Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024!

In today's episode, Lauren opens up a conversation about what items and habits she gave up in 2023. She discusses making her own non-toxic beauty products, becoming sober part way through the year, leaving unhealthy friendships behind and limiting sugar intake. Welcome to MILF Season!

Transcript

Okay, wow. Welcome back to MILF season. Um, I've been MIA. I was so sick. I couldn't even talk. I couldn't even open my mouth. Um, so I'm sorry that I am behind on my episodes, but I'm back. It's a new year. I'm not sick and my work schedule is back to normal. I really want to start this episode by saying how grateful I am and I honestly I wasn't expecting the amount of feedback that I got from friends, from family, from people that I would consider like internet friends. Like it was... I still don't even have words for it. I was truly shocked and I'm so so grateful for how much positive feedback I got on my first episode. It means so much to me and I was already so excited about this podcast and when I just saw the messages like coming through my phone, the phone calls I got from some really close friends, like I can't even explain the amount of joy that brought me. I'm just so sinking grateful and you guys got me even more excited for what's to come. I've been dying to record so I'm so happy that I'm not sick.

I'm so happy that you're here and I want you all to know that if you sent me a message, um, I screenshotted it so that I could save it in case anyone decides to send me something mean because it's the internet and I know that that could happen. I'm just gonna scroll back. Maybe I'll even print them out, hang them on my wall. Who knows? I'm gonna keep those messages because seriously, I was just so overjoyed and so grateful for all of the feedback and all of the kind words that you guys sent to me. So I'm so happy that you loved it and I'm so excited for episode two!

Okay, also before we get too far into this episode, I wanted to clarify and explain why I decided to to name this podcast MILF Season because my boss was like, I listened to your podcast. And I was like, oh my God, no way. I got kind of nervous.

I was like, oh my God. I was like, what'd you think? Like honest feedback.

And he was like, no, it was really good. Like you swore a lot. I was like, indeed, indeed I did.

I should probably reel that in. I do have a two year old, so I probably shouldn't swear like a sailor, but I work at a bar. So two conflicting worlds right there.

And then he was like, but I feel like you're kind of like limiting your audience because you're calling it MILF Season. I was like, you're not wrong, you know, milfs are obviously typically for when you talk about a woman, but I had to name it milf season because when I got pregnant and I accepted that I was pregnant and I was like, wow, I'm going to have a kid. I was like, I cannot wait to be the hottest 22 at the time year old mom out there.

I was like, I am going to snap back. I was like, I'm gonna be a MILF. I'm ready.

I'm so ready to be a MILF. And I did. I had Lois and then when I was cleared to work out, I started doing 75 Hard.

And let me tell you, I frigging snapped back. That program whips you into shape, mentally especially and physically. And what was such a riot was when I had Lois, which will be a whole episode on its own, I guess when I came out of my c-section, I don't remember because I was so drugged up From all that went down when I was having her I was so drugged up from the spinal tap that I guess they were wheeling me back into my room and Lois is on my chest, you know, I'm like practically unconscious I mean, I'm I'm conscious but my brain don't know where she was And my sister was coming out of like this side bathroom right as they were wheeling me in. And I guess when I saw her, Lois on my chest, wrapped in my arms, I swung my head in the most drugged up, dramatic way possible. I looked over at her and I said, it's MILF season, baby. I literally don't have any recollection of this happening at all. But that was the first thing that I said post having a child. And when she told me that story, I died laughing. I was like, you've got to be kidding me. I just had my baby and the first thing I think of is like, it's milk season. Let's go. I'm ready.

I'm going to snap back into shape. I'm going to be so hot. People aren't even going to know that I'm a mom until they see me with my kid. And I mean, I did it. I accomplished that goal, but let me tell you, I died. I was like, I died? No, I died. I was like, holy crap, I'm like, that should be like a sticker, like it's milf season. Maybe I'll make a sticker and you guys can buy it if you want it. I don't know, who knows? We'll see where this goes down the line, but I just wanted to explain that because this podcast isn't just for moms, it's for everybody. I hope that everyone feels that they can listen to it.

um, any age, man, woman, whatever, whatever. It's for everybody, not just for the MILFs. Okay, so on to today's topic. It's 2024, currently it's January 2nd, and today I wanted to talk about things I left behind in 2023, things I gave up in 2023 that have benefited my life more than I can say and you know what? What's great about them is that they're such small changes. That's the thing is I feel like everyone starts the year and they're like it's always fitness. I'm gonna go to the gym every single day. I'm gonna create all these new healthy habits. I'm gonna get up at 530. I'm gonna read. I'm like I'm gonna journal. I'm gonna meditate. Like whatever it is like realistically like habit stacking like you can't do all those things at once.

Maybe you can for like a week but you're not gonna like stick with those over time. And so, these little changes I made in 2023 were gradual and they weren't all at once. So, let's get right into it. The first change that I made in 2023 was for my skin. I actually found through Instagram that you can make your own moisturizer. And something Something about me that maybe some of you don't know is that when I had Lois, I started researching, and I started getting into herbs. And that's going to be its whole episode because I'm obsessed with learning about herbs, and I don't get to do it super often, but it's something that I enjoy doing in my free time when I can.

And I just teach it to myself through books, through YouTube. And I don't know if my sister sent me a video, but I came across a video that you can make your own moisturizer with tallow. And I was like, what the heck is tallow?

I've never heard of this. And I always tell people a little forewarning because it's kind of gross, but like tallow is actually part of a cow. It's made from suet and suet is this like fatty like part of a cow.

And it's what like back in the olden days, people used to make moisturizer, like body lotions. I was like, wow, that's disgusting. I was like, well, I started looking it up and it has all these amazing skin benefits and I was like, maybe I should try this.

I got really excited about it. I researched suet and I was like, okay, where do I find suet? It's at a butcher and I was like, great, there's no butcher shops near me.

I've never been to a butcher shop. I remember that there was a farm local to me and they raise meat cows. I called them and I'm like, hi, I'm wondering if you have any suet.

And they were like, of course we do. Do you need it for your chickens? And I was like, no, I'll be there to pick some up though.

And they're like, great. So I get there and the woman tells me, oh, people always buy suet for chickens because you can make boredom breakers. Is that what they're called?

Yeah, I think so, for your chickens in the winter. And you just freeze, if you will. you, not freeze, but tallow hardens when it's not warm, and so you put chicken feed in it and it hardens.

Anyway, that's not the point of this. I did not make boredom breakers for our chickens. I made moisturizer.

So I bought the suet and I looked up how to render it into tallow, and it's very easy but it's a very messy process, and you essentially boil the suet on low and you let it simmer, and then you basically it separates all the fats. You take all the fat off and you can just throw that away and then you pour it in a container and you let it harden. And I use a mixer and I whip it up and it becomes like what I call my tallow body butter and then I add essential oils in there that are beneficial for your skin.

And I was a little skeptical because I have really sensitive skin and I was really afraid it was gonna make me break out And I don't patch test. You know, anytime you get a new beauty product, it's like, patch test. I'm like, yeah, no, I'm just gonna go full on and hope I don't have a reaction to it.

And I put the towel on at night and I woke up in the morning and I was shocked. My skin is usually so red and like inflamed in the morning and it was perfectly calm. There was no redness.

And I was like, I think I'm onto something here. And send it to my sister. you need to try this. I like told my mom like you guys need to try this and like they had the same thing. They had no irritation, no redness in their skin and I literally threw away my moisturizer and I'm pretty sure I've been using tallow for almost a full year I want to say. It might be a little bit less but I do not even keep like face moisturizer in my room anymore. I don't have any of it I threw it all away I only use the tallow and what's amazing is that I make a huge batch of it it doesn't go bad it it keeps shelf-stable for over a year and longer in the fridge and it maybe cost me not even $10 to make the most expensive part is the essential oils it's been a game-changer for my skin and if you guys do end up wanting to try some I do sell little batches of it and bigger containers as well you can always shoot me a DM on my Instagram.

That was my first change of 2023 that seriously impacted my beauty and my health because I'm really getting into non-toxic stuff. I really try to get rid of all these toxic chemicals. My end goal is just to have a long healthy life and there's so much information coming out right now about how harmful our beauty products are. So towel was my first big you know discovery and change of 2023 when it came to beauty and towel got me excited. I was like okay what's next? What else that is in my beauty routine, my everyday routine that I can swap out for something non-toxic and that was dry shampoo. I followed an Instagram page that, I can't remember the name of it, but they put out this like infographic essentially about dry shampoo and how all these companies were getting sued for this chemical that I'm not gonna try to pronounce that was in it and it was causing cancer and it was proven to be causing cancer in women and I was like I literally used dry shampoo like four days in a row because I'm trying to wash my hair less because it's supposed to be healthier for your hair. And I was like, oh my god, my brand I was using, Not Your Mother's, was listed on that little infographic. And I was like, holy crap, this is full of fragrance? And I learned through a podcast that the term fragrance, if it's listed on your beauty products and like ingredients list, can cover like well over like a thousands and thousands of chemicals. He like said the exact number I'm not gonna make it up I obviously don't remember what that number was but it was thousands and thousands of chemicals can be hidden under the term fragrance. So for a while I was using native shampoo and I was like oh my god I found a clean shampoo. Nope, joke's on me because the ingredients on there include fragrance which is why it smells so amazing cuz God knows how many chemicals are under there.

So backtracking here, I was like, dry shampoo, that's next. And then I was like, how am I going to make my own dry shampoo? Like I don't know how they pressurize that.

And I found once again, I just started following all these like natural Instagram pages and I found that it is so stinging easy to make your own dry shampoo powder. If you have kind of like a lot of different colors in your hair, like you know if you're got like blonde and brown or if you have like colored hair, like it's going to be a lot harder to find like natural alternatives for it. But if you are like mostly blonde, you have red hair, like you're dark brown, light brown and there's not too many different shades of colors in your hair, this is such an easy, easy, easy hack and swap.

And once again, if you don't feel like making it, DM me on Instagram. I sell dry shampoo as well. This change has helped my hair so much.

It's less than three ingredients plus essential oils in every single dry shampoo. And you literally can just take like arrowroot powder. For me, I have like darker brown hair right now on my roots.

You take cocoa powder, you mix them together. You don't even have to use any essential oil if you have dark hair because the cocoa powder smells good. You're going to kind of smell like sweet and a little chocolatey if you like that.

But if you don't like that, you can grab your lavender, your rose, your orange, whatever essential oil you want and pour some of that in there. You stir it up and you put it in a container and you're good to go. It's that easy.

It is so stinking easy. So it's going to save you so much money because dry shampoo is what, like $8? this cause to buy your container, just take a mason jar, to buy a big thing of cocoa powder, a big thing of arrowroot powder, again, this is only for brown hair, and if you want the optional essential oil, your essential oil is again the most expensive part of this, and you're going to have a container that's going to last you months for maybe $15 max.

But let me tell you, this dry shampoo works so stinking well. It absorbs oil way better than any spray dry shampoo I have ever tried. And the best part of it is that since you're adding like a powder to your hair, it actually adds volume to your hair.

So my best friend, she has the most thin stinging hair I've ever seen in my life. And she texted me and was like, I finally tried out your dry shampoo and A, I can't believe how long I can go without washing my hair now and B, I can finally do hairstyles with my hair because there's texture and there's like volume to it. It adds so much texture to your hair. When I was doing like big braids with my hair, I love braiding hair. I used to use baby powder until I found out that baby powder that I was using was old and also toxic because there's a huge call on this recall I mean on this brand of baby powder so I used to lather my hair with baby powder and like I was super blonde at the time so you couldn't see it rub it in really well and then I would be able to make these like huge like thick braids in my hair because there was so much like product and texture in my hair and now get rid of the baby powder get rid of the spray dry shampoo get rid of your texture building products that you buy the store I'd never use those, but there's tons of them out there.

Replace it with this dry shampoo powder and your hair will thank you so much. It's seriously like I can't believe that I never found this sooner and I'm so happy that these videos came across my Instagram because my hair is so much healthier. Which leads me to the third product that I have off and on given up in 2023, which this is gonna sound really crazy and really hippie-dippie to some of you, really granola, is actually shampoo and conditioner. Wow I really just realized that. I like went on a tangent about dry shampoo and tello for so long and I honestly didn't even take a freaking breath so I just had to stop recording and I took a nice big swig of my Aroma Joe's single Barbie rush and now I'm feeling ready to go on our third topic which is shampoo and conditioner. So hang in there girls this is gonna sound wild you're gonna be like that's disgusting what are you talking about? This is called the no poo method and once again your girl found it on Instagram. My Instagram page is an interesting place to be because it's all my friends and then it's homesteading and herbs and natural products and I love it because I save all of these things that are so cool I'm like wow I can really be making my own household cleaner I can really be making my own conditioner shampoo dry shampoo moisturizer perfume oh my god I bought this like essential oil perfume thing I really want to try making a perfume it's apparently super easy so anywho maybe that'll be in my 2024 list of things to do. But the no poo method is so simple. You start using, I think there are a couple of other methods for this, but the one that I found and tried was replacing your shampoo with baking soda. You take a little bit of baking soda and you add a little bit of water slowly to make it into a paste and then you use it as a shampoo. You like really have to like scrub it into your scalp and I let it sit for a little bit and then you rinse it out. Now for conditioner. You can either do straight apple cider vinegar. You do need to mix it and dilute it a little bit with water, not too much. I didn't want my hair to smell like apple cider vinegar. That to me wasn't cute. If anyone was coming to give me a hug, I don't want them to to be like, what in the world? This girl smells like vinegar because I use it in my hair.

That to me, huge no-go. So I started doing some research. Rosemary is very, very good for your hair. Now, my little disclaimer is that if this episode intrigues you at all to maybe start researching, maybe start using some herbs on your hair or your skin, you need to research because certain herbs without certain oils together can make your hair fall out, can do some crazy things. So you can't just start pouring rosemary essential oil on your hair, your hair will fall out. So you need to do some research if this intrigues you at all. So I knew that rosemary was very good for hair and hair growth and strengthening the follicle. So I threw some rosemary, like the herb itself, into a container and some essential oil. And then I grabbed some lavender and the actual herb again, the plant, put it in the container and I also added some lavender essential oil. I believe at one point I also added some rose essential oil. Rose is also good for your hair. And then I poured apple cider vinegar in and I let it sit for a month in the basement in the dark in the cold and after that month was up I took out half of it and poured it into a container that I could keep in the bathroom and then I just continued to let the rest of the apple cider vinegar with the herbs just sit and I would just take more outside of vinegar as I needed it because I do kind of go through the conditioner quote-unquote a lot faster just because I have a lot of hair and I noticed within a week that when I was brushing my hair so before I started using the natural shampoo conditioner when I would brush out my hair it was honestly disgusting I was pretty careful about brushing out my hair but all so much hair was coming out that I was like pulling off and throwing in the trash And I'm like this cannot be good that this much of my hair is falling out and I knew that during postpartum around four months postpartum One common symptom is for your hair to start falling out and I was so scared I was like, I don't want that happening to me So that's when I also really started like researching like natural alternatives to help strengthen the hair Because I didn't want to postpartum be losing all of my hair Thankfully that didn't happen to me around four months. It actually started happening, I want to say it was around eight months, I started to notice that more hair was starting to fall out. So with this dry, or sorry, with this shampoo and conditioner, I noticed within a week that like way less hair was coming out on my comb. And I was like, hmm that's very interesting. So I stuck with it. Now Now again, a little disclaimer here is that I was very much altering my routine with my hair.

So with that being said, there was a period of maybe like two weeks in and for like a solid week that my hair didn't get very oily because my hair was changing. Like I was changing everything that I was doing to my hair. I just stopped using regular shampoo and conditioner, cold turkey, and dry shampoo too.

I basically was doing all of this at once. And then I started using my natural stuff that I was making. So my hair was probably like, what in the world are you doing?

But the changes that I noticed were too good for me to stop. I was like, okay, I'm going to just kind of pile on the dry shampoo while my hair is adjusting to this change and like resetting like its natural like oil production I guess and I stuck with it and I'm so happy that I did because I actually had saved a picture of my hair on snapchat I was taking a snapchat to send to somebody and my hair looked so stinking good I want to say this was like a month and a half into using all of my natural products of my hair so the shampoo conditioner and my dry shampoo and my hair was like lines Maine beautiful like it had so much volume and it was so healthy and it was getting so shiny and I was like holy crap I was like wow like I cannot believe these three little changes like how healthy my hair looks right now so I will admit though this past like two months I've been using native because I thought it was kind of healthy whatever now I realize that it's not and it can just be a little bit of a hassle to keep up with making the conditioner. I mean once again you could just use alpha-citric vinegar but I would prefer to not smell like that and so I've fallen out of that habit and I really need to get back into it because I'm starting to once again have so much hair come out when I brush it that it's like grossing me out and I'm like no this is not okay the amount of hair that I'm shedding not okay so I really need to get back into that habit. But let me tell you, the changes I noticed during that time, like make it worth it. Which also leads me to a big change that I did this year was I let my hair heal. I was really on this like hair healing journey I guess if you will.

Because I only got my hair like done like highlights twice. And once was after Lois, I was determined to let my hair grow naturally, just to kind of see what it would look like without me dying it bleach blonde. And I let it do its natural thing for almost a year, and then I was like, I can't stand this ring of color that I've got going on now between the dark and the blonde. So I got it done once, and then right before I started working at the bar, I dyed it again.

And it wasn't the color that I wanted really at all. It was really dark, really almost black and gray. Not black, I would say, but it was like gray.

And since then, I have kind of sworn off dying it again for a while. And I really just feel like letting my hair reset and just heal helps so much. My hair is growing very long right now, very quickly.

Like my sister keeps texting me like, when did your hair get so long? I'm like, honestly, I don't know. Like, I can't believe how long it's gone in such a short period of time.

And I really think it's because I'm like getting rid of some of these toxic chemicals that I was using every single day. Gotta get re-comfy here, readjust. So the fourth thing that I gave up in 2023, which is really random and sounds really weird, kind of out of left field, was sunglasses.

Once again, I saw this on Instagram and read this little article thing that was just talking about how sunglasses block, like, the... obviously the sunlight, but it really, like, messes with our body's natural rhythm and cycle of, like, producing melatonin. Because depending on the sun, I guess, or, like, the strength of the sun and the time of day, it cues our body for waking and then for sleeping. And so it cues like the melatonin cycles in our body. And I was like, wow, I'm really out here playing outside with Lois, like going on a walk, I'm driving, and I'm always wearing sunglasses. And again, such a random little thing that I learned for just like holistic health. And I can't really tell you if it's really made the biggest difference in terms of like sleeping because my sleep schedule is so messed up from the bar anyway because I work so late at night.

But what I can say is that I go outside now and I'm not squinting all the time because my eyes are fully adjusted to the sunlight and I'm not like blinded by the sun anymore. So such a simple little thing. Maybe you could experiment.

Let me know how it goes if you do, but it's something that I am not changing. I am 100% sticking with this habit. We'll see when summer rolls around.

I think that'll be the real kicker. We'll see how I do with the summer sun. But I mean, winter sun's really strong too, especially when you're driving, and I'll put my mirror down every now and then to kind of help block the sun, but it really doesn't bother me anymore.

So that's a really little random thing that I kind of just read about and I started doing, I also really don't like how sunglasses look on my face anyway, so double whammy right there! Okay, so on to a little bit more serious topics of something that I gave up this year, which a lot of you know, maybe a lot of you don't know. I obviously mentioned it in my first episode, and I'm going to talk about it way more in depth in my next episode.

But I gave up alcohol. I am nearing six months sober and I am so proud of myself and I am so excited to continue seeing the growth personally that happens the longer I get into my sobriety journey. I really don't like saying that.

My sobriety journey. Like, eh, my journey. I can't stand that stuff.

Yeah, here I am saying it. I don't know what else to call it. sobriety path. Like, that just sounds kind of lame because it's a big deal. Like, I really think that a lot of people are sober curious and are becoming sober curious in our age demographic right now or in my age demographic right now.

And I think it's beautiful. Like, I think people are really starting to realize that alcohol is a toxin. It's really, really bad for you. And you know, Obviously, a lot of people have fun with alcohol too and can enjoy it responsibly, and some people can't, and that's me. And that's okay. It's part of my life.

It's part of my path, and I have, for the most part, some days not so much, some days very much accepted that. But yeah, giving up alcohol was and is really hard. When you give up alcohol, I think that you kind of start to realize how alcohol-obsessed our culture is.

And I honestly, I've thought so much about this to myself and I haven't spoken it out loud. And I also want to say that if you enjoy drinking, that's totally fine. I'm not condemning you or shaming you, like, at all.

It's just for me, I knew that alcohol, it's not a choice for me anymore. And people love it. People love to go out drinking and that's really fun.

I obviously work at a bar. I make money off of people who love to go out drinking and I'm grateful for that. But giving up alcohol has impacted my life in so many good ways that really outweigh like any reason to like drink again, I feel like.

Like there are some times when I am at the bar and I'm like, wow, I really feel left doubt that I can't take part in this and that, you know, I can't drink alcohol and everyone looks like they're having so much fun. And then I really remind myself that like, the this isn't the real version of you when you're drinking. It's not the real version of you. It's the lower inhibitions. Like, maybe you get kind of crazy when you're drinking, you're like wild, unpredictable, maybe you get kind of mad, or maybe you get sad, like, those aren't the authentic real versions of you and that's what I'm so grateful for with sobriety is that when you are around me you are getting the most authentic version of myself like in that moment. Obviously I'm not always happy 100% of the time, sometimes I'm angry, sometimes I'm sad, like but you know that those are my real emotions and I feel like there's just there's no greater like blessing than that. Like I am so much more confident in myself because of my sobriety, because this is who I am. And I am learning how to, you know, develop social skills without needing that quick hit or quick fix of like, oh my god I'm nervous I need a drink. Or maybe it's like a vape for people, oh my god I'm nervous, I like need a hit of my nicotine, my vape, whatever it is, like I don't have to rely on those substances to get me through situations, I rely on myself.

And then when I get through that, you know, situation, networking event, like guy talking to me and I'm nervous or like whatever is happening, I'm like wow, I really just made it through that situation with like me, I was raw, vulnerable, like you just develop these skills and I really feel like alcohol suppresses those parts of people and like numbs that part of you. You know, it takes a lot of practice if you're trying to stay sober. It takes a lot of discipline and I'm just trying to think of the other words for it, it takes a lot of self-confidence to get through a situation sober that you are so used to being drunk in or some form of intoxicated in. So for me specifically, I still love to go out with my friends like once or twice a month. That's usually good for me and then I'm like this is, I'm over this. But once or twice a month, I'm like I could use a good night out and like go dancing with my friends. But it was so so hard for me to do that sober for so long and I'm not saying it's easy now either but when I first was trying to kind of get sober but I wasn't really taking it that seriously I know I want to do it I know I needed to do it for myself and for my daughter but I was kind of like meh it's more fun to go out and get drunk with my friends and and I had actually was just coming off 75 hard and I was about to be I was I think I was at 95 or 96 days of sobriety and I went out with my friends and I was like No, I'm gonna drink and I have really had this battle Should I should I not should I should I not and I decided to and I did and it wasn't fun I I mean I had fun but afterwards like the shame and the guilt I was like wow I'm really really tired of this shame cycle with alcohol and like I don't even think that you need to have an alcohol addiction to feel that shame cycle it's like classic college or like bar situation I feel like you get all dressed up you're so excited to go out with your girlfriends your guy friends whatever guys really dress up but girls do obviously you go out to the bar to the party you get hammered then you start like flirting with the guy or the girl, I'm just gonna talk from like the girl experience and maybe this isn't everyone's experience but it was mine in college and I watch it go down every weekend. Now you're like sloppy, you're all over that guy, you're not reading social cues correctly anymore, like maybe you go home and you sleep with him or her or whatever and then you wake up in the morning and you're like, fuck. You're like, wow actually that person isn't as cute as I thought they were or wow I I would not have done anything with this person if I was sober and I made that decision sober and now it's awkward and now I feel guilty and now I'm ashamed and that was my experience in college so much I would like, even right up until the last point of me drinking last summer it was just this like, shame cycle and it felt like mental gymnastics and I was so over it And guess what? Now, if I'm out with friends and I talk to a guy, it's because I'm interested in him.

And I get to make that decision clear-headed and sober as to whether I'm going to talk to him, whether I give him any of my information, whatever. And I get to go home after a fun night out. I climb right into bed. I have no trouble sleeping because alcohol really messes with your sleep cycle. I don't have any fucked up dreams because because when I was drinking I used to have really really messed up dreams and I wake up in the morning with my daughter and if anything I'm a little bit tired and then I'm ready for my day I can eat, I'm not eating sugary junk food because I'm not craving sugar because I'm hungover I am drinking water because I can tolerate it because I didn't drink again, not craving sugary drinks or Pedialyte or, god Pedialyte is so disgusting Ugh, any of that stuff.

I'm not needing to like pound the liquid IVs, which in case you guys didn't know, it actually got bought out by a different company and it's full of sugar and it's really not good for you anymore.

Yeah, I mean, I could honestly, and probably will at some point, just like go into depth about this topic because sobriety has changed my life so much. And so, like I can even formulate a sentence. I just love who I am right now, sober.

And I love that I am making these level-headed, clear decisions. And since becoming sober, so many other aspects of my life have changed. I have my finances in order.

I am about a month away from paying off the rest of my debt. And then I'm going to be debt-free, which is, I mean, I can't even wait for that. I can't explain how excited I am about that.

to have my entire paycheck be for me and I can allocate it where I am going to deem necessary to propel my life forward versus spending hundreds of dollars on a weekend at the bar. I mean, what's better than that? Like actually having money.

It's a crazy concept these days. But yeah, and I think one of the other biggest ways that sobriety has changed my life And this is also my next topic. I forgot what number we're on, maybe five.

I'm not sure. Of things that I quote unquote gave up or things that changed in 2023 were friendships. And sobriety is a huge piece of this because I no longer have drinking friends.

I, in college, I knew a lot of people because I'm a friendly person. I was bartending at the college bar, So I always knew the upperclassmen and was like invited to the upperclassmen parties like off the inn whatever which was like great at the time I played lacrosse for my first year of college, which was a horrible experience Unfortunately for a sport that I really loved but I you know had it was a big thing to play a sport at my college So, you know, I was on the in quote-unquote because I was on sports team But I really was like jumping around from friend group to friend group in college.

And it's partially I think, basically those people, like those, those friend groups I was jumping around were just different friend groups that I could go out with. So if so and so wasn't wanting to go to this townhouse for the party, I could just message these other people I knew and they would go out with me. And that's kind of like one of my big regrets from college is that I feel like I could have had some really much closer friendships with different people, but all I cared about was like, who was I gonna go out drinking with? Who are my drinking friends? Like, who, where are we going for the best party? Where can we get in for the best, most fun party of the weekend? And now that I'm sober, like, I don't have those, like, drinking friends that I only talk to on the weekends. And I think a lot of people can probably relate to this because everyone's just, like, living for the weekend still, living for the most fun party, the most fun bar to go to, the most fun weekend experience, and it's like, well, who am I going to go with?

And when you just are sober and you don't even have to think about that, you're like, who do I genuinely want to be out with? My best friends. And I only have a couple of those for a specific reason.

I joke about it like, oh, ha ha, like I have no friends. And sometimes that it feels that way and it like kind of hurts, but I'm also just so picky now about, I, picky is kind of like the, I mean, it's the right word. It just sounds kind of rude, I guess, but I'm just so specific about who I want to associate with. And I know it gets thrown around so much, but like the five people that you spend the most time with are the five people that you are going to hang around. So I'm very aware of that all the time because, you know, if I were to start hanging out with a group of friends and all they do is go out drinking every weekend and then in the morning they go out for brunch and they get bottomless mimosas and you know I'm gonna start drinking, I'm gonna start spending all my money on things like I'm just so aware of those things now. And you know what actually that really reminds me of about sobriety is that I am so much more self-aware. I can now sit with myself and say you are trying to run from something.

I might not know what that emotion is or that feeling is, but like I have an itch to cover it with shopping, with drinking, with sex, whatever it is, I can point that out to myself now. And this was something that I also developed through therapy and talking through my thera- with my therapist about, and I really realized that I can now identify when I'm uncomfortable with myself or with the situation that's going on. Sometimes it's literally when I'm alone, you know, when my daughter's napping or maybe she's away with the sitter and I'm sitting here and I start thinking about something and I don't want to think about it, I turn on a podcast. I listen to music. I want to buy something to make myself feel better and maybe for other people, you want to go drinking, you want to smoke weed, you want to hit your vape like there's probably so many other things out there too you want to do x drug that makes you feel good and i really have learned through sobriety that i'm was just trying to mask emotions and numb emotions it it's like i just can't even formulate how eye-opening sobriety is and i'm kind of like harping on it right now and i'm not trying to say that you have to be sober all your life, but I really think that, you know, some people do dry January. Like, I think that even being sober for 30 days is gonna open up your perspective and your mind. And shifting back to your friend group, I think it's really gonna force you to look at your friends and think, do these people have my best interests at heart? Are these truly my best friends that love me, that want me to propel forward or these people that are going to drag me down. Maybe they're, you know, energy vampires and they just suck the life out of you and all they care about is drinking and partying or smoking or doing drugs, like whatever it is. And that for me in 2023, with being almost six months sober, part of me felt kind of guilty because I really don't talk to many people from college anymore. I have a select few friends that I keep in touch with.

I am very, very specific about who I spend my time with, um, out, you know, now and outside of work, um, which is hardly anybody. And I kind of joke that I spend most of my time with these podcast hosts that I 100% encourage you to listen to if it's your type of thing, but but I spend maybe 80% of my time listening to Dave Ramsey.

I spend, not 80, honestly, it's like an equal split. I would say, I can't do percentages if you know me, it's so bad. Forget the math.

I spend so much of my time listening to Dave Ramsey, who I personally believe in his financial advice, which I know a lot of people disagree with, and that's okay. I love Andy Frisella. Andy Frisella has changed my life.

That is an entire episode that will be coming on its own. I love, love Ed Milet. Ed Milet talks so much about discipline and he has really opened my eyes into how to become like the best version of myself.

And he really tells it to you straight in such a kind way. He's got some really, really great podcast episodes. And I also listened to this awesome podcast called Sad to Savage.

And in that podcast, the host talks about habits and milling habits and stacking habits. And those four podcasts are like game changers for me.

They have really opened up my perspective and that's who I joke about who I spend the most time with. I joke that it's these podcast hosts. And you know what?

Sometimes, like I said, I get kind of sad that I'm like, wow, I really feel like I actually don't have that many close girlfriends I hang out with. And part of me is kind of okay with that. And A, that's probably the reason why I started this podcast because I felt a little bit of a lack of connection.

I felt this would be a great way to connect with people, even though it's not face-to-face. But I am at peace with not having a hundred girlfriends to talk to because I feel like I'm investing so much time and growth through these podcasts, you know, into myself, if that makes sense. That was very poorly worded, but I just feel like I'm learning so much about how to become that best version of myself and personal development and mental discipline and getting my finances in order.

And if people, certain people don't want to be by my side during that time, then that's great. That's fine. I don't need them in my life.

And there are certain people that are, and they're supporting me. And those are my true friends. And when we hang out, we don't have to drink.

We don't have to smoke. We don't have to do anything. We sit and we enjoy each other's company and we have meaningful conversations.

And that change for me, not just in 2023, but from college was huge. And it has impacted my life so much in such a positive way and kind of narrowing that friend group. It can feel guilty, you know, or sad letting people go in your life that maybe aren't benefiting you or don't have your best interest at heart, and it's hard, but in the long run, it's the right choice, I believe.

And I think it'll help you grow into a mature adult in such a good way. And then eventually, the people, I'm honestly just like affirming this to myself right now, like the people that are by my side right now have my best interest at heart. And eventually, more friends will be by my side as well that have the same goals as I do.

Want to be successful and want to make a lot of money, you know, want to have a family and kids and have those same morals and values. They'll get there. You just gotta start letting go of the not-so-good ones first.

Okay, that was a lot more, um, I don't want to say heavy. That was a lot more serious than I anticipated that to go. my first episode I had kind of like a script basically written out that I wrote while I was at work of like certain topics I knew that I wanted to hit and that was like my sister was like the episode was so good but you kind of sounded like you were giving like a speech and I was like that's because I was I was like partially reading from like my little notes thing but then I kind of started just like ignoring my notes and just speaking freely and like openly and that's when it sounded a lot more natural.

And so I, before this episode, like I just keyed my, like literally I wrote like sobriety, tallow, just so that I wouldn't forget what I was talking about. But I'm literally sitting in my chair with my microphone on my knee. I'm all comfortable and I'm wrapped in a blanket and I've just been talking.

So maybe this episode isn't as quote unquote thought out. It's not as structured. So I hope it doesn't sound all over the place, but I'm really just speaking from the heart right now.

So I'm sorry that it just got kind of like heavy for a minute there. But I'm going to tell you guys the last thing. I think we're on number six.

Honestly, it doesn't matter. I lost track. But the I think sixth thing that I gave up, I can't even say I fully gave it up, but something that I became very aware of in 2023, and this was from doing 75 hard. that's when I really started to note this type of change in my body is I've been trying to be so much more conscious about the amount that I snack and the amount of sugar I take in and you know this sounds so like healthy girl blah blah you know hot girls summer whatever I don't even know what you want to call it but it just sounds like one of those kind of like annoying topics like I'm not I'm definitely not like I don't eat sugar anymore like that's not that is not me I love my sweets but when I did 75 hard I couldn't snack really if I snacked it was something healthy but I really didn't have a desire to snack anyway because if you snack you want something unhealthy and I couldn't be doing that and you can't have sugar you know obviously there's like sugar and like some protein powder and like stuff like that like I didn't have a zero sugar at all I feel like it in today's culture it's like almost impossible but I wasn't eating refined sugar and like you know obviously junk food and sweets I was having like sugar from like berries and you know natural sugar So I've noticed when I'm bored and I think everybody does this when you're bored You just like snack and then you're like wow I'm so hungry and for me when I snack I it's like these foods have chemicals in them that like make you think you're hungry and you're not So like I would have like something like salty and then I'd be like wow Now I want something sweet and like I feel like the snacking just like never ended and you don't really realize how quickly that like impacts your body and Once I did 75 hard and I got off of it and I was like still eating like really clean for a while but then I kind of start snacking a little bit here and there and like having junk food here and there and I Seriously noticed how quickly my body I like gained weight and how quickly my acne was coming back and like when I did 75 hard and like I never struggled with acne that bad to begin with like when I have too much dairy or too much sugar I break out like kind of bad and so on 75 hard my skin was like pristine like I didn't even go out wearing foundation I was like holy crap I can't believe how clear my skin is and I was making these connections that it was like sugar related and junk food so in the end of like 2023 I really have started to become much more conscious about how much I'm snacking and what I'm snacking on and I'm definitely not perfect you know it's kind of hard sometimes especially having a toddler like sometimes just want to give them that easy quick food that snack like I do that all the time I'm not gonna pretend like I don't and I'm like mmm you know those rice crispy not rice crispy rice cake like little rice cakes sound so good and I'll snack with her and I'm like why am I snacking right now I'm literally not even hungry so that That was something that I became very, very aware of towards the end of this year.

And I'm really gonna try and continue with it moving forward because staying healthy has just become so much more important to me since having my daughter, especially because what I'm making, she's eating. So if I'm making mac and cheese, she's eating mac and cheese. And that's obviously not healthy for a baby all the time.

They need to grow strong and healthy too. So yeah, that's just kind of a quick little thing. Sugar intake.

God, we have so much sugar in our culture. It's so bad, and just in today's world with all of our processed foods. So, you know, for me, the less sugar I eat, the better I feel, the less bloated I am, the less acne I have.

So I really just try and like keep that in mind. Perfect example, Aroma Joe's Rush. I love that stuff.

I mean, come on, it's so good, but it's so stinking bad for you. And there was a point when I was having like three to four rushes a week. First of all, money-wise that adds up so fast.

That's like 25 or $30. That's crazy. Second of all, it's so filled with sugar.

And so I like really look forward to my morning cup of coffee. And I was starting to wake up and be like, I want to rush. And I was like, holy crap.

I'm not even craving coffee anymore. I'm craving this Aroma Joe's Rush, which has so much sugar in it. And like, wow, I'm like literally becoming like addicted to this Rush and this sugar.

And I'm like, okay, I gotta like calm down. So I really try to not get them that often. Every now and then, like right now today, I was like, I'm gonna get a Rush.

I'm gonna sit and I'm gonna record. Like that was a very like conscious decision. So I really try to like be aware of sugar.

And like, even now I know that if I have something sugary and sweet in the morning, I've learned that I'm gonna crave it the rest of the day and it really throws off my entire day. I start craving sugar all day and then I start eating sugar all day. So I really really try and like focus on like eating like healthy for the most part, not snacking as much, and just trying to keep my body kind of like in check. Um yeah, that was all that I had on my little list. That was kind of a weird way to end this episode I feel like from from going from like sobriety and like health to like friends and heaviness.

And then I was just like, sugar, weird way to end, but that's okay.

I forgot to say, if you've made it this far, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that followed and liked, if you will, like reviewed my podcast. I forgot to say at the beginning that I was like shocked. I think I have like 50 followers right now on my podcast.

Guys, that means so much to me. If you're listening and you like what you're hearing, hit follow on Spotify. You get notified when I drop a new episode, which is going to be biweekly.

As long as I don't keep getting freaking sick, better not happen. I'm really trying to keep this sickness away from me. That was so bad.

I was literally bedridden for three days. I couldn't stop sleeping. Thank you guys.

Oh my gosh. I'm so excited that I had the time to sit down today and get this episode out. It's a little bit shorter.

The next episode I do is probably going to be longer. It's going to be a little on the heavy side, but that's okay. It's really going to help you guys kind of get to know me better and understand how I got here, especially with sobriety because I know a lot of people are always like, oh God, why are you sober?

Like, you know what? A lot of people are sober these days and for all different reasons, but I'm going to tell you mine next episode. And yeah, if you guys want to follow me on Instagram, it's Lauren Kay 100.

And I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I hope you have a wonderful start to your new year. Maybe you'll get some new habits in place.

Maybe you're going to start researching some natural alternatives to help get some of these toxins out of our lives because I don't know about you guys, but I would love to hit 100. I think that'd be so sick. So I hope you guys get there with me.

ditch some of these stinking toxins out of our lives and I will see you next episode. Thanks for tuning in to Milf Season this week!