97: Sober Curious with Coach Sam

Coach Sam here solo this week! Asking what if curiosity could change your health more than willpower ever did? Coach Sam opens up about gut issues, anxiety spikes, and performance dips that pushed her to reexamine alcohol and the habits that quietly shape daily life. From a clear definition of the sober curious movement to a step-by-step process for mindful tracking, this conversation swaps shame for data, and pressure for agency, making it easier to align choices with what you value most.

We walk through how to notice when, how often, and why you reach for a drink, then zoom out to assess the true impacts on sleep, focus, relationships, training, and mood. You’ll hear how social norms and marketing blur our motives, why connection often hides under coping, and how to meet the same needs with better tools. We talk candidly about the spectrum of addiction, the role of compassion in hard conversations, and evidence-backed insights that show fewer exposures lead to better long-term brain and body health.

Support is the force multiplier. Sam shares takeaways from visiting a Recovery Dharma meeting, reflects on Buddhist-informed approaches to craving, and highlights community, coaching, and accountability options. We also introduce a free workbook created with sober coach and liver transplant survivor Kelly Thrush to help you map triggers, plan alternatives, and design a 30-day experiment. Expect practical ideas for replacing alcohol with endorphin-positive habits—movement, nature, art, humor, and mindful social time—so you gain energy, clarity, and confidence without sacrificing connection.

Ready to test what truly serves you? Hit play, grab the free workbook from our Instagram bio, and start your curiosity-led reset. If this helped, follow the show, share with a friend, and leave a review to support future conversations.

-Coach Sam xoxx

@everydayawesomeproject

@thesamanthapruitt

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Chapters

• 0:45 Defining Sober Curiosity
• 1:57 Why I Reconsidered Drinking
• 3:42 Mindful Tracking Without Shame
• 5:34 Assessing Impacts On Life And Health
• 7:54 Questioning Norms And Motivations
• 9:16 Support, Recovery Paths, And Community
• 10:45 Tools, Endorphins, And Healthy Alternatives
• 12:37 Empowerment, Resources, And Next Steps

Transcript

Samantha Pruitt: 0:26

Hello, beautiful humans. Coach Sam here today. Sober Curiosity is what we're going to explore together this week, aka the sober curious movement, that UK author Ruby Warrington coined in 2018 with her book. So this may be new to many of you. So first let me give you a definition of sober curious. This is a movement that encourages people to reflect on the role alcohol and drugs play in their life. Being sober curious means being mindful of these habits and choosing when or if to drink and use instead of doing so out of habit or to meet social expectations. The sober curious movement aims to challenge drinking and drug use culture and norms, improve physical and mental health and well-being, create sustainable, less risky alcohol and drug habits. So, why am I sharing this? Because I personally got motivated to back down on my own alcohol consumption when I started having health problems in my gut and in my skin, and upon my generally well-managed anxiety, and truthfully, even in my beloved sports performance. Well, okay, shit. Basically, this stuff gets everywhere in your body and brain. So who am I kidding? Even in small and socially acceptable doses, alcohol and drugs alter and affect everything about you on a cellular level. And I care so deeply about my health, my brain and body cells. Why was I doing this behavior? I was curious. In fact, collectively, millions of us have decided to tolerate these negative impacts. And sometimes we do this with food or other detrimental actions and behaviors as well. So I think that's why this sober curious movement has really taken off. Intellectually, it doesn't make any sense what we're doing. So when I recently was healing my small intestine infection that I developed during swimming in open water for the Iron Man last year, I decided to look at every possible contributing factor to my declining health. Again, I got curious. Today I want you to come with me on this journey and consider this an invitation to be curious as well. So here's what I'm doing on my own personal sober curious journey. First off, I started paying attention. When, how much, how often, and then why was I even craving a drink and then participating in drinking? Do this mindfully and without judgment. That is really important here. Just pay attention. This is not about shaming or creating more, you know, negative emotions around this thing that you might be doing or participating in or consuming. Do this mindfully and without judgment, but become aware. That was the first step. Now that I have a simple awareness of all that, it was time to consider the impacts of this substance or this behavior on my time, my energy, my focus, my success or lack thereof, my relationships, my mental and physical health. That's a lot to look at. These things impact all of those and more. So let's take a breath here. It's highly likely in doing this exercise that you will discover some things you are not stoked about. I know I did. You may get sad, you may get pissed off, you may get overwhelmed. But here's the thing: those emotions may come naturally to you, but they are not helpful. Shame and blame, powerlessness, those are all traps to keep you stuck in this behavior, in this pattern, in this habit, in this cycle. Try hard to look at this from above your life, from the vantage point of the fact that we all live in a society where all of these behaviors are socially acceptable, and we are all pressured by the media to be part of this dysfunctional world, use these things or these behaviors as coping mechanisms, as a way to really survive. We're all part of that freaking hamster wheel. Additionally, depending on your circumstances and background, there can be countless reasons you have developed this dysfunctional coping skill. That's also not to say that I'm green-lighting these things, and I surely am not doing that for myself. From this bigger picture vantage point, it is proven that mind-altering substances, whether they are legal or not, are not good for your health. You can then be honest with yourself about all of these outcomes and whether you feel this is working for you or not. That's what I did. Without judgment, shame, and blame, is this working for me? Is this getting me the results I want? How is this making me feel? Why am I doing this? Again, no judgment. Awareness and an honest conversation is what we're talking about here. For me, since the health of my mind and body are literally my number one personal value, then upon reading the latest scientific research, it was an easy conclusion that the intake of any alcohol was detrimental to my number one personal value, my mind and body's health. No matter how I sliced it, this product and this habit was stealing my mind and body's hard-earned health and performance. Truth. Looking around, I questioned the social norms around these often unhealthy behaviors as well. And I was able to shine a light on society's deep need for connection as a driving force of these behaviors. Connection to the self and to others. But I think it's important for each of us individually to get to the root of our own motivation and then have an honest conversation with ourselves about whether this substance or behavior is actually helping us or harming us from achieving what we long for. I know that addiction of substances and behaviors as a spectrum, it's not black and white. In order to be able to have hard conversations about this with ourselves and others, we need to shed the destructive shame that hides these behaviors in the shadows. We also need to accept that it's okay to experiment with less, with none, or to simply reestablish our relationship completely with the substance and behavior under our own terms. Sometimes we can do that on our own, and sometimes we need help. Out of curiosity, I took my own journey into a recovery dharma meeting. I've been studying Buddhism for the last year, and so much of it resonates with me. I'm loving it. And in doing my research, I found my way into this meditation-based and Buddhist teachings addiction recovery group. Though I didn't feel it was something I needed to participate on a regular basis to maintain sobriety, I have great appreciation and respect for the humans who choose this path, as well as any other traditional recovery programs. These things are amazing, and the work that's going on in these rooms is mind-blowing. I'm having lots of conversations with people and investigating programs where people are exploring and working towards sobriety, whether it is, again, a substance or an action, a behavior. It's crystal clear that finding support is the most valuable tool. Both substances and behaviors that are unhealthy can generate a great deal of physical and emotional suffering. Nobody should suffer alone, and every human can relate, either directly or indirectly, with this growing issue. I personally have experienced stuff in the past with myself and with loved ones that are in the struggle. There's no reason for any of us to feel shame around this. One of the things I decided to do was partner with a good friend who is a recovering addict, a liver transplant recipient, and an ultra-running badass, sober coach Kelly Thrush, good friend of mine. We decided to collaborate and create a free workbook for people who are on this journey and struggling with either substance abuse, and that can include food, by the way, or fighting against process-oriented unhealthy behaviors. While reestablishing and eliminating the behavior or substance from our lives, it's good to look for other resources that can generate natural endorphins too. Of course, this is coming from an endurance junkie and a lover of all things body movement. But there is also nature and art and human and humor, social bonding, mindfulness, and other healthy ways to tap into these endorphins. Curiously forward progress looks different for everybody. No judgment here. I mean, hello, the definition of curiosity is the strong desire to learn and know something. Ideally, about yourself. In conclusion, I really want to have you be empowered by this conversation. Sharing my personal experience, I hope you will maybe relate. Taking agency over your own mind and body, your own health requires awareness, reflection, consideration, education, empowerment. Reflect and get curious. Be honest and explore change. Be open with others and journal your thoughts and emotions in order to release these old ways that are no longer serving you. Be empowered to make your health, physical and mental, your highest priority. If you're ready to do the work of eliminating the substance or destructive behavior, dysfunctional relationships with your body weight or with substance abuse, health-related issues. If any of this is resonating with you, take a listen to episode 95 with Coach Kelly and I, where we introduce our free downloadable workbook. And you can also find a link to the workbook in our bio, our Instagram bio at EverydayAwesome Project or my personal Instagram, The Samantha Pruitt. If you want to explore more, the book Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington out of the UK and her podcast, Sober Curious, are great resources as well. All right, I hope you'll check out the free workbook. I hope you'll give some consideration to this Sober Curious movement and what this might look like for you. And remember, beautiful homeroons, how your life feels is more important than how it looks. And of course, stay curious. See you next time.