I Quit Wine - how to take a break or stop drinking and have a much better life

Are you exhausted from constantly thinking about drinking? Telling yourself you'll stop, taking a break, then finding yourself back in the same old patterns?

I've been there, and I know how much mental energy that constant negotiation can take.

In this episode, I'm talking about what happens when you make changing your relationship with alcohol a non-negotiable. No more debating whether you'll drink at the wedding, on holiday or when you've had a stressful day. No more thinking about drinking, drinking, recovering and starting the whole cycle again.

I'll share how making this decision gave me freedom and peace of mind, as well as a client story about a woman in her late 40s who rediscovered the ambition she'd had after college. She realised alcohol had been holding her back for decades.

The key is changing the underlying belief that life is better with alcohol. Instead of seeing sobriety as deprivation, what if you approached it with curiosity about what's possible without drinking?

In this episode, I explore why information alone often isn't enough to break old patterns, why getting support matters, and how taking 90 days away from alcohol can be a starting point for creating lasting change.

You don't have to spend another year negotiating with yourself about drinking. Imagine what you could do with all that mental energy back!

If you're ready for support, visit iquitwine.com to explore your options or book a complimentary call. You can also email me at [email protected]

What if you're not drinking every day, but alcohol is taking up far too much space in your head?

That's what I mean by grey area drinking.

In this episode, I'm sharing the story of a client who was caught in that grey area — and what happened when she finally decided to do something about it.

One of the moments I share happened at a gallery opening.

Before she arrived, she had a large glass of wine because she wanted to feel prepared.

Once she was there, she wasn't really focused on the art or the people around her. She was thinking about when she could get another drink, how she could get a refill without it being obvious, and whether anyone was noticing how much she was drinking.

Afterwards, despite already having had several glasses, she stopped to buy a bottle of wine.

She described it as a “new low.”

This is what grey area drinking can look like. Alcohol doesn't necessarily create a dramatic crisis, but it can quietly take over your thoughts, your choices and your enjoyment of life.

I've seen so many women take a break from alcohol and feel fantastic — only to return to exactly the same drinking patterns afterwards.

For me, lasting change isn't about white-knuckling your way through Sober October or Dry January.

It's about changing your beliefs about alcohol and the role you believe it plays in your life.

That's where emotional sobriety comes in.

My goal isn't simply to help women stop drinking. It's to help them reach a place where they genuinely don't want to drink.

The part of this client's story I love most is what happened a year later.

She went back to the same gallery event.

But this time she arrived with a non-alcoholic drink, and she wasn't thinking about wine.

She was looking at the art.

Talking to the artists.

Connecting with her friends.

And actually enjoying herself.

She discovered something she hadn't believed was possible:

Life without alcohol wasn't something she had to endure. It could actually be joyful.

And that's the transformation I want for the women I work with.

Not just “I don't drink anymore.”

But:

“I love my life without alcohol.”

If you're constantly thinking about drinking, taking breaks but always returning to the same patterns, or wondering whether alcohol is taking more from your life than it's giving you, you don't have to figure it out alone.

Email me at [email protected] with “HELP” in the subject line, or book a complimentary call at iquitwine.com

https://tidycal.com/sarahleather/iqwconnect

A genuinely joyful alcohol-free life is possible.

In this episode of I Quit Wine, I’m talking about something I see so often in women who stop drinking: the “sugar monster.”

You give up the wine, but suddenly you’re reaching for chocolate, biscuits, bread or anything else that gives you that quick hit of comfort.

And there’s a reason this can happen.

When alcohol has been your go-to way of changing how you feel, removing it can leave you looking for something else to fill that emotional gap. Sugar, processed foods, scrolling, Netflix, exercise — even constantly reaching for AI — can become new ways of distracting, soothing or stimulating ourselves.

For me, this is where emotional sobriety comes in.

And that takes more than information.

I can give you all the information in the world about alcohol, sugar, dopamine, food and habits — but information alone doesn’t create change. Implementation does.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is trying to change everything at once.

In the early days of sobriety, particularly those first 30 days, my priority is simple: don’t drink.

That’s it.

Eat properly. Get enough protein and healthy fats. Have nutritious snacks available. If fruit helps satisfy the sweet cravings, have the fruit.

I don’t believe you need to be perfect with your food while you’re learning to live without alcohol.

Then, once you’ve got some solid sober time behind you — around 90 days is a useful point to reassess — you can start looking at the other things that may be keeping you stuck, including sugar and highly processed foods.

This is one of the questions I come back to again and again.

Sometimes I think I’m hungry for food when what I’m actually hungry for is connection, purpose, rest, fun, reassurance or something meaningful to look forward to.

That’s where journaling can be incredibly useful.

Instead of automatically reaching for food, pause and ask:

What am I really hungry for right now?

The answer can tell you a lot.

Emotional sobriety isn’t about making life complicated.

Walking every day. Getting morning sunlight. Prioritising good sleep. Eating nourishing food. Creating connection. Paying attention to what you’re feeling rather than immediately trying to escape it.

These simple things can make a huge difference.

And if you’re struggling, please don’t feel that you have to do this alone. Having support, accountability and someone to help you actually implement the changes can be transformational.

There’s a hard that comes with drinking — and, for me, that hard never gave anything back.

Then there’s the hard of becoming sober and learning to manage your emotions, your habits and your life differently.

So if you’ve stopped drinking and now you’re battling sugar cravings, weight gain or a whole new collection of compulsive habits, don’t assume you’ve failed.

You may simply have reached the next stage of the journey.

And that’s where the real work — and the real freedom — can begin.

If you’re a woman in your 40s, 50s or 60s who knows you’re drinking more than you want to but doesn’t necessarily identify as “dependent,” I’d love to help.

You can get in touch with me at [email protected] or book a complimentary call here:

https://tidycal.com/sarahleather/iqwconnect

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why sugar cravings can increase after giving up alcohol
• The idea of transferring addictive or compulsive behaviours
• Why weight loss isn’t necessarily automatic after sobriety
• How ADHD and perimenopause/menopause can add another layer
• What I mean by emotional sobriety
• Why the first 30 days should be about not drinking
• When and how to start looking at sugar and processed foods
• Emotional eating and asking what you’re really hungry for
• Journaling and identifying unmet emotional needs
• The importance of sleep, movement and morning sunlight
• Why information isn’t enough — implementation is key
• Why support can make such a difference
• And why sometimes you simply have to choose your hard

So what’s actually going on?

Speak soon:

https://tidycal.com/sarahleather/iqwconnect

Grey Area Drinkers: What If You Never Wanted to Drink Again?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, what if you never wanted to drink again?

Not because you were forcing yourself to abstain. Not because you were relying on willpower. But because alcohol simply stopped having any appeal.

In this episode, I'm exploring one of the biggest mindset shifts in changing your relationship with alcohol. I share why so many of us spend years chasing the dream of becoming a "normal" drinker, and why that goal might actually be keeping us stuck.

✨ Why so many women in the grey area of drinking dream of moderating their alcohol instead of letting it go completely.

✨ My own experience of wanting to be the person who could have "just a couple of glasses" a few nights a week — and why that never worked for me.

✨ The hidden cost of holding onto the hope that alcohol will one day become easy to manage.

✨ Why our brains conveniently forget the difficult mornings and only remember the romanticised moments of drinking.

✨ The powerful question that changed everything for me:
What if I simply didn't want alcohol anymore?

✨ Why I encourage my clients to focus less on "giving something up" and more on creating a life they genuinely don't want to escape from.

✨ A simple exercise to help you explore the real consequences of continuing exactly as you are versus making a change.

• "I just want to drink like everyone else."
• "Maybe this time I'll finally be able to control it."
• "I don't want to stop forever."

...this episode is for you.

I know those thoughts because I had them too. For years.

Today, I have absolutely no desire to drink, and I want you to know that's possible for you too. Not through willpower or deprivation, but by changing your relationship with alcohol at its roots.

If you're tired of waking up on another Day One and wondering why nothing changes, you don't have to figure it out on your own.

The I Quit Wine Collective is my coaching and support program designed specifically for professional, high-functioning women who are ready to step off the stop/start cycle for good.

https://iquitwine.com/iqwa/

Or simply reach out if you'd like to chat about where you are right now. Sometimes the first step is simply telling someone the truth.

You can email me at [email protected] or connect with me on Instagram @iquitwine.withsarah.

I'd love to hear from you.

If this episode resonated with you, I'd be so grateful if you subscribed, left a review, or shared it with a friend who needs to hear this message.

Until next time, remember...

Everything changes when you stop trying to become someone who can drink moderately and start becoming someone who simply loves life more than wine.

ADHD, Alcohol & Me: The Missing Piece

For a decade and a half, I was possibly solving the wrong problem.

It was around 40 when I first started questioning my relationship with alcohol. I knew something had shifted. So I spent the best part of a decade playing with the rules — alcohol-free days, months off, even a year off at one point, then two. Stop-start, stop-start.

Then at 56, I got diagnosed with ADHD. And that changed everything.

In this episode, I'm talking about the thing nobody told me at the time: why the ADHD brain and alcohol are such a difficult match — and why this is true for so many of the women I speak to who are neurodivergent and struggling with drink.

In this episode, I cover:

• The gap between questioning my drinking at 40 and understanding why at 56 — and the year and a half it took me to really land in that diagnosis
• Why alcohol works so fast on an ADHD brain (and why that's exactly the problem) — the dopamine piece, in plain English
• Masking: the decades of compensating, overworking and performing "fine" that so many late-diagnosed women will recognise
• Why "one glass" was never realistically going to be one glass, and why that was never about a lack of discipline
• How alcohol doesn't just numb an ADHD brain — it quietens it. And why that makes it feel like a solution long before it becomes a problem
• My own teenage introduction to drinking, and the anxiety I didn't even know I was carrying
• The vicious cycle of hangxiety, shame, obsessive replaying of the night before, and how alcohol makes every one of those symptoms worse, not better
• Why gray-area drinking with an undiagnosed or diagnosed ADHD brain is such a perfect storm
• The running-on-a-stony-path metaphor — and why the right support is like finally putting your shoes on
• A few gentle questions to sit with if you suspect this might be part of your story too

A few lines I want you to sit with:

"Alcohol doesn't just numb the ADHD brain — it quietens it. And that's exactly what makes it feel so helpful, long before it becomes harmful."

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Do I reach for a drink to switch off a busy mind, more than to actually enjoy the drink itself?
• Have I spent my life feeling like I was too much and not enough at the same time — too much energy, not enough follow-through?
• Do I crash in the evenings after holding it all together, all day?

None of these are a diagnosis. They might just be a doorway.

I'm not here to diagnose anyone through a podcast. But if any of this lands, please don't let it get brushed off — by yourself, or by anyone else. Find someone who actually understands neurodivergence and the nervous system. You deserve better than being told you'll simply "grow out of it."

Mentioned in this episode:

The I Quit Wine Collective — a safe space for like-minded women on this journey. Come in, have a look around, say hello. There's an entry level with access to my 30-day break from alcohol, and the option to join the full Collective when you're ready.

Take a look here:

https://www.skool.com/i-quit-wine-iqw-collective-3336

Email me here to share your story in confidence or enquire about 1:1 coaching:

[email protected]

I'm rebuilding on Instagram after a break, please follow me & DM me to say hi. I'd love to hear what landed for you from this episode:

https://www.instagram.com/iquitwine.withsarah/

5 Things I Learned From Doing the First 30 Days Alcohol-Free

In today’s episode of the I Quit Wine Podcast, I’m sharing five of the biggest lessons I learned from doing the first 30 days without alcohol — and trust me, I’ve done those first 30 days more times than I can count.

If you’ve ever found yourself stopping, starting again, promising yourself “this time will be different”, or wondering why moderation still feels exhausting… this episode is for you.

Inside the IQW Collective, we’ve just started a 30-day reset around changing our relationship with alcohol — because the real shift isn’t about “resetting your drinking”. It’s about changing the relationship itself.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why your “why” matters more than anything else
• The powerful question to ask yourself about your relationship with alcohol
• Why you don’t necessarily need to change the ritual — just the ingredient
• What cravings are really trying to tell you
• The exhaustion and emotional flatness that can happen in early sobriety
• Why “just one” is usually the first one, not the only one
• The truth about stepping back onto the “downward escalator” of drinking
• What happened after I drank again, following a full year of being alcohol-free
• Why overthinking drinking keeps so many women stuck
• How to start building emotional freedom instead of relying on willpower

This episode is honest, compassionate, and deeply practical if you’re navigating grey area drinking, taking a break from alcohol, or ready to stop the stop/start cycle for good.

If you’re ready to stop overthinking drinking and start changing your relationship with alcohol in a supportive, compassionate space, I’d love to welcome you inside the IQW Collective.

You’ll get:

• My 30-day relationship reset
• Alcohol Freedom courses
• Coaching and support with 2 live calls each month
• A private community of women who truly get it (this is a small group & it's fine to be anonymous)
• Lifetime access to everything. You join once and stay for as long as you would like to.

Join the IQW Collective here.

And if this episode resonated with you, I’d love for you to share it or send it to someone who might need to hear it today.

🎧 A New Home for the I Quit Wine Collective

In this short episode, I’m sharing something really exciting—I’ve created a brand new home for the I Quit Wine Collective, and I wanted to tell you all about it.

This is a space that’s been evolving for a while, and it finally feels like it truly fits what we’re creating together.

Here’s what I cover:

🏡 The New Home for the IQW Collective
I talk about why I’ve moved everything into a new platform and created a more supportive, private space for you. The old Facebook group just wasn’t working—so many women didn’t feel comfortable sharing there, and it stayed very quiet. This new space feels completely different.

✨ What’s Inside the Collective
Inside the IQW Collective, you’ll find my core programmes—the IQW Freedom Formula and the IQW Academy—along with private podcasts, tools, resources, and ongoing support. It’s all in one place now, which makes it so much easier to actually use and benefit from.

💛 A Flexible Way to Get Started
I’ve changed the pricing so you can come in for a month and explore, with no pressure. And if you join for a year, you’ll also get a 1:1 coaching session with me, which is such a powerful way to get clarity on what’s really going on for you.

🌿 Who This Is For
If you’re someone in that grey area—not a heavy drinker, but also not someone who can just take it or leave it—this space is for you.
If you know alcohol isn’t serving you anymore and you want to pause, reflect, and understand your relationship with it more deeply, you’ll feel right at home here.

🧠 Getting to the Root of It
In our work together—especially in 1:1 sessions—we look at what’s really driving the drinking. Your patterns, your beliefs, your emotional triggers. Because that’s where the real shift happens.

🌍 A Global, Supportive Community
We have women joining from all over the world, and I’ll be hosting live calls each month at different times to suit different time zones. Replays will be available (unless something very personal is shared).

🔒 A Safe, Private Space
You can share in the group or message me privately—whatever feels safest for you. Especially while the group is still small, there’s plenty of space for personal support and connection.

🔥 30-Day Challenge Coming Soon
Next month, we’ll be running a 30-day challenge inside the Collective to help you really shift your relationship with alcohol. We’ll dive into the emotional side of things—the beliefs, the patterns, and the tools that actually make a difference.

🌟 What’s Possible for You
I also talk about the deeper truth of this journey—how so much of our drinking is tied to beliefs that life will be less enjoyable without alcohol. And when you shift that? The freedom, the joy, the lightness… It’s incredible.

If this is calling you, I’d absolutely love to welcome you inside.
📩 Send me an email at [email protected]

You can also check out the Collective via this link

I’m sending you lots of love—and I’ll speak to you again soon. 💛

Siobhan Walsh joins Sarah Leather for an honest conversation about blackouts, shame, recovery, trauma, and the deeper reasons alcohol can become such a struggle.

Siobhan shares her own stop-start sobriety journey, what finally made her quit, and why healing often means looking at much more than alcohol alone. Together, Sarah and Siobhan talk about eating disorders, cross-addiction, AA, moderation, emotional sobriety, and the importance of getting support from someone who truly understands.

A compassionate episode for any woman who knows alcohol is no longer working for her.

Connect with Siobhan:

Instagram: Siobhan Walsh Coaching
Website: healingyourhunger.com

Need to talk about your drinking going into the 'grey zone'?

Book a private 50-minute 1:1 call with Sarah Leather here to get to the root cause of your drinking and a plan forward.

Once you pay on this link, you will receive an email with your booking link. There are many time slots available but if none suit, reply to the email with your time zone and you will be offered alternative times to choose from.

Or check out I Quit Wine Collective and get the entire program plus a 1:1 call with Sarah, currently just $150 here.

You will receive an email with everything shortly after signing up & the link to book your call 1 day later.

In today’s episode, I’m diving into a truth that took me years to understand:
👉 When you think less, you drink less.
Not because you suddenly gain more willpower… but because you stop getting trapped in the mental loops that keep you reaching for a glass.

I talk about how our brains fire off thousands of thoughts a day — and how those thoughts create emotions, and those emotions drive what we do next.
Same situation, totally different reactions, depending on the thoughts we attach to it.
This is why two women can have the same day… but only one ends up pouring wine at 5pm.

I share how my own perspective has shifted over the years.
Thought work helped me — but it wasn’t the whole picture. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is not chase the thought at all.
Let it pass.
Let it be.
Let your body regulate before your mind spirals.

I invite you to imagine your thoughts like clouds drifting across the sky.
You don’t have to climb on every cloud.
You don’t have to argue with them.
You can let them roll in and roll out.
In this episode, I share grounding practices that helped me stop getting stuck in repetitive, insecure thinking — the kind that used to send me straight to a bottle.

This is a big one.
I explain why alcohol itself isn’t the powerful force we think it is — it’s neutral.
The grip it has on us comes entirely from the meaning, emotion, and habit loops we’ve built around it.
When you loosen those thoughts, alcohol loses its charge… and you regain your power.

I wrap up with an invitation:
Share your own experiences with insecure thinking around drinking.
Notice how often your thoughts are running the show.
And remember — everything you want for your wellness, your peace, your freedom… it’s already within you.
You just have to clear the mental clutter long enough to feel it.

🧠 Thoughts + Drinking: How They Shape Each Other (0:28)

⛔ The Limits of “Just Change Your Thoughts” Work (3:59)

🌥 Presence, Somatic Awareness & Thought Clouds (6:44)

🍷 Alcohol Is Neutral (11:27)💬 Closing Thoughts & Your Next Step (11:57)

I'm opening up some more 1:1 coaching slots. If you're done overthinking your drinking, book a call here to discuss:

👉 Book a complimentary ⁠IQW Connect Call with me here⁠.

Or join the IQW Collective to get my courses plus support (for a short time, you also get 2 x 1:1 sessions with me for 1 low price) here:

https://iquitwine.com/iqwa/

In this episode, I talk about one of my favourite tools for staying alcohol-free: playing it forward. If you want more clarity, more energy, and a calmer relationship with yourself, this episode will really support you.

Here’s what I dive into:

🔮 Playing It Forward 100 Days (3:02)
I explore the idea of imagining yourself 100 days into the future—alcohol-free—and noticing how you feel emotionally, mentally, physically, and in your relationships. When you play it forward, the choice in front of you becomes so much clearer.

🎉 The 100-Day Alcohol-Free Challenge (5:12)
I share the details of the 100-day alcohol-free challenge I’m starting in the new year inside the IQW Collective. We’ll be walking this journey together with somatic practices, tools for managing triggers, and a supportive community led by Sarah.

🧘‍♀️ Why the Mind–Body Connection Matters (7:30)
For years, I felt completely disconnected from my body. In this episode, I talk about how tuning in—really listening to what your body is telling you—can release the urge to drink and bring you back into regulation.

⚡️ Triggers and Glimmers (11:25)
I encourage you to get curious about your personal triggers—the things that dysregulate your nervous system and make you want to reach for a drink. And just as importantly, I talk about finding your glimmers: the small, soothing moments that help you settle, soften, and come home to yourself.

🤝 Joining the IQW Collective (15:01)
I share how you can join the IQW Collective and take part in our 100-day alcohol-free challenge, and I talk through options for extra 1:1 support if you want it. You can always email me if you have questions or need help deciding.

✨ Recap & Call to Action (17:18)
I invite you to dream into what your life could look like after 100 days without alcohol. How do you want to feel? What will be different? I’d absolutely love to hear your vision.

If you'd love support in creating your own 100-day alcohol-free future, I’m here for you.

👉 Book a complimentary IQW Connect Call with me here:

or a Coaching Session here:

Wishing you beautiful, nourishing self-care. 💛