Dec 11, 2025
Ever notice how one or two drinks now feel like you ran a marathon, slept four hours, and woke up with anxiety for no clear reason? Yeah… same.
In this episode, I sit down with Sarah Kate, writer, creator, and one of North America’s first sober sommeliers, to talk about what it really looks like to live a booze-free (or booze-lighter) life in midlife without feeling deprived, awkward, or stuck with sad mocktails.
We unpack:
· Why alcohol suddenly hits very different in perimenopause
· How hormone changes make hangovers, anxiety, poor sleep, and belly fat harder to escape
· What “sober curious” actually means
· Why noticing the shift doesn’t mean you’re broken — it means you’re paying attention
· The rise of high-quality nonalcoholic wine, beer, and spirits
· Why your liver puts alcohol at the front of the line and what that means for estrogen balance
· How to start cutting back without white-knuckling it
· And why sparkling water alone is no longer the answer
Sarah also shares her personal journey of stepping away from wine culture, how the nonalcoholic beverage industry has completely evolved, and why women finally have better options that still feel elevated and social.
If you love your wine but secretly hate how it makes you feel the next day, this episode is your permission slip to rethink without pressure, labels, or perfection.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
· Why midlife bodies no longer bounce back from alcohol
· How alcohol impacts estrogen, cortisol, and sleep
· What makes nonalcoholic wine today very different from the stuff of the past
· How to enjoy social life without feeling left out
· Why mindset matters more than willpower when cutting back
· The small shifts that make the biggest difference
This isn’t about quitting forever. It’s about paying attention to what your body has been trying to tell you and finally listening — without turning it into another thing you have to be perfect at.
👉 Free Resource for You
If this episode has you thinking, “Okay… I might want to change how I drink without killing my social life,” grab my Guilt-Free Alcohol Guide. It walks you through:
· How to enjoy a drink without the spiral
· What to eat and drink before and after alcohol
· How to avoid the all-or-nothing trap
· And how to wake up feeling like a human the next day
· It’s your no-shame, real-life roadmap to blending alcohol with your goals.
Links
Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic
Tik Tok @kimbarnesjefferson
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kimjeffersoncoach/
Free Resources: https://www.fitgirlmagic.com/freeresources_podcast
12 week strength training program –Strong by Spring
https://kimbarnesjefferson.lpages.co/strong-by-spring
Guilt Free Alcohol Guide https://www.fitgirlmagic.com/gfalcohol_26/
Website: http://www.kimbarnesjefferson.com
Sarah Kate:
Substack: http://somegoodcleanfun.substack.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sarahkate-somegoodcleanfun
Website: http://somegoodcleanfun.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somegoodcleanfun/
Mocktail Mom https://www.instagram.com/mocktail.mom/
The Naked Mind Hellomamiworks@gmail.com
Past episodes
What you need to know about the Effects
of Alcohol After 40
https://fitgirlmagic.libsyn.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-effects-of-alcohol-after-40-205
Alcohol and Weight Loss How To Keep It Simple
|61https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fitgirlmagic/Ep206120-20Final20Podcast.mp3
Is it time to question your relationship with
alcohol
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fitgirlmagic/Ep.203820-20Podcast.mp3