Episode 40: Life After Alcohol: What Really Happens When You Stop Drinking with Katie Addison Smith

4 Aug

Healthily | 08/04/25

If you’ve ever dabbled in Dry January or found yourself wondering what life might look like with less (or no) alcohol, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, Nicola speaks to Nutritional Therapist Katie Addison-Smith, who shares her deeply personal story of navigating critical illness and making the life-changing decision to give up alcohol — permanently.

Now, seven years on, Katie reflects on how removing alcohol hasn’t taken anything away — it’s added more joy, connection, health, and freedom than she ever thought possible. This is a non-judgmental, hopeful conversation about identity, socialising, self-care, and how we can reimagine what it means to truly enjoy life.

Whether you’re sober-curious or simply reflecting on your own relationship with alcohol, this conversation is packed with warmth, honesty, and inspiration.

TAKEAWAYs

✔️ Katie’s Personal Story & Why She Stopped Drinking

Katie began drinking in her teens, much like many women today—using alcohol for confidence, anxiety relief, and social ease.
After working in a high-end hospitality environment where alcohol was everywhere, drinking became deeply embedded in her life.
At age 31, Katie was diagnosed with stage 1 cervical cancer. Five years later, it returned and spread, leading to stage 4 treatment and a complete reassessment of her lifestyle.
Her therapist encouraged a 360-degree healing approach: plant-based eating, mindset work, meditation, and completely removing alcohol.

✔️ The Emotional Side of Giving Up Alcohol

Katie explains that sobriety wasn’t simple or instant—it involved grief, identity shifts, and fears about losing fun, ease, or social belonging.
The quote that changed her perspective:
“When you’re in the jar, you can’t read the label.”
She realised that even drinking once or twice a week kept her inside the “jar,” unable to see life clearly.
Through mindset work, journaling, meditation, and trauma release therapy, she dismantled long-held beliefs like:
- “I need alcohol to relax.”
- “I can’t socialize without it.”
- “Celebrations require drinking.”

✔️ The Tools That Supported Her Sobriety

Katie highlights several key practices:

Daily meditation (twice a day)
Journaling for emotional processing, habit awareness, and problem-solving
Mindset coaching & trauma release work
Nutrition and lifestyle shifts that became easier without alcohol
Supportive friends, family, and community, including Nicola’s clinical support groups

✔️ Social Life Without Alcohol

Katie shares practical ways she navigated social events:
- Opting for tea or alcohol-free drinks
- Being honest—“I’m just not drinking right now”
- Letting go of worrying about others’ opinions
A transformative insight she learned from her therapist:
“No one is thinking about you as much as you think they are.”
This freed her to make choices without fear of judgement.

✔️ The Bigger Message

This episode is not about telling everyone to quit drinking, but about exploring your relationship with alcohol and understanding its impact on:
- health
- anxiety
- energy
- sleep
- self-belief
- clarity
- long-term wellbeing
Katie’s experience shows what’s possible when someone steps back, challenges old narratives, and courageously creates a new way of living.