The first Friday of February has been designated by the awareness campaign in the US, as National Wear Red Day to support women’s heart health. 

If you drink red wine, like I did, you love the research studies that claim drinking red wine is good for the heart. I liked to spread the good news about wine and heart health. 

I didn’t realize those studies really didn’t apply to me or my girlfriends, as we drank more than the recommended 5 oz of wine a day. 

What’s the truth about women, wine, and heart health?

Drinking alcohol regularly raises your blood pressure. So, if you are imbibing daily at wine o’clock, you are at risk.

Heavy drinking is associated with a number of poor heart health outcomes. It can lead to high blood pressure, heart failure or stroke. Excessive drinking can also contribute to cardiomyopathy, a disorder that affects the heart muscle. 

Heavy drinking might cause problems but what defines moderate? Moderate...

There should be no question that #soberissexy after the 2020 Super Bowl. It started out with the beautiful Demi Lovato singing the national anthem. It's no secret that Demi has struggled with addiction. Demi has been transparent about her journey. She is not alone, as more than 1 in 7 people over age 12 struggle with addiction or substance abuse.

A few weeks ago Demi hit the stage for the first time in over 2 years when she shared an emotional performance at the Grammy Awards.

Last night at the Super Bowl her dream of singing the national anthem came true. Her hard work and recovery paid off as she reflected on a tweet from 10 years ago stating one day she would perform this song in front of this audience.

Demi is a great role model for anyone in recovery. She continues to get up and try again. She is a great example of talent, resilience, and humanness. 

The next act was the halftime show, which started with a spicy number from Shakira. Shakira has received praise, awards...

Getting onboard with an alcohol free lifestyle is getting easier thanks to the increase of low or no alcohol beverages on the market these days. Nielsen CGA reports that the demand for these drinks will increase in 2020 and beyond. The younger generations are  leading the change with a growing wellness mindset.

The reasons people drink and the reasons people quit drinking are as varied and unique as the consumers. 

The NA drink trend however, is expected to continue.  Forbes reports 20% of Americans are considering sober months like Dry January and Sober October. There was a 26% increase in non-alcoholic beer volume nationwide over the Fourth of July holiday. 

Athletes are embracing the non alcoholic beer trend at the end of a work out for the anti-inflammatory properties of hops, and digestive benefits. Low and zero alcohol beer does not dehydrate you and may even increase your immune system by fighting off bacteria and disease.   

NPR reported...

I just saw a post by a nutritionist saying you can drink alcohol and still lose weight. 

Her profile says she’s a wellness coach and nutritionist whose main goal is to help people feel good about themselves. 

She’s proof because she reports that she has been doing this all her life. 

By the looks of her supermodel swimsuit profile picture, its working!

If drinking alcohol and losing weight is your goal, surely you can find a way to do both. 

However, why would a nutritionist be suggesting this? 

If you want to lose weight even faster, you can try cocaine! 

Cocaine is full of appetite suppressing qualities. 

This sounds absurd for a nutritionist to suggest, doesn’t it? 

A nutritionist suggesting anyone keep drinking a poison and also lose weight, sounds just as absurd to me. Just because alcohol is the most widely used drug, doesn’t take away from the fact that it is indeed a drug. Just because it is a legal drug,...

The top HR trends reported for 2020 are employee engagement, eliminating sexual harassment, and nurturing employee mental health and work life balance, according to Smart Brief.  

The best way to be on top of these HR trends is to remove alcohol from your workplace.

Many companies use alcohol to attract and retain employees and to boost employee morale.

This is a losing strategy, and alcohol does not contribute to the desired outcomes. 

Alcohol negatively affects employee engagement.

Alcohol does not contribute to employee wellbeing.

Alcohol, even in small amounts, decreases employee physical and mental health.

Alcohol increases sexual harassment incidents.  

Employee Engagement and Alcohol

HR Advisor Daily reports of the workforce does not want to drink at company events (NizNikBehavioral Health), yet SHRM reports 60% of company’s serve alcohol at the end of the year parties.

Where’s the disconnect? 

Adding alcohol actually takes away from...

Alcohol is a ubiquitous part of our culture. Socializing with colleagues after work, the office holiday party, unwinding after an exhausting day—all of these occasions often revolve around drinking and can be awkward for people who don’t partake.

Until recently, that is.

A growing number of young adults recognize that, while drinking alcohol may be fun and relaxing in the moment, it is not risk-free, even for those who do not consider themselves to be problem drinkers. 

Even in moderate amounts, alcohol can damage our long-term and short-term physical and mental well-being. It can impair our ability to make good decisions and interfere in our relationships. If you’ve ever tried to work with a hangover, you know how a night of drinking can tank your productivity.

Younger generations care deeply about what they put into their bodies. To them, it only makes sense to think about the dangers of alcohol—a toxic substance for which the body has no...

In sobriety I have found new hobbies and interests.

Drinking is no longer my only form of entertainment.

The automatic cure for my perpetual boredom when I was drinking, was obviously...drinking. 

I am no longer entertained by sitting on the couch for hours sipping a substance into oblivion.

Drinking was not an actual cure for boredom at all, but it was a distraction from not knowing what to do with myself.

Boredom is a first world problem, but that doesn’t make it less boring. 

The word boredom means lacking interest.

I was lacking interest in my whole life.

This was the real problem and boredom was just a symptom. 

Drinking created chaos in my mind and in my relationships, which in turn, gave me something to do. This added interest to my life and solved the boredom problem.  

Negative attention is still attention. Bad press is still press, as they say.

Drinking gave me bad press and attention.

Problem solved. 

Drinking was also an easy way to...

What is Dry January? 

Dry January started in 2013 in the UK with Alastair Campbell, a columnist and political strategist, talking about his past drinking, and columnist Peter Oborne trying out the month off booze. 

In 2014 the University of Sussex started research on the benefits of Dry January and its lasting effects. 

The latest research from 2018 reports that Dry January participants are still drinking less in August. Nine in ten people save money, seven sleep better, and three in five lose weight from just taking a month off. 

In addition, there are benefits even for participants who don’t manage to stay alcohol free for the whole month, showing there are benefits just for trying to complete Dry January.

Should participate I participate in Dry January? 

Dry January is a movement for anyone who drinks alcohol. Some people participate as a detox from their excessive drinking that happens over the holidays. Others use the beginning of the new year to...

2019 was my best year yet. 

At the beginning of 2018, I made a decision to stop drinking alcohol for good. This was the best decision of my life. I spent 2018 learning how to do everything over again, without alcohol. 

My growth was incredible. I learned so much about myself. I spent much of the year however, not drinking. A lot of energy was going towards not drinking. This is exactly where I needed to be at the time. I successfully accomplished a year alcohol free. 

I didn’t want to stay in the “just not drinking”  zone. I knew my energy was ready to move on. Getting sober was the bravest thing I have ever done. By the end of 2018 I was much more comfortable with my new sober identity. 

The act of getting sober fueled my courage in so many other ways and 2019 was my year. 

This year I learned who I was without alcohol. 

This year I had the courage to make my dreams come true. 

This was all possible because I was...

My heart is breaking this morning, Zahra because I miss you so much. 

I am on my couch crying with the feeling of missing. 

Wishing I could be with you. 

Really wishing you were here with me. 

I want to give you a warm bath, clean pajamas, a hot meal, and then rock you, sing you a lullaby and tuck you in. 

Your big sister too. She’s protective of you, and I can see why. 

You really shouldn’t cling to me, a stranger, the way that you do. 

Its probably not safe, and Big Sister knows better.

She can’t watch you while she is at school, so there you are, not even 5 years old making possibly unsafe choices out in the world alone. 

Your Mom is around, but she’s busy and she’s got things to do. 

Everybody has to do their work. 

Your job is to clean shoes. 

The only place to clean them is in this mud puddle. 

I watch you and I don’t know how you are doing it, but somehow you are washing those...