In many professional workplaces, alcohol has long been part of the culture. Friday night drinks, client dinners, networking events, and team celebrations -  all built around the idea that sharing a drink helps us bond, relax, and belong.

For decades, this has gone unquestioned. But quietly, that’s beginning to change.

More professionals are starting to ask:
Why do we need alcohol to connect?
What happens to our performance when we drink regularly?
And how can we create workplaces that genuinely support wellbeing - not just pay lip service to it?

You spend the day doing everything right — protein for breakfast, good hydration, a decent, balanced lunch — and then by 3pm, you’re tearing down the pantry to get to the kids’ chocolate muesli bars (or anything sugary you can get your hands on). Sound familiar?

Whether you’re sober, trying to cut back on alcohol, or just aiming for better health, sugar cravings can feel relentless. They don’t just appear out of nowhere — they’re often driven by a combination of physiological, emotional, and habit-based triggers. The good news? Understanding what’s really going on gives you a roadmap to finally beat them.

Turning 40 is a milestone in many ways — career, family, confidence — but it also comes with some unwelcome changes to our metabolism, hormones, and energy. Suddenly, what worked for weight loss in your 20s and 30s doesn’t anymore. And that stubborn belly fat? It feels like it’s got a life of its own.

The good news: it’s not about eating less and exercising more. It’s about working with your body, not against it. Here are five practical protocols that help women over 40 feel more energetic, get their metabolism moving, and finally shift that stubborn weight.

With “Sober” October starting, I wanted to share a few things that really helped me in the early days. These are the small shifts that made the biggest difference for me, especially when I still didn’t feel 100% sure I could do it.

Because I absolutely didn’t feel “ready” when I started either.

I was tired, overwhelmed, and quietly wondering if maybe alcohol was playing a bigger role in my life than I wanted it to. But I still hesitated. I waited for a time when things would be quieter, calmer, less chaotic.

That time never came.

Eventually, I just said yes. I gave it a go and that’s when everything started to shift.

If you’ve ever found yourself pouring “just one glass” of wine after a long day - only to finish the bottle - you’re not alone. You might even be questioning yourself: “Am I an alcoholic?”

Here’s the truth: you don’t have to hit rock bottom, or lose control completely, to be in the grey area. Grey area drinking is a real and growing phenomenon, particularly among women in midlife. And it doesn’t automatically mean you have alcohol use disorder - it means something else entirely.

I hear this question all the time: “Sarah, is it really a problem if I have a bottle of wine a night, but I wake up feeling fine?” On the surface, it can feel like a ‘socially accepted’ habit. After all, you manage work, kids, household, social life - and a glass (or bottle) of wine seems to help you unwind.

But here’s the thing: just because your body tolerates alcohol doesn’t mean it’s harmless. And the idea that a bottle of wine a night is “normal” is a relatively modern invention - one that has been carefully marketed and normalized over the past few decades.

I remember sitting on the fence for months.

I would follow women doing alcohol free challenges, read their stories, feel the pull… and then talk myself out of it. “Now’s not the right time”. “Things are too busy”. “I’ll wait until after this holiday, that birthday, this stressful week…”

I kept waiting to feel ready.

But I never did. What actually happened is that I reached a point where staying the same felt harder than trying something different. Once I started, that was when things began to shift.

I was not sure if or how I wanted to share this. It feels a little raw and still new. But the more I speak to other women who are thinking about taking a break from alcohol, the more I realise how many of us have been quietly struggling, not knowing why things feel harder than they should. If this helps even one woman feel less alone or finally start putting the pieces together, then it is worth it.

When we think about alcohol, we often picture two groups: those who drink socially and responsibly, and those who have a clear alcohol problem or addiction. But what if there’s a middle ground - a vast, often overlooked grey area where many women find themselves? This is the space known as grey area drinking, and it’s more common than you might think.

There’s a quiet shift that often happens somewhere in our 40s. From the outside, life may look full - work, family, routines - but inside, many women begin to feel flat, restless, or disconnected from themselves. The roles we've taken on - mother, partner, colleague, friend - start to feel heavy, and we wonder: Where did I go?

This isn’t a crisis.
It’s a crossroads.
And it’s more common than you think.

For many, Winter can quietly become the hardest season to navigate alcohol-free. The chill settles in, the days shorten, and suddenly that glass of red by the fire or a mulled wine on a rainy Friday night feels less like a “treat” and more like a lifeline. If you’ve ever found yourself drinking more during the Winter months - or struggling with cravings even after a long break - you’re not alone. Winter is a major trigger, and knowing what to watch out for can make all the difference.

So, you are thinking about pressing pause on the Pinot for the month? Brilliant move. Whether you are doing it to feel better, sleep better, have more energy, prove something to yourself or just finally see what the fuss is all about, I promise you, it is worth it.

Now, let’s be real. Saying goodbye to your evening glass of wine can feel a bit like breaking up with a very clingy ex. But just like that ex, it does not take long before you start to see that you are actually better off.

If you are joining us in the alcohol free club this July, here are 10 practical (and honest) tips to help you make the most of your month… and maybe even enjoy it.

For ambitious, health-conscious women, going alcohol-free isn’t about missing out - it’s about getting it all back.

We’re talking clarity, calm, steady moods, real energy, and the return of your intuition - the kind that whispers the truth in a way no wine-fuelled haze ever could. What’s emerging now is a quiet revolution: more women than ever are choosing to ditch alcohol, not because they have to, but because they want to feel better.

From hormonal balance to mental clarity, alcohol-free living is proving to be one of the most underrated wellness upgrades out there - especially for women navigating perimenopause, motherhood, and the relentless pressure of modern life.

Once upon a time, a glass of wine might have been your signal to unwind. A way to ease stress after a long day, soften the edges of motherhood, or reclaim a sliver of “me time.” But now, in your 40s, it’s starting to feel… different.

You’re not alone.

More and more women in their 40s are quietly waking up to the realisation that alcohol is no longer doing what it used to. In fact, it’s making things worse  -  from sleep to anxiety to weight gain and that mysterious perimenopausal fog that no one warned you about.

So, what’s really going on?

If the thought of giving up alcohol brings up fear, dread, or even a sense of panic - you’re not alone. I hear it all the time from women who feel stuck in the same cycle: “I want to stop... but I’m scared. What will life even look like without it?”

And honestly? That fear makes perfect sense. Because alcohol isn’t just a drink. It’s a socially acceptable coping mechanism, a ritual, a reward system, a way to self-soothe, and for many of us, a long-standing habit wrapped up in identity. I was always Sarah the Party Girl.

So no, you’re not weak. You’re human. And your fear deserves compassion - not shame.

Let’s unpack why letting go of alcohol feels so terrifying - especially if you’re not physically addicted, but find yourself emotionally and mentally tethered to it.

When I first stopped drinking, I expected cravings. I expected social awkwardness. I even expected a bit of FOMO. What I did not expect was the loud voice in my head constantly criticising me.

“You stuffed up again.”
“You never finish anything.”
“Who do you think you are, giving up wine?”

Sound familiar?

For many of us, alcohol was a plaster over years of self-doubt and harsh self-talk. When we remove it, we come face-to-face with the critic that was always there underneath, and it is exhausting.

The truth is, you are not broken, you are not weak, and you do not need to bully yourself into change.

As a Grey Area Drinking Coach and best-selling author of Beyond Booze, I’ve supported thousands of women to successfully change their relationship with alcohol. One common pattern I see, especially among women in their 40s and 50s, is that their body can no longer metabolise alcohol like it did in their 20s. Suddenly, alcohol starts to feel different - causing sleep disturbances, anxiety, weight gain, memory loss, low mood, and more.

If you’ve felt this shift, you’re not alone. And understanding why it happens is the first empowering step towards making change.

One of the biggest mindset shifts that helped me in my alcohol-free journey was learning how to handle uncomfortable emotions differently. In the beginning, fear came up a lot. Fear of failing. Fear of missing out. Fear of who I would be without alcohol. It was uncomfortable, unfamiliar and honestly, at times overwhelming.

For years, the "mum needs wine" narrative has been everywhere - on tea towels, greeting cards, memes, and even pyjamas. It’s been marketed as a harmless joke, a cheeky nod to the challenges of modern motherhood.

But a quiet awakening is happening.

More and more mothers are waking up to the reality that alcohol isn’t self-care - and many are choosing a different path. Instead of reaching for a glass of wine at the end of a stressful day, they’re attending mum-and-daughter yoga classes, learning emotional regulation techniques, and breaking the generational cycles of emotional suppression and alcohol dependence.

Research shows that daughters of mothers with Alcohol Use Disorder (defined as drinking more than 10 units a week - about six glasses of wine) are far more likely to develop AUD themselves. Part of the reason? They've never truly seen self-care modelled in a healthy way.