Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

A lot of people do Dry January hoping it will reset their relationship with alcohol, and then feel confused or discouraged when it doesn’t. Dry January works, just not in the way most people think it does. If you’ve ever taken a 30, 90, or even year-long break from drinking, felt better, and then slowly slid back into the same patterns, this episode will explain why. We’ll talk about why willpower works during the challenge but fails afterward, why the brain treats breaks as an exception instead of a turning point, and what actually has to change for sobriety to stick. Once you understand the difference between a pause and a rewire, a lot of self-blame starts to fall away. 

E296-300 drinking motives and how problem drinking develops/escalates

Work with me:


Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Course


Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

Weekly email:


You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:


If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered


Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did we blast our brains beyond repair with all of our drinking? What if you drank heavily for decades? Are you doomed? In this episode I’m explaining a ton of different studies on brain recovery in sobriety. You’ll learn what to expect as you get more sober time, if our brains make a full recovery, how long it takes to see improvement, how drinking less impacts your brain, and more about how alcohol damages the brain.

Work with me:


Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Course


Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

Weekly email:


You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:


If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered


Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The witching hour, or usually hours for most of us, are the time of day where you typically drink and want to drink the most when you’re sober. This could be morning for some people, it could be 4-7pm, 6-8pm, it varies. This time block is when your biology, habits, and old reward wiring collide: cortisol is dropping, your prefrontal cortex has less decision bandwidth, and your brain is scanning for the routine that used to deliver relief. The evening cue your brain fires isn’t proof you need alcohol, it’s proof you drank often enough and long enough that your brain automated it. Today, we’re digging into why 5–9 PM feels like the danger zone, what’s happening under the surface in the brain and nervous system, and how understanding those mechanisms helps you respond differently this time.

What to listen to next:

E249: Stress & Cravings

E265: Rewiring the reward system

Work with me:


Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Course


Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

Weekly email:


You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:


If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered


Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A 30-day break from alcohol changes multiple systems at once: metabolic, cardiovascular, neurological, and behavioral. In this episode, I’m summarizing what the research says about the benefits people commonly experience, including sleep, energy, liver fat, and drink-refusal self-efficacy. I’ll explain what improves early, what takes longer, and what predicts real behavior change beyond the month. 

What to listen to next:

E231: everything you need to know about withdrawal

E205: kindling in alcohol withdrawal

E240: post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS)

E247: Sober Sleep is the Best Sleep, But Not Right Away

E265: Rewiring the reward system after getting sober

Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible Course

https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

Work with me:


Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

 Weekly email:


You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:


If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered


Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stop doing the hardest part over and over again. In this episode, Casey, Suzanne and I discuss our advice for making sobriety stick and the mistakes we've observed people making over the years.

Connect with Casey: https://hellosomedaycoaching.com/

Connect with Suzanne: https://thesobermomlife.com/

Work with me:


Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

 Weekly email:


You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:


If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered


Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices