Sober Curious: A Lifestyle Change or Cultural Shift?

On the Red Lips Real Talk podcast, the hosts explore the “sober curious” movement as a mindful approach to rethinking alcohol without fully giving it up. They highlight alcohol-free social trends like mocktail festivals, dry bars, coffee parties, and yoga events.  Maritza shares her experience at Miami’s Mocktail Fest. The conversation touches on why Gen Z is drinking less, including health, finances, mental health, and lifestyle choices.

They also question what’s replacing alcohol, noting concerns around cannabis use, vaping, and post-COVID isolation impacting social connection. The hosts discuss alcohol’s effects—like poor sleep, aging, and links to breast cancer—and sample Target’s Mingle mocktails.

The episode closes with a key takeaway: it’s not about judgment, but about making intentional choices.

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Transcript

You are listening to the Red Lips Real Talk podcast where we talk about life, love, and everything in between. You already know it's time to get real. 

Welcome to Red Lips Real Talk. On today's episode, we are diving into the sober curious movement. It's a growing trend of people questioning their relationship with alcohol. Not because they have to quit, but because they wanna see what it feels like without it sober. Curious refers to people who are intentionally exploring. 

Their relationship with alcohol, not necessarily because they have a drinking problem, but because they wanna see what life feels like with less or no alcohol. It's about curiosity, mindfulness, and making conscious choices about drinking rather than following society's expectation to drink. So pour yourself a sparkling water or a cup of coffee, and let's get curious. 

Welcome ladies. Welcome, welcome. I'm excited to talk about this. It's a, it is trending. It is. And you know, we always have a little trouble talking about stuff that's trending. Yeah. So, you know, we're getting better. I'm proud of us. We're doing, we're doing better. We're doing better. So Maritza, you told me not so long ago that you actually attended an event. 

I did. I attended the Mocktail Fest. Okay. So where was this at? This was in Miami. Mm. Inside the, uh, botanical Garden. Oh, nice. Which, if you've never been there, it's really pretty. Yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a really nice park. I mean, you could take a stroll, read a book, it's beautiful. Have you been? Yeah, I've been there. 

Yeah. And their lake or pond. Mm-hmm. Big, big pond has beautiful koi fish. I mean, they're huge. Yeah, it's huge. Beautiful fishes in there. So it was really nice. And if you've never heard of the Mocktail Fest, it's a festival dedicated to alcohol free drinks. And I went because I was curious to, um, taste different mocktails that they were promoting. 

Um, I heard that. There was one that, um, actually, I guess they call it like functional mocktail and I guess it has like these ingredients where it helps with your mood, your energy. It has like certain things inside where it's good for you, I guess. Yeah. So it was my first time there. It was cool. The vibe was really cool. 

They had music, I mean. They had a DJ there, they had different people promoting their products and um, they actually tasted really good. I was very impressed that there was a wine, uh, I think it was like a Prosecco. I love the way it tastes really. And a lot of the products there, I mean, everything was really tasty. 

It was like bubbly, like a Prosecco. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. No alcohol. It was, and it tasted good. And I was like, oh, nice. I was like impressed by it. Yeah. I didn't know they could do that. Yeah. So, I mean, I went with my son and his girlfriend and we, we had a nice time. But it was in Miami. Mm-hmm. And, um, after getting there looking for parking. 

And then when we got there, we, you know, we waited in line, we tried the different tastings and then the sun went down. Mosquitoes. 'cause you Yeah. You're at a park. The botanical garden. Yeah. Then leaving there, you know, was quite, you know, the traffic. Mm-hmm. Getting outta Miami. So I'll be honest with you, after getting out of there, I wanted a drink of alcohol. 

I was like, ah, yeah. But the event was nice. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, no, I, I'm glad that you shared that story because it is a movement. It is, it's a cultural shift that's happening. And, uh, they're doing so many things now. Just like you said, uh, at the botanical gardens, they're having rave, like alcohol free rave parties, coffee parties. 

They're opening up yoga parties, opening up dry, dry bars and dry bars. Yeah. So it, it's, it is definitely a, a cultural shift. Um, I think it's admirable. I think it's, it's. Something that you're like, wow, this younger generation, they must have their reasons. I have theories on quite possibly, uh, why this could be, uh, 'cause I've done a little research on it, just, just a bit, you know. 

Um, and just to give a little, a little bit of percentages here, you know, uh, across multiple markets, they're saying that about 66% of Gen Z people reported, uh. Consuming alcohol in the previous six months, but that number was reported to rise to 73% by the early 2025, suggesting a complex picture where some young adults may be drinking less at certain ages or times, but overall, participation isn't known. 

Formally dropping everywhere, but cannabis is and so is vaping. So I think every young generation is. Rebellious, they always wanna do something different, you know? Mm-hmm. But, um, I have a, my little concerns about that, 'cause let's not be hypocrites, we, we'd always existed and so did cigarettes and all that, right? 

But now I think, I think we can all agree that, uh, cannabis is just a different level now. Oh yeah. It's just a completely, a completely different level. Yeah. Because now it's very open. Mm-hmm. And acceptable. I mean, people, and it's right. Unacceptable. People went to prison for years mm-hmm. For selling a little weed to their friends, you know? 

Yeah. Now they found it in your car. It was a problem. It was a major problem when we were like 20 years old. Like you did real hard time for that. Yeah. And now it's just like, oh, I got a book of all different types of weed in my car. This helps you sleep. This helps you with your libido, you know, anxiety, with your anxiety, you know, so it, it is being replaced by other things. 

I'm, I do worry about that a little bit because, you know, a lot of these kids are doing it very young before the age of 25 and they're doing a lot of it. Yeah. And I worry about. Just like alcohol. Just like alcohol. If you, yeah, if you do a lot of it, how does that affect your brain? But, we'll, I guess we could tap into that, uh, a little bit later in the show. 

But you know, at the end of the day, gen Z is drinking less and we wanna find out why. Do you have any theories on why Monica? Well, I believe their top five reasons, they're saying they're drinking less in 2025. Right. Because mm-hmm. We're, this was done in 2024. Mm-hmm. To improve their physical health, to save money, to make some lifestyle changes and to, you know, improve their mental health and lose weight. 

That's like their top five reasons. Yeah. Well, you know what? I'm gonna come in here like devil's advocate and come in and, and talk about that. 'cause at the same time, loneliness is rising in that age group. And so is anxiety and so is isolation. That is a big problem in that generation. So if alcohol supposedly is the core problem, then shouldn't we be expecting some type of connection in that area to be improving? 

And honestly, it's not. Wow. So I, and I'm not, I'm not trying to say, oh yeah, no, drinking alcohol is. Uh, not remembering what you did last night is great. No, no, no, no, no. I mean, when Gen Z has those little jokes and says, a flex is waking up in the morning and remembering what you did, I'm like, Touche bitch. 

Touche. I have to admit that. But, um, I am, I'm not questioning the choice to drink less, but I am questioning what is replacing it. Right. You know, I think that's something that we should tap into because, well, I mean, too much of anything is no good. Mm-hmm. So if they're replacing it with a shit load of weed Yeah. 

Gummies and all that. Yeah. I don't see how that's gonna. Benefit them. Mm-hmm. In the long run. You know, I remember when I was a young woman and I used to work, you know, administrative assistant and like, you know, like, like all of us, we have our, our starter jobs, right? Yeah. Um, I don't know about you ladies, but I know that sometimes work events would be like, Hey, we're gonna have a work happy hour. 

We really want everybody, uh, to show up. And sometimes you didn't wanna go, but it was like a work event. It was a work. Thing and, and maybe you were an introvert or you were shy or maybe people were going that you just didn't like that you worked with, but you were like, I'm just gonna go for 30 minutes. 

And you didn't really maybe even have a drink, but you did go to the event. Um, I was put in those situations, um, many times. And talking from a personal perspective, I think that those forced connections like allowed me to, how to navigate and how to work well with other people. How to, like, I remember there was one girl I didn't like at all. 

I thought she was the biggest, the biggest bitch. You know, she had a couple glasses of wine. She let loose, come to find out that she was going through a really, really nasty divorce, and she was very, very lonely and she was angry and she was scared and she was crying. I felt sorry for her and I didn't hate her anymore. 

Right. And I actually kind of liked her after that. But if I was working from home remotely and I just shut my laptop down and I didn't have that forced happy hour from my job, I may have never known that about her. You know? And I know that's just one story, but I do worry about, maybe I'm taking this a little too deep, but I do worry about like the loss of like those forced interactions or like working from home, you shut your computer down, your laptop down, whatever, and then you're. 

Popping an edible by yourself in an apartment and you're scrolling on your phone. I, I worry a little bit about that, but I hear what you're saying. That's probably why they're doing those coffee parties and those yoga parties. Yeah, I mean, I, well, like I was saying before, yeah, I think that's why there's so much of that outdoor community. 

But then again. I always thought it was like because of after COVID, there's just kind of like a lot of those outdoor communities going on or parties or yoga events or sound baths. I see a lot of them popping up now too. Coffee parties. Um, I think that whole COVID thing, forcing people to work from home Yeah. 

Is what pushed everything in that direction. I think so too. And it just, that's where isolation became the norm, right? Yeah. And to get through that, I worry about it because I know we're talking about the sober curious movement, and that's a very important thing. And again, I wanna make it very clear. I think it's admirable, especially with. 

Young generations. Um, I think it's great at the same time because it forces us to look within ourselves and say, oh, wait, maybe I shouldn't be drinking this much. Or maybe come right. Well now they have the, you know, dry January. Dry January is a big thing. It's a big thing. Dry January, dry October. I didn't make it. 

I, listen, I tried October. Okay. I didn't know about October. I tried to do dry January and I, I, I failed. I was only. Listen, I probably sound like the biggest alcoholic. I know I'm not, but what I'm saying is it's like I really did try not to have one alcoholic drink for 31 days, and I only was able to do 10 days because somehow, some way there, I have a lot of people in my life whose birthdays are in January, so there was a lot of like beautiful dinners, beautiful get togethers, beautiful parties, and do you wanna a glass of champagne? 

Do you want a, a glass of, uh, Pinot Grigio? You know? And you're like, uh, okay. And that's how, that's how fast that. That happened, you know? So for people who are able to do all the whole month with not one drop, like kudos to you. Yeah, I've done it for Lent. Yeah. How long is Lent? 40 days. Wow. Good for you. 

Yeah. Good for you. That's awesome. I think I did it like two years in a row. Nice. It's very hard. It was hard for me. Yeah. But I did it. Yeah. I, I mean, look, I, I, look, I'm just gonna come outta saying, I know it's gonna come across the wrong way, but I think this is the beauty of, of podcasts that you have, to be honest, I enjoy having a glass of wine with dinner almost every night. 

It's something that's not that I look forward to it, but, you know, I make myself a nice dinner. You guys know I'm a foodie. I, I like to. Make nice meals and I open up the bottle of wine. I serve myself a little glass and I sip it throughout my dinner and talk to my husband about his day, or we watch little movie together and it's become a part of my lifestyle. 

Could I stop it? Of course, of course. Um. But I don't want to. Right. I enjoy it. Um, if somebody was to say, Hey, I want to go to Napa in California to celebrate my 50th birthday and it's gonna be a girl's trip, do you want to come? Fuck yeah. I wanna go. Yeah. You know, are there a lot of things that revolve around alcohol? 

Absolutely. So that's why for me, I feel like it's, I just don't know if I can, if I could stop that, because then that's a big part of my lifestyle that has to completely change. If I had to, I would. Right. But for now, I. Don't want to. Right. Um, and that's okay. Yeah, that's totally okay. Think. But you know, I do see how younger generations, um, they're like very proud of doing this, but they're also smoking a lot of weed and vaping like fucking crazy. 

And they're like, oh, I, I wanna take care of my skin. I wanna eat healthy. I need, I mean, I've never been asked, told so much to eat protein in my fucking life, like these last three years. You gotta catch your protein. You gotta catch your protein, you know, it's like the protein police, you know, be and drink your water. 

And, and I'm like, that's great, but then you're in the backyard fucking smoking how much weed? And I, and I just feel like. Are you fucking kidding me right now? I don't know if you guys feel, are you high telling me, are you high telling me I can't have a glass of wine with dinner? How? Like, I remember people went to fucking jail for this mariza, you know, you know that we grew up, people sold the little weed and they were, and they're like, oh, we're so and so, he's in jail for selling weed. 

Mm-hmm. You know, and, and now you got people like smoking weed. They're Dr. Driving. They have cards. They have cards. They're driving, theyre doing it at home. The medical company. Edibles. Yeah. Uh, vaping like crazy. Flower power is back. Listen, you know, flower power has never left. Yeah. It's just that you can, you are, it's very open now. 

I just think it's little different. It was open back then too. They were, it was open all over the place. You had to hide it. You had to hide it. If you had it in the car and you got pulled over, panic, you're gonna go to jail. Right. But they weren't hiding it in the festivals. If you don't do nothing, if you're like, I don't vape, I don't smoke, I don't do weed. 

I don't drink. I, okay, fine. I, I understand you're on completely different level than most people, but a lot of these younger generations, they don't drink, but they do the other stuff and that other stuff does not give you a hall pass into being say, oh, I count my macros. You know, I had my protein. I don't care how much protein you had today. 

I don't care. You just smoked a shit load of weed, fuck off, and all the candy you ate, shit, that sugar can't be good for you either. But it is, it is. Uh, what do they say? It's, it's natural. It comes from, it is derived from the earth. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, so did Ayahuasca. How can, how bad could it really be? 

Yeah. I don't know. Weed. Yeah. How bad could it really be? I'm gonna ask Chad. Chip. PT Hold on. No, I did see a, a video of a, it affects your brain cells. Oh, does, oh, for sure. Absolutely. 100%. 'cause there was a, uh, it was a neurologist and. His nurses were asking questions and they were like, what would you rather someone do weed or drink alcohol? 

Mm-hmm. And they were like, I'd rather have them drink alcohol. Weed is really, really, yeah. Because alcohol, alcohol also affects your brain. I mean, they're both bad for the brain. Yeah. So he was like, really? One is better than the other? Yeah. I was like, I never really thought. Mm. Love that was Surpris. 

That's very interesting. I actually always thought it was the other way around. Me too. So did I. Yeah, me too. But then, you know, not surprising. I do know a lot of people that smoke weed a lot. Me too. And I could. I could see it. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it does affect the brain. Well, I have some facts here. I just put it on Chachi pt. 

I am not the smart people. I just put it on Chachi pt. So here's what it says. Says information from Cha g Bt. Cannabis affects the young adult brain differently than the fully mature adult brain because the brain is still developing in their mid twenties, up until about the age of 25 in the frontal lobe. 

Now it says that it especially, uh, affects the areas tied to, uh, decision making, impulse control, and. Emotional regulation. So here it says it impairs. This is the short term effects. It impairs memory and learning. Um, slower reaction, reduced attention spans and concentration, altered perception and coordination. 

Now, what are the long-term effects? It changes your actual entire brain structure and its connectivity. It lowers academic performance. It increases risk of developing anxiety and depression, a higher risk of psychosis in individuals with a genetic vulnerability and potential reduction. Reduction in your overall IQ and suicide increases. 

Wow. Yes, bitch. I did not expect that. That's really sad. I, I very high rates of anxiety and depression and, uh, increases in risk of suicide. Yes. I wanna say that I, maybe I can see the end. Where she saying suicide and depression. Mm-hmm. In today's society. But I feel like back in my days it wasn't so much like that. 

No. 'cause I just wanted a burrito from Taco Bell. Yeah. I had, yeah. I'll be honest, I was, I was a smoker now. Yes. When I started going to college, I made the decision to stop because one, I was paying for my college. Yeah. Yeah. And I wanted to like focus, you know? Mm-hmm. But I mean, and I'm not saying any of that stuff is false because it's true. 

And I still know people today that do still smoke. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And they're doing very well. Mm-hmm. But the difference is, but there are people that isolated were Huh? You weren't isolated. Right. I was not asking. We were, we were out in the street. We were out in the That's such a good point. I didn't even think about that. 

Yeah. So that's why I'm saying like the depression and, and that, like, in today's society, I, I can under, I could see it in the youth. Because, I mean, I don't smoke meat, so I don't know, but. Your brain has to be like you. You have to be thinking whether it's paranoia, whether it's what your brain is like. 

Yeah. Probably thinking about a lot of things, right? Yeah. Not really. The last time I smoked weed, I was in high, a high school. So you're relaxed. I did it a couple times and yeah. It just kind of like, you know why I didn't, I, I, you know why I wasn't a big, big fan of it? No worries. I didn't have any worries. 

You know, I mean, that was, this is just me, my experience. Right. Okay. I felt like I didn't have any worries. I was just real laid back. I was paranoid children. I was not paranoid. Well, I see a lot of, I don't see constantly paranoid. I was like, I, I am not having fun. I don't, this doesn't make me feel good. 

I'm constantly like looking over, I was living in paranoia when I, when I tried. Um. Weed. So it just wasn't for me. But meanwhile, when I had alcohol, I was like, you know, the hump dance is your chest, you know? And I'm like doing the Too legit. Too legit. Like I just was like cracking out the jokes. Yeah. It gave me confidence. 

Oh yeah. So I think that's why, for me, I mean, again, I know I sound like I'm advocating it, but it was, it's, I'm not, I'm just saying that it was very different for me. Weed for me was just like. I lived in constant fear, like I I, and for me it was a complete opposite. Wow. Okay. So like you say, weed and I don't see anything wrong with it. 

'cause I'm like, all right, well it's just a, it's a tie. I'm not, it's different. I'm, you know what I mean? But I'm not saying that I'm, I see something. No, I'm not saying you the, you're GBT, which GBT saying Yeah. You know, it's, for me, I'm, I didn't look at it that way. Yeah. I'm not saying, oh, go ahead and go smoke weed. 

No, I'm not saying that. But depending on your personality too, it's gonna hit you different. Yes. Because I know a lot of people that have a lot of high energy or they hyper. Mm-hmm. Sometimes that is not for them. Right. 'cause it's a downer, you know, it's gonna chill you out and kind of, and they don't like that. 

I don't know. I guess now we're, it's, but then you are saying it's mixed. It's different stuff. Different strains, different different strains. Exactly. Because I don't see people that when they smoke weed, they are not just chilling. Yeah. It's like, yeah, was chill. I was chilling. And then I had the munchies, I'm not gonna say any names, but I coincidentally had a conversation with someone this week and um, this person told me that they saw somebody they hadn't seen for a while. 

They went out to dinner and this person was like, do you want to go smoke some weed in the car? And she was like, I'm, I'm good. Right? And she's like, okay, I'll be right back. I'm like, that's fucking weird. Okay. But whatever Went smoked her weed and came back and she was like, kind of normal versus I could never do that because I'd be fucking, they spiraling. 

Okay. Um, they eventually finished dinner. They pay the bill, go to the car, this girl's driving high. Okay. Wow. And she has like a little book. The book, the, the cannabis or the weed was separated into sections and they all had like different, uh, I guess things that it made you feel, uh, relaxed, uh Oh wow. A sexual, uh, to help you sleep. 

And I was like, bitch, that did not exist in 1993. No, I think I would've been offended if I haven't seen you in a while. Yeah. And I see you and you'd be like, wait. You wanna go smoke? I'll be back. Okay. I smoke. So now we can chill. But wait, but, but here's but here's get high to hang out with me. Hang out with me. 

But wait, wait, wait. This is the part, this is the part that really got me. 'cause I was like, okay, this, we're not talking about 25 year olds. This was a 50-year-old woman. Well, that means her friend was around her age too. 'cause she was mm-hmm. So that was like, wow. Like that's a, that's a, that to me, like Maritza's, just what Monica said, if I haven't seen you for a minute and we're like having dinner and then you're like, you wanna go to the car and smoke some weed, I'll be like, you're a drug addict. 

I'm sorry. You're a fucking drug addict. If you gotta get up and smoke weed in the middle, middle of a girl, finish. Oh, that's a little harsh. Well, you don't what they're, yes it is. Why is it harsh medically taking it for, if you can't fucking have a two hour dinner's? Can't do inside everywhere. You have to go outside to smoke. 

Yes. But if you gotta, you, if you gotta get up and go do fucking weed in your car, they don't drink. Half of those people don't drink. Oh my God. So they're gonna go outside. Yeah. They're gonna puff, puff and then come back inside. What do you think Monica? Like I said, if I haven't seen you in forever and you're telling me, wait, I gotta go smoke before I talk to you may have a problem. 

You may have a little, I would be offended. I would be like, wait, I don't know. I wouldn't call it a problem, but okay, you, you gotta get high to hang out with me. Real. You don't think that's a problem? It might not. I wouldn't call it a problem. Really? Yeah. Well, you don't interesting know why they're taking it. 

First of all, she does not have anything wrong with her. I can guarantee you that a thousand fucking percent she does not have. Hey, anxiety is a thing people smoke for. I bo people step outside and have a cigarette during their time, wherever they're at. I need to go have a cigarette, but mar Marissa a cigarette does not embarra. 

It's the same. I'm gonna beam the same here with that. That's not the same if we're having dinner. Right. Okay. Now we're, we're comparing if we're No, no, we're drinking. You said cigarettes. Okay. But if we're having to step out, what I'm saying is they have to step out. You can't fucking wait. To go smoke your cigarette. 

I'm gonna smack you upside the head. And I'm not gonna name names, but you know who you are, right? Right. No, no, I I get what you're saying. Piss me up. I get what you're saying. Take away we ask. Yeah, because we're not smokers. We're gonna be like, oh, I'm gonna ask you a serious question. Do you think Mariza, and I'm not, I'm just asking. 

Yeah. Do you think weed is drugs? Yeah, I do. Okay. And if you. If you cannot have dinner for an hour and a half for two hours without getting up. Yeah, I can see, yeah, that's a problem. Do, do you not think that maybe that that's, maybe you have a little bit of an addiction? I don't know if I wanna say it's been a 90 minutes to, to. 

120 minutes and you still couldn't, like you couldn't sit there for two hours without going to do drugs. Did they smoke? Did they just run into each other? Yeah. Or they planned to have dinner? No, they planned to have dinner. Yeah. This was planned. That's an issue that that's an issue. Maritza, and I'm not judging. 

You could smoke before you go inside. Inside. Yeah. Yeah. You smoke before you get there. And that's what I'm saying, because the And why, why am I getting into, it's not to shame anybody. It really isn't. It's just to say that within the last 10 years, the, the industry growth in. Cannabis is staggering. Okay? 

Because in 2015, the legal cannabis markets in the United States generated about, this is the legal, okay, not illegal. Mm-hmm. 5.4 billion in revenue. Okay. Now we're gonna jump to 2024. So that's 10 years. It went up from 5.4 billion legal to 31 billion. 31 billion, okay. In, in 10 years. That is five times the amount in, in a decade. 

Okay. And more than 50% is under the age of 25. I was under the age of 25 when I used to smoke. Okay. So that's why I am saying we have to be very careful about a lot of our young youth saying, I don't drink, but they're vaping cannabis. Right. Like if it's. Cigarettes. Cigarettes is terrible for you. 

Cigarettes kills you. I know people who have passed away right from lung cancer because of smoking, but now vaping is looked upon like, oh, that's not too bad. And there's cannabis in there and it's, it's just, it's just as bad. And I didn't know what Monica said before doing this show that doctors have said it's better for you to drink alcohol Yeah. 

Than to smoke. So I just think it's good for us to have these real conversations. We're having fun. Mm-hmm. But at the same time, this is. Something to worry about if you have children under the age of 25, who potentially thinking that this is safe. Maybe it's not in if you take advantage of it. Right. 

Anything taken advantage of and abused mm-hmm. Is bad. Yes. Absolutely. The thing to think about too, which we don't, and I, I know in that era of my life, in my twenties, definitely not thinking about the brain. Yeah. Oh, yeah. In all the functions and why you need it. Exactly. Yeah. Like I said, I know, I, I, when I started college, I made the, that's when I made the decision to stop. 

'cause I'm like, no, I gotta focus because I know, you know, it was taking me somewhere else. You know what I mean? Like. I'm like, all right, no, I'm gonna focus. I'm gonna do what I gotta do here. And I stopped and I never smoked again since then. Mm-hmm. So has it been offered to me? Absolutely. But you have no desire for it? 

Yeah, but I don't have a desire for it. I mean, I know a lot of people that, but do you have, I'm being honest, and I don't mean to put you on on the spot here, but. Do you ever feel desired to have a drink? Because I, I do. Sometimes when I'm having a hard day or, um, yeah, or that, like I, you know, honestly, sometimes a glass of wine or a little cocktail, like a, I can relate to what you Margarita, because I was, that shit is like, I hope that doesn't make me sound like an alcoholic. 

But it might to some. It might, might, it might to some. And I, and if, if you think that of me, you know, it's okay. I'm putting myself out there like that. Yeah. But it's more like, ah, I wanna end my day. I wanna have a little glass of wine. If it's a Saturday and I'm hanging out with my friends and I'm in a social gathering, I would love a little margarita. 

You know? And that to me, I, I don't see that as abusive or. Dangerous, and I do desire it sometimes, right? So I have to also ask myself because I desire it under those circumstances. Is that something that I should be concerned with? And I, according to Dr. Oz, it's not well for me, alcohol, alcohol has changed for me. 

So I used to be the same way. Just like you. You know, I would have my dinner and I would have my glass of wine with my dinner every night, but I have cut down a significant amount and I no longer do that. I drink socially. I've cut. I don't drink during the week like I used to at all. Um, and it's just because it, I think, I think I'm more mindful about it because I'm like, okay, what am I gonna do tomorrow? 

I gotta wake up early. I don't wanna be tired because it does make me feel tired the next day. Now, now, I mean, you know, back then it was like, ah, you know, whatever. But now, like I feel tired the next day, it, it affects me. And if I drink heavy one night. Of maybe hanging out and I'm, I'm drinking, you know, a little heavier. 

I'm recovering for the next two days. Yeah. I'm not gonna lie, if I, if I drink a lot Yeah. It's, so those are the things fucking gets over. So I have to think about, oh yeah, no course. Yeah. I have to be mindful about it, you know what I mean? And I, I'll tell you, I have cut down a lot. A tremendous amount. Yeah. 

I don't drink like that. Yeah. Not because I, I don't know about you. Mm-hmm. Does your husband drink wine Sometimes? Yeah. Yeah. Does yours? Yes. Okay. Mine doesn't, so I know that that bottle will go to waste 'cause it's happened to me before. Okay. So I refuse. That's why I told you I refuse to open a, a bottle. 

Exactly. If I'm by myself or whatever, I'm like, I'm not opening that shit. 'cause then it is gonna go bad 'cause Exactly. I'll have one glass. But I don't drink every day like that. Right. That's another reason. And then it'll just sit there. Yeah. Public sells the small bottle of wine. They're really small. 

It's like two glasses in there. They're perfect for like, for just a single, just a glass. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think also, let's keep it real. We're older women, so we're going through the change, right? Yeah. And it hits us differently. It does. Very, very differently. I also know a few people that unfortunately have gotten breast cancer. 

Mm-hmm. Um, so even like drinking increases, uh, the risks. So women who drink, um, like one alcoholic drink a day like me, um, have a seven to 10% higher risk of developing. Oh wow. I wasn't aware of that. Breast cancer compared to women who. Who don't drink. So, um, that's probably also why a lot of, uh, women who maybe do have a family history of breast cancer have made that decision, right, that even like drinking or moderate drinking, um, they don't want to run the, the risk. 

Yeah. Um, also like drinking, um, can disrupt your sleeping and then you're not sleeping. You're waking up at two, three o'clock in. Exactly. And you're not, you're not sleeping well. I've had nights like that too. Think age. Yeah. Yeah. Age also plays a a, a big role in that. So let's keep it real. If we're gonna talk about this, let's keep it real and talk about statistics. 

Yeah. These lifestyle changes Yes. Are also contributing to the sober community. Yeah. Now as well, well listen to this. It says, in the US alcohol is linked to about 16% of all breast cancer. Patients. Wow. Yes. Yes. Meaning that one in six diagnosis of women getting breast cancer is because they drank alcohol. 

So that is something, uh, that is staggering, right? That is, yes. So, um, it's something to definitely raise awareness on. Um. Yeah, I still drink my wine. 

Sorry, listen, I could lie and be like, I don't have a glass of wine with dinner every night. Right? Um, I could lie, but I kind of almost not every night. Maybe three, four nights outta the weekend. Now you know what with mean? Okay. So to be honest, um, last year, weekends I have margaritas. So last year, I guess what, like, you know, we were in our premenopausal stage and all that. 

Yeah. But I was, I don't know if I should even word it chronic, because for me I felt like it was chronic, but I was dealing with like fatigue, like big time. Mm. Chronic fatigue. For me, it was chronic fatigue, and I think that was most of the reason why I had cut down on my drinking. Okay. Because I was already tired even not even, and we're not talking about drink. 

I stopped drinking and I was still super tired. Wow. All the time. And so I think I just didn't wanna add to my tiredness and I figured, okay, let me cut down. And I think there was times where, you know, I went like weeks without drinking and, um, that's what started, that's what started it. You know, and then it just became a thing. 

Yeah. A little bit normal for me not to have that. Yeah. Glass of wine every night. And then also now, you know, I'm a little bit more mindful about what am I doing tomorrow? What does my day look like, you know? But then whatever, you know, your birthday comes around and you wanna wanna have a drink, you wanna have a drink, you know, and then you're like, all right, I can afford to recover for two days. 

Yeah. And you know, but it's really like, what is that? Once a year? Right. You know, but I have, as far as lifestyle change, yeah. I mean, I guess I don't sit down and think about it, but, and it's not like I quit. I didn't quit. Yeah. I still enjoy having my glass of wine on a Friday night or something. Yeah. But I guess I have made some kind of lifestyle change. 

Yeah. You have. Yeah. And good for you. Mm-hmm. Good for you. Because a lot of people can't do that. Yeah. You know, and, and I'm, I'm really proud of you. You know? Yeah, no, it's, it's an admirable thing. And I think at the end of the day, we raised awareness on a lot of really great topics, things that we, I didn't know you told me things that I didn't know. 

Right, right. Yeah. And I think I brought up some things that, that you didn't know. And, and hopefully our listeners are like, oh, shit, I didn't, I didn't know that at all. You know? Uh, actually a few people I was talking to didn't even know about this movement. No clue that the sober curious movement, uh, even existed. 

So hopefully our listeners have enjoyed, uh, what we have, uh, raised today. Um, there's so many amazing events going on search in your local community. Yeah, there's so many things going on and there's a lot of day, day events now, I heard about women saying, listen, I wanna go to bed by 9:00 PM and in Fort Lauderdale, gosh, I wish I would've been more prepared, but there was a place you can go like at five o'clock. 

You could Dan them. They were serving alcohol, but they had drinks and dancing early. Early, yeah. And it was over by eight 30 and they were in bed by nine 30 and I was like, sign me up. Yeah. It's, I'm all about that life. Yeah. I know 'cause somebody invites me to come out at 9 30, 10 o'clock. I'm like, hell. I know. 

Sorry. What are you doing? Sleeping. Sleeping. I went out to dinner with my cousin. She came to visit. She uh, we had such a great time. We went to this place in, uh, Brickle was called Sexy Fish. How was it? Oh, it was so nuts. I felt so fancy. I wanna go there. It's pretty girl. I walked in, I listen. I'm gonna keep it real. 

I have never seen a restaurant that beautiful. I mean, I've gone to some really beautiful places, but that was breathtaking. Really breathtaking. My reservation was for six 30. Bitch was in bed by nine o'clock. It was fabulous. Fabulous. So highly recommended. But, um, yes, I love going out early looking your community, just like Maritza did where she, you know. 

Attended this mocktail event at the botanical gardens. There's coffee events. There's raves in Miami that are coffee parties. Coffee parties. Yeah, coffee parties. There's one that's always happening over here. Close to me. I need to attend it one day. Yoga. Yoga parties with goats. Yeah, yoga with goats. 

Coffee and cows yoga. You know they have yoga with puppies. Really, I don't even know how you can do yoga when you're surrounded by puppies. Puppies, yeah. Listen, I know somebody who did yoga with goats and I was turned off 'cause I was like, I don't wanna fucking goat jumping puppy on my downward dog. That does not leave me alone. 

Look, relaxing map. That does not look relaxing. I put the one with the puppies. Puppies. But you're not doing yoga when you, let's do, I'll be playing with puppies. Who's there for yoga? Well then let's just play with pu I'd making all the puppies with me. I'd be like, can I keep it? Now I have some, uh, non-alcoholic beverages that I bought for a party. 

Mm-hmm. You guys wanna taste it? Sure, sure. You mean grape juice? It's not grape juice. What's it called? So I have two here. All right. One is called a Blackberry Hibiscus Bellini Bellini. Oh. And this one is Blood Orange Elder Flower. Mimosa. Okay. Not that one for me. Elder one is juicy light berry and one is juicy bright citrus. 

All right, I'll try the purple one. Yeah, I'll try the purple. The berry hibiscus. Oh my God. We're gonna do this on the podcast. How exciting. You join and they're called, oh, crack it open on the mic. Mingle so people can feel it. Mocktails. I bought these at Target. Nice. Ooh, I wanna hear it. Pour. 

Nice. Do it again. We have to taste the other one. Nice. So one more. One more. I'm not peeing, I swear. Swear. All right. Just a commercial. All right, let me get the can so I can read it to read it one more time. It's called Mingle mocktails, 0% alcohol. 12 full ounces of blackberry hibiscus, Bellini juice, light berry. 

It has 60 calories per can and absolutely no alcohol. It says a masterful blend of ripe succulent, blackberry and delicate hibiscus. Perfect. Smell, good, perfectly fruity. Uh, finish. Here it goes. I like it. Ooh, it tastes good. It's refreshing. Mm-hmm. Some are by the pool non-alcoholic. Right? Refreshing. It's busy. 

Wow. This is really delicious. Mm-hmm. How much sugar does it have? Because see, that's what worries me. Mm-hmm. So it has, um, 10 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of carbohydrates, and 11 grams of sugar. Wow. That's high sugar. Yeah. But it's good. I like it. That's really good. I think I'll buy that. I would buy this to hang out at the pool. 

Yeah. Yeah. I had a murder mystery party at my house. Oh, how was that? And I had a lot of young children here. Not children, but young kids under 21. Yeah. So I bought a bunch of mocktails and you know, Bubbies non-alcoholic for them to drink. Yeah. Because I also had adults here, so it was a lot of fun. Oh, that was thoughtful of you. 

Yeah. That's really nice. I'm gonna buy. So I'm gonna buy these for my Cookoff at the beginning of the murder mystery. Mm-hmm. They're all mingling. So everybody had a nice fancy cup and I was pouring, you know, pouring the mocktails. Aw, that's really nice. I'm gonna buy this. 'cause I have a few people that I'm very close to that they don't drink and they always have to have like a Sprite or like water. 

That'd better. You offer this to them? Yeah. Very nice. I made mocktails once. Um, they have a lot of recipes on Pinterest and then, but I also, like, I don't know who drinks are. Not that I, okay, everyone I know drinks, but sometimes they're not in the mood, so you make a nice little refreshing drink. Mm-hmm. 

With, you know, the rosemary, the mint? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, pretty. Which I made, but I did have the bottle of vodka or rum. If you wanna add a little Flo, right? You're in the roots drink. It's there. But if you're not, it was good. But some of these restaurants have delicious mocktails. Oh yeah. I mean like, um. First watch has the, the purple haze. 

It's like a lemonade. Mm. Oh man. It's really good. It's good. Like it has lemonade and lavender. I love first watch I've had, I've only gone twice. It's delicious. They have a good drink there. Yeah. Mocktails are definitely coming up on a lot of, I just think they're overpriced. Popular. Yeah, for sure. I mean, like, okay, let's keep it real there. 

There is no alcohol in it. It, it is delicious. But you're charging me the same price. Right. I ordered of an alcoholic drink. My dad doesn't drink anymore and we were at a Mexican restaurant, I believe it was, and I ordered. A mock, a mocktail. Well, I ordered a drink and I said, Hey, can you not put the vodka? 

'cause it sounded really good rushing. I was like, no vodka. They charged me like I ordered the drink with vodka. Wow. I was like, no way. And they did not put the vodka. You sure? No, they didn't put the vodka. Hmm. I was like, okay. And they still charge you the same? They charge me the same. That. See, because they didn't offer mocktails. 

That ain't right. I know. I was like, so you, you pissed you paid $15 for juice. For juice. Yeah. I, I, that's what I, I, I like mocktails. Mm-hmm. I just think that the prices that they're charging for mocktails is abusive because Yeah. It's a bit much, alcohol is a long process and a tedious process to make tequila and to make rum and to make, uh, God knows a whiskey. 

Yeah. You know, it, it, it's years and years to, to make these, uh. Drinks, uh, there's alcohol, so it justifies the $18 or $17 for the drink. But if you're giving me pineapple juice and orange juice mixed in with a little hibiscus, no, you shouldn't be charging me $20 for it. You should be charging me maybe $8, $7. 

So that's my biggest issue with mocktails, uh, is the price. Yeah, I agree with that. First of all, you know? Yeah. 'cause it, it takes years to make a good bourbon. Right. I heard. 

Well, ladies, I've really enjoyed this show a lot more than it. I was a little nervous to do it. Because you're admitting a lot of things about your own drinking habits Yeah. And who you are, and you're opening up yourself to being judged, you know? Um, God knows sometimes I've been judged inadvertently by, by certain people who do love me and they're concerned for me, but nothing to worry about. 

I'm okay. I'm just having one glass with dinner. Um. Maybe Saturday. I do have a, a martini, but I, I'll try and cut back. Um, but with that said, the sober curious movement isn't about labels and it's not about perfection, and it's definitely not to be judgmental. It's about awareness and it's about pausing long enough to ask yourself why do you drink and what does it make you feel? 

Whether it really is serving you. For some that might mean cutting back. For others, it might mean taking a little break like dry January and don't judge me. I did 10 days and for some it could mean walking away from alcohol completely, and there is no one right answer. The power is in the choice that you decide to make for yourself. 

So maybe the real takeaway isn't about drinking less, maybe it's about living more intentionally, getting curious about your own habits, your own health, and your own clarity. And if nothing else, maybe this week you just ask yourself one simple question, is this adding to my life or is this taking away from it? 

Thanks for listening. We really appreciate you and like always, 

thank you for listening. Make sure to subscribe to our show so you don't miss an episode. We will be dropping an episode every two weeks. Oh yeah. No, like seriously subscribe now. Just chill to the next episode. Follow us on Insta and.