You deserve a life without alcohol, so stop sabotaging yourself into thinking you don't.

I see this with some of my clients, and no doubt, I used to do this myself. And while alcohol isn't sabotaging my life anymore. There are still other thought patterns that creep in now and again that I know are preventing me from upleveling. 

A lot of the time, we don't even realize we're doing this. Our subconscious comes in and automatically reacts based on our past experiences, beliefs, and behaviors. The subconscious mind is a massive topic in itself, but here's what you need to know.

By the time you were 7 or 8 years old, you already had a solid foundation of belief based on all that programming from people in your life, television shows you watched, and other environmental influences. These got stored in your subconscious so that you're reacting based on previous experiences from childhood later in life.

Maybe your mom made you feel that you were...

The only thing guaranteed in life is UNCERTAINTY.

It's so funny how we talk ourselves out of doing something or making a change because it's not the "right time". Does this sound familiar?

I'll stop drinking when the kids are back in school full time.
I'll stop drinking when my birthday is over.
I'll stop drinking when (insert your favorite excuse).

As 2020 showed us, you can make a plan and set your goals, to-do lists, etc., and out of the blue, a wrench gets thrown into the mix, and your whole plan is gone.

Nothing in life is certain. We could have the greatest intentions, and then life happens. And some of these things are out of our control, which can make us even more frustrated.

You can be certain that you won't make life harder than it has to be by not drinking alcohol, though. Because we all know alcohol makes life harder. Whether it's the anxiety the next day, having no energy, overthinking what you said or did, staying stuck in the same old pattern, hating yourself, and the...

When you quit drinking, there's no more wasted mental energy going back and forth about how many glasses of wine you've had, keeping yourself in check, or justifying that next drink.

There's just living in the moment.

This is what life is about—living in the moment.

I was speaking with a mom yesterday on a 1:1 call. By the way, I get a lot of content from mothers I speak with to show you that you're not alone. Chances are, if they're struggling with a situation or thought, many of you out there are struggling with it too.

But anyway, I digress. We talked about how when you're not drinking, you're not constantly worried about how many drinks you've had or if someone is going to know that you're drunk or the going back and forth of having "just one more". All of that noise is EXHAUSTING.

Now that the option of drinking is taken off the table, she can truly live in the moment and be present for it all.

Some of you may be thinking, but I don't want to be present. I'm socially...

To the mother who questioned her relationship with alcohol this year.
To the mother who remained sober during one of the most chaotic years of our lifetime.
To the mother who slipped but still chose to keep trying.
I see you, and I'm SO proud of you.

SO proud of all of you; whether you have 1 day, 1000 days, or are still questioning what exactly your end goal is for alcohol, you deserve so much credit.

During one of the hardest years of our lifetime...

You CHOSE to look at alcohol differently and see that alcohol wasn't doing you any favors.

You CHOSE to deal with things head-on instead of mindlessly numbing out through a substance.

You CHOSE to find joy in the midst of chaos without alcohol.

I'm so damn proud of you all!

Wishing you all a safe and Alcohol-Free NYE!

(That's Martinelli's sparkling cider in that flute)

Xo,

Alyson (@alysonpremo)

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO JOIN THE 60 DAY ALCOHOL-FREE CHALLENGE! If you tried your best to get and stay alcohol-free during 2020 but just...

Why I believe setting an intention is better than a resolution

According to the dictionary, an intention is a thing intended; an aim, or a plan. Compare that to a resolution, which is a firm decision to do or not to do something.

You can see a resolution is more rigid, which can lead to that all or nothing mentality that many of us, especially those who struggle with substances, already have. So that thinking of...

"oh well, I slipped up, so I might as well drink the rest of the week or the month."
"I failed, so I might as well wait until 2022."

All these statements are allowing you the easy way out and a way to give up. Part of this is because when we set resolutions that are well-intended to improve our lives, we don't have a plan. Intentions involve planning. So let's take alcohol, for instance. Maybe you say you want to do #dryjanuary. That's all well-intended, but do you have a plan of how you're going to do it?

So often, we say I'm not going to drink, but there are no action...

You know you don't have to wait until January 1st to quit drinking, right?

Why do we keep waiting for the "perfect" time?

The beginning of the year.
The beginning of the month.
The beginning of the week.

In reality, the day that you decide to stop drinking DOES NOT matter. Maybe it's a psychological aspect to be lumped together with all the New Year's Revolutioners. Feeling like you have to do something worthwhile because everyone else around you is making their resolutions.

I hate to break it to you, but resolutions are pointless. Absolutely pointless. I've broken them. You've broken them, and pretty much every person on this planet has broken them.

Why does this happen? Because your motivation wanes and your willpower decreases, you're back to your same old patterns by February. Unless you actually COMMIT and surround yourself with others who are on a similar path to hold you accountable and you don't just white knuckle your way through. You actually learn tools you can use and...

Sobriety opened my eyes to all the things I was numbing out for so long. I finally took a long hard look at myself and the role I played in my addiction. I took responsibility for my actions and accepted that not everyone was out to get me.

I had to put the mirror in front of my face and acknowledge that I, too, had things I had to work through. I was no longer trapped in an alcohol-induced haze and going through the daily motions to get by. I became aware of my thoughts, and that right, there is the first step to behavior change and getting out of the toxic habits. Habits such as negative self-talk, people-pleasing, and running away from my issues instead of facing them head-on. That doesn't mean that I don't have these thoughts still. It just means I know to cut them off and reframe them.

This phrase also has another meaning for me. It means questioning the things and systems around us. For example, how Big Alcohol markets to mothers and how they use the stress of motherhood to...

Happy Winter Solstice!

For those of us who use alcohol to cope, we are hiding our darkness.

Why do we spend so much time suppressing and hiding our darkness? Because when negative emotions come up, they're inconvenient, uncomfortable, or worse, we make ourselves wrong for feeling them.

When we fear our own darkness, we cut ourselves off from an essential source of our own personal power. The key is not to let the darkness overwhelm our lives and our thoughts but to understand that darkness can be one of the greatest catalysts for personal growth and transformation.

2020 may have brought up a lot of darkness for all of us, but there is no light without the darkness. There are lessons to be learned from 2020. And one of those lessons is you are stronger than you realize. Stronger than you may give yourself credit for. You made it through a traumatic year. You're still here breathing, and that's what matters.

What have you learned from 2020?
What is something you want to let go of...

Are you going to keep following the crowd, or are you ready to listen to what you know is slowly killing your soul?

Stop resisting what you already know, and do something about it! The 60 Day Alcohol-Free Challenge is a great way to actually show yourself that an alcohol-free life is way better than drinking the one life we have away.

Give yourself a chance to see for yourself how strong and capable you truly are.

Give yourself a chance to see what you're truly passionate about.

Give yourself a chance to find the pure joy in life. Not the fake joy that comes from a bottle.

Give yourself a chance at a longer and healthier life not only for you but for your kids.

One day alcohol will catch up to you, and you'll see the damage it's done - to your physical health, your mental health, and your relationships with your kids.

Most importantly, don't you want to do something with this one life we get. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? A legacy that involves drinking? Or a...

Instead of asking yourself whether your drinking isn't as bad as other people's or you aren't drinking in the morning, you should be asking yourself whether alcohol is having a negative impact on your life.

Instead of comparing how much you drink to someone else or the fact that you don't drink in the morning, you should be asking yourself whether alcohol is having a negative impact on your life.

There are many types of problem drinkers, and comparing yourself to others doesn't do you any favors. When asking how much alcohol is too much, the most important consideration should be how alcohol affects your life.

I know most of us have been conditioned to believe that unless you drink out of a brown paper bag or start drinking as soon as you wake up in the morning, you don't have a problem with alcohol. The thing is, we shouldn't be comparing our journey to anyone else's or what society perceives as having an alcohol problem. If you feel that alcohol is having a negative impact on your...