I’ve read several ‘sober’ books lately so while I definitely learned a few things and find Catherine very inspirational and relatable, there was a lot of crossover with books I’ve already read. I learnt that every advert for alcohol has 'for the FACTS visit drinkaware' Catherine tells us the truth, Drink aware is run by the industry and the outlets that sell alcohol. The younger you are, the less you drink, which is just completely the opposite to how it’s traditionally been. Just as ‘stone cold sober’ often ends up feeling ‘sunshine warm’ instead, the reality is often the polar opposite to that which we expect. So if you think about it that way, I’m trying to unlearn something that I’ve done for decades, you understand how much time you need to put into this to break that.

ways to have a sober(ish) summer - The Telegraph Six ways to have a sober(ish) summer - The Telegraph

If you’re listening to this episode and have been trying to take a break from drinking, but keep starting and stopping and starting again, I want to invite you to take a look at my on demand coaching course, The Sobriety Starter Kit . And so I was very much looking at other people and thinking what they’ve got, you know, I want that I want that glow.So it’s it’s something that we don’t see very often if if you and it can, over the years, you can forget how bad it was and find yourself inching slowly towards drinking again. And you posted in the group, and you guys were riding cable cars, and you were biking across the Golden Gate Bridge, and you were drinking tea on the other side. So surely you can drink moderately, and you know, you’re happy now you’ve sorted everything out and your life. I probably should have started with the authors first book - The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober - as felt this one was sometimes too much of a personal reflection.

Sunshine Warm Sober: The unexpected joy of being sober Sunshine Warm Sober: The unexpected joy of being sober

There is an essay at the end that addresses the isolation BIPOC women feel at recovery meetings that is very impactful. I’ve found that being alcohol-free feels the direct opposite to the phrase I’ve heard my entire life: “stone cold sober”.In addition very moderate drinking while breastfeeding is not banned, and to suggest that you shouldn’t drink at all when breastfeeding not only adds to the mum guilt and will in fact just mean fewer people breastfeed. I absolutely loved Catherine Gray's previous book on sobriety, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, so I was quite excited to learn about Sunshine Warm Sober, the kind-of sequel.

Sunshine Warm Sober by Catherine Gray | Hachette UK

So it feels like such hard work keeping alcohol in your life, that when you finally let it go, you realize everything is actually easier.So, if you’re looking to cut back and not spend your precious freedom permanently hungover – or even want to stop drinking altogether – here’s what I’ve learned. I mean, if you have to punch yourself back into moments so so like a moment, there’s, there’s one in the new book about me waking up on holiday, and not knowing my hair is wet, it might wipe my clothes are full of fans, and then the memory coming back to me of what I did the night before, and then contrasting it with waking up on a sober holiday. Whether you’re a dedicated boozehound, flirting with teetotalling, or already sober, this witty, gritty read may just change how you think about alcohol forever. It’s part of being an adult and bonding and, and then there’s the marketing and then your friends keep reinforcing it too. I spoke to the LGBTQIA+ community on their unique challenges, men who found themselves subjected to binary ‘intoxicated masculinity’ when they quit, and parents who found ‘alcohol is a parenting aid!