How I Stopped Drinking After Trying To Moderate | Michele’s Naked Life | EP 908

This Naked Mind Podcast

Annie Grace

Education, Self-improvement

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wondering how I stopped drinking after trying to moderate for years? "Have I got a story for you!" says Michele. She ran a business, raised her daughter, kept things moving — and drank every night in a relationship where no one questioned it. Then the pandemic stripped away her structure, her purpose, and everything that had kept things manageable. She tried cutting back. She tried understanding it. Nothing stuck — until This Naked Mind gave her something willpower alone never could: a real understanding of what alcohol was doing to her, and the freedom to simply stop wanting it. Michele and Coach Cole discuss: How a functional habit quietly grew through a painful breakup, pandemic isolation, and lost purpose Why Michele spent her first year using This Naked Mind while still trying to moderate — and what finally changed The hospitalization that became her line in the sand How This Naked Mind helped her understand what alcohol was actually doing to her body and brain How shame became the thing that made drinking impossible to continue Reframing her hardest moments as the reason her daughter now has a fully present mom ADHD, generational patterns, and why "why can I stop sometimes but not others?" finally has an answer And more on identity, community, and what it means to find your own path to alcohol freedom… Episode links: nakedmindpath.com Related Episodes: Is Drinking In Moderation Possible? | Reader Question | EP 08 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-08-reader-question-moderation-possible/ Using Alcohol To Treat Adult ADHD | Amy’s Naked Life | EP800 - https://thisnakedmind.com/using-alcohol-to-treat-adult-adhd-amys-naked-life-e800/ I use alcohol to be a better wife and mother | Reader Question | EP 238 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-238-reader-question-i-use-alcohol-to-be-a-better-wife-and-mother/ 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! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to This Naked Mind with Annie Grace.
0:12.6	Hey everybody. Welcome to The This Naked Mind podcast. I am Cole Harvey and today I'm filling in for Annie Grace.
0:22.9	Y'all get to listen in as we listen to Michelle tell her story around alcohol and her
0:28.7	journey with alcohol.
0:29.9	Hey, Michelle, welcome to the podcast.
0:32.5	What's up, Cole?
0:34.6	It's good to have you on.
0:36.2	Glad you can be here.
0:37.1	Why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself. Tell us have you on. Glad you can be here.
0:40.3	Why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself.
0:41.4	Tell us who you are.
0:44.6	And tell us about your journey with alcohol,
0:47.2	wherever you feel is appropriate to start.
0:48.1	All right.
0:48.7	Okay.
0:49.5	My name's Michelle.
1:00.4	And I grew up in a small town in Northern California. And I started drinking alcohol,
1:08.6	you know, really young. Probably I'm trying to think the time frames, but I was probably around 12. And I lived on a street with a bunch of other kids and so if we could
1:14.1	get our hands on something we would we would get our hands on it and I didn't really have much of a
1:19.2	liking for it. It made me feel like hot and uncomfortable and I didn't really like it honestly
1:26.5	and at the beginning of what I can remember.
1:29.1	And then it just was what I thought up until I became completely abstinent from alcohol,
	...

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