Ep 151: How to Prepare for January Before You Get There

Ready to start January feeling clear, steady, and actually supported?
In this episode, Christie shares how to prepare for January before you get there—so you don’t hit January 1st exhausted, overwhelmed, or starting from zero.

We’ll talk about:

• why so many women feel drained after Christmas
• how to avoid the post-holiday crash
• simple routines that help you feel grounded
• mindset shifts for a calmer New Year
• how to reduce alcohol during the holidays
• preparing for Dry January without pressure or perfection
• how support + community make change doable

You’ll walk away with practical tools to enter January feeling clear, peaceful, and confident—not burnt out.

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Transcript

 Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives. Women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason. I am your host, Christie Walker. I'm a wife, mom, and a joy filled Catholic, and I am the Catholic sobriety coach, and I'm so glad you're here.

  Have you ever noticed that January 1st doesn't always feel like a fresh start? Sometimes it feels a little more like you're arriving at the finish line, completely out of breath. I often hear women say, every year, I hope January will feel different. But I usually arrive feeling tapped out instead of ready.

The truth is, it's not just you. Most of us are not entering January feeling rested and renewed. We are coming off of weeks of disrupted routines, extra demands, and emotional overload. December can be a blur of sweets and decadent holiday dishes, a little or a lot more alcohol than usual. Overscheduling overdoing, late night scrolling and trying to keep everyone happy just to make it through. So today. We are going to talk about how to prepare before you get there. That way, instead of starting the year in recovery mode, you step into January feeling clear, supported, aware, and already grounded.

Now, before we dive in, let's talk about something important. For many women, the days between Christmas Day and New Year's feel strange and heavy. Not because you're doing anything wrong and not because you should feel happier, but simply because the pace of December suddenly stops. Routines disappear overnight.

The noise quiets and emotions finally catch up.

The brain loses its sense of predictability, and there's this pressure to magically feel refreshed as soon as we switch out the calendars. And instead of feeling energized, a lot of women notice that they feel emotionally flat, that they're physically depleted,

they can also feel spiritually disconnected and mentally overwhelmed. If this is you, there's nothing wrong with you. It's just life expectations and a big shift in rhythm happening all at once. And today we are going to plan ahead so that your January feels very, very different. Now let's talk about why most women hit January 1st, feeling exhausted 

First, it's the holiday high that leads to a nervous system crash. All month long, your brain is flooded with anticipation decisions, sugar, alcohol, late nights, and overstimulation. Then suddenly everything stops and your nervous system goes, wait. Now what? Also, there's a loss of structure in December. We often say things like, I'll deal with that in January.

I'll reset after the holidays. I just don't wanna think about that right now. So January becomes this mental dumping ground.

And then there's the unrealistic, fresh start pressure. We expect new habits, perfect routines, spiritual renewal, clean eating, less drinking. All to happen overnight, which is why so many women wake up January 1st thinking, , I am already so behind.



Then there's the week that I talked about earlier, the one between Christmas Day and New Year's. It's quiet, but not peaceful. It's unstructured, but not restful. It's reflective, but sometimes feels heavy. And it can also feel full of pressure, but without any momentum. And because of that, it can stir up feelings or emotions of comparison, grief, loneliness, unmet expectations.

And then of course there's family dynamics and regret around alcohol and or food. So here's what I want you to remember. This time is a crossroads and most women make one of two choices. The first is to give up, just to numb, escape, and promise to start over on January 1st. The second is to pause, to notice what's going on, and then to prepare with intention and honestly.

This episode is helping you to choose the second one. So if that's something that you're interested in, you're gonna wanna keep listening because now I'm going to talk about how to enter January clear and confident. So the first step to doing that is to increase awareness.

And I'm not talking rules. I just want to invite you to ask yourself four questions. 

The first is what actually drains me in December. The second is, when do I feel most vulnerable to drink? The third is what emotions show up for me after Christmas. And the fourth is, what do I truly want January to feel like? So you can just think about these things.

Take them to prayer, write them in a journal. You're just becoming more aware of your decisions to drink or not drink. Awareness will create peace. Now the second is to create one gentle routine before January. If you are like me, then you might be a person that just wants to do all the things all at once.

Just get everything in line and hit it hard. But also, if you're like me, that doesn't really always work that great. What I've learned over the years that does work is to implement small habits and then build on them. So some examples might be a three minute morning check-in with the Lord, maybe having a consistent bedtime, deciding to have one or two alcohol free nights per week if you're somebody who drinks every night. You could also take five minutes to spend time with scripture or just in silence. You could also switch out your evening wine for tea. Now, we are not looking for perfection here we are just increasing your brain's predictability for these routines. And then, like I said before, you can kind of build on that. The next thing is to set expectations built on reality, not on fantasy.

So instead of saying New Year, new me, I'm going to change all the things. Why don't you try New Year? Say me. Better supported and more awareness. January isn't a performance month. It's a reentry month, and if you think about it, it's dark, it's cold. We are just not motivated to go out and hit it hard like maybe we would in the spring or summer when.

The weather is warming up that's usually when we feel more energized in the colder, darker months, we just kinda wanna hunker down. So we don't want to be changing everything all at once at this time of year, but it is a good time of year to start to reset and make small changes that will be sustainable in the future.

The next thing is to get yourself a support system before you actually need it.

Women don't struggle because they're weak. They struggle because they try to hold the entire world together without taking up any real support. We were never created to heal, to grow, or to change in isolation. Even Jesus didn't walk his mission alone. He formed a community. He sent his disciples out two by two and showed us that transformation happens with others, not apart from them.

So I'm here to tell you support isn't a luxury or a last resort. It's how God designed us to grow. Now let's talk about some practical things that you can start right now. The first is to choose your default plan. Say to yourself, when I feel stressed, instead of pouring a drink, I will.

Whatever you want to do. That could be text someone, take a two minute pause, step outside, go for a walk, or just delay the craving for 10 minutes. The second thing is to remove that all or nothing thinking. If you get to January and you've decided not to drink at all, like to do dry January, just know that it doesn't have to be perfect.

It doesn't have to be dry or disaster. It doesn't have to be perfect or pointless. It doesn't have to be all in or. Forget about it. Progress counts. I always tell people, count your alcohol free days. If you decide that you wanna go 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, however many days without alcohol, I think that's amazing.

But what I would invite you to do is to get yourself some cute little stickers, or even just make little Xs on the calendar. And let's say you have like. 10 alcohol free days in a row, and then you have alcohol one or two or three days. But then you get back on it. If you look at that month and you're able to say, wow, I didn't do all 30 days like I had hoped, but.

I sure did a heck of a lot better than I did in December or even November. That is going to give you the sense of accomplishment that you need to keep moving forward. The third thing is to decide what you're done with.

Ask yourself, what am I no longer carrying into the new year? What is no longer serving my peace? What needs surrendered rather than self punishment? The fourth is to replace shame with stewardship. We honor God not by trying harder, but by letting him transform us over time.

Now, if you're listening and thinking, I don't wanna start 2026, feeling behind, I want to enter January already feeling supported. Here's what will help you do exactly that.

My sober Advent and New Year reset. Isn't it detox, a challenge or a willpower sprint? It is a 63 day guided experience designed to help Catholic women enter January already supported, already grounded, already practicing new habits. So instead of starting from zero on New Year's Day. Here's what you'll get.

We start November 30th, the beginning of Advent, and you'll get live weekly group coaching, so you're not alone . You'll have real time support, personalized guidance, space to process emotions that come up during the holidays, and accountability that feels encouraging and not pressure filled.

You will also have access to a private Slack community. This is a drama free space for daily check-ins, honest conversations, prayer and encouragement, celebrating your wins. Big and small support, especially during evenings, weekends, and that in between week. Women repeatedly tell me. This was the first time I didn't feel like I was white knuckling.

This is the first time I've actually been able to say these things to another person and not worry about what they think about me.

You also get simple, doable tools. These are not going to overwhelm you. They include brain-based strategies for cravings and urges, scripture and coaching prompts, emotional regulation tools, gentle routines that you can actually sustain, and a plan for entering January without the crash. Nothing extreme, nothing rigid, just peaceful and sustainable change.

And here's the kicker. You get support all the way through Advent Christmas and the entire month of January. Most programs end before the hardest month begins, but in this reset when everyone else is trying to fix themselves on January 1st,

you are already 31 days in practicing what works. Feeling clear instead of desperate. You have. Awareness and you feel supported all the way through the month. So if you're considering dry January or just want to reduce your alcohol intake, it becomes completely doable and not this desperate panic button.

Also, I just want you to know that in order to be part of this reset, you don't have to quit drinking forever. You don't even have to quit drinking during the reset. This is for women who want to drink less, who want to take a break, who want to change their relationship with alcohol, or simply stop feeling outta control during the holidays.

No labels. No shame, just growth with God and community, and if that sounds like the support that you've been craving, my reset is open now, but only for a very short time. So click the link in my show notes to join. You don't have to wait for January to feel better because you can. Now and future, you will be so grateful.

Now, if you're listening to this at a different time of the year, I do resets throughout the year. So just check my website to see if I have one going or one coming up. You deserve to enter the new year with peace, with clarity, with confidence and support. You do not have to start from scratch on January 1st.

Your future self is already thanking you and

i'm cheering for you and I hope to see you inside the reset.

 Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend who might also get value from it as well, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I am the Catholic sobriety coach, and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about.

The coaching that I offer, visit my website, the Catholic sobriety coach.com. Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach. I look forward to speaking to you next. Time and remember, I am here for you. I am praying for you.