The Not Drinking Alcohol Today Podcast
Meg and Bella discuss the ups and downs of navigating an alcohol free life in Australia's alcohol centric culture. This highly rated podcast, featuring in Australia's top 100 self improvement podcasts, is a must for those that are trying to drink less alcohol but need some motivation, are curious about sober life or who are sober but are looking for some extra reinforcement. The Not Drinking Alcohol Today pod provides an invaluable resource to keep you motivated and on track today and beyond. Meg and Bella's guests include neuroscientists, quit-lit authors, journalists, health experts, alcohol coaches and everyday people who have struggled with alcohol but have triumphed over it. Our aim is to support and inspire you to reach your goals to drink less or none at all! Meg and Bella are This Naked Mind Certified Coaches (plus nutritionists and counsellors respectively) who live in Sydney.
The Not Drinking Alcohol Today Podcast
A Sober Glow Up with Faye Hughes
What happens when we wake up one day and decide that self-destruction isn't serving us anymore? For Faye Hughes, that awakening came on a plane ride home from Dubai after a family wedding gone terribly wrong. The shame, guilt, and regret she felt became the catalyst for a Valentine's Day decision that would transform her life: choosing sobriety as the ultimate act of self-love.
From watching her parents throw alcohol-fueled parties to experiencing her first blackout at fifteen, Faye's relationship with alcohol was problematic from the start. Her family history of alcoholism foreshadowed her own struggles, as she moved through university, hospitality jobs, and eventually to Australia, where her drinking escalated without the watchful eyes of concerned family members. The weekend binges became her escape from a life she merely tolerated Monday through Friday.
But what makes Faye's story so compelling isn't just her decision to quit drinking – it's the profound self-discovery that followed. She learned that genuine self-love simply isn't possible when our emotions are constantly filtered through the shame and regret of drinking behaviors. By removing alcohol, she created space for self-compassion, breathwork, and nervous system regulation that transformed her relationship with herself and others. Her sticky notes of affirmation around the house might have seemed strange to her boyfriend, but they represented the active rewiring of neural pathways from self-criticism to self-support.
Now two and a half years sober and helping others through her 100-Day Sober Glow Up program, Faye emphasizes that sustainable sobriety requires more than just abstinence – it demands a fundamental reshaping of self-talk and self-care. The synchronicities and clarity she's experienced since quitting drinking continue to affirm her choice, as does the healing of relationships with family members who once couldn't bear to witness her drinking behavior.
Whether you're sober curious or well into your alcohol-free journey, this conversation offers both validation and practical wisdom for transforming your relationship with yourself. Listen now to discover how choosing yourself over alcohol might be the ultimate Valentine's gift you've been waiting for.
Faye's website: https://soberglowup.com/
Faye's insta: https://www.instagram.com/fayelouise_____/
MEG
Web: https://www.meganwebb.com.au/
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BELLA
Web: https://isabellaferguson.com.au
Insta: @alcoholcounsellorisabella
Bi-Yearly 6-Week Small Group Challenges: Learn more: https://www.isabellaferguson.com.au/feb-2025-challenge
Free Do I Have A Drinking Problem 3 x Video Series: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/JTFFgjJL/checkout
Free HOW DO I STOP DRINKING SO MUCH Masterclass: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/7fvkb3FF/checkout
Online Alcohol Self-Paced Course: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/fDzcyvWL/checkout...
Hey everyone and welcome to Not Drinking Today podcast. I'm very excited today to have a special guest, Faye Hughes. Faye is a UK girl who came out to Australia seven years ago and has gone from self-sabotage to self-love. Hey Faye, how are you doing? Hi?
Speaker 2:Meg, thank you so much for having me. I've been so excited for this podcast just because I love your podcast and I always recommend it on my Instagram and also to the girls in Sova Glow Up, so I've been so excited, thank you.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you so much as well. It's so good to have you here. Do you want to start by telling everyone a bit about yourself and how you got to where you are now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course. So I think I have to start at my childhood, because when I was younger I used to watch my mum and dad throw parties and I think then very early on, I got the association of alcohol equals fun, alcohol equals friends and, yeah, having lots of fun with friends. And me and my mum always talk about her drinking as well. It's very like my drinking. It was very problematic and I think I watched some of the states that my mum got herself into and for me when I started drinking, these states were just normal for me. It was really normal for me to go out, get blackout drunk.
Speaker 2:I remember one time I was only about 15 years old, I was working in a cafe and my manager took me out he must have been about 50 and apparently he dropped me off in his Porsche. I fell out of his car. My mum grabbed me. She rang my dad my mum and dad separated at this point and my dad had to come pick me up. He picked me and my brothers up and I remember waking up the next day thinking why on earth am I at my dad's house? And then my little brothers were like fuming they were only young fuming with me because we were at my dad's and we used to always end up being at my mum's instead. And then, yeah, then I went to college and I was using, like my cousin's ID going to places yeah, obviously under age. Then university, we were just talking about how a lot of my jobs and adolescence and, yeah, even as a new adult, it was in hospitality and a lot of drinking. Like one of the bars I used to work in Liverpool, I was encouraged to drink on shift. Like it's absolutely wild to think back. And then, when I graduated university, to celebrate I bought myself a one-way flight to Ibiza I don't think I need to explain too much about Ibiza. And then after that I thought, right, I'm gonna get a job. Um, because, yeah, I think I'm a bit sick of the hospitality life, drinking every day, waking up with the anxiety, the shame I've taxed this person, I've woke up with this person like it was just an absolute disaster.
Speaker 2:So I went and got my first graduate job and I felt a bit stuck. I'm not gonna lie, I felt really bored, like I was at a point where I was just living for the weekend then, like I couldn't go out during the week because it was a new job it was. It was quite hard and in the end, after spending my weeks, after spending my life just living for the weekend and like because I'd waited the whole week to go out, I was a bit extreme. Like there was no off switch so I'd go out on a Friday and like I wouldn't go home till a Sunday, like it was so, so bad. So then, yeah, I think just the mental health caught up to me. I was so fed up and again I booked another one way flight and came to Australia and, my God, my drinking wrapped up so much more.
Speaker 2:I think maybe because I was so used to like living with my mom and living with my brothers and at home I used to cause a lot of arguments over my drinking. So I felt like I was free, but I was still getting all of those calls from my mom saying, like Faye, you need to be careful with your drinking. I had even my nan on the phone saying that you need to be careful with drinking. Like aunts on the phone, like they're all telling me, like you need to be careful with your drinking. Because in our family that is like my granddad blessing past of alcoholism, like it's in our family, like we always talk about it, like it's known in our family, and we always think, oh, it's me next, so that was a well-known thing as well.
Speaker 2:And then, yeah, it just got to a point in Sydney that my mental health again was just in the pit, like I had no self-love, had no self-respect. I was always doing these stupid things that I would have never dreamed of doing, sober, and with that, like I had no confidence, it was just, it was awful. And then I met my partner five years ago and he at the start I'm not gonna lie, we did argue a little bit whilst we were drinking, and then we both came away from the party scene and he was doing like Ironman, ironman's in Australia the triathlons, marathons and honestly, meg, when I used to watch him do that, I just felt so inspired, he was so motivated, he had so much energy and I was thinking like I really want that, I do want that, but I was still like drinking a bottle of Prosecco, like on a Friday, saturday, sometimes even Sunday, because here, compared to the UK, like Sunday's still a big drinking day here, which I couldn't get my head around. So, yeah, I was drinking quite a lot and then in the end, just just watching him. I did take extended breaks, like three weeks, four weeks, but the final call for me when I decided enough is enough was I went on holiday.
Speaker 2:It was my cousin's wedding One of the first cousins in the family to get married and we flew to Dubai. I had a family from England, because most of my family are from England. I had a cousin from China, family from Canada. We were all over and we all came together to celebrate. And on that first night where I was meeting all my family I'll just go back one step. So on that plane I had this intention that this holiday because I'd just done three weeks sober, I was going to continue with my meditating, my journaling, my walking, my working out, because when you remove alcohol, my god, you feel amazing, you have so much energy. And yeah, on that plane I was like I'm gonna set the intention, I'm gonna carry on with all of my well-being activities and I'm gonna make memories with my mum and, honestly, that first night with the family, I do not remember a thing one minute. I was there.
Speaker 2:Next thing I woke up in bed and it was the hen do the next morning and my mum was waiting for me for like an hour and a half because I could not lift my head up from the pillow and, honestly, it was just. I wish I could tell you like that was the last day of drinking, but it wasn't. And yeah, the the final thing was the night after the wedding. So the wedding was quite difficult because and all of my pictures actually, you'll see me with a glass of prosecco and water, because I knew what my drinking was like. If I have one too many, that's it, like it's game over. I don't know what would happen. So the wedding was really difficult. But the final night I saw something that I wasn't I didn't like. I just didn't approve of what I saw. So I think it just gave me a bit of a backbone.
Speaker 2:I ended up being a bit too big for my boots and I ended up kicking off. It ended up all kicking off. My mum put me in a taxi. I didn't get to say goodbye to my stepdad, to my brothers, didn't get to say goodbye to my cousin who got married, my auntie's uncles, that was it. I got me in a taxi. I didn't get to say goodbye to my stepdad, to my brothers, didn't get to say goodbye to my cousin who got married, my aunties, uncles, that was it.
Speaker 2:I got put in a taxi and I got on that plane the next morning, flying back to Sydney. And I was just sitting on that plane just thinking what have I done? Like, what have I done? I did not spend much time with my mum because I was either in a blackout or I was hungover in bed and I made a mess of the last night like I was just hating myself. I absolutely hated myself. I was so embarrassed, I had so much shame, regret and guilt. Oh, it just killed me. So on that plane, I just thought right, enough is enough. If nothing changes, nothing changes. And that's when I decided to do six months of sobriety. And I did not know that day was Valentine's. So on that day I give myself the biggest act of self-love. And, yeah, that's how I'm here today, two and a half years sober.
Speaker 1:Amazing. I just love so much that it was Valentine's Day and that you know self-love is such a big part of this journey for you. So that was meant to be, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:Oh, it really was meant to be, and that's what I've noticed as well, like all of these things that have happened from sobriety. All these things, all these synchronicities, they're all happening for a reason. It's just incredible. I love this journey and we're more.
Speaker 1:I think because we're sober now as well, we're able to see the things. I love it, I absolutely love it. I think, yeah, just even just getting rid of the alcohol opens us up for those kind of synchronicities and things, just because we're not blocking it off and we are open and clear and all that kind of stuff. Such a difference, isn't it?
Speaker 2:open and clear and all that kind of stuff. Um, such a difference isn't it. It is, it is. And I just think you just said about like blocking life, like it really did block my potential. It blocked, oh, just definitely self-love, but it blocked relationships. Like, honestly, when I was drinking, the relationship that I had with my mom and my brothers. Like my brothers had me blocked on social media because they could not look at me, they couldn't listen to me whilst I was drinking. Oh it just we don't really see. Like when I was drinking I wouldn't have been able to see it, but now I have removed alcohol, I'm able to see all the things that it stopped me doing.
Speaker 1:And you see as well that like it wasn't me when I was drinking. A lot of people say the truth comes out when you're drinking. But I think everything went when I drank Like I didn't connect to myself. Obviously it wasn't my authentic self. I did things like you mentioned, that just weren't who I was and they weren't you know, and then I'd be like but I have values and morals. Yet when I'm drinking they kind of go out the window. Alcohol's pretty evil.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, it is, it really is. And do you know what I have a really funny story actually, like when I started drinking at like 15, exactly what you said like I was completely out of my values, I was out of my morals. I my mum and dad just split up as well and, to be honest, I think I did see it as a bit of an excuse to go off the rails, because I saw my half brother basically do the same thing and I thought I'll do the same. So I started drinking, but I also started smoking and I remember my mum got a phone call from one of my friend's mum and I was so angry but I was just embarrassed and I was just ashamed and my mum was heartbroken like she had. She didn't bring me up like that and when she told me off, I watched a film called Angus Thong's Perfect Snoggin.
Speaker 2:Have you watched it? I haven't, but I know I've heard of it. Oh my God, it's so good. So basically, in the film it's about this family and the daughter like does things wrong, like she ends up shaving her eyebrows, she like dyes her hair.
Speaker 2:And every time that I did get told off for my drinking, that film used to bring me back to my values. It used to make me feel like a good girl again because inside and I knew it I was lovely, like I was so close with my nan. I was such a nanny's girl. I used to stay at my nan's like every single Monday and go on a weekend. But then, like that girl who used to go to my nan's every Monday and weekend was so different to the girl who went out on a Friday and drank and didn't come home till Sunday, like, honestly, some of the things I remember.
Speaker 2:One time I brought I ended up getting, um, I beat up basically because I was being a bit gobby once when I was in England and yeah, I had to go to my nan's basically just to figure out what had happened and like all the stress I used to bring like my mom and my nan, it was awful. But yeah, just definitely I don't think that alcohol brings out the true you at all. I agree with you. It brings out not you at all, the worse you.
Speaker 1:Yep, exactly. And so how are your family feeling now that you're two and a half years alcohol free? They must be so happy.
Speaker 2:Oh, they are, and as well. See, my brothers both moved to Australia, I think about a year ago, maybe two years ago, and my little brother came and stayed with me at the store and he's not one to compliment but he told my mum he was like, wow, mum, you would not think Faye's the same girl. She's so content, she's calm and she wants to do everything for me. And like that was not me when I was drinking and like that little thing that he said that honestly meant so much. Because when I do look back, like I wasn't calm, I was so selfish at home, like I didn't help my mom, I didn't help anybody. All I wanted was to make sure I had enough time to get ready pre-drink and go out with my friends. Like that was my life. I was so selfish when I was drinking. So, yeah, my relationships, honestly, even with my mom, I think yeah, we did speak about this like the relationship with my mom now has just improved so much.
Speaker 2:I do remember when I was younger, when my mom was drinking, like I didn't like it. Um, like I've just said, like she also had quite a problematic relationship with alcohol, and then she did stop drinking when my mum and dad split up. She stopped drinking and, honestly, I loved her. Then I thought, wow, she is absolutely amazing. She's just really confident, like what empowered decision to um give up alcohol. But she did. I think she did six years and then she started drinking again. When she met my stepdad and her drinking it kind of like showed me as well what could happen to me in the future. But she had that six year break and then she started drinking again and it over time got worse and worse and worse and then I got sober after the holiday and six months later my mom got sober again and, honestly, the relationship that we have now we send each other podcasts, we send each other like sobriety audio books, like honestly, it's amazing, she'll send me like reels and like Facebook videos and we just have this gorgeous bond over alcohol now it's incredible.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good, that's so nice. But it's amazing, isn't it? I think people can get into that trap of having a break and thinking, well, I'll be fine now, and then discover that actually it can start off straight away as bad as it was, if not worse, and then get worse. Um, it's crazy, isn't it, how that happens? But it does it really does.
Speaker 2:And I think for me and a lot of girls that I speak with, I really wanted to be the girl who could moderate like I used to. It just felt really unfair, like some people could go out and have a drink, like not my family but most of my friends would be able to like maybe just have like one drink or two and then stop. And then for me, when I tried that, honestly it was just it was, it was game over this one time that I went out for face famous two drinks. I woke up the next day I like split my chin open, I cracked my teeth because I was playing wheelie bar racing, and the next day I was flying to Portugal with my sister and I moaned the whole holiday because I was in so much pain. I had carpet burn on my chin, like split my cracked teeth and I was just like the pain from the teeth. Oh, I was just moaning. Yeah, just for some people, even after having a break like you, just go back straight to it.
Speaker 1:Oh, totally. I had a break in 2018 for almost five months and then the and I I kind of knew I wasn't going to be able to moderate because I just knew I found no interest in one or two drinks, like that's not the reason I drank. But I went to my neighbors it was Valentine's Day, look at that and it was also my wedding anniversary and we were on the rocks and so I went over there and there were lots of people, it was warm, and I thought, oh, I'll just have a drink. And I had a bottle of wine. That was my first drink after five months off, like come on. And then it just got worse, like your mom and you know. It was just clear to me and there's no for me.
Speaker 1:I've done a podcast on it, actually the. You know why can't I be a normal drinker? And I realized that what I wanted, what that meant to me, was actually not one or two drinks. What normal drinker. What that meant to me was to be able to drink as much as I wanted with no consequence. That was my ideal. That's what I wanted. And then, when I looked around at people that were doing that, I realized there were consequences and the only difference is I decided to stop and they didn't. So I could, you know, we could drink, you know. So I just decided in the end I want to live my life and, interestingly, it's been a very big self-love journey for me. So I wanted to ask you about that as well, because that's a big part of your journey is the self-love. So how did you get from where you were to now having self-love?
Speaker 2:So I think, yeah, with my drinking, just the things that I was doing. Obviously, what alcohol does is it basically shuts off the prefrontal cortex, which is like your decision making. You're rationalizing. It is your impulse control, like when you're drinking, like you've got no control whatsoever, you'll do the stupidest things and just to wake up the next day. It's just that shame. But it's not just that. It was like I was spending all of my money at the bar and then leaving myself with like no money for food because I literally, when I was drinking, like all I was thinking about was, yeah, that alcohol, and like I didn't realize how much of an effect that also had, like having no money had on my well-being, like I didn't know the financial stress had so much negative impact on my well-being. And I think as well when you are like losing your phone that was a big thing that I used to do. I happened to replace the phone and like trying to connect your apple iCloud to a new phone, trying to remember your password, trying to do all your bank stuff and your memorable, but I said, oh my god, it was just so, so, so frustrating. And I think as well what used to happen when I was drinking was that I wouldn't do any of my self-care practices. So like I wouldn't go on a walk, I wouldn't go to the gym, I wouldn't do my meditating, my journaling and with that, like you're not able to build self-love when you're already feeling awful. Because I remember reading a book as well, because I knew when I was drinking I knew I had self, self-love. I used to go to all of these like self-love workshops, but like when I was drinking it didn't feel like it was doing that much. And then I found this book and it's called the the self-love workbook for women by Megan Logan, and I was reading it and it said you, it's, it's not, it's not possible to build self-love when you're constantly living in shame, guilt and regret. It's something like that and I was like, oh my God, that is my life. When I am drinking I live in shame, regret, and it's not a nice feeling at all to be living in. So, waking up the next morning looking at yourself and just thinking you are an absolute piece of shit, like look at the state of you, just thinking, oh my god, have I had an argument with my partner? Where did I leave my bag? What have I? Who have I upset now? So yeah, for me my self-love was just absolutely in the pit.
Speaker 2:But I think how I then started to work on it was the first thing that happened was I just realized how much time and energy and mental clarity I had. And with that I did start to read the self-love workbooks and one of the first things I found was self-compassion. And I did not really know what self-compassion was before sobriety, like I just thought, oh, it's just I don't know a buzzword or something to do with psychology. And then I was reading it and it's just like learn to be your best friend, learn to talk to yourself like you would to a best friend. And when you, when I removed alcohol, that actually became quite easy. Well, it was a bit of a journey, but it did feel quite easy because when I did remove alcohol, like it removed all the stupid things, like I I was, I wasn't feeling that that shameful, because I hadn't lost my phone the night before, hadn't spent all my money, like there was room to work on my, my self-love, my self-talk, self-compassion. So yeah, I think definitely it was just talking to myself in a nice way, accepting where I was. That was a big thing as well.
Speaker 2:And then from that was self-care learning to actually take care of myself.
Speaker 2:Because when I was drinking, like I'd always not do self care because, like alcohol was the priority, I'd rather go out and drink.
Speaker 2:And then obviously, when I was hungover, like that, it just didn't happen. So and self-care, I didn't realize like it wasn't just getting a bath, it wasn't putting a face mask on. I learned it was like nervous system regulation. I did not know anything again about that nervous system. So learning about the nervous system, realizing that I was actually stuck in a really dysregulated nervous system and I think for me I was drinking to numb this really busy mind, this really stressful state state and for me as well in my self-love journey is I came across breath work and just learning that I can regulate myself as simple with this, just the simple thing of my breath, and that was just an absolute game changer for me. And just realizing that when I am regulated I am going to be more kinder to myself, I am going to be able to and motivated to want to self-care, want to go for a walk, want to eat well and have a better sleep as well. Did I answer your question or did I just go on a complete odd tangent.
Speaker 1:No, no, you totally did and I love it all and I think breathwork is awesome, but also, like you mentioned, you know, starting by talking to yourself, how you talk to a friend, I do that. I use that in my coaching because there's so much, especially for drinkers. You know the negative self-talk. I know it's a human thing and people do it, but we wake up and blame and shame and guilt and it's just constant, isn't it? So? Being able to say, but how would you talk to a friend in that position or a loved one, just shows us how cruel we can be to ourselves.
Speaker 2:It is, but yeah, it really is. But I think, like you're saying, it can be really hard at the start. And for me, like I used to have sticky notes all over my house and my boyfriend just thought I was absolutely mad, but I used to have like sticky notes on my mirror just to remind me. Sticky notes in the bathroom, just to remind you. Sticky notes in the bathroom, just to remind you, because I think you get so used to that negative self-talk as well, even though you do remove the alcohol, like I did, continue with that negative self-talk.
Speaker 2:And then I think, for me, learning about the negativity bias, how we're created for survival we're not created to thrive and yeah, with the negativity bias, like we're going to be looking at the the negatives more. And then I found Dr Daniel Amen and he was talking about, um, positivity bias training and looking at the positives that are going. So, yeah, that's when I think I started to look at how I could go from being that inner mean girl to your inner hype girl and yeah, that was really helpful. But again, it's hard and you do have to remind yourself a lot.
Speaker 1:It is hard and you know it can start by just catching yourself when you can. Yes, Stopping turning it around, you know, but it's so ingrained that we don't notice. So when you do, it's like, oh, catch it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Try something different, yeah, and what I did as well was I used to put I actually have them still on my phone now reminders and it says, like I have one at quarter two every day and it's like give yourself a compliment. So that's when I give myself like a random compliment, but then I have other ones at like um, one o'clock, or like quarter past half past quarter two of like I am confident, I am calm, I am safe, and these affirmations like on repeat. If you're doing the same things, like the same ones. That definitely helped me as well with the self-talk, but it's, it's, it's difficult, but it it works.
Speaker 2:You can definitely rewire your pathways, which a lot of us I definitely didn't think I would be able to. For example, like when I used to get really stressed, like the first thing I wanted to reach for was like wine or Prosecco and I just thought, oh my god, forever that's all I'm going to be thinking, whereas now, after doing the work, when I have a bad day like I, literally all I want to do is put my pajamas on, have a shower, get into bed and do a little breathwork practice, whether it's just doing it with myself or whether it's going onto YouTube and putting in like a short breathwork or yoga nidra, and like it's amazing, you can change your neuro pathways.
Speaker 1:Totally. And it's interesting, isn't it? Because the alcohol's gone, stress hits different as well. It's just when I was in the cycle of drinking and drinking to relieve stress, everything stressed me. But now that I'm into the breath, work and I'm just naturally at a lower stress rate, higher calm rate, then it's so much easier to deal with it in a natural way. Yeah, because as soon as you stop drinking like for me my anxiety levels reduced. Yeah, I'm highly anxious Well, I was, but alcohol added to that like so much more anxiety. So then when I gave it up, I was like, oh gosh, I can get rid of half of it just from stopping drinking yeah, that's what I felt as well, like I'd say like 90% of my stress did go away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because most of the stress that was in my life was because of my drinking. It was because I lost my phone, or it was because I'd broke my phone and I'd like lost everything that was on my phone like files, pictures, everything, um arguments from drinking. Another thing as well and I listened to this on one of your podcasts was that with the binge drinking and with the anxiety like the more anxious I was drinking that day oh my goodness me, the worst state that I would get into. But I didn't realize this until after I stopped drinking. But like when I think about it all the time now, like the more anxious I was and stressed about that night out oh my God, the stupidest things would happen. It was awful.
Speaker 1:I agree, and I think you know I was very similar in that most of my stress came from the byproduct of drinking. Like I had arguments with my then husband or friends or whoever it might be, because I didn't know how not to react. I just reacted and then when I was drinking, I'd send stupid messages. You know the drill. But then when I stopped, it gave me space and clarity to respond rather than react and it just changed so much just in that. But yeah, alcohol was probably the main cause of my stress because, like you said, it was just it kind of got into everything and so such a relief, such a relief now.
Speaker 2:But oh, my god, yeah. And the thing is that I think I'm quite a high achiever and I had all of these goals and what I used to do was I used to give myself like this massive to-do list and it was like I was just giving myself more stress, like it didn't need to be that hard. But because I'd like set myself out to fail with all of these things by Friday, I felt so stressed out that I needed to have a drink and then because of that well, that drink it wasn't one drink, it's like two bottles, I'm not gonna lie the next day I couldn't look at that to-do list for the weekend. So then on Monday I would like compensate and I put even more on the to-do list and then it would just be the cycle and I would just stay in that stress and it was all because of alcohol.
Speaker 2:Like now, removed alcohol. I still sometimes give myself a to do big to do this, but not really. I'm like I'm very aware of what I give myself. Now I'm very like self. Self care and self-compassion is like a massive priority for me. So I don't give. I don't give myself is stressful to do this like, like you said, yeah, life, life is so much less stressful now without drink absolutely, and you have a program that you run.
Speaker 1:I do sober glow up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sober glow up in a hundred days. And I always get asked like why isn't it a 30-day program? And I just say, like you need to give yourself more than 30 days to embrace sobriety. Like I tried many times of doing like three weeks, one month, but what happened was after that one month, like I just wanted to celebrate with having a drink because I just got through it. Yeah, a hundred, a hundred days. I think that's the perfect time to learn how to navigate and embrace sobriety. And then also, the second part of Sober Glow Up is to work on your self-love, because if you are a drinker like myself, like your self-love as well, maybe in the pit. So I think it's so important to also work on your self-love along with sobriety.
Speaker 1:I think that's amazing and I definitely agree. I think self-love's at the base of so many things that we need to work on, so that sounds fantastic and I will put the details in the show notes, but do you want to just let people know? Is there a website or where they can find you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm also on Instagram. My Instagram is Faye Louise, with five underscores, and then my website is SoberGlowUpcom.
Speaker 1:Excellent. Thank you so much. Well, it has been really lovely to talk to you, really really nice, and I'm so happy for you know two and a half years and how well you're doing and helping other people is incredible. So thank you so much, faye, for being here.
Speaker 2:And thank you so much for having me, asama, I'm just so excited. Now I'm going to have to go on it. Well, I can't go on a run because I've got a broken ankle, but I've got so much energy now. Yeah, that conversation was beautiful. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you so much too. All right, I'll see you soon. Bye.
