Why I Stopped Drinking in My 30s—and Never Looked Back | Alicia’s Naked Life | E832

This Naked Mind Podcast

Annie Grace

Mental Health, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Am I too young to stop drinking? It’s the question Alicia couldn’t get out of her head when she started wondering if alcohol was doing more harm than good. She hadn’t hit rock bottom, wasn’t getting in trouble, and still loved going out with friends. But when alcohol began interfering with her ability to show up for her son—and echoing the same red flags she’d seen growing up—everything changed. In this raw and deeply relatable episode, Alicia joins Coach Cole to unpack what led her to say goodbye to alcohol in her 30s and how that decision reshaped her life as a mom, boss, and friend. In this episode, Alicia and Cole discuss: Growing up with generational alcoholism—and the impact it had on her mindset Asking the hard question: am I too young to stop drinking? Seeing the signs in her own life and choosing to break the cycle Why she stopped drinking even though she “didn’t have a problem” The moment she couldn’t drive to get her son—and what that revealed How her five-year-old’s words helped seal the deal Navigating alcohol culture in the restaurant industry Realizing moderation was taking up too much brain space Feeling isolated at first, but eventually regaining her social life The emotional wave that hit when someone spilled beer on her Why it’s okay to not feel okay sometimes—and what helped her through it The surprising joy of NA beer, football nights, and still having fun How posting about sobriety on Instagram sparked unexpected support Celebrating milestones and shifting relationships for the better Why sober culture is finally getting cooler—and how she’s part of that change And so much more… Related Episodes: Can someone in the service industry stay sober? - Reader Questions - E560 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-560-reader-question-can-someone-in-the-service-industry-stay-sober/ Non-Alcoholic Drinks: Are they okay? - Reader Questions - E64 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-64-reader-question-non-alcoholic-drinks-okay/ The Impact of Adult Drinking on Children - Emma’s Naked Life - E359 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-359-naked-life-story-emma/ 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! BetterHelp: Get 10% off your first month at ⁠⁠http://BetterHelp.com/NAKEDMIND|BetterHelp.com/NAKEDMIND⁠⁠ Quince: For your next trip, treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from Quince. Go to ⁠⁠http://Quince.com/naked|Quince.com/naked⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns Hungryroot: Get 40% off your first box + a free item for life at ⁠⁠http://Hungryroot.com/mind|Hungryroot.com/mind⁠⁠ with code mind Shopify: Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠http://Shopify.com/mind|Shopify.com/mind⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to This Naked Mind with Annie Grace.
0:14.4	Hey, everybody, and welcome to the This Naked Mind podcast. I am Cole Harvey, filling in for the amazing Annie Grace.
0:20.6	And today we have Alicia
0:22.2	with us to tell her story. Alicia, welcome. Thank you. Excited to be here. Yeah, it's great to have
0:28.6	you on. Yeah, how about you just take us back to the beginning with your story of your journey
0:33.8	with alcohol? Yeah, it's kind of chaotic, but I'm sure many people can relate.
0:39.1	My grandfather was super heavy alcoholic.
0:42.7	I used to drink at least a 12 pack of Budweiser a day.
0:47.3	I used to have a super close relationship with them.
0:49.4	That's my dad's parents.
0:51.0	And then as time went on, I just remember as a kid, like not going over there
0:54.7	anymore. And when you're a kid, you think he did something wrong. And as I got a little bit
1:00.0	older, you know, my mom explained to me that she didn't want us going over there because my
1:05.1	grandfather was an alcoholic. And I didn't know what that meant at that point. And she just,
1:10.1	you know, said that he just drinks a lot and I just don't want you to be around that.
1:14.2	He's not very nice when he drinks and we just don't want you to be around it.
1:18.5	And as a kid, that's your grandparents.
1:22.2	You know, you don't, you love them regardless.
1:25.0	And that was pretty, pretty earth-shattering back then. And you just
1:29.7	like automatically feel like it's your fault. What do we do wrong? How come we can't go over there and
1:33.7	see them? When I got to be about 16, my grandparents lived like one town over from us. And I was like,
1:41.3	I'm going to go see my grandparents. Like, I'm 16 years old. I have a car.
	...

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