One for the Road: The Quit Drinking Podcast

Have you ever wondered why getting sober didn’t magically fix everything you thought it would?

After eight years of sobriety, Victoria Vanstone the host of Sober Awkward podcast found herself hitting an unexpected wall. She wasn’t craving alcohol or wanting to return to drinking. Instead, sobriety had started revealing something deeper: people pleasing, anxiety, identity, boundaries and years spent trying to prove she could still be the fun person in the room.

In this episode of the One For The Road Podcast, Sober Dave and Victoria have an open conversation about what happens after the initial excitement of quitting alcohol wears off and the deeper work begins.

Victoria shares why she spent years trying to fit in after getting sober, the reality of mummy wine culture, parenting without alcohol, social anxiety, shame and regret, and why sobriety is often the starting line rather than the finish line.

They also explore alcohol cravings, moderation, sober socialising, mental health, personal growth and what it really means to build a life you no longer need to escape from.

If you’ve quit drinking, are sober curious, questioning your relationship with alcohol, or wondering why life still feels difficult in sobriety, this conversation is for you.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could benefit from hearing that sobriety isn't about perfection—it's about progress.

If you enjoy One For The Road, then click follow to be notified of the release of our next episode.

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever promised yourself you wouldn’t drink, only to find yourself buying alcohol again hours later?

Peter’s drinking eventually reached the point where a litre of gin wasn’t a problem. He would wake up determined to stop, only to find himself back at the supermarket buying more by the afternoon.

In this episode of One For The Road with Sober Dave, Peter shares how growing up around alcoholism, heroin addiction and chaos shaped his life, how his own drinking became an escape, and what finally happened when he decided enough was enough.

This is a powerful conversation about alcohol addiction, childhood trauma, quitting drinking, recovery and rebuilding your life in sobriety.

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

Thank you for listening to One For The Road.

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever wondered if your drinking is “bad enough” to quit? What if a bottle of wine at night has slowly become something you rely on just to switch off?

Harriet didn’t think she fit the stereotype of someone with an alcohol problem. But drinking gradually became her escape from anxiety, overwhelm, motherhood and an undiagnosed ADHD brain. At her lowest point, she was drinking around a bottle of wine at home, sometimes more, while telling herself other people drank far worse. 

In this episode of One For The Road with Sober Dave, Harriet shares how mummy wine culture and social drinking turned into relying on alcohol, the denial that kept her stuck, and why she finally decided to quit drinking.

Now six months sober, she also gets real about something that isn’t talked about enough: what happens when the excitement of early sobriety wears off and you have to learn who you are without alcohol. 

If you’re sober curious, trying to stop drinking, questioning your relationship with alcohol, or looking for real sobriety stories, this episode is for you.

Topics: quit drinking, sobriety, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependence, sober curious, mummy wine culture, ADHD and alcohol, sober living, recovery, anxiety and alcohol.

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on One For The Road, Dave is joined by Liberty X star Michelle Heaton for one of the rawest and most brutally honest conversations of the series.

From pop fame, red carpets and chart success to addiction, intervention, rehab and rock bottom — Michelle opens up about the reality behind the headlines. She speaks candidly about living with the BRCA gene, undergoing a double mastectomy and hysterectomy, the identity crisis that followed, and how alcohol and cocaine slowly took over her life.

Michelle shares the terrifying depths of addiction, drinking vodka at 7am, hiding bottles around the house, pushing away the people she loved most and reaching a point where she genuinely believed she was going to die.

Now sober and rebuilding her life one day at a time, Michelle talks about recovery, boundaries, motherhood, self-worth and finding hope after complete chaos.

This episode is fearless, heartbreaking, funny in places and deeply inspiring — a conversation about survival, sobriety and what happens when you finally decide you want to live.

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and links for Michelle.

https://www.instagram.com/wonderwomanshel/

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio

Instagram - @Daniellattanasio

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Millie Gooch is the founder of Sober Girl Society, author of The Sober Girl Society Handbook, and one of the loudest voices in the UK sober community for women in their twenties.

But four years ago she was a blackout drinker.

She didn't drink at all until 18, then went to uni, took three bar jobs, got paid in alcohol, and came out the other side a four-or-five-night-a-week binge drinker. PR and journalism after that. Free Bar Fridays. Ending up in Dover at 4am because she'd fallen asleep on the train. Three weeks in Thailand spent almost entirely drunk or hungover. A six-year relationship breakup at 24 that sent her head-first into another year of going out and getting hammered.

She read a Stylist magazine interview with Catherine Gray on the tube one hungover morning. Took a photo of the article. Did nothing about it. Then in February 2018, after a night she couldn't remember at all, she downloaded the audiobook and listened to it for eight straight hours on the worst hangover of her life.

That was her last drink.

In this episode she walks through how Sober Girl Society started by accident, the trap of becoming "the sober person" instead of just a person, and what changes between year one and year four.

If you enjoy One For The Road, then click follow to be notified of the release of our next episode.

You can also access further content and shows on my Patreon account by clicking the link below.

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62824759&fan_landing=true

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and links for Millie.

Instagram.com/sobergirlsociety

Instagram.com/milliegooch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sober-Girl-Society-Handbook-empowering/dp/1787634124/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1636881084&sr=8-1

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio

https://www.grownuphustle.com/

Instagram - @daniellattanasio

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ollie Ollerton was 10 years old when a 50-pound chimpanzee pinned him to the floor of a circus enclosure and tried to kill him. He fought it off. Nearly lost his arm to gangrene. Then spent the next thirty-something years chasing danger to feel something close to that adrenaline again.

Royal Marines. Special Forces. Iraq, where he drove drunk through Baghdad on his own with an AK-47 in the back of an armoured Mercedes. Steroids. Valium. A bottle most nights to muffle whatever was underneath. He was the life and soul of every party. He was also barely keeping it together.

Ollie is now sober, runs his company Breakpoint, hosts SAS Who Dares Wins, and uses his platform to talk honestly about what alcohol actually cost him.

You'll hear about: the chimp attack that shaped 30 years of his life; "personality rental" and why none of it was ever really him; the moment in Baghdad when he realised he was knocking on death's door; why he had to dip back into drinking to be sure; what it actually means to choose short-term discomfort for long-term gain.

If you've been telling yourself you've got it under control, this one's for you.

If you enjoy One For The Road, then click follow to be notified of the release of our next episode.

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and links for Ollie.

https://ollieollerton.com/

https://www.instagram.com/ollie.ollerton/

https://twitter.com/ollie_ollerton

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/-Martinez

https://www.grownuphustle.com/

Instagram - @daniellattanasio

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Norfolk met Daniel backstage at a London theatre. He was funny, kind, the centre of every room. He was also, slowly, becoming an alcoholic.

This is the story rarely told. Not the person in recovery. The partner watching it unfold. Lucy takes us through years of loving Dan: the hiding, the vodka behind the chair while she bathed, the first fit at the park in front of their children, the shattered hip at 38, the osteoporosis, the broken back, the day he turned yellow.

Dan didn't make it out of the hospital. His heart, kidneys, and corneas saved three other lives.

Lucy is sharing this so partners don't feel alone. So families know where to find help before it's too late. So the word 'alcoholic' stops being whispered.

Connect with Lucy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucy_norfolk_/

If you have been affected by this podcast here are some links to support you.

https://www.cruse.org.uk/?s=alcohol

https://al-anonuk.org.uk/

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk/

Connect with Soberdave on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

And Vist my Website for more support: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-Martinez

Instagram - @TheDaniellaMartinez

https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/

www.instagram.com/grownuphustle/

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it take to finally quit drinking when you feel like you can’t stop?

In this episode, we dive into a powerful sobriety journey that explores the reality of blackout drinking, alcohol addiction recovery, and mental health.

Jordan Hurt shares his story of growing up around alcohol, developing addictive patterns early, and using drinking as a way to cope with identity, pressure, and pain. What started as social drinking quickly turned into blackout drinking, hospital visits, and complete loss of control.

As his addiction progressed, his life became increasingly chaotic — from DUIs and broken relationships to isolation and severe mental health struggles that ultimately led to a stay in a psychiatric ward.

This conversation is an honest look at:

• What blackout drinking actually looks like
• Why some people cannot moderate alcohol
• The mental health impact of addiction
• The turning point that leads to real change
• What alcohol addiction recovery really requires
• Why quitting drinking is a process, not a single decision

If you’ve ever questioned your drinking, struggled to stop, or wondered what a real sobriety journey looks like — this episode will give you clarity and perspective.

https://www.instagram.com/jordvnhurt/

https://www.instagram.com/queerityapp/

https://queerityapp.com/

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-Martinez

Instagram - @TheDaniellaMartinez

https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/

www.instagram.com/grownuphustle

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of One for the Road, Sober Dave sits down with Allie Bailey, ultra runner, running coach, speaker and author, for an honest conversation about what really happens after you quit drinking.

This is emotional sobriety. The uncomfortable bits. The parts of recovery nobody warns you about.

Allie started drinking at 14, spent years as a functioning alcoholic in the music industry, hit rock bottom in her late thirties and quit without AA or formal support. She has been sober four and a half years.

They talk about losing your identity when you stop drinking, relationships and intimacy sober, attachment styles, core values and why the resilience built through years of drinking can actually serve you in sober life.

If you are thinking about quitting alcohol, in early sobriety, or well into your journey and wondering why it still feels hard, this episode is for you.

Allie's new book 31 Days is available on Amazon, Audible and at adventurebooks.com. Buy direct and get a free workbook included.

Follow Allie on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ab_runs/

Allie's Book: https://amzn.eu/d/03O7NRTz

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio

Instagram - @TheDaniellaMartinez

https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/

www.instagram.com/grownuphustle

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Smith to talk about a side of drinking that often gets overlooked.

Life can look good on the outside—work, responsibilities, everything in place—but underneath, something feels off.

Low energy. Poor sleep. Always needing something to take the edge off at the end of the day.

Not rock bottom. But not where you want to be either.

We talk about what it looks like to question your drinking, even if you wouldn’t call it a serious alcohol problem, and how that “grey area drinking” can quietly hold you back.

Some of the things we get into:

• The subtle signs alcohol is holding you back
• Feeling “fine” but not fully yourself
• Using alcohol to cope with stress and shut the day off
• What actually changes when you quit drinking

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s time to stop drinking, or asked yourself, “Do I have a drinking problem?”—this one will probably hit.

Going alcohol-free didn’t change who Steve was — it changed what he believed was possible.

Instagram: @Steve Smith

Website :www.soberilliant.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-smith-5917519a/

If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-Martinez

Instagram - @TheDaniellaMartinez

https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/

www.instagram.com/grownuphustle

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soberdaveonefortheroad

More information about Sober Dave's 1:1 Coaching: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.