Sober Awkward

This week Vic is joined by journalist and podcaster Katie Herzog to talk about the winding, messy road many of us take trying to figure out our relationship with alcohol.Katie shares what her drinking looked like during Covid, how it quietly ramped up behind closed doors, and the strange mental gymnastics of hiding drinking from partners and pretending your fine and dandy, when really... it's all falling apart.They talk about the moment when drinking stops feeling fun and starts feeling lonely, the awkward reality of not quite connecting with AA, and the long search for something — anything — that might actually help.Eventually that search led Katie to Naltrexone, a medication used to reduce the brain’s reward response to alcohol. For Katie, discovering it changed everything. Over time it helped rewire the habit loop, take away the obsessive pull toward drinking, and slowly create something she hadn’t felt in a long time… freedom from alcohol.The experience was so transformative that Katie went on to write a book about it, exploring the science, the stigma, and why conversations about medication and sobriety can be so surprisingly controversial.It’s an honest chat about finding your own path, challenging recovery dogma, and the strange relief of realising there might be more than one way to get sober.Find out more about Katie and buy her book here -drinkyourwaysober.comhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/163774739Xhttps://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Drink-Your-Way-Sober/Katie-Herzog/9781637747391follow her on twitter here - @kittypurrzog💛 Resources & Links📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted SundaysA brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.👉 Buy the book here🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes👉 www.soberawkward.com🫖 Join The Cuppa CommunityOur private, supportive online space for sober folk👉 www.cuppa.community📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideOur downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.👉 The Sober Awkward Guide📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:Instagram: @soberawkwardTikTok: @soberawkwardFacebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vic is joined by Newspaper Editor, Journalist and Author, Carly Schwartz, to talk about her wild, honest new memoir I’ll Try Anything Twice.Carly shares stories from her years chasing adventure around the world, from chaotic parties to a mysterious sustainable town in the Panamanian jungle. Some of the experiences were exhilarating, others risky, and along the way she began to realise that alcohol and drugs were quietly making her depression much worse.In this conversation, Carly talks openly about the moment she hit her real rock bottom, not a dramatic crash, but the quiet and confronting realisation that she might actually need help. Vic and Carly also chat about the process of turning such a complicated and vulnerable journey into a book, and what it’s like to write honestly about the messy parts of your life.It’s a thoughtful, funny, and very real conversation about adventure, mental health, and the long road to understanding yourself.💛 Resources & Links📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted SundaysA brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.👉 Buy the book here🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes👉 www.soberawkward.com🫖 Join The Cuppa CommunityOur private, supportive online space for sober folk👉 www.cuppa.community📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideOur downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.👉 The Sober Awkward Guide📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:Instagram: @soberawkwardTikTok: @soberawkwardFacebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vic is eight years sober tomorrow… and something is quietly shifting....She has realised this week that the anxiety she feels around certain social situations isn’t because she can’t cope. It’s because she no longer wants to.For years she believed being able to sit comfortably around drinking was a sober skill to master. She could handle it. She could manage the energy. She could leave early. But the low-level anxiety never really disappeared.So what happens when you realise it’s not about capability, it’s about alignment?Joined by Sober Dave from One for the Road, Vic unpacks this sober pivot. Dave brings his usual grounded, thoughtful take as they talk about people-pleasing, the subtle weight of being “the sober one”, and how long-term sobriety sometimes asks you to quietly change the rooms you sit in.After meeting properly at the jungle retreat, something clicked for both of them about the kind of connection they actually want more of. This episode is about that shift, about choosing friendships and environments that feel nourishing rather than draining, and about allowing sobriety to keep evolving.Because maybe it isn’t about whether you can sit in certain spaces anymore.Maybe it’s about whether you still want to?Find out more about Dave by following him @soberdave and if you need some support in your sobriety then check out his website - https://www.soberdave.co.uk/💛 Resources & Links📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted SundaysA brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.👉 Buy the book here🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes👉 www.soberawkward.com🫖 Join The Cuppa CommunityOur private, supportive online space for sober folk👉 www.cuppa.community📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideOur downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.👉 The Sober Awkward Guide📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:Instagram: @soberawkwardTikTok: @soberawkwardFacebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Sober Awkward, Vic sits down with Recovery Jimmy from the After Hours podcast to ask a big question, does sobriety actually make you grow up?They swap stories of peak immaturity, from Vic’s 25 year blur of zero self preservation, to Jimmy’s wine fuelled, one way escape to Majorca after watching Into the Wild. What felt rebellious and “rock and roll” at the time now looks a lot like avoidance, selfishness, and being emotionally frozen at the age they started drinking.Together they unpack how booze can keep you stuck, convincing you that you’re wild and fun, when really you’re avoiding responsibility, feelings, and growth. They talk drinking culture, hating sober people in bars, and the slow realisation that maybe the “boring” friends were just maturing.It’s honest, funny, and reflective, a reminder that growing up does not mean losing your sense of fun. It means finally caring about yourself enough to change.Find out more about Jimmy and his Podcast here - Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyTikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@recovery.jimmy?_r=1&_t=ZN-93qNaF7fVBeAfter Hours with Jimmy Thistle https://afterhours.buzzsprout.comAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle💛 Resources & Links📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted SundaysA brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.👉 Buy the book here🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes👉 www.soberawkward.com🫖 Join The Cuppa CommunityOur private, supportive online space for sober folk👉 www.cuppa.community📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideOur downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.👉 The Sober Awkward Guide📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:Instagram: @soberawkwardTikTok: @soberawkwardFacebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.