Cut the Crap About Alcohol with Beth Feraco

Pod Beth Feraco Deb: Welcome back to the alcohol tipping point podcast. I am your host, Deb. Masner. I'm a registered nurse health coach and alcohol free badass. And today on the show, I have someone who is another alcohol free badass. She's no bullshit. She's known for cutting the crap. Her name's Beth Feraco and she describes herself. Strength and nutrition coach recovering alcoholic runner wife, mother, lifter of heavy things, fitness, motivator, and champion, a personal growth and development. Thanks for coming on this show, Beth. Beth: Thanks for having Deb: me. Did that leave anything out? That was Nope. Beth: I love that. Yeah, that's me in a nutshell. Deb: well, tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do. Beth: So my name is Beth Barocco. I have a online nutrition and strength coaching business called Beth Barocco fitness. I started out as an in person, personal trainer, nutrition coach. And before COVID happened I was like, you know, this is before everything got shut down, I wanted to build something on my own. My father passed away. When I was 18 and left my mother with three children and she did, you know, we lost the house, she lost everything. So my thought was, I don't want to be put in that position. Like my mother was cause my husband was at that time when I got into fitness in his forties. So that was my driving force. And here I am. I created a, a online business during 2020, and now I have it started with just me. And now I have three coaches, a salesperson and yeah, a podcast group coaching and a Patreon. So , Deb: that is so amazing. And yeah, I think well, we'll hear more when you share your story, but like mm-hmm, you have sobriety to oh, A lot of that too, so, oh, absolutely. What was your experience with drinking and recovery? Beth: So I guess it really started when my father passed. I mean, I was 18 when he passed away. That was, I think that was like the tipping point of like the beginning of, you know, of course, you know, alcoholism is like a progressive disease. I didn't like suddenly become like addicted, but that's kind of what started the, you know, I was never like a drinker in high school. I was the designated driver. I was like the good girl, you know? So when that happened, you know, that turned my life upside down. I ended up like traveling and, you know, going to Florida, Arizona living in San Diego LA. So I think LA life is when it really started to get really progressive. I was bartending perfect, you know, opportunity to just drink every single night. And from there. I moved to New York city. I left LA. I mean, I, I, it was bad. Like I got into drugs. I was a fashion designer in Los Angeles, so I was in that scene. And you know, it didn't really wasn't at the point. It was like ruining my life, but it definitely stopped me from doing a lot of things. And I would always was like, quit and then start over. I would wanna quit and start over. I think I even went to a few meetings in LA and this is right now, like probably 15 years ago. So I was like, if I don't leave here, I'm going to die. So I moved to New York city, still drank my husband, my now husband was actually my high school sweetheart. We reconnected through his sister was contacting me on Facebook. And at that time I was in New York city and he lived in Maine where I'm I am we're living now. He came to see me. Move back to Maine with him. And, you know, we ended up have a son together. We got married, but before we got married and had the son He had a stroke from an accident from planting trees, he was a landscaper. So he was in like rehab with like a lot of the elderly, which was crazy. And at that same time I found out I was pregnant with my son. So there's, there's that whole thing, you know, I didn't really, obviously didn't drink when I was pregnant. Had my son and it was really, I think, postpartum. And it was a hard time just having like a husband that was still like working on his speech. And, you know, I also had a stepdaughter. He had a daughter from a previous relationship. So I got all, all these things at once. And you know, so after breastfeeding, I think it was like nine months. My son was about nine months. I really started drinking more like I was taking the bartending life into motherhood, which did. Mix it's like, I didn't know how to disassociate the two . So I, you know, started drinking wine at night. It, it was just not, it was not good. The tipping point for me was it was our anniversary August 17th, 2015. And I drove from a barbecue, a family, barbecue with the two children in the car. Nothing happened. Thank God. But I don't really remember much, remember getting sick and vomiting and stuff like that. And the next day I was like, this has got to end. I'm gonna either hurt myself, kill the kids. It, it's not gonna. End up well, so there was an AA meeting down the street. And of course from this decision, there was months and months, maybe a few years of like the thought of like, do I have a problem? I need to quit. I'm so sick of feeling like this, you know, like you just don't, I didn't want to say I'm an alcoholic. But deep down, I'm like, will somebody save me type thing? I'm like, doesn't anyone see what I'm doing? like, I wanted like intervention. I wanted to say, Beth, you need to stop. And no one, you know, obviously it has to be up to the person. So I don't, I kind of also hid it very well. I would hide bottles of wine. You know, my husband really kind of knew what was going on, but he almost like. Supported it in a way where he was like anything to make you feel better. You need more wine type thing. When, when in all it was like, I was like crying for help. It was like a lonely place to be So I decided I was like, I can't, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. So I'm like, I'm gonna walk into this meeting, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And sat there. And I was like, for, for the first time I was like, my name is Beth and I'm an alcoholic. And I felt like such relief to have all the sudden that so much support. And I'm like, okay. I went every single day for a year. So from there that's when I got into fitness, I met a girl Allison and we met every single day at five 30 in the morning and we would run and do some like outside workouts cuz it was summer turning into falls. It was still really nice out. And then at 7:00 AM, I would go to my meeting. So I would work out with her and then go to my meeting at 7:00 AM. And that was something I did every single day. Then a gym opened up literally across the street from the AA meeting , which is kind of crazy. And that my friend at the time, Allison, she got a new job. We couldn't meet anymore. I was like, what am I gonna do? I'm not gonna meet my friend. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna join this gym. So I joined the gym, started taking classes there at 6:00 AM. So it was still perfect. Got out at 6 45, went to my meeting. And then from there the owner hunter is his name. He's actually my the COO of my business now, which is crazy. He's like, you know, they were looking for a front desk person. So I started working at the front desk. And then he is like, do you wanna intern? And I feel like you'd be a really good coach. And I was like, yes. So I started interning in from there. I got certified nutrition. I became a certified personal trainer and it just like took off from there. Deb: That's amazing. yeah. I mean, I resonated with a lot of what you said, like having a baby and, and being so lonely, like it, it's so weird to have kids. Not be alone, but feel so lonely. And then like your husband recovering from his stroke and just so much going on there. And then just you finally finding help. And at that time for you, it was AA. That was helpful. I know a lot of other people do choose different routes, but for you, it was very helpful. So thank you for sharing that. Yeah. You're welcome. And so now you're working with people just to improve their health, improve their fitness. What are your thoughts on like the role of alcohol in that. Beth: So what you trying to lose weight? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know, I never, obviously don't ever, I never really talk about alcohol with my clients unless it becomes an issue. Right. Because we work on, you know, helping them recover from their relationship with food or, you know, get stronger in the gym, lose weight, feel great. But what I started realizing. More and more because I work with a lot of women in their forties, fifties sixties, et cetera, is that a lot of them would drink a lot and it would impede their you know, Goals, you know, it was, and it's like, okay. So they, you know, if you're more worrying about how you can fit the calories in from your alcohol, rather than the goal you're trying to achieve, you gotta really think about your relationship with alcohol. And if you're, you know, you have this attitudes like, well, there's no way I'm gonna give up my weekend. Da, da, da. It's like. Okay, so what's more important to you. Is it your, your goal or is it your weekend wine, binge drinking? So that, that's what kind of got me to like, start talking about it more because I feel like I can relate to a lot of these people and I started realizing how much of a problem it is. And also not to mention menopause. What do they don't realize is like, like alcohol is like pouring gasoline on your menopause symptoms. It would make everything worse. It's like, okay, if you wanna, if you wanna make menopause a little bit easier to transition into, you need to kind of look at your lifestyle and you, you know, your nutrition and are you drinking every single night because, you know Drinking impede your sleep and then you're gonna eat more the next day. You might not move, you're gonna get more anxious. So it's just like a, a big cluster of events that happen, especially, you know, for women in their forties, fifties and beyond. Deb: Oh, excellent point about alcohol pouring gasoline on your menopause symptoms. Yeah. Can you speak to that more? Cuz we don't talk about menopause a lot and what's happening to women as we get older and then as we're processing alcohol, as we get older too. Beth: Yeah. So not only does so. Alcohol is it's a carcinogen, it's a poison. And so our body immediately tries to focus on getting rid of it. Right. So that how that impedes fat loss is your body's gonna focus on metabolizing the alcohol before losing any fat, like the fat fat loss gets thrown to the side. So your liver's like, let's get the shit outta here. So the more you drink, it's like, okay. And then, you know, that's like menopause symptoms just like interrupted sleep, like night sweats. You know, you're waking up at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in the morning while alcohol, you know, is going to make your sleep worse. You're not sleeping when you're passed out. You're, you know, I think people forget that you don't really, you don't get any REM sleep. You're like, get the best sleep when I'm drinking. It's like, really? , that's really funny. So there's the sleep aspect. And then also, you know, I know for me, like I'm gonna be 50. Like I started getting very anxious and also, you know, alcohol creates more anxiety, so there's that. And then there's, you know, Cravings and things like that. So, you know, alcohol, if you're waking up, you're gonna be hungover and you're gonna crave other things. And if you're not sleeping, sleep creates a, you know, lack of sleep creates a hunger hormone that makes you more hungry. So it's really like if you, we wanna help menopause, we need to take out the things that are making it worse. Yeah. So, Deb: you know, so important. So key. Cause it does seem like a lot of the women I work with too are, you know, fifties, sixties, and, and they're just like, I feel miserable. Mm-hmm and so when you cannot remove the alcohol, like you can feel so much better. Oh yeah. And when you were talking about women or, and we shouldn't just say women, cuz men do it too, like just saving up your calories for drinking. At night, I had heard a term recently within the last few months called drunk Alexia. And so that's just, it's not a medical term, but like it kind of sums it up, like, you know, reducing your calories so you can binge on alcohol mm-hmm and I'm. That was me. That was, I was so tied into wanting to lose weight and be fit, but also, still not wanting to give up my wine. Yeah. And it was only when I could separate. Like the two issues, like I had to be okay. Like I'd rather be sober and fat than like drunk and skinny cuz I was miserable, you know? Yeah. And also it wasn't working. You know, drinking the alcohol was not working at all. Yeah. So, Beth: yeah. And that's the thing. It's like these women, they wanna lose like lose the belly fat and lose the weight, but it's like, okay, but you don't want to do what it takes in alcohol sometimes is one of those things that you have to like, take a real close look at, like, you know, how is your relationship with alcohol? If you can't see yourself going 30 days without alcohol, then you really need to that's that's a problem. And I don't think people are willing to admit that. I mean, it's. Deb: Yeah, absolutely. And so you do a lot of social media you're on Instagram and you do a lot of like no bullshit posts and reals. And so one of the things you do is about alcohol and just kind of the hypocrisy of the health and wellness industry and coaches. Yeah. Promoting. Quote unquote, healthy wine or organic drinks or whatnot. Can you speak to that? Like cut the crap on that. Beth: Tell me about that. That all started because of, you know, you get these people I'm, I'm, I'm huge on TikTok. So TikTok ISS, like my, my, my main PLA platform and I kind of like put everything into the, the reels to kind of like. Have, you know, both. And so there's a lot of people on, you know, nutrition coaches on TikTok that will go into the grocery stores and start saying, this is horrible. That's horrible. That's poison. You shouldn't have that. Diet. Pepsi has Asper tame that's causes cancer. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Why aren't we talking about the actual real poison? No one wants to, no one goes into the grocery store and. Goes down the alcohol aisle and says, don't have any of that. That's poison. No, but they're, they're actually, you know, shaming and, you know talking about ingredients are actually safe. Like Aspert has been proven. Just because they did a study on rats in 2005 giving them like, I think it was like 10 diet Pepsis a day, which is the equivalent to a human, to like 2000 cans of diet Pepsi a day. So, you know, comparing that to alcohol, which is a carcin agenda, actual like poison. It's just crazy to me. So that's how I got started in the whole alcohol thing. And it's kind of morphed into a lot more, which I'm excited about because I think it's so important to talk about and people get really heated. And I, you know, sometimes I second guess the videos that I make, because I'm like, oh my God, these people are so angry, but I'm like, no change is never made through making people happy. Or you have to, you know, say things that are, people are gonna question for them to start to kind of like, understand what is happening. Deb: Well, what are, what are some of the responses or like discussions that you've had? Beth: You know, like not everyone is an alcoholic. No, no kidding. Like a lot of people, you know, you always, you can always tell the people in the comment section that actually may have a horrible relationship with alcohol because, you know, I, I, I can recognize the comments and stuff that I would use to say, like, I, you know, everything in moderation, it's like, okay, well, well, great. But what does moderation look like to you? Moderation to me was a bottle of wine at night. I don't, you know, it could be, you know, Three classes. It could be one glass a week. It could be one a month or it could be you know, one a year, like what is moderation? So I think people, you know, they question that and that's also like you can have 10 diet Pepsis and it's not going to send you to the hospital. I think that people don't understand, like when you're going off on ingredients that are completely safe. We are not talking about the fact that alcohol kills so many people a year. Like not only like on the road, , you're ending up in jail or you're, you're, you know, breast can all kinds of cancers. You know, no, one's getting their stomach pumped from a diet Pepsi. So I think, you know, and the fact that people really still believe that diet Pepsi is more poisonous than alcohol just is insane to. Deb: Yeah. I, I sometimes get things about that. Well, my drink would be diet Coke. I just wanna put Beth: that there. Yeah, mine too. I don't know why I came up with diet Pepsi, cuz I've never drank a diet Pepsi meal in my life. So I I'm all about the, the diet Coke, cherry or something, but that's too funny, like diet Pepsi. Deb: Well, yeah, I'm like maybe that's an east coast thing. Why should you keep talking about diet Pepsi? Beth: I don't even know. I don't know, cuz I don't Deb: or diet Dr. Pepper. Yeah. Oh, that's good. Yeah. Yeah. Or I will get things like, well, so is sugar. Why aren't we talking about sugar? Can you speak to sugar and just your approach on Beth: yeah. Well, I think sugar, everyone, you know, wants to also deem sugar, right? Sugar is not the problem. No one is going into their pantry with a spoon and going into the sugar bowl. Right. So think about everything that has sugar, like when people think you're addicted sugar, they're thinking about donuts or they're thinking about cookies. Okay. But what are those, what do those also have in it? They have fats and carbohydrates. So. You can't be addicted. Although people love to say it to a food, right? It, it. It's not in the category of, I forget the, what is the term when you're, you know, it's, it's not deemed the category of like a substance. Yeah. You just, you can't be addicted to sugar. Like you can cocaine or heroin or alcohol. Sure. But people seem to think they have, they are what they have is their, they have a horrible relationship with food. So if they, what people do is they'll, they'll binge and restrict. So because they think the donut or the cookie is bad, they will. When they have it, they won't stop eating it because they're like, I'm never gonna have it again. So they'll go and stop eating it. And then when they have it again, they'll they won't stop eating it. So they're like, I'm addicted. I can't have it. It's like, no, you just don't have a healthy relationship with food because you think the Cookie's bad, you don't incorporate it in your life. And then when you do you binge on it, it's a spiny restrict. I mean, it's pretty common, like with a lot of things I think it's really comes down the relationship with food and thinking that sugar is bad, but sugar by itself, no one is eating it. it's, it's always mixed in with it's with it's a highly palatable food, you know, it tastes good. Who doesn't wanna stop eating it. So that's what, that's what I have to say about that. Deb: yeah. And I, I like to thank sugar for getting me through my first year of sobriety. yeah. You know, like I, and I always recommend to people, like when, when they're giving up alcohol or they're taking a 30 day break, like, Hey, To treat yourself, make sure you eat, you know, heavy drinkers have chronically low blood sugar. Mm-hmm like, you need to be just, I'd rather you have a donut than a DUI or a racist than a relapse. So just treat yourself because you are. Restricting yourself, quote unquote from the alcohol. Right? So your body's gonna want some dopamine some way. Beth: Right? Right, exactly. Yeah. It does hit give you a dopamine hit to the brain for sure. The high and, and so it is like, you know, pizza and anything that's highly palatable. It's like, but you can get the same effect from petting a puppy. And I don't people don't like to hear that . Deb: Well, we need some more puppies. Beth: right. We need lots of puppies. Deb: that are readily available. Yeah. We're we're so like instant gratification that it's really hard to just delay gratification. Yeah. Well, if someone's listening and they're further down like their alcohol free journey and they're like, now I'm ready to cut the sugar or not like completely eliminate it, but I'm ready to. Just take a little more control over my health and fitness. What, what tips do you have for those people? Beth: I think a huge one is, is like a lot of people don't know how to balance their plate. So when you have a balanced meal, like your meals contains like protein, a fat and a carb source having the protein, that's gonna help balance your blood sugar. And a lot of people will just have like a carb induced B. Like let's say just cereal alone. Although cereal's not bad. There's no protein in there. It's not gonna keep you full it's immediately. You're gonna be hungry like an hour later. So I think having a balanced plate, knowing what that looks like. So having like a, let's say they say a Palm of protein for women and two palms of protein for men at each meal. And then making sure you have like a thumb of fat a fist full of veggies and a cupped handful of carbs. So let's say like a breakfast. If you wanted oatmeal. Cuz that's a carb source, I would say, okay, what's your protein. Maybe you can have egg whites in your oatmeal. That's actually really good. Don't knock until you try it. You guys or, you know, you can put a scoop of protein powder in there, have some berries, put a little bit of nut butter. You have like a really nutrient dense meal and you're gonna be full until lunchtime. So I think really knowing how to build a healthy plate is, is, is key. That's gonna help alleviate your cravings and then also allowing yourself a daily treat. Also within moderation, right? So that would be a serving, not like you can have a donut, you don't need. So it it's like, you know, there's nothing after that second donut that you didn't get in the first, that's just the same thing with wine. There's nothing in that second glass of wine you didn't get in the first. So just always remember that you can have more tomorrow. I think a lot of people that it's like, oh my God, I'm never gonna have this again. It's that good food, bad food thing. So tell yourself I'm gonna, I can have another one tomorrow. And then the next day you can have another one the next day. So it's really building a balance plate in incorporating those foods you love and not restricting those. Deb: and then how about for people who are listening and they're like, I need to take a break or cut out alcohol. What advice do you have for those that are just starting Beth: out? I go with like challenges, you know? I usually start with like a 30 day challenge. It's like, okay, if you can, you know, go 30 days, see how you feel reflect on those 30 days. And if they're like, I, I can't do 30 days. It's like, okay, well maybe start with. Start with, do you know, do something. And then hopefully just like, when I say, you know with walking try 10 minutes a day, most likely you're gonna go more than 10 minutes. It's just getting out there and doing and starting it, but, you know, and also I'd like, I, you know, if they can't and they question even doing that, it's like, okay, well maybe you need to actually get some help. It's okay to ask for. You know, we can't do everything sometimes. So I think it's important for people to realize that that is in fact, okay. To ask for. Deb: Yeah. Yeah. And I think having those manageable chunks that's mm-hmm I do have a free 10 day email challenge through you mm-hmm yep. On my website on alcohol tipping point.com and then I do 30 day challenge groups too. Mm-hmm just, just because for someone you, you know, changing their relationship with alcohol can be really hard and yeah. And forever sounds so daunting. And so just having these, these manageable goals and chunks and looking at them as an experiment, and then seeing like, okay, how do I feel without alcohol? Do I wanna continue? What do I want this to look like in my life? How mm-hmm how do I want to manage this relationship? Beth: And almost like, take like alcohol as like with food. Right. So it's like, I can always, I can always drink tomorrow, right. Or like, I can always have that second donut tomorrow. And just keep telling yourself, cuz like you don't, it's not like you're gonna stop eating donuts forever, but although alcohol's a little bit different, you know, for Mo for some of us like myself, I there's, you know, I can't, I can tell myself I can drink tomorrow, but I'm not going to, I know what that's going to lead me too. But if I have to tell myself that, just to change the thoughts of my brain, that's, that's what I do. Deb: Yeah. I think that's a good tip where when you're having a craving, just be like, okay, I'm feeling what I'm feeling now is a craving mm-hmm . If I choose to drink tomorrow, I can drink tomorrow. And sometimes that's enough to do a little, like switch in your brain. Yeah. And so you, you do the same thing with food mm-hmm Beth: yeah. If I want, so let's say like, this is what I would tell my clients, if they're like, I can't stop at just one cookie it's like, but you can, you're just telling you first off, it's like the, we gotta change the words, how we speak, right. Because our actions or our thoughts, dictator actions. So you're a person working on. Moderation with that cookie. So you have that cookie and then just tell yourself I'm gonna, I can have more tomorrow because you can have more tomorrow. It's not gonna be not there for you. Just like if you have like a box of pizza, have a slice of pizza or two, and you can have the rest tomorrow for your left for leftovers. So the more you do that and that's, you know, What I've I do all the time now. That's how, you know, eating my food. It's like, okay, am I I'm full right now? I don't really need more. I'm gonna take this to go or put it away. And it works and I can have more tomorrow. Deb: Yeah. Yeah. So simple. Yeah, but practice takes practice and Beth: that's the thing. It, it does take practice. It's not an, it's not an immediate like success, but it, it works if you work it right. exactly. I, I find myself saying a lot of the AA sayings within my my coaching, which is so interesting, cuz it ki it really does like coincide. I feel like a lot of the times, Deb: well tell me some of, some of them that are useful. Beth: I'm trying to think now. Oh, let's see. What is something I use? Oh my goodness. Now I'm on the, like, I can't think now. Well, it Deb: works. If you work it, Beth: it works. If you work it one day at a time. What's another one I've used. One is not enough is 10 is too many. I think that's an AA like saying isn't that? I think I said that the other day. What is Oh, my goodness. Why can I see I'm on the spot? I can't think of any take what you want. Take what you want and leave the rest. Yes, I do say, I do say that with my videos too. It's like, okay. Or, or I I've said that with like if I'm making a recipe. And someone's like, well, I don't want that. And I don't want that. I don't like that. It's like, well, take what you want and leave the rest. You can always, you know, exchange anything you want in this meal. Like nothing is people don't like to experiment, but yes, that is, that is one I use. I'm trying to think of others. If if I do throughout the conversation, I'll, I'll let you know, but I'm having a, I'm having a mine fart right now. Deb: I have to all the time, it's the diet Coke. We, we play that. Oh, I, gosh, the Beth: diet Coke. I blame it on being 49 and like having brain farts all the time now. Deb: Well, I, I I'm with you. I'm totally with you. What are some other thoughts? Like what, what would, what else is on your mind, like for someone who's listening to this? Cause this is a podcast for people changing their relationship with alcohol. Beth: I think that. Nothing people think that, that, you know, all is lost without alcohol, right? Like I'm not going to be I used to think of alcohol as like my best friend. Like, isn't that like, it's sad to me now. Mm-hmm but I was like, oh my God, what am I gonna do? I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna be fun anymore. You know, I'm gonna be so bored. It's like, actually, Life is just beginning without alcohol. Even though like, you know, I get, so first year is really hard because it's socially and this is what's what I wanna change is like, why are we so concerned about people not drinking when we should be actually more concerned about people drinking? Like I wanna change the narrative of, you know, it should be more acceptable to be the non-drinker than to be acceptable to, to be the drinker. I think that we should be questioning. Why we're drinking rather than why aren't we is really where we should be going. And asking yourself, like, what is this doing for me? That's positive. Is it, is it, are there anything positive that you're getting out of drinking? 99.9, 9% of the time. You're probably not like it. You're getting drunk. You're feeling like shit in the morning. You know, it, it, it, to me, like now when I look back, there was nothing positive that drinking ever gave me. Besides a hangover fights with my husband, almost getting in car accidents gaining a bunch of weight just nothing like my health was in the shitter. My gut was, you know, I was like, my stomach was horrible. There's just really nothing positive about it. And I, if I was to ask someone, you know, gimme 10 things, 10 positive things that alcohol does for you, but they probably couldn't name one besides maybe alleviating social anxiety for like five minutes. Deb: Yeah. It's most of the things alcohol. That we think alcohol does for us, like relaxes you makes you more talkative, you know, is short term and it can be replaced by something healthier. Beth: Exactly. Yeah. That's another thing it's like, if, if you have any, any sort of mental health Things going on anxiety, depression, you should not be drinking. And ex no drinking does not make your anxiety better. It doesn't make your depression better. I used to think that in fact, it just made it 10 million times worse. Because I'd have to drink again the next day. Cause I was it, like you said, it alleviates it for that moment. And then the next day you're like UN heightened anxiety and then you'd have to drink again to get rid of that and then drink again the next day to get rid of it. So it's like a, a consistent cycle of, you know, that whole process of anxious drink. Anxious drink. Deb: Yeah. Yeah. So you have been alcohol free for how Beth: long? It will be seven years in August, August 21st. Deb: Congratulations. And how has thank you. How has your life changed since giving up drinking? My Beth: goodness? Well well I created a, a, a business, which is huge for me, cuz I was always the person that would start something and stop it because of my drinking, you know? And do just facing things, head on, you know, not, and, you know, completing a project you know, not our, my relationship with my husband is a million times better and, you know, things that I used to be like, oh my, my son is so, you know, I'm this and that I have to do this now. It's like, you just do things and you just don't really think about it before. I felt like I was blaming all my problems on everything, right. Besides my, what I was doing. You know, life sucks, but no, it's just cuz I was drinking. Everything sucked because I was drinking that's , that's what it was. It's like if you, if you have lots of stress and, and work and relationship and you're drinking and you know, it's not making it any better. Deb: Agreed, agreed. Well, what are your plans for the future? Beth: My plans for the future is just, you know, still, like if helping as many people, I can, you know, heal the relationship with food, become the strongest person they can and really change how society, views alcohol and people that drink alcohol, that, that I feel like that I'm pulled even more to do that right now, because it seems to be it's coming up and us women need to be strong. Right now. And we're not getting any stronger by ruining our health. Like it's time to take charge of our health and alcohol to me is not included in, in being a healthy woman, strong woman. Deb: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, how can someone find you? Beth: You guys can find me I'm on TikTok at Beth Roco fitness Instagram Beth Roco fitness Beth frack of fitness.com for coaching. I have a Patreon called cut the crap with my business partner, Matt and we also have a podcast called cut the crap with Beth and Matt, where we talk about all kinds of stuff. Check it Spotify by Deb: iTunes and things like that. Yeah. Such a good name. So what, what is a Patreon I'm gonna just admit, like I'm not fully Beth: versed on. So we Patreon is, you know, we're people can come and support you for like pretty, like, really low Non-expensive way, right. If you wanna support someone then you can go to the Paton and kind of like subscribe and you get like there's certain tiers. So we have a $5 tier and we believe like fitness should be for everybody and not everyone can afford a coach. So. Matt. I met on TikTok. We kind of get tagged in the same stuff. He's another online coach and people are like, you guys have a lot of the same, you know, views. So we decided to start a podcast together. And now the Patreon is a way where people can kind of work with us together. Rather than our separate coaching services. So for the $5 tier people can get monthly workouts and monthly challenges. So Matt writes the monthly workouts. I write the monthly challenges. There's no coaching involved whatsoever. It's just a place where the number, one thing we get asked is like, oh, I don't even know where to start. In the gym. So it's like, okay, here you go. Here's a, here's a plan for you. So they can take that, go to the gym and, and start. So if you can't afford, you know, much $5, that's, you know, you get monthly challenges. This month is a step challenge. And we're giving away a ketlebell or a Fitbit. We're gonna draw. A winner. Oh, super. Super. Yeah, super cool. So, so people that have been consistent with the step challenge will get a prize. And so the $10 tier will get everything that the $5 tier had, except they have access to over 830 right now, like recipes, low calorie, high protein recipes that actually my clients have access to as well. We are in with this company called now we're cooking who hunter. The guy, that's the COO my business owns with chef Richard. So Richard has lost 300 pounds. And so he's created recipes for like families and children. Family friendly, I should say. So every, every week there's three new recipes added to this recipe portal and they're all incorporated with my fitness pal. So they're easy to track and things like that. So that's with the $10, $10 tier. So that's, they're getting a huge deal right there. So that's yeah, it's awesome. Deb: Okay, good. Well, I will put links in my show notes so people can find you. And I just wanna thank you again for coming on the show and sharing your story and just fighting the good fight. Beth: Thanks for having me. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.