From Back Pain to Boundaries | Chuck’s Naked Life | EP 868

This Naked Mind Podcast

Annie Grace

Education, Self-improvement

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “If you felt what I feel, you’d drink too”? Chuck gets that. For years, a combination of work stress, long commutes, and intense back pain had him pouring more than he ever planned. Drinks became his “off switch” at the end of the day and then his go-to whenever his body flared. Eventually, the pain calmed down and the stressful job shifted, but the habit of drinking stuck around—which was the wake-up call he couldn’t ignore. In this episode, Chuck and Coach Cole talk through the messy, human side of quitting alcohol when you have chronic pain, including what happened when his back suddenly “went out” again after months alcohol-free. Chuck shares how appropriate medical care, a short course of prescribed meds, and a strong internal “I am not starting over” helped him stay off the bottle. You’ll hear how he rebuilt his routine around daily stretching, core strength, and even a zero-gravity nap, plus why music and creative hobbies feel better than any buzz. They also dig into boundaries—leaving family gatherings early, pushing back (diplomatically) at work, and deciding he no longer has to sit and absorb other people’s behavior to be polite. If you’ve ever wondered whether you can rebuild your life around what you love instead of avoiding what hurts, this conversation is for you. Coach Cole and Chuck discuss: Slipping from teenage partying into midlife self-medication with alcohol Realizing the job and pain changed, but the drinking stayed Navigating quitting alcohol when you have chronic pain Facing a second major back episode alcohol-free and nearly getting derailed Why alcohol never truly solves stress, family conflict, or health issues Using “walk away” as a valid backup plan at triggering gatherings And more… Episode links: www.alcoholexperiment.com Related Episodes: I’ve Used Wine to Numb Physical Pain | Reader Question | E196 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-196-i-used-wine-to-numb-physical-pain-now-without-it-my-quality-of-life-is-way-down-what-can-i-do/ Overcoming Using Alcohol as a Pain Reliever | Reader Question | E656 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-656-readers-question-overcoming-using-alcohol-as-a-pain-reliever/ Alcohol Doesn’t Relieve My Pain, It Steals My Joy | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E732 - https://thisnakedmind.com/alcohol-freedom-coaching-alcohol-doesnt-relieve-my-pain-it-steals-my-joy-ep-732/ Ready to take the next step on your journey? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious! Hungryroot: Get 40% off your first box + a free item for life at ⁠⁠https://www.hungryroot.com/mind Shopify:Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at ⁠⁠Shopify.com/mind⁠⁠ Quince:Go to ⁠⁠Quince.com/naked⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns BetterHelp:BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/nakedmind

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to This Naked Mind with Annie Grace.
0:14.5	Hey everybody and welcome to The This Naked Mind podcast.
0:17.8	I am Cole Harvey and I'm filling in for the amazing Annie Grace. And today we have Chuck
0:24.1	here to tell his story around his journey with alcohol. Hey, Chuck, how you doing today?
0:30.3	Pretty good. Thanks for asking, Cole. Yeah. Well, it's great to have you on. Thank you for being here.
0:35.0	Yeah, thanks for asking. Absolutely. So if you wouldn't mind just kind of
0:39.2	starting at the beginning with your time, your journey around alcohol and what that's been like for you.
0:47.2	Well, at this stage of my life, it seems like it's a very, very distant memory. I mean, I was, you know,
0:53.0	drinking excessively due to like work pressure. Then I hurt my back really. I mean, I was, you know, drinking excessively due to, like,
0:55.0	work pressure. Then I hurt my back really bad. And so I was drinking basically to self-medicate.
1:00.8	Once the pain went away and once the bad job went away, I still was stuck with that, you know,
1:05.5	that habit, if you were. I had it in my mind that I wanted to quit. So I did some research on the internet, and I found a video of Annie Grace, and she was talking about the alcohol experiment.
1:16.7	So I bought the alcohol experiment book and joined the site, you went through the videos each day, and you participated in, you know, blogging and talking to other people on the site.
1:27.7	Here it is to almost two and a half years later.
1:30.5	And, oof, yeah, it's left that in the dust.
1:34.4	So very great.
1:35.6	Yeah.
1:36.1	I'm really curious about how the, how alcohol just kind of took on this role in your life.
1:41.8	Was it something that was always there? Did it, I mean,
1:45.8	did you kind of, like, I grew up around it, you know? I didn't know. Was that something that was
1:51.9	there for you? Did you grow up around it? Or is it something that kind of started later on in life?
1:56.8	I mean, I did. It was kind of on and off. I mean, I was kind of a party animal as a teenager.
	...

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