Colin (00:00:08):
Hi, welcome to Sober Banter.

Rachel (00:00:10):
My name is Rachel and I'm one of your hosts.

Colin (00:00:12):
And I am Colin.

Colin (00:00:13):
I am the other host.

Rachel (00:00:14):
We are Sober Banter.

Rachel (00:00:16):
We are a new sobriety podcast and we are gearing up for the Sober October.

Rachel (00:00:23):
So if you're listening to this and you're interested in doing Sober October,

Rachel (00:00:27):
we have good news because we plan to put out a daily episode to help those who are

Rachel (00:00:33):
navigating Sober October.

Rachel (00:00:35):
What advice do you have for someone who's about to do Sober October for the first time?

Colin (00:00:40):
I would tell you not to take it too seriously because you don't want to set higher

Colin (00:00:47):
expectations or put so much pressure on yourself that you're completely miserable

Colin (00:00:54):
or if you do slip up,

Colin (00:00:56):
you feel like it's the end of the world.

Colin (00:00:58):
It's okay.

Rachel (00:00:59):
I would even say when people have, at least it works for me,

Rachel (00:01:05):
If you saw someone post that they were doing Sober October,

Rachel (00:01:09):
even for you saw the example I told my parents and they came over on the 5th and I

Rachel (00:01:13):
was drinking.

Rachel (00:01:14):
Did they like scold me?

Colin (00:01:15):
No, but they probably talk shit afterward.

Rachel (00:01:18):
Thank you.

Rachel (00:01:19):
No,

Rachel (00:01:19):
I'm saying think about what you would say to a friend if you saw them post on

Rachel (00:01:24):
Facebook and then five days later,

Rachel (00:01:26):
the weekend comes and they're drinking.

Rachel (00:01:28):
Are you sitting there judging them and thinking that person's like an alcoholic?

Rachel (00:01:33):
They probably have a problem.

Rachel (00:01:34):
No.

Rachel (00:01:35):
And the fear of what people are going to think about you,

Rachel (00:01:38):
you're probably thinking it 10 times worse than what it actually is.

Rachel (00:01:41):
And if it's blowing up to that big of a problem in your head, it might be a problem.

Colin (00:01:46):
Yeah, I think what we as individuals don't understand is that other people don't care.

Colin (00:01:54):
Don't care at all.

Colin (00:01:55):
No.

Rachel (00:01:56):
And the cool thing,

Rachel (00:01:58):
and I'm not encouraging necessarily anyone to go on social media,

Rachel (00:02:02):
but at least like an accountability buddy.

Rachel (00:02:04):
I was shocked when I put that I was getting sober on Facebook, Instagram.

Rachel (00:02:11):
The amount of other people that were also getting sober,

Rachel (00:02:15):
newly sober,

Rachel (00:02:16):
had been sober,

Rachel (00:02:17):
I was shocked.

Rachel (00:02:19):
There is so much more support.

Colin (00:02:21):
There's a big group out there, yeah.

Rachel (00:02:23):
And you might not know who that they were or are,

Rachel (00:02:27):
but I got reached out by a lot of people that,

Rachel (00:02:31):
oh,

Rachel (00:02:31):
yeah,

Rachel (00:02:31):
I've been sober now for a couple months or,

Rachel (00:02:34):
oh,

Rachel (00:02:34):
I've been sober for years.

Rachel (00:02:35):
I was like, and we used to drink together.

Rachel (00:02:37):
And I never thought that I'd hear them say they were sober.

Rachel (00:02:41):
And it was really cool.

Rachel (00:02:43):
And it sparks this... It's cool to have connections with other people that are sober.

Rachel (00:02:49):
Doing it alone is not...

Colin (00:02:51):
If you are doing it alone,

Colin (00:02:53):
though,

Colin (00:02:53):
I would suggest,

Colin (00:02:54):
say,

Colin (00:02:55):
for me...

Rachel (00:02:56):
Maybe journaling,

Rachel (00:02:57):
at least,

Rachel (00:02:57):
to get it out.

Colin (00:02:57):
You could journal it,

Colin (00:02:58):
or if you like to work out,

Colin (00:03:00):
or if you play a sport,

Colin (00:03:01):
like I played tennis,

Colin (00:03:03):
it was fun the months that we did do the 30-30 health thing,

Colin (00:03:07):
or...

Colin (00:03:08):
Full 30,

Colin (00:03:08):
yeah.

Colin (00:03:09):
Full 30, or the other Sober Octobers.

Colin (00:03:11):
I could see progress...

Colin (00:03:13):
And like me working out or playing tennis that I wasn't dripping with sweat all the time.

Colin (00:03:19):
I could actually last longer.

Colin (00:03:21):
I could last longer just playing, rallying, hitting.

Colin (00:03:25):
And I wasn't getting as tired as fast.

Colin (00:03:27):
I wasn't getting exhausted as fast.

Colin (00:03:29):
I didn't feel like crap afterwards.

Colin (00:03:31):
You leave your workout and you're ready to go for the day.

Colin (00:03:34):
And you're like, all right, what else?

Colin (00:03:35):
What else are we doing?

Rachel (00:03:37):
You don't realize how much alcohol can just drain.

Rachel (00:03:41):
It's this misconception that it fuels you.

Rachel (00:03:43):
It makes you dehydrated.

Rachel (00:03:47):
It's literally alcohol.

Rachel (00:03:51):
I still cannot believe that there is a movement to combat.

Colin (00:03:56):
It's not people.

Colin (00:03:57):
It's one Karen.

Colin (00:03:58):
And we all know what Karen's due to the world.

Rachel (00:04:01):
Stop saying that.

Rachel (00:04:02):
And I don't associate the name Karen with... Bitches.

Rachel (00:04:07):
Stop it.

Rachel (00:04:08):
And overall, there are going to be ups and downs in any part of your life.

Rachel (00:04:14):
It's not just October.

Rachel (00:04:16):
It's not just dry January.

Rachel (00:04:17):
You can start whenever.

Rachel (00:04:18):
You can quit whenever.

Rachel (00:04:19):
I always have the,

Rachel (00:04:21):
for when I went back to school,

Rachel (00:04:23):
which I thought I was just never going to get a college degree.

Rachel (00:04:26):
I didn't think it was in the cards for me.

Rachel (00:04:27):
I didn't think I was smart enough.

Rachel (00:04:28):
I thought I threw my life away in the service industry and I didn't want to be that

Rachel (00:04:33):
old person in college.

Rachel (00:04:36):
And now I have that F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Rachel (00:04:39):
You can start whenever.

Rachel (00:04:41):
And that's true for evaluating your relationship with drinking.

Rachel (00:04:46):
If you see this post or you hear this episode on October 5th, start on October 5th.

Rachel (00:04:51):
It's not a big deal.

Rachel (00:04:52):
No one's going to judge you.

Rachel (00:04:54):
No one's going to be like,

Colin (00:04:55):
You have to wait till next year.

Rachel (00:04:59):
I think that the takeaway for our focus of Sober October on this Sober Banter

Rachel (00:05:06):
podcast is to reevaluate the relationship you have in a life without alcohol.

Rachel (00:05:12):
And it is so much more fun.

Rachel (00:05:15):
At first, it might be hard, especially if you're going through detox.

Rachel (00:05:17):
Do not hesitate to go to a hospital if you start having, if you are a super heavy drinker.

Rachel (00:05:23):
Do not try to do so for October alone, please.

Rachel (00:05:26):
Like more people die from alcohol withdrawals than you would imagine.

Rachel (00:05:30):
And if you're a heavy drinker, you'll know.

Colin (00:05:33):
One of those commercials for medicine that says,

Colin (00:05:36):
please consult a doctor before trying,

Colin (00:05:38):
blah,

Colin (00:05:38):
blah,

Colin (00:05:38):
blah,

Colin (00:05:39):
blah.

Colin (00:05:39):
So maybe consult your doctor.

Rachel (00:05:41):
So Colin also brought up a really good point,

Rachel (00:05:44):
too,

Rachel (00:05:44):
is if you are as heavy of a drinker as I was,

Rachel (00:05:47):
like where you're drinking like handles a day,

Rachel (00:05:50):
I mean over 10 drinks in a day,

Rachel (00:05:52):
finding a substitution is a great idea because I didn't realize how much time I got

Rachel (00:05:59):
back when I stopped drinking for

Rachel (00:06:01):
And it's very easy to substitute addictions.

Rachel (00:06:04):
So switching to weed,

Rachel (00:06:07):
it's probably not a good idea if you're like,

Rachel (00:06:09):
oh,

Rachel (00:06:09):
I'm just going to give alcohol and I'm just going to because then you will just go

Rachel (00:06:11):
full time.

Colin (00:06:12):
You're going to be addicted to some exercise,

Rachel (00:06:15):
but that can get something,

Rachel (00:06:18):
some sort of hobby that you can put the seven hours you'll probably gain back.

Colin (00:06:24):
Yeah.

Colin (00:06:24):
Start a Pinterest account.

Rachel (00:06:25):
Start a Pinterest account.

Rachel (00:06:28):
I'll do something.

Rachel (00:06:29):
Anyways.

Rachel (00:06:30):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:06:30):
And then they're also saying is.

Colin (00:06:32):
Is not drinking really healthy.

Rachel (00:06:35):
Is Sober October the new dry January?

Rachel (00:06:38):
And no, I think that they're both great.

Colin (00:06:41):
I said bake.

Colin (00:06:41):
That's a dyslexia.

Colin (00:06:42):
It's clickbait.

Rachel (00:06:43):
So Sober October, what it is and how to partake.

Rachel (00:06:47):
It's a challenge.

Rachel (00:06:49):
And what year it began?

Colin (00:06:50):
What year?

Colin (00:06:51):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:06:51):
Yeah, it's 2014.

Rachel (00:06:53):
So this is the 10th anniversary of Sober October that was started in the UK.

Rachel (00:06:57):
So 10 years ago.

Rachel (00:06:58):
Yes.

Rachel (00:06:59):
And some of the health benefits that they clued in this article,

Rachel (00:07:02):
which is in Country Yard Townhouse.

Colin (00:07:05):
My favorite magazine.

Rachel (00:07:07):
Stop it.

Rachel (00:07:08):
Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it dehydrates us.

Rachel (00:07:11):
So overall, you'll get healthier skin.

Rachel (00:07:13):
Even just one week off of booze,

Rachel (00:07:15):
you can expect to have more hydrated skin and it will reduce the redness in your

Rachel (00:07:19):
face.

Rachel (00:07:20):
In a month,

Rachel (00:07:21):
you can expect even more improvement with a brighter complexion and bloating will

Rachel (00:07:26):
be reduced.

Rachel (00:07:27):
Cool.

Rachel (00:07:27):
Better sleep.

Rachel (00:07:28):
Drinking alcohol might help some to get sleep, but it does not give you a restful sleep.

Rachel (00:07:34):
You spend less time in a deep sleep when you have alcohol in your body.

Rachel (00:07:38):
And that was according to the CEO of Alcohol Change.

Rachel (00:07:42):
The other month,

Rachel (00:07:44):
it can bring a lot of mental health benefits to people feel a reduction in anxiety,

Rachel (00:07:49):
stress and depression overall.

Colin (00:07:52):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:07:53):
So it said tips stock up on alternative drinks.

Rachel (00:07:57):
So like sodas, sparkling waters, Topo Chico.

Colin (00:08:00):
Yeah.

Colin (00:08:01):
I thought I heard somewhere that root beer,

Colin (00:08:03):
one of the reasons that exists was to help people get off actual beer,

Colin (00:08:07):
hence the name root beer.

Colin (00:08:09):
And even though it doesn't have any caffeine,

Colin (00:08:11):
it has tons of sugar,

Colin (00:08:12):
which is what a lot of people who stop drinking alcohol,

Colin (00:08:15):
they move to things with lots of sugar because alcohol turns into sugar,

Colin (00:08:20):
right?

Colin (00:08:20):
So you end up craving sugar.

Colin (00:08:21):
But apparently root beer, one of the reasons for it was for getting off alcohol.

Rachel (00:08:26):
I wonder how many brands of root beers there are.

Colin (00:08:28):
This could just be me just shooting out like complete nonsense that I picked up

Colin (00:08:33):
over the radio that has no truth to it at all.

Rachel (00:08:37):
Well, why don't you look it up and you'll bring it to the next episode?

Colin (00:08:39):
Yeah, but it sounded somewhat interesting and factual.

Rachel (00:08:43):
Yeah.

Colin (00:08:44):
Stock up on IBC root beer.

Rachel (00:08:45):
I was going to say we should try like different kinds of root beer.

Rachel (00:08:47):
But also small chocolates are a good one.

Rachel (00:08:50):
I had chocolates in my drawer during the first couple months of getting sober,

Rachel (00:08:55):
especially at night.

Rachel (00:08:59):
There's something about chocolate, like pure, like either milk or dark chocolate.

Rachel (00:09:02):
It can help satisfy a craving.

Rachel (00:09:05):
It says on day one, which maybe we can do this on a live, this October 1st.

Colin (00:09:10):
Yeah, that's this Tuesday, right?

Rachel (00:09:12):
Write down our reasons.

Rachel (00:09:14):
We're going to write down reasons for personal motivations of why we want to do the

Rachel (00:09:20):
Sober October.

Rachel (00:09:21):
And because we're already sober, we will say it's to help the next person who's getting sober.

Rachel (00:09:25):
And I will probably we can reflect on what we had reasons for when we did get sober

Rachel (00:09:32):
in the first place.

Rachel (00:09:33):
But starting to think of what is your list going to look like?

Rachel (00:09:36):
What having a reminder of your why is very helpful, especially when emergencies happen.

Colin (00:09:43):
Yeah, it might be something you put on the mirror in your bathroom so you see it every day.

Rachel (00:09:47):
Maybe.

Rachel (00:09:48):
Or just if you have a stressful work event,

Rachel (00:09:53):
going and looking at that,

Rachel (00:09:54):
reminding yourself of your why can be very powerful.

Rachel (00:09:57):
Also doing maybe a treat yourself at the end.

Colin (00:09:59):
Treat yourself.

Rachel (00:10:00):
It says you've made it through the entire month.

Rachel (00:10:03):
You've now saved money.

Rachel (00:10:04):
Maybe having a book of massage or go do your spa day.

Colin (00:10:08):
Treat yourself.

Rachel (00:10:09):
Whatever you want to do.

Rachel (00:10:10):
Or go on, it says, go on a trip.

Rachel (00:10:13):
Go out of town at the end of the month.

Rachel (00:10:15):
And you can enjoy some of the things that won't pressure your drinking because you

Rachel (00:10:20):
now have this new relationship with alcohol.

Rachel (00:10:22):
And maybe that means no relationship.

Rachel (00:10:24):
Maybe that means a better relationship.

Rachel (00:10:26):
I mean, there's either way.

Rachel (00:10:28):
This is a great way to just, again, not judge.

Rachel (00:10:33):
It's just to identify the pros or cons.

Rachel (00:10:37):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:10:37):
And maybe we can like if people are interested and they comment, I wish people commented more.

Rachel (00:10:43):
Maybe we could do a non-alcoholic drink of the day for each day of Sober October.

Colin (00:10:48):
Maybe people aren't commenting because they want to be anonymous.

Rachel (00:10:53):
Probably.

Rachel (00:10:53):
They probably do.

Colin (00:10:55):
Can you send in a comment anonymously?

Rachel (00:10:58):
Yes.

Colin (00:10:59):
Oh, OK.

Rachel (00:11:00):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:11:00):
Remember in my first meeting, I said my name was Cinderella.

Colin (00:11:03):
I can't remember.

Rachel (00:11:04):
I thought you chickened out and you... I said I was going to lie, but the topic was honesty.

Rachel (00:11:09):
And I was like,

Rachel (00:11:09):
I told you in the car as we were walking,

Rachel (00:11:11):
I'm like,

Rachel (00:11:12):
I'm not going to say my name.

Colin (00:11:12):
Yeah, but in meeting room, they do the names before the topic.

Rachel (00:11:16):
But we didn't do names.

Rachel (00:11:17):
It was too big of a meeting that they didn't do the introduce your names.

Rachel (00:11:21):
No, we didn't.

Rachel (00:11:22):
I promise.

Rachel (00:11:22):
I remember that very strongly.

Rachel (00:11:24):
Yeah.

Colin (00:11:24):
I mean,

Colin (00:11:25):
technically,

Colin (00:11:25):
you were a couple hours more sober than I was,

Colin (00:11:28):
so I guess I'd have to take your word for it.

Rachel (00:11:30):
Because Teddy chaired the meeting.

Colin (00:11:31):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:11:32):
Do you remember that?

Rachel (00:11:33):
Yeah.

Rachel (00:11:34):
Okay.

Rachel (00:11:34):
Sorry.

Rachel (00:11:35):
His name's Teddy Bear, so.

Colin (00:11:37):
Anonymous.

Rachel (00:11:38):
That's what I said.

Rachel (00:11:39):
It's not even his real name.

Rachel (00:11:40):
God, I could just imagine what he would act like if I tell him, we're doing a podcast.

Rachel (00:11:43):
Like, I can just hear, like, he'd be like, oh, my God.

Rachel (00:11:48):
He would be the best person to have on the show.

Colin (00:11:50):
First, you don't like it because you're like, get him away from me.

Rachel (00:11:55):
This person cannot be sober if they're that happy.

Colin (00:11:57):
And then he becomes your best friend.

Colin (00:11:59):
Yeah, that's true.

Colin (00:12:01):
That was great.

Colin (00:12:03):
Thank you for bringing that to the forefront.

Rachel (00:12:05):
Yeah, and soberbanter.com if you want to check us out for some more.

Rachel (00:12:10):
Any Venmo donations or any tips, whatever, is appreciated.

Rachel (00:12:14):
I know my husband is going to roll his eyes.

Colin (00:12:16):
Just panhandling.

Rachel (00:12:18):
It's not panhandling.

Rachel (00:12:19):
This is a lot of work.

Rachel (00:12:20):
This equipment's very expensive.

Rachel (00:12:21):
And to be able to produce episodes every day is going to just take a little more effort.

Colin (00:12:27):
See, when you don't pay money for alcohol, this is all the stuff you can buy.

Rachel (00:12:31):
Thank you for listening to Sober Banter.

Colin (00:12:33):
My name is Colin Casey.

Rachel (00:12:36):
My name is Rachel.

Colin (00:12:37):
And this was Sober Banter.

Rachel (00:12:39):
Thank you for listening, and we hope you have a great rest of your day.

Colin (00:12:42):
Goodbye.

Rachel (00:12:43):
Please follow, subscribe for more.

Colin (00:12:46):
Goodbye.

Rachel (00:12:47):
Goodbye.

Rachel (00:12:47):
How many?