Stop Over-drinking and Start Living

You decided this morning you weren't drinking tonight. Then 5pm rolls around, the day was long, and the debate starts: "Maybe just one. I don't want to be left out. I'll start fresh Monday." In this episode, I'm sharing a very personal story about coming off anti-anxiety medication and sleep aids during our move to Lisbon, the brutal side effects nobody warned me about, and the two nights I barely...

I'm recording this from my first morning LIVING in Lisbon, Portugal, sitting in The Magic House with a cup of coffee, my family finally here, and this feeling I can only describe as the specific joy of having done the hard thing. Eighteen months ago I had an idea to move my family to a country I had never been to. No plan. Just a decision. And this morning that decision is my reality. In this epis...

Please enjoy this podcast rewind: This episode is a further exploration of Decisions. If you haven't listened to Part 1, please do that first,  https://www.angelamascenik.com/podcasts/stop-over-drinking-and-start-living/episodes/2148935056 This episode dives into AFTER we made a decision, how to evaluate that decision, especially if you didn't experience the outcome of the decision that you r...

Please enjoy this Podcast Rewind: This episode is going to help you become aware of your automatic or unconscious decision making process. Once you see HOW you are making decisions you can decide with more intention on the outcome you want to have versus just your automatic quick or knee jerk decisions. This is a skill that you can use for any decision you are contemplating or to evaluate how you'...

I've been sitting with a thought this week that I can't stop thinking about: transformation requires transparency. You cannot have one without the other. We all know too well the toxic cycle of sneaking, hiding, avoiding, and disregarding how much our drinking is impacting us, mostly from the inside. If you truly want to transform your relationship with alcohol you need to start getting honest and...

You've done Dry January. You've made the Sunday night promise. You've cut back, taken breaks, set rules, and started over more times than you can count. And every time, you mean it. So why does it keep happening? In this episode, I'm talking about the real reason the cycle doesn't break — and it has nothing to do with willpower, discipline, or how badly you want to change. The answer is deeper tha...

Have you ever said "I just want to be take it or leave it about alcohol"? I hear this all the time. And every time I do, something in me cringes. In this episode I'm going to tell you exactly why this phrase bothers me — and why making it your goal might actually be keeping you stuck. "Take it or leave it" sounds like freedom. But when I hear it, what I picture is someone standing in the moment —...

I was watching a show called Legends the other night and one of the characters said something that stopped me cold. "Hindsight is helpful but it shows up too late."  I had to pause it. Because that is one of the most accurate things I've ever heard.  You already know what's coming. You've known for years. You can tell yourself the whole story the next morning, exactly what led up to...

This week, Dina Perrine joins me to share what happened when she attended the first-ever Magic House Retreat in Lisbon, Portugal. Her experience was profound — and honestly, I think you'll want to hear every word of it. Dina came home with something she didn't expect: a completely new relationship with pleasure. She learned that pleasure is nourishing, that numbing is not the same thing, and that...

Slipped back into drinking after real progress? Shame is keeping you stuck. Angela Mascenik breaks down why — and how to stop hiding and start again. An episode for the woman who changed her relationship with alcohol, lost her footing, and is now too embarrassed to ask for help again. If you've been working on your drinking — maybe with a stop drinking coach, inside a sober community, or on your o...

Your body doesn't reach for the wine because you're weak. It reaches because it's never learned that discomfort is survivable. That changes today. In this episode, I share the story of Amy — a high-achieving client who came to The Magic House retreat in Lisbon for the photos and left with something she didn't expect: a completely different relationship with her phone, her body, and the quiet momen...

This week I share a small bit about what happened at The Magic House in Lisbon during my first retreat. One woman shared that here cognitive firing came back online and that for the past year or 2 she couldn't recall some of her vocabulary that she prided herself on.. and it came back online. One woman shared she felt like a shell of herself when she first arrived and at the end she felt whole and...

Please enjoy this podcast REWIND- Frustration As Fuel This episode I dive into how you can channel your frustration to stop over-drinking to get you to take actions you haven't been willing to take. Frustration can be a great emotion to initiate permanent changes if you know how to identify which actions will move you forward or keep you stuck. Angela Mascenik, certified stop over-drinking coach,...

This week's podcast is a must listen if you have been making drink plans or zero drink plans and not following them. First, I'm sharing how I'm self-coaching myself through the final days before I welcome my first group to The Magic House Retreat Center in Lisbon, Portugal! And you can apply this to any project or big event in your life that might be happening. Then, I share a tactic that will hel...

Please enjoy this podcast REWIND: I received a great question last week around the fears we have when we think about changing our drinking. Here it is: The biggest fear I have about not drinking is a potential loss of emotional connection with other people. My husband and I have a routine of drinking together, having one of our great, deep conversations. And with other people - I love to connect d...

[Alive AF! stop over-drinking membership is now open through April 3rd!] www.angelamascenik.com/aliveaf If you’ve been trying to drink less for years; making rules, starting over on Mondays, doing Dry January or “taking a break” and it keeps not working the way you hoped, this episode will help you understand why. For many high-functioning women, drinking didn’t begin as a habit. It began as a res...

If you’ve been trying to drink less for years, making rules, cutting back, starting over every Monday, and it still is not sticking, this episode will help you understand why. In this episode, certified stop over-drinking coach Angela Mascenik explains why high-functioning women stay stuck in the drinking cycle even when they are motivated, capable, and successful in other areas of life. You will...

Have you ever wanted to change your relationship with alcohol but kept waiting for it to feel less hard? In this episode, I get into why so many women know exactly what they want. Better sleep, clearer mornings, freedom from the daily mental negotiation. But still struggle to move forward. Understanding how your brain is wired is really important. We are designed to avoid discomfort and seek pleas...

Have you noticed that alcohol can make you feel relaxed in the moment but more anxious, restless, or on edge the next day? Or maybe you haven’t made that connection yet, but you say you aren’t drinking in the morning and then by the evening, your mind is telling you you need something to take the edge off. In this episode, I break down the powerful loop that alcohol creates in the brain.  At...

Why insight alone doesn’t change your drinking You already understand your drinking. You’ve read the books. You’ve listened to the podcasts. You’ve promised yourself, “Tonight will be different.” And yet… you still find yourself pouring the drink. If you’ve ever thought, “I know what to do, I’m just not doing it, ” this episode will help you finally understand why. In this episode, I explain the r...

How many times have you tried to “just drink less”… only to end up right back where you started? In this episode, I’m talking about the hard but freeing truth behind repeated failed attempts at moderation — and the thinking patterns that keep high-achieving women stuck in the cycle of overdrinking. If you’ve ever told yourself:  • “I’ll only drink on weekends.”  • “I’ll switch to wine.”...

Are you exhausted from thinking about your drinking all the time? Tired of analyzing, planning, negotiating, starting over, and wondering why it still feels so hard? In this episode of  Stop Over-Drinking and Start Living , I break down a phase of change that almost no one talks about—the moment when you’re not motivated anymore, you’re not excited, and you just want a break from thinking abo...

In this episode of  Stop Over-Drinking and Start Living , I break down the 3 emotional phases of change that almost everyone experiences when trying to change their relationship with alcohol and why most women think they’re failing when they’re actually right on track. You’ll learn why motivation and excitement don’t last, why the middle phase of resistance and fatigue is where most people gi...

In this rewind episode of Stop Over-Drinking and Start Living , I talk about how to steady yourself when the world feels uncertain, overwhelming, or emotionally charged — whether it’s political news, personal stress, or any unexpected life event. You’ll learn how to:  • Allow your feelings without judging or suppressing them  • Choose how you want to show up for yourself, even when you’r...

In this episode of Stop Over-Drinking and Start Living , I sit down with former client, Megan, to talk about the year it finally clicked. She first worked with me in a 6-month group container, and later committed to a full year of private coaching — the year she became alcohol-free and stayed that way. What makes her story so powerful is that the year before, she had the same goal: to go an entire...