever found yourself waiting for "the perfect time" to quit drinking after summer, after the holidays, after the next vacation—this episode is for you.

Lindsay gets personal in this solo episode, sharing why she spent years telling herself she'd deal with her drinking "later" and why that later never seemed to arrive. She unpacks the hidden relief that comes from postponing change, why life never actually settles down, and how confidence isn't something you have before you stop drinking, it's something you build by practicing in your real life.

Through stories from her own journey, including her first alcohol-free vacation, Lindsay explains why waiting for the right moment only keeps you stuck and how small, intentional decisions become the foundation for lasting self-trust.

You'll discover:

•  Why "I'll start after summer" feels so convincing and why it keeps you stuck 
•  The difference between temporary relief and genuine alignment with the life you want 
•  Why life will never hand you a perfect, stress-free time to change your relationship with alcohol 
•  How Lindsay's first alcohol-free vacation completely changed her perspective on sobriety 
•  The hidden mental load of drinking, from constant negotiating to recovering and starting over 
•  Lindsay's three-step framework for lasting change: Identity, Practice, and Self-Trust 
•  Why practicing through real-life events, not avoiding them—is what builds lasting confidence 
•  How support can help you navigate weddings, vacations, stressful workdays, and social pressure without relying on alcohol 

If you've been waiting for the "right time" to stop drinking, this episode is a reminder that the life you want isn't waiting on a clear calendar, it's built one decision at a time, right in the middle of your real life.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

If you've ever devoured a book because the main character's struggle with alcohol felt a little too familiar, this episode is for you.

Lindsay sits down with USA Today bestselling author Kerri Maher, the writer behind The Paris Bookseller, The Girl in White Gloves, and The Kennedy Debutante to talk about her brand-new novel, Summer of Love. The book weaves together two timelines: an older sister running the family vineyard in 1967 California, and her daughter quietly struggling with her drinking decades later, all while chasing the identity of an anonymous author whose books seem to know her family's secrets a little too well.

Kerri is also four and a half years alcohol-free, and in this conversation she opens up about why she finally went public with her own sobriety, why fiction about drinking matters just as much as memoir, and how storytelling — hers and other women's becomes a quiet act of service for anyone still stuck in silence.

You'll discover:

• Why Kerri built a novel around alcohol without writing a memoir and why fiction can reach people memoir can't
• How her own sobriety journey shaped Winnie, Miranda, and Dawn without any one of them being "her"
• Why moderation was harder for Kerri to sustain than quitting altogether
• How alcohol marketing quietly wrote itself into our idea of "the good life," and why that's so hard to unwind
• What it's actually like to talk to your kids about being a sober parent and why Kerri sees it as the safest thing she can be for them
• Why "no word is wasted," even the five unpublished novels sitting in her attic
• Simple, low-pressure ways to normalize an alcohol-free life, even when your identity or your family's business is tied to alcohol

If you've ever wished more of the books and shows you loved actually got drinking right, this conversation is a reminder of how powerful it is when they finally do.


About Kerri Maher
Kerri Maher is the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller, The Girl in White Gloves, and The Kennedy Debutante. Writing as Kerri Majors, she is also the author of This Is Not a Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and lives with her daughter and dog in a leafy suburb west of Boston, Massachusetts. Her new novel, Summer of Love, releases July 7.

Find Kerri

Instagram: @kerrimaherwriter
Substack: Sandcastles with Kerri Maher and The Well-Resourced Parent (search "Kerri Maher" on Substack)

Get the Book
📖 Summer of Love by Kerri Maher — Order here

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women. 

If you've ever promised yourself, "Today's the day I stop drinking," only to find yourself pouring another glass that evening, this episode is for you.

Lindsay breaks down why so many high-achieving women stay stuck in the stop-start cycle with alcohol and why the problem isn't a lack of discipline or willpower. The real issue? Self-trust.

In this episode, you'll learn why lasting sobriety isn't built by trying harder, but by becoming someone you can consistently count on. Lindsay shares her Identity → Practice → Trust framework, explains why slips are valuable feedback (not failure), and offers practical ways to build confidence one decision at a time.

You'll discover:

• Why willpower isn't enough to change your relationship with alcohol
• The hidden role self-trust plays in lasting sobriety
• How to stop viewing slips as failure and start using them as information
• Why practicing alcohol-free living matters more than consuming more information
• How identity shifts make staying alcohol-free feel natural—not forced
• Simple questions to help you identify whether you're struggling with identity, practice, or trust

If you're tired of negotiating with yourself, breaking promises, and wondering why moderation never seems to stick, this conversation will help you approach sobriety in a completely different way.

Remember: Information doesn't create transformation. Action does.

Support the show

Here's how you can stay connected: 

• 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call
• 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching
• 📱Follow along on Instagram
• 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter

And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. 

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg

Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women.