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Published: April 1, 2020, 7 a.m.

Janey Lee Grace is an Amazon No 1 Best-selling author, commentator, and co-presenter on the UK\u2019s

\xa0biggest radio show, BBC Radio 2\u2019s\xa0 Steve Wright in the Afternoon. Previously she was a backing singer with George Michael and Wham!, Kim Wilde, Boy George and had her own Number 8 chart hit with 7 Ways to Love as Cola Boy.\xa0

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Janey has written five books on Holistic living including the number One Amazon best seller Imperfectly Natural Woman and currently writes columns for many magazines, and offers PR and media training. \xa0 She hosts the annual Janey Loves Platinum Awards to recognise the best in natural and organic products and services. After ditching the booze in January 2018 Janey has launched a podcast \u2018Alcohol Free Life\u2019 and runs The Sober Club focusing on sober self-care. \xa0

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In todays episode:\xa0

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• \u201cAlcohol is the only drug we have to normalise not taking\u201d
• Alcohol is ingrained in our culture for all manner of social occasions\xa0
• \u2018Grey area drinkers\u2019 - there\u2019s a broad scale of people\u2019s relationship with alcohol
• Rather than asking \u201cam I drinking too much\u201d, ask \u201cwould my life be physically and mentally better without alcohol\u201d
• The link with anxiety
• It might be difficult in the initial phase of ditching alcohol
• Benefits are so widespread including weight regulation, or less concern about weight, and improvements to sleep, skin and joints
• Mental benefits included a renewed sense of hope and clarity, and feeling brave enough to do something they\u2019ve always wanted to do such as starting a business or travelling or doing something creative
• \u201cAlcohol steals your joy and being sober can make you brave\u201d
• Janey started The Sober Club as she realised there were lots of resources to help people stop drinking alcohol, but she wanted to align with her experience of holistic living (e.g mindset, meditation, self-love)
• Stopping the term \u2018giving up drinking\u2019 as you\u2019re never giving up anything. Janey uses the term \u201cditch the booze\u201d instead
• Janey had tried to ditch the booze for many years. She interviewed many Hay House authors and the conversation was often about self-love, but she wasn\u2019t practicing it herself. She describes it as inauthentic as she was controlled by alcohol and didn\u2019t know how to stop
• Clare Pooley\u2019s book : The Sober Diaries helped Janey to stop drinking alcohol on New Year\u2019s Eve
• Deprivation isn\u2019t a good tactic psychologically. The new approach to sobriety spins this on its head for a more positive approach
• The fear of being \u2018sober shamed\u2019 for not drinking alcohol
• Prepping in advance by telling people that you\u2019re not drinking (for whatever reason you choose) and calling the venue ahead and seeing if there are some alcohol-free options
• The rise in alcohol-free drinks for grown-ups
• Your good friends will support you in not drinking alcohol, and if they don\u2019t, it\u2019s time to cut them loose
• 0% alcohol is the biggest area of growth for some drinks brands
• Some people replace alcohol with sugar. The craving for sugar can be a chemical imbalance that requires support\xa0
• Turning to exercise can be a good replacement for dopamine as well as other aspects of self-care such as yoga, walking in nature, meditation, hypnotherapy
• Sitting in stillness even for 5 minutes is helpful and can then be increased over time
• It can be confronting to engage with feelings instead of numbing out with alcohol
• The brain isn\u2019t fully developed until 21, so drinking before that age is damaging
• Alcohol is linked with over 200 illnesses, including 7 types of cancer, not including mental health issues
• The impact on others
• Alcohol is the number 1 most harmful drug
• David Nutt\u2019s book \u2018Drink? : The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health\u2019
• Lifesearch did a survey where they found that 24 million people self-medicate with drink and drugs
• Seek professional help if you are clinically dependent on alcohol
• Mindful drinking
• A period of total abstinence (at least 30-90 days) rather than just reducing intake\xa0

The Sober Club

Janey Lee Grace\xa0

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Imperfectly Natural\xa0

TED Talk: \u2018Sobriety Rocks - Who Knew\u2019

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Janey\u2019s Podcast - Alcohol Free Life

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