Sober Awkward

It's time to let it go people! Today Vic and Hamish are here to tell you about all those awful antics they got up to when under the influence and discover that none of it was their fault - it was booze! In this funny episode they dredge up three of their more shameful misdemeanours in the safety of the booth. Hamish tells a few puke stories and Vic reminisces about the time she locked someone in a...

For some of us sober folk, alcohol free drinks have been the saviour. The magical invisibility cloak that allows us to blend into social gatherings. Whilst for others - they are very much part of the problem. They can be the trigger that pushes us off the wagon and straight back into drinking. Today the guys take a peek into the benefits and risks of this exploding industry. They have tasted the g...

Are you thinking about giving up drinking, but something is stopping you going 100% sober?  If so, this episode is for you. It will bombard you with laughs and loads of rational reasons to take the plunge into an alcohol-free life. It's an episode jam packed with the good news, that’s not all skin deep! It’s a fact, sobriety makes your skin clear, your eyes so bright and you generally look much he...

"Just have one!" "Come on! The 'old' you would have done it!" "You can sleep when your dead!" Sounds familiar right? Peer pressure and drinking have gone hand-in-hand since day one. Whether it's the pressure to drink for the first time or to break your sobriety in the name of 'having a good time'! Vic and Hamish are both guilty of using peer pressure and giving in to it over the course of their li...

Does the thought of a sober Near Year’s Eve fill you with dread? Can you imagine attending a festival with nothing to lean on except a can of fizzy water? And how on earth do sober people survive Mardi Gras without downing a few shots of Tequila before heading to the club? Going to big events ‘totally-tea-total’ can certainly change the vibe. It’s overwhelming watching everyone around you get wide...

Men and women communicate differently. Shock! Horror! You heard it here first. In this episode Hamish and Vic have an honest and open conversation behind what might be causing men to struggle when it comes to opening up emotionally. It is no secret that vulnerabilities are still considered a weakness rather than a strength by many and this might be the reason behind so many men turning to alcohol...

If like Hamish and Vic you've ever got three sheets to the wind, blackout wasted and wondered why one minute you’re in a London bar ordering tequila shots, and the next your waking up in a bunk bed in run down motel in Madrid with twigs in your hair, wearing one shoe, then we hope this episode will make you think twice about over drinking. So what is really  happening in your brain after accepting...

Time. In sobriety it can be your greatest ally or your most fearsome enemy. Either way, you now have a lot more of it! How you spend that spare time, is down to you. In this weeks episode Vic and Hamish explore the hobbies that have worked for them and warn of others that almost drove them back to the bottle. You'll hear about some pastimes that got left by the wayside when drinking entered the fr...

Question - Are one night stands fun?... or are they actually a bit weird? Today Vic and Hamish discuss the reality of sleeping with someone you don't know. They uncover how these brief pissed-up liaisons made them feel deflated and how this sticky scenario can differ for men and women. Today we find out why Vic always hoped that each chance meeting would lead to love... and how Hamish was just hap...

Many of us believe drinking alcohol makes us more confident. You may think that booze can help introverts come a little out of their shells and help extroverts turn things up to 100! But is this actually the case? In this weeks episode Vic and Hamish take a deeper look at  whether the authentic version of themselves without alcohol is still an extrovert or whether this personality has been manufac...

Have you ever wondered if your drinking habit is inherited or were you just born to be a party animal? Join Vic and Haim as they create a delicious pie chart of fuckupery! Today they uncover all the elements that cause people to over drink, discuss the booze family tree, and  how ingrained family traits affected them growing up. Was it nature or nurture or just the environments they placed themsel...

Have you ever taken a moment to truly consider the cost of your drinking? We're not just talking about the cost to your health, but the equally concerning cost to your finances.  In this weeks episode Vic and Hamish explore the hidden costs of a night out. From rounds of drinks to taxi rides – from police fines to late night kebabs. They dig into the empty wallet that comes with being party animal...

We’re back! Today Vic welcomes her lovely new co-host Hamish to the Sober Awkward podcast. In this funny and insightful episode they discuss what it means to identify as sober curious and how giving up your reliable social crutch will make you happier, help your anxiety and turn you into a more authentic version of you. So, go and put the kettle on or grab your headphones and giggle along as Vic a...

It's the final episode of series 3 and a chat that Vic and Lucy have been dreading (for reasons revealed on the pod.) Today the girls talk about the brilliant bond they have formed over the last year and how Sober Awkward has helped them understand sobriety and themselves. Change can feel overwhelming for sober people and learning to step out of our sober comfort zones is a scary but a necessary p...

Cravings are a huge part of treading this sober path. This week the girls want to delve deeper into these pesky reminders of their past lives. Let's face it, cravings are out to get you! They sneak up and tap you on the shoulder when you least expect it. They make you uncomfortable around alcohol and can cause you to slip up. Today Vic and Lucy want to find out if it's possible to predict cravings...

Lucy is away in England, so Vic welcomes her sister Louise onto the Sober Awkward podcast today. Louise has been sober for over 23 years and is an expert when it comes to alcohol and work environments. Together they delve into why there is so much pressure to drink with work mates, how alcohol and hangovers affected their careers and if there are any ways employers can make job and work functions...

For many reasons, no matter how hard you try, even if you hate it, when you give up alcohol it has an annoying habit of creeping back into your mind. Strong emotions, triggery places and drinking culture, mean thoughts of it seep in, little nudges and voices begin shoving you towards having 'just one' and before you know it, you're at the bottle shop paying for a bottle of Sav. For some, relapse i...

Today Vic and Lucy are trying to understand why drinking can sometimes retreat behind closed doors. Is it because of parenting woes, because of shame or because people feel safer in the confines of their own four walls? What really causes people to hide away and what are the warning signs that your drinking has spiralled out of control? Today they discuss the somewhat-warped mindset that comes wit...

Today Vic and Lucy are using scare tactics to get you thinking about your alcohol consumption. They're delving into the stats and figures, then pinpointing areas where this 'Class A Carcinogen' is doing the most damage. They discuss weird ailments, from gallstones to thinning hair, and how their bodies feel since ditching the grog. Have they healed? Today you're getting a sober awkward health chec...

It's here! The episode all the single sober souls have been waiting for. Sober Dating! Seeing as Vic and Lucy know nothing about sober dating they have invited on an expert. Faye is the founder of Untoxicated, is a grey area drinking coach and an all-round professional party pooper. She has been on and off the sober dating scene since she gave up booze 4 years ago. Today they discuss everything fr...

Grab your passport, flip flops and sunscreen, the boarders are open so a trip abroad might be just around the corner. But what does a holiday look like now the mini bar is off limits? As a newly sober soul, holidays or weekends away are daunting. You're used to cocktails by the pool, sundowners at the beach bar and shots at the local nightclub... So now what? Hide in the hotel room in a cosy bathr...

Today Lucy and Vic are dipping their toes back into the depths of their drinking days. In this episode they force themselves to regress into the many gloomy Sundays spent in bed, hungover, ravaged by fear and anxiety. Hangxiety played a huge role in both their lives. It's the reason they kept drinking and the reason they got sober. So, today you'll get the full hangxiety story. Why we get it. The...

Series 3 is here! Today Vic and Lucy discuss being highly functional drinkers. What is it and why does it take so long to identify? Both the girls functioned well enough in life to cleverly and silently slip under the radar, they held down jobs, got married and even pulled off motherhood! They looked functional from the outside but beneath the function they were both heavily drinking, using their...

Today the ladies welcome Sarah Drage to the Sober Awkward podcast. Sarah lost her dad to alcohol misuse disorder in 2017 and is bravely sharing her story to raise awareness and de-stigmatise alcoholism in society. Her first-hand experience of losing someone to alcoholism highlights the damage alcohol does and how the shame of addiction stops people reaching out for support. Vic and Lucy are out of...

Are you thinking about changing your relationship with booze? Scared about what the first 100 days will bring? Well, you're in the right place! If you are waking up on New Years Day with an awful hangover, questioning why your plan to have 'one or two' ended with you singing Wonder Wall outside a 7-Eleven at 3am....then this is the perfect podcast for you. Today it's all about new beginnings, fres...