Giving up alcohol in her twenties felt impossible for VIc.

Back then, drinking wasn’t just normal, it was the entire social structure. Nights out, friendships, dating, coping with stress, it all seemed to revolve around booze. So when someone decides to step away from it early, without a dramatic rock bottom or life implosion, it raises an interesting question..... Is something changing?

In this episode, Vic sits down with Sean, 28 and one year sober, who realised early on that alcohol wasn’t actually adding much to his life.

What started as very social drinking slowly crept into something else. Sean would finish a night out, grab a bag of cans on the way home, and carry on drinking alone. Before long, it was completely out of control. The pints were adding up. His mates noticed. His parents were worried. His girlfriend eventually gave him an ultimatum.

But after facing the truth about where his “normal” drinking was heading, Sean made a change.

Now, sober alongside his partner, he represents a growing shift we’re seeing in younger generations choosing clarity, mental health and self-trust over hangovers and hazy weekends.

Together they talk about what it’s really like to quit while your friends are still deep in drinking culture, whether younger people are genuinely drinking less, and what you gain when you stop before alcohol has decades to dig its claws in.

This conversation isn’t about regret or doing things “perfectly”.

It’s about curiosity, culture shifts, and the quiet bravery of opting out sooner rather than later.

Whether you’re questioning your own drinking at 23 or reflecting back at 43, this one might make you think.

You can listen to Sean's band and find out more @conflictmanagerband

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Awkward questions. Clumsy confessions. Zero judgement.

Welcome to The Share Shed, the corner of Sober Awkward where we fling open the doors, air out the embarrassing bits, and finally stop carrying the stories that have been rattling around in our heads for years.

These are your questions and confessions. The ones you’ve never said out loud. The nights you still cringe about in the shower. The moments that pop into your brain at 3am and make you want to crawl into the mattress. Traffic cones, family parties, one-night stands, run-ins with the police, bins, balconies, and that one thing everyone remembers even though you desperately wish they wouldn’t.

Some are funny. Some are painful. Most are both.

In The Share Shed, listeners write in anonymously to share their drinking stories, shame spirals, and “why am I still thinking about this?” moments. We read them out, laugh where we can, get honest where it hurts, and gently unpack how shame sticks around long after the booze has gone, and how to finally loosen its grip.

This isn’t about reliving the chaos.

It’s about letting it go.

Because shame thrives in silence, and nothing deflates it faster than saying, “This happened to me too.” Whether you’re sober, sober-curious, or just questioning your relationship with alcohol, this is a place where you don’t have to be polished, healed, or have it all figured out.

Just human.

If you’ve got a story you’re sick of carrying, a question you’re scared to ask, or a drunken ghost you’d quite like evicted from your brain, send it in. We’ll tuck it safely away in the Share Shed where it belongs, instead of letting it haunt you forever.

New Share Shed episodes drop Thursdays.

Come as you are.

Leave a little lighter.

Share your story to [email protected]

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic is showing up having one of those weeks. You know the kind. Life is busy, emotions are bubbling, and she’s caught herself saying “Yeah, I’m fine” on autopilot, while secretly wanting to hide under a duvet and avoid everyone. Which, honestly, feels like the perfect moment to talk about… feelings.

Today, Vic unpacks why sobriety can suddenly turn the emotional volume right up. Years of numbing everything with alcohol means that when you stop drinking, you don’t just get clarity, you get everything. Old feelings, new feelings, confusing feelings, all turning up at once with no warning and absolutely no chill.

She’s joined by her mate Kate, who Vic met on a Sober Awkward retreat, and together they talk honestly about what it’s like when the emotional floodgates open. They chat about learning how to sit with difficult headspaces without leaning on a drink, how bottled-up emotions can spill out sideways, and why avoidance often ends in drama, arguments… and sometimes even a bit of fisty cuffs in a tent on the Isle of Wight. Yes, really. You’ll want to hear that story.

This episode is for anyone who’s sober and wondering why they suddenly feel so much, anyone who’s navigating emotions without their old coping mechanisms, and anyone who needs reminding that feeling everything doesn’t mean you’re failing, it means you’re healing.

Pop the kettle on... It's time to get uncomfortable.

Follow Kate at @detoxikated on Insta

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Share Shed — a judgement-free corner of Sober Awkward where we gently drag our most awkward drinking stories into the daylight and finally let them go.

This is the place for the questions you’ve never asked out loud and the moments you still remember at 3am when your brain decides to replay your greatest hits of humiliation. Family parties that went wildly off-piste. Traffic cones worn as hats. One night stands you wish had stayed one night. Messages sent. Bins vomited in. Questionable run-ins with the police. You know the ones.

Each week, listeners send in their awkward questions and clumsy confessions, anonymously if they like, and Vic reads them out, unpacks the shame, adds some perspective, and helps you understand why these memories stick around — and how to stop them haunting you.

This isn’t about glorifying drinking or wallowing in regret. It’s about understanding shame, normalising messy human behaviour, and reminding you that you are not broken, bad, or alone — you were just drinking in a culture that told you this was normal.

If you’ve ever wondered how to move past embarrassment, why certain memories still sting even years later, or whether anyone else has done something that bad (spoiler: yes), The Share Shed is for you.

Send your awkward questions and clumsy confessions to [email protected], and let’s tuck those drunken ghosts safely away — where they belong.

Kettle on. Share shed open. Let's get a little bit awkward....

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should you ask your partner to quit drinking just because you have? Or could that actually make things worse?

In this episode of Sober Awkward, Vic explores why telling the people you love to give up booze can backfire, and why quietly showing them what sobriety looks like is often far more powerful. From awkward dinner tables to partners who still drink, Vic talks honestly about support, resentment, boundaries, and why influence beats control every time.

Inspired by a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills binge on a long-haul flight (purely for research), Vic unpacks how normalised alcohol is, how invisible the sober struggle can feel, and why “I don’t have a problem” is often more complicated than it sounds.

Vic is also joined by her husband John, who shares why he eventually chose to quit drinking himself, not because he was asked to, but because he watched sobriety change the person he loved. Together they talk about support, safety, curiosity, and how relationships can evolve when alcohol is taken out of the equation.

This episode is for anyone navigating sobriety alongside partners, friends, or family who still drink, and for anyone learning how to protect their peace without nagging, lecturing, or explaining themselves to death.

Pop the kettle on.

Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is show them, not tell them.

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!

Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.

Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insight or encouragement just when you need it.

Think of it as a midweek check-in. Something bite-sized to walk with, laugh at, or quietly reflect on. And if the clip hits home? You can go back and listen to the full episode anytime – just follow the link in the show notes.

We know one episode a week isn’t always enough – so here’s your extra helping of honesty, humour, and a bit of awkwardness to get you through the week.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here → https://open.spotify.com/episode/01qerbGnoh2JTsdckkgpOW?si=_EWE-4L-RVa3v4SPwzlGiw

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 3 and a half magical and hilarious years, the time has finally come for Hame to step away from the podcast. In this incredibly blubbery, soppy, sad and reflective episode Vic and Hame look back at what they have learnt from their time together.

They explore what they have learnt from the podcast and what they hope the listeners can learn too. Hame reveals his reasons for having made this decision (and not its not that him and Vic have had an argument or that he had a mad 20 pint blow-out and doesn't want to lie to you all!).

Most importantly, they plan out what will happen to the podcast post-Hame and don't worry - the show must go on!

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!

Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.

Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insight or encouragement just when you need it.

Think of it as a midweek check-in. Something bite-sized to walk with, laugh at, or quietly reflect on. And if the clip hits home? You can go back and listen to the full episode anytime – just follow the link in the show notes.

We know one episode a week isn’t always enough – so here’s your extra helping of honesty, humour, and a bit of awkwardness to get you through the week.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here → https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Ie6MZ59JWpKMUuxGnHnqq?si=euqBXHB4REueqt5AgIRhtQ

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when midlife hits… and you’re already sober?

In this brilliantly honest and often hilarious episode, Vic is flying solo (Hamish wisely sat this one out) to chat with author Dana Bowman, a woman who thought she had long-term sobriety nailed, until menopause, food, marriage, parenting, body image, and a global pandemic all piled in at once.

Dana’s story, told in her book Humble Pie, is about far more than sobriety. It’s about what happens when recovery collides with midlife. As menopause crept in, Dana found herself veering into binge eating and food addiction, struggling with comparison, scrolling, isolation, and frantic over-exercising. Just when she thought she’d dealt with the big stuff, life threw everything else at her… and eventually forced a reckoning.

Vic hasn’t read Humble Pie yet, but after hearing Dana talk about relapse, HRT, sugar cravings, dopamine dips, invisible women, and upgrading her sobriety toolkit, she knows it’s going to be a wildly relatable ride. Expect real talk about perfectionism, changing bodies, and why custard creams sometimes end up doing the emotional heavy lifting.

Whether you’re pre, peri or post-menopause, or just quietly wondering why life feels harder than it used to, this one’s for anyone who’s ever felt like they were falling apart… and learning to laugh their way through it anyway.

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!

Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.

Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insight or encouragement just when you need it.

Think of it as a midweek check-in. Something bite-sized to walk with, laugh at, or quietly reflect on. And if the clip hits home? You can go back and listen to the full episode anytime – just follow the link in the show notes.

We know one episode a week isn’t always enough – so here’s your extra helping of honesty, humour, and a bit of awkwardness to get you through the week.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here → https://open.spotify.com/episode/00fQ9EH7uueOvvqkbT0qpt?si=WbnycYx5Qke0n-Ielf4D-w

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever noticed how the moment you put down the wine glass, you suddenly find yourself at the bottom of a family-sized bag of Haribo? You aren't alone. In fact, for many of us, the "sugar monster" was waiting in the wings long before we poured our last drink.

In this episode, we sit down with Vanessa Kredler, a Sydney-based psychotherapist and specialist in ultra-processed food addiction. Vanessa brings a lived experience in recovering from both food and alcohol addiction.

We dive deep into why these two habits are so often "best friends" and how to navigate the "naughty food" phase of early sobriety without losing your mind.

We explore:

• The Binge Trigger: Why Vanessa had to give up alcohol to finally heal her relationship with food.
• The AA Sugar Phenomenon: Why are there always so many sweets at recovery meetings? We look at the biological link between the bottle and the biscuit tin.
• The Great Food Addiction Challenge: You can choose to never touch alcohol again, but you have to eat. How do you manage an addiction to something you need for survival?
• How Worried Should You Be?: Should you be concerned about your skyrocketing sugar intake in early sobriety, or is it okay to "treat yourself" while you find your feet?

Whether you're "sober curious" or a few years in and wondering why you’re suddenly obsessed with ice cream, Vanessa offers incredible insight into how to find balance and understand the "why" behind your cravings.

💛 Resources & Links

Vanessa's Website: https://www.vanessakredler.com/

Her Insta: @vanessakredler

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.