Carrie Chojnowski (00:00.17)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (00:01.57)
Hey everybody, welcome back to SoberFit Life. I am so excited to have my friend and former client, Carrie Chinowski. Carrie was actually on, I think about a year ago, and we're gonna talk about what's been happening since then. Carrie is a holistic health coach and founder of Thrive for Life Holistic Health. She has a background in speech pathology and over 20 years of coaching experience. She helps midlife women reclaim their vitality through gut health, metabolic flexibility,
Carrie Chojnowski (00:12.243)
Yep.
Maureen Benkovich (00:31.318)
and balanced living. She's recently transitioned from the Kinney Clinic to focus fully on her Thrive for Life programs and shares her journey on her Thrive with Carrie podcast. So I want to introduce my friend Carrie and I want to talk about 14 months ago after doing my 2024 six week alcohol reset, Carrie ditched booze and so much in her life has shifted. So we're going to talk about that about
Carrie Chojnowski (00:53.389)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (00:57.975)
the end.
Maureen Benkovich (01:00.908)
sustainable habit change, what that looks like while maintaining curiosity and experiencing all kinds of alcohol-free first. And just so you can hear it for someone who was curious enough to join one of my resets, be open to trying new things and how that's affected really everything, right, Carrie? So she's back for an honest update on what's changed since then, how her relationship with alcohol has evolved, why this experience
Carrie Chojnowski (01:19.477)
Yeah, absolutely.
Maureen Benkovich (01:29.73)
with the six week reset work so differently than just taking a break from drinking and white knuckling it. So if any of you are wondering what six weeks could do or if you're thinking of joining my reset, please listen to this episode. This conversation is for you. So Carrie, for anyone who didn't hear our first episode together, can you briefly share who you are and what you do?
Carrie Chojnowski (01:49.838)
Well, first and foremost, thank you so much for having me on today. It's an honor to be here and I'm excited to kind of share the update. So I have been in the holistic world for, I'd say about 10 years. Like you said in my intro, I was a speech pathologist for many, many years, 20 years prior to shifting. But there was a lot of stress in that world and I...
You know, I was always interested in health and wellness and I had my own battles with a ton of health issues, a lot related to inflammation. Let's just, you know, I'm not going to go into all of that, but, I started to heal my body through addressing my gut health and addressing that inflammation, balancing out my, you know, blood sugars, all of those things. And as my body healed, I gained more clarity into the things that were impacting my health. And as we know, like,
Symptoms are just symptoms, right? They're a symptom of something deeper. And like I said, for me, was, I just had a lot of systemic inflammation and I one by one started to pick away at the things in my life that were contributing to that inflammation. So changed my job because there was so much stress. know stress really does impact your body in an inflammatory way. I changed the way I ate, you know, obviously.
choosing to eat more anti-inflammatory foods, taking foods out that were causing me more inflammation. I was exercising in different ways that I had chosen to exercise because I was always like balls to the walls, like work out as hard as you can. And then I'd be depleted. And so I chose to exercise in ways that were more in alignment with what my body needed and learned to listen to my body. Now, the one area I didn't touch upon
Maureen Benkovich (03:25.048)
Right.
Maureen Benkovich (03:38.082)
You
Carrie Chojnowski (03:38.829)
for the most part, although I kept having this still small voice, to me it's God, you know, I am a God girl, so telling me like, girl, you gotta let this go, right? And it was alcohol. And I grew up in a family that drank, you know, my parents had a glass of gin and warm water, so gross, but like we grew up in the North, right? All the way up in like freezing cold Northern Maine, like that's what you do, right? You stay warm by drinking every...
Maureen Benkovich (03:43.362)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (03:59.118)
Right?
Carrie Chojnowski (04:06.357)
a little drink and they wouldn't get drunk every night, but they would have a drink every night. It was like before dinner while they were getting... Yeah, it was modeled for me. There was some dysfunction, I will say. There was some dysfunction in our family and there's a lot of dysfunction, you know, overall, I think in our culture, right? So, so I became a little bit just a lot dysfunctional, I would say. Am I drinking in college and, you know, high school even and then college and then as a married mom, you know, I, that was how I coped.
Maureen Benkovich (04:10.572)
Yeah, it was modeled for you.
Maureen Benkovich (04:21.836)
Everywhere.
Carrie Chojnowski (04:35.359)
a lot of the times. And while most people might think, you know, it's just, it was typical, right? It's like what everybody does. Yeah, I always woke up at 2 a.m. feeling guilty, right? Even if I had just like a glass or two of wine on a Friday night watching a movie, I didn't feel good about it because it did change who I was. It did change how I acted. It did change so much about how I was responding to life.
Maureen Benkovich (04:44.832)
Everybody's doing
Carrie Chojnowski (05:06.027)
But it was just what I did. I didn't really parse it out until I joined your group and then learn the science behind it. And as a health coach, I it wasn't good for me, right? And I would encourage to a degree, like my coaching clients, like, how much alcohol you drink? You might not want to drink that much, you know? But it was never like, if I cut it completely out? Now, I will say, at the time when I started your group,
I had family members who had cut alcohol out of their lives. And so it just became a little bit easier to do it because some people weren't drinking for health reasons. was more for health reasons.
Maureen Benkovich (05:43.608)
Well, let's back up a little bit for people's understanding. What was your mindset then before you did the reset? Because I remember when we had a conversation about you joining, but what was your mindset at starting at the reset?
Carrie Chojnowski (05:54.669)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (05:58.061)
And I also, I'll always say this, like, so I met you, I think I met you like a month before you were doing the group or something. I met you at a networking event and I was like, wow, she's really cool. Like I love, and I had tried to quit. I tried to take my own break in April. I think I was, it was like just that's like I said, that's still small voice kept saying to me like, okay, come on. Like this is the one thing that's in the way of like some of the issues with my husband or some of the issues with my kids or just.
Maureen Benkovich (06:25.966)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (06:26.77)
my feelings of anxiety. And so, I, I think I scheduled a call to talk to you about it. And I kind of was like thinking I was going to do it to help you. Cause it was like your beta group or whatever. And us coaches like to help each other. So I was like, I'll help her. I'll help her with her content and maybe learn a few things and maybe cut some alcohol out of my life. Right. And, but I did say my nephew's getting married.
Maureen Benkovich (06:39.658)
Yeah.
Right.
Carrie Chojnowski (06:56.886)
So it started October 1st, my nephew's getting married on October 19th, I'm going to Cape Cod, big family wedding, I'm probably gonna drink. I mean, like, who's gonna...
Maureen Benkovich (07:03.414)
Mm-hmm. You did. But I love how you just said you were, as a coach, you're like, well, you know, I'll do it. Like there's that curiosity piece. There's that willingness to try something different. So that's just key. And I also want to say you are, when you go into your background, you are explaining a gray area drinker. Exactly the kind of person I was, the kind of person I coach and talk about. You know, you're doing all the things, taking care of yourself, you know, busy mom, you have a business, you're an entrepreneur.
Carrie Chojnowski (07:11.179)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (07:32.3)
you know about health and you especially are having this voice, this, you know, your conscience feeling out of alignment with who you are in all the other parts of your life, you are so describing a gray area drinker. So I just want to stop and classify that for anybody who's listening. So we're not talking about when, you know, the things that we've been taught about alcohol that only if you are completely losing everything and drinking out of a brown paper bag,
Carrie Chojnowski (07:33.878)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (07:58.284)
Right,
Maureen Benkovich (07:59.362)
that you need to reevaluate your relationship with alcohol. No, it can be like, wait a minute, there's this one area in my life that I haven't been willing to take a look at and why is that? And being open and curious and you were, so you did, you said, I'm gonna do this for like the first few weeks, but I have all these events and I probably will drink. But what changed?
Carrie Chojnowski (08:21.708)
So, during the group or before... Yeah, during the group. Yeah. So, during the group, first and foremost, the group I was in was a group of women just like me. That was really cool. They were all in the health and wellness field, all basically saying this does not align with what I'm doing. And then...
I'm a science nerd, right? I like love the science behind it. You provided so much information on how alcohol actually is a toxin. It's like how it impairs your brain function. And I was struggling with brain fog all the time. I pretty much, you know, I have a, I know I have ADHD, but at that time things were so bad. Like it was just like, I felt like,
Maureen Benkovich (08:56.79)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (09:13.108)
Why? I'm taking all these supplements. I'm eating so well. I'm doing all the things. Like, why the heck is my brain not functioning as clearly as I want it to? And I learned, well, it was probably the drink. And I was drinking, I would say, probably Thursday, Friday, Saturday, maybe Sunday. But it was just a, it was like a glass of wine. Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (09:34.508)
Yeah, that's like a classic pattern, right? And I talk about that too, the detox-retox cycle, especially amongst health minded professionals or just individuals like, I'll detox all week and I'll be really good and I'll eat good foods and I'll sweat it out. But on the weekends, it's like, I'm to do whatever I want. Not realizing the effect that that continues throughout the week and it compiles, you know, weekend after weekend.
Carrie Chojnowski (09:57.889)
Right, and we're talking like a glass of wine, maybe, right? But still, it's enough, right? So, but I didn't, you know, we convince ourselves that it's not... One glass of wine isn't going to make a big deal. But, you know, and it was probably like a glass and a half because I'd go refill, you know? And at home, that's the thing, it was at home. It was always at home. I actually think I moderated better when I went out, like...
Maureen Benkovich (10:11.471)
We always start out with saying we're going to have a glass. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (10:21.738)
because I was paying for it. Not that I didn't pay for the bottles I have in my house, but that's like... It's like a little bit more invisible when you're pouring your own glasses. I don't know. And so... So I started to, I don't know, just realize how much it was actually affecting my brain and my sleep. And so within the first 18 days, like before the wedding, I started to sleep better, I started to feel...
I think I started to feel less anxious. do think I, well, and at the time I was also struggling with some thyroid issues. I don't know if you remember that, but so I was a little bit hyperactive in my thyroid. And so I was anxious. I was feeling like, and we were like, is that a detox or is that actually the thyroid? My thyroid was malfunctioning, but who knows? That could have been because I was cutting back on the alcohol and it was causing my thyroid to work a little bit better. And so the medications I was taking, yeah, yeah. So.
Maureen Benkovich (10:55.937)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Maureen Benkovich (11:14.86)
Right, more efficiently.
Carrie Chojnowski (11:18.794)
By the time I got to the wedding, I didn't drink. I didn't drink that whole weekend. And I was caring for my elderly parents. My mother's had a stroke. She was in a wheelchair. there was just, it was a lot, you know, and I was there.
Maureen Benkovich (11:31.096)
You had a lot going on and you would have thought you might have drank for stress reasons.
Carrie Chojnowski (11:36.288)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my parents were, you I was like, what, know, and I was like, my mom understood. Like I told her, said, I just, it's, and when I started saying at that point was like, I'm just trying to see what this is. I want to see what this is all about. I feel like alcohol hasn't been, my body hasn't been responding to it the way it used to, which is the truth. Yeah, yeah, that's, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So.
Maureen Benkovich (11:57.966)
Yeah, it was no longer serving you. It was taking more than it was giving. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:06.159)
I went through the whole weekend without having alcohol, and then we got through the six-week course, and then...
Maureen Benkovich (12:12.302)
Well, I'm gonna stop you there, because I wanna share that part. So when we're in the course, we meet once a week with the group. But everybody is going through my course that I designed where you get a little bit of video information from me each day in different modules, all about alcohol, health, mental health, things that you can do, tips and tricks, tactics, all kinds of things. And I always ask everybody in the group to reach out to me through Vox, let me know, let me know your wins so we can celebrate.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:17.504)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:32.585)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:38.517)
Thank
Maureen Benkovich (12:40.544)
you called me after that weekend, you're like, I didn't drink. And that was such a huge turning point for you because you could hear the confidence in your voice and you felt really good about it. And you did answer a lot of questions from family. Some of the very tips and tactics we talked about you employed and it helped. So was like seeing it in real time was very cool.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:44.031)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (13:00.969)
Yeah, one of the biggest things that I still employ because, I get up in situations with friends and sometimes I do think like, well, what's the big deal, right? Like just one drink or whatever. And I always think about how I'm going to feel the next day. For some reason, that has been the one thing that has, because I now love
Maureen Benkovich (13:11.726)
course. Right.
Carrie Chojnowski (13:26.347)
my sleep so much. And I mean, as a woman in midlife, I still have my times, you know, hormonally where I get woken up at 3am and I'm like, what the heck, you know, but it used to be a never it was like an every night thing. Yeah. And now I sorry, my dog is like right across the room and she's looking out the window. I'm just waiting for her to bark. So I hope she doesn't. So.
Maureen Benkovich (13:27.852)
Yeah, and your mornings. Sure, of course.
Maureen Benkovich (13:40.13)
Right, it was the alcohol.
Maureen Benkovich (13:52.023)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (13:57.644)
I just adore my sleep so much and it's just like getting in bed at night now. It's like I have my ritual and you know, I have my tea and then I go to bed and I wake up in the morning and I have my cup of coffee. I probably drink more coffee than I used to, but like it's just like that's my treat now. And I look so look forward to my coffee the next day that I don't want to wake up. You know what I mean? Like I don't want to wake up.
Maureen Benkovich (14:21.11)
And you look forward to your coffee to enjoy the coffee, not to try to wake you up from being hung over, right? There's a difference. And I get it. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (14:25.171)
wake myself up and get clarity and break the cobwebs up. Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. Yeah. So, so then I do, yeah. And I, and I loved actually, I to go back to like what you said. I love celebrating the wins with the group too, because like that solidified, like I can do it. Like I was dancing at the wedding. I was, and I actually think I'm a better dancer when I'm sober than when I'm drunk. Right. And I.
Maureen Benkovich (14:42.36)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (14:51.16)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (14:54.877)
like feel like the conversations are so much better. Like my brain does not process alcohol very well. And like most people, think, and now that I'm with people, not that I don't really sit there and judge people when they're with me drinking, but you could see it. It's like there's more repetition, thing, you know, things slow down, there's less depth or the depth is not always the most appropriate type of depth. you know, so, and that was...
Maureen Benkovich (15:07.124)
You can see it though. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (15:20.811)
pretty much where I went a lot of the time. was like I would just get more emotional and more angry or more, you know, it was just negative. It was never a real happy kind of thing for me.
Maureen Benkovich (15:21.966)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (15:31.096)
Well, yeah, let's talk about that because you did mention in our last podcast, you noticed this sort of like constant state of anxiety and irritability and even your family members noticed. So can you talk about what's changed?
Carrie Chojnowski (15:42.904)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, so after our group ended, was six weeks, right? Six weeks. I decided, because it was November, mid-November, my sister and her family were coming for the holidays. They don't drink, you know, a couple of them don't drink. So I was like, I'm just going to go through the holidays. Like, I want to see if I can make it to the end of the year. And so after Thanksgiving,
They came for Thanksgiving and we didn't have anything to drink. had mocktails, you know, we, and like the no secco. Yeah. Yeah. I replaced with like, yeah, the no secco stuff, which like tastes just like a prosecco with orange juice. Right. And then like it was beginning of December. And I said to my youngest son, Jack, said, it's been two months. It was like December 1st. I said, it's been two months since I had a drink. And he's like, really? It's like, cause I didn't really talk, my husband knew, but the kids.
Maureen Benkovich (16:14.242)
Right, so you replaced, you replaced, that's important. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Carrie Chojnowski (16:38.751)
I don't really talk about it too much, but I said, have you noticed anything different about me? And Jack said, hmm, let me think. And then he goes, well, actually, you know what? You're not like this anymore. And he went, like, like shaking his finger at me, like somebody scolding somebody. You're not like that anymore. And I was like, ooh, ooh, like a little sobering, sobering like image. Right. And recently, actually, we, my sister's family was here.
Maureen Benkovich (16:53.71)
Yeah, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (16:57.486)
Pretty powerful.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:07.979)
Again, for Thanksgiving, and we were talking to my older nephew who's in his late 20s, and he was saying, you know, Carrie, like, you don't drink anymore, and blah, blah, blah. And he was kind of like, I don't, you know, kind of like, I don't really understand why there's all these people, like, thinking they need to stop drinking or, you know. And I just said, listen, like, it just doesn't serve me anymore, like, like, like that. You know, that's what I say for the most part now.
Maureen Benkovich (17:32.578)
And that's, Elijah, I'm gonna stop you again, because it's important. We actually work on stuff like that in the group. how can you say this? Because a lot of times we feel like we have to like tell everybody everything. And you don't. You can just simply say anything from it was affecting my gut, I wasn't sleeping, I'm just trying a break without it. Whatever you want to say that works for you. So you did all that. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:38.666)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:43.519)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:54.655)
Right. Yeah, yeah. And my husband, like, kind of chimed in and he's real good buddies with his nephew, right? And he goes, it's way better now that she's not drinking. She's so much easier to be around. was like, Like, but the thing was, you know, like, I don't think everybody feels that way who was around me, but he would get, you know, I was at home and it was when...
And a lot of my personal issues were feeling alone and isolated, but when I drank, I would isolate myself more. Yeah. So it was almost like working against me in this way that I didn't even realize until I stopped because I would numb out. And so then I would not really be able to participate as well. And so I would just go up to my room and have more...
Maureen Benkovich (18:30.19)
Even more.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (18:51.004)
maybe right now and then have a little bit more wine while they were going to go play video games or instead of being like, hey, let's watch a movie. Let's do something together. Or if we did something together, I would just kind of sit and be quiet, you know? Yeah. But, but I craved connection. yeah. Yeah. That was, I was like, whoa. yeah, I, I definitely found it validating and
Maureen Benkovich (19:02.966)
Mm-hmm. Not really participating. So did you find your husband's comment validating? What did you think about that?
Carrie Chojnowski (19:19.838)
You know, like I was just like, wow. And he was like, he said, I'm not trying to be like insulting or anything, but you definitely are less irritable. You, I don't know. I think I carried a lot of guilt about it too. So not only did it affect, you know, obviously like the whole science behind it, which I know you talk a lot about like that, you know, my, my dopamine and my neurotransmitter, you know, like serotonin and all those things that
keep you feeling happy and joyful, like that was all messed up, you know? But I was also, I had a, a lot of guilt about it that I didn't realize I carried, you know?
Maureen Benkovich (19:55.586)
Yeah. And what do you think that guilt was about? I know what my guilt was about because I just felt so out of alignment as a personal trainer and helping other people live healthy lives. And again, I call it the elephant in the room. You know, it's one of my videos in the course. It's this one part of my life I just didn't want to look at, but it was truly affecting every other part of my life. And like you, I'm a God girl. I love how you say that. I heard that voice saying, this is holding you back.
Carrie Chojnowski (20:03.946)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (20:10.28)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (20:26.146)
This is making you be a person that doesn't feel good to you. Like that, that's how I felt.
Carrie Chojnowski (20:26.228)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (20:30.355)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, that's... mean, is that exactly what it was? You know? And even, like I said, because I would... Even if nothing happened, I would wake up at 2 a.m. and be like, why did I have that glass of wine tonight? And I was like, I didn't even do anything. I just sat and watched TV or whatever. But... And it's so interesting now, and I know I say this a lot, and you're like, it's your new you, but it sounds like it's so weird to me, right? It still feels...
Maureen Benkovich (20:35.15)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (20:59.01)
You
Carrie Chojnowski (21:01.064)
I don't think about it often, but when it's brought up to me, I'm like, yes, weird. I don't even think about drinking at home at all, at all. And like sometimes when people come over, because we just built this outdoor kitchen and, you know, I was a little like worried about that, like having people over, but like most of my friends don't care. They'll bring their own stuff or they'll have a mocktail with me. I mean, I think I've encouraged a lot of women to just have a mocktail. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (21:05.742)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (21:23.574)
Mm-hmm. Try something. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:26.472)
Yeah, they're like, I don't need... Or they'll have one drink and then have a mocktail with me. And they're like, I'll try it. this is good. So, I think that... And like, on Friday nights, it's like that's what I would look forward to, like if we're making pizza. And I don't even... It's not even like a thought anymore.
Maureen Benkovich (21:44.75)
Isn't that amazing? And you couldn't imagine that before doing the six week reset or doing all the things that you've done. mean, you've gone on vacations, you've been with your family, you did a girls trip, right? You've been on a cruise, all the things.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:57.647)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I went to New York City with my girlfriends and the whole time I thought I'm going to have one glass of wine at some point. And I just didn't. One was in the afternoon. I'm like, I don't want to do that, you know? And so, I don't know, it's just like the whole weekend went by and I just had a mocktail. You know what? There's so many mocktails out there now that actually make you think that you're having a drink.
Maureen Benkovich (22:06.23)
Right.
Carrie Chojnowski (22:25.086)
I know I had that one time I did go out and they accidentally gave me an alcoholic drink and because they were named such a close name. So I gave her the name of the mocktail. It taught me after that to say I want the mocktail with this name because I didn't look at the other drinks, right? But there was these two strawberry drinks that one was alcoholic and one was non-alcoholic. And I said, I want this. And she gave me the alcoholic version. I had no idea until, and I do suck down the mocktails a little bit.
Maureen Benkovich (22:34.904)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (22:54.698)
quicker because I know they don't have alcohol in them. And then I'll have water after that because one is like, that's all I need. you know, yeah, because it's just like, I'm not going to order multiple mocktails because it's not
Maureen Benkovich (22:56.814)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (23:00.662)
Right. Isn't that interesting? Yeah.
But this is an important point I want to stop on because unlike traditional 12 step kind of, I want to call them programs, we call that a data point, right? We call that, well, that's interesting data you gathered by mistake. You ordered this drink, you had it, and then you, instead of mindlessly drinking it or maybe ordering more, you didn't order more that night, right? That was just the one, right? And then you really thought about it. Yes, you thought about it. So you took that data.
Carrie Chojnowski (23:27.066)
No, no. Well, I went to the bathroom and then I was like, yeah, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (23:34.422)
that you learned and you're like, don't really want this. And that is such a validating thing. So even the data points within the course, within the time frame that you're taking a break, if you have some are important because progress doesn't always look like this. A lot of times when I say this a lot, it looks like this, right? And so you've had those kind of moments over the last 14 months, but each time you've learned something. And I had those things too. When I was in Italy by mistake, I drank
Carrie Chojnowski (23:48.767)
Right.
Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (24:01.548)
something that I thought was non-alcoholic and it turned out to be alcohol. And the coolest thing about it was, because I felt it go to my head right away and I was like, no, it's alcohol. And I'm like, wait a minute, the cool thing is I don't want that feeling anymore. That's the very feeling I used to want and I didn't want it. So I looked at my watch, 20 minutes went by, feeling went away and it was validating information.
Carrie Chojnowski (24:14.055)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (24:23.401)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, with that one, I went to the bathroom and I got, it was like really hot and I was like, what the heck is happening? And then I was like, oh my gosh, I think there was alcohol in that. So I went out and I asked her and she was like, yeah, it was an alcoholic drink. And I was like, oh, I didn't want that. And because I, yeah, exactly. Like I felt tired and I have had a couple of times where I've intentionally ordered a glass of wine. Like when my husband and I went out to celebrate something, I was like, I'm just going to have one glass of wine with my meal. And then I'm like tired and like, blah, you know, and
Maureen Benkovich (24:41.262)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (24:52.487)
He's like fine with it. Like, I'll be like, do you mind if I, you know, when I've done it and he's like, yeah, that's fine. But then I, and I think he's fine. He has been fine because like, I don't keep doing it. You know what I mean? I, it's just, it's, it has happened. I would say a handful of times where I, I've tested it. It's, and it's just testing. I just like, I'm like, why not? Usually it's been like an Italian meal with like red wine because it's like, that's just what you do. Right. But I've gone to plenty of Italian restaurants and had just a mocktail or nothing. Like.
Maureen Benkovich (25:20.916)
And that's some of the things we work through, right? Because there's one of those beliefs. That's just what you do. And then we work through that process. Is that true? Is that what you just do now with who you are and playing it forward, like you said, and your goals? So it's not like a one and done thing. This is a lifelong personal growth process. And we take a look at all the jobs and all the ways that we used alcohol from, you know, being our friend, comforter, lonely, bored, celebrate.
Carrie Chojnowski (25:26.278)
Yeah, yeah.
Right. Right.
Carrie Chojnowski (25:40.765)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (25:49.93)
in the course, it's just the beginning of learning how to sort of tease those things apart and say, what else can I do instead of turn to alcohol in these moments? And that's what you've been continuing to do over these 14 months, because you've been willing to try that and put in all the tools and tactics that we talked about. I you've done a phenomenal job.
Carrie Chojnowski (26:03.027)
Right.
Right.
Carrie Chojnowski (26:10.705)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you going on the cruise, they give you a bottle of champagne. We gave it right back. I was like, here you go. You can keep that. We went, we stay in the Cape every summer and at the house, she leaves me a bottle of wine. And I, that's a funny story. I, I didn't open it. I brought it. We were throwing my parents a big wedding anniversary party. And so I brought it up to Northern Maine to have at the party for other people, but I forgot it because it wasn't top of my mind. Right. So was still in the,
Maureen Benkovich (26:15.0)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (26:38.028)
Yeah, so interesting.
Carrie Chojnowski (26:39.407)
in the thing, the Carrie case that I had put it in. And at the party, my sister-in-law, who I don't see very often anymore, my brother passed away, so she's remarried to somebody else now. So she came to the party. And so she was like, where's the wine? Like, where's all the good wine? Like, you typically are the one who brings the good wine. We used to drink wine together all the time because she and my brother used to make wine, right? And so I was like, I don't drink anymore. And she's like, what?
Maureen Benkovich (26:50.87)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (26:59.296)
You were the one. Yeah. Right.
Maureen Benkovich (27:08.812)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (27:09.257)
But I said, I could run to the house because we were like two houses down. I said, I can run to the house and get you that bottle. And she's like, no, it's fine. I'll just have whatever's here, you know. But she was just like, what? Wow. You know, and it was just cool. You know, and that bottle actually came here with me and I ended up bringing it to somebody's house as a gift.
Maureen Benkovich (27:31.308)
Yeah. So I want to like flash forward a little bit because even just recently you've shared some observations and insights that you've had. Like you just traveled to your hometown to Boston and you were in an airport and you text me and talk about that story.
Carrie Chojnowski (27:45.103)
Yes, yeah. so, so the airport was one of my biggest fears because I loved going to the airport and having a mimosa in the morning and getting on a plane and I don't know. It was just. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (27:51.671)
Me too.
Maureen Benkovich (27:59.502)
Yeah, it's a place where like time doesn't exist and everybody starts drinking when they're in the airport. I know it's a big, big obstacle for a lot of people. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (28:05.322)
Yeah, people miss and so now I'm noticing a lot of people missing flights and it's like you see people like at the bar like, oh my gosh. So I was sitting at a bar and in an Italian restaurant and I ordered mineral water or like a seltzer water or whatever. And I ordered
Maureen Benkovich (28:12.759)
Right?
Carrie Chojnowski (28:28.233)
I don't know, it doesn't matter what I ordered. But a woman came up to the bar and she was, she sat down and she was frazzled. She was a young mom. You could tell she was a young mom. She was calling, talking to kids. Yes. And so she said, she sat down and the bartender went up to her and she said, what would you like? She goes, I want a Cabernet, but I got to go see, she ordered a Cabernet, but she said, I'm going to run and check to make sure I have enough time. Should I think, could just make me a salad.
Maureen Benkovich (28:37.96)
She's ticking all the boxes. Young mom frazzled. Drink.
Carrie Chojnowski (28:56.487)
So she got a salad. So she got a salad. I actually got a pizza. I got a cheese pizza, which I never do. But I'm like, I get to enjoy more food now and I'm not gaining weight because I'm not having the alcohol piece with it too. And not to say that it's always the case, you know, but I feel like I can eat the, kind of indulge a little bit more. I was kind of bummed I didn't get a different pizza. I misordered at that restaurant. But anyway, it doesn't really matter.
Maureen Benkovich (29:01.592)
Maybe you get to enjoy that. Right, right.
Maureen Benkovich (29:15.65)
Yeah, me too.
you
Carrie Chojnowski (29:23.625)
So she sat, so she went to make sure her flight wasn't leaving. She sat down, chugged the glass of wine, ate the pizza so fast, ordered a second glass of wine, chugged that glass of wine and left. Okay. She was probably there of a total of, I would say 18 minutes, drank two full glasses of wine, ate a salad, off she went, talked to her kids, the whole thing. And the bartender and I were just like, kind of looking at each other like, wow, what a whirlwind. But it made me think and I, yeah, I texted you, right? And I was just like, that was me.
Maureen Benkovich (29:53.582)
That was you. That is what you said. Yes. Me too. I probably wouldn't have not had a salad. So yeah, it's eye opening when you can see that. Like I get that. I understand where she is, but you're not there anymore. And that's personal growth, right? That's the change.
Carrie Chojnowski (29:53.693)
That would have been me. That would have been me. I would have eaten the salad. Minimal. Yeah.
You would have nothing, right? Yeah. Just had the wine.
Carrie Chojnowski (30:11.207)
Yeah, yeah. And I wasn't looking at her like judgmentally. It was almost like my heart went out to her because I was like, she's just coping, right? Like, and not to say I have all my shit together, you know? I mean...
Maureen Benkovich (30:19.96)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (30:23.822)
coping mechanisms that don't affect your mental health, your physical health, your gut health.
Carrie Chojnowski (30:30.248)
Yes, yes. Right, right, right. So, and then last night I watched Elf with my kids and it's the first time, and I'm noticing this when I watch movies now that I've seen before. I miss so much of the movies. Like, and I wondered why I didn't remember. Like, I was like, I just don't remember movies. I don't remember movies because I'm having wine when I'm watching them. Yeah. And it's like the third movie. I'm like, oh my gosh.
Maureen Benkovich (30:43.011)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (30:52.878)
because I was drinking, right? Right.
Carrie Chojnowski (30:59.652)
I was laughing. My kids were like making fun me. They're like, ha ha ha ha ha making fun of my laughing. Because I just was like, Elf is really funny. Laughing. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (31:06.574)
But you were truly laughing. were present in the moment and you were laughing at, you know, Will Ferrell. mean, the thing is hilarious. He's big elf. But yeah. And you text me last night and I text you back. What did I say?
Carrie Chojnowski (31:15.841)
It is hilarious. Way more funny than you think it is.
Carrie Chojnowski (31:23.016)
You said another alcohol-free win. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (31:24.494)
Right. Why do I do that? Why do I say it's another alcohol-free win? Because even 14 months out, it's important to acknowledge the wins because that reinforces those new neural pathways. So it's not just because I want to be a cheerleader, but it's because it's important. And we talk about that in the course. So I just want to sort of wrap up with, if you were speaking directly to a listener, somebody who's listening to this, who's been questioning their relationship with alcohol, doesn't know where to start.
Carrie Chojnowski (31:37.125)
No, no, no, I don't.
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (31:50.828)
Would you encourage them to join my next six week alcohol reset, which is in January? We start the week of the 12th. What would you say to that listener?
Carrie Chojnowski (32:00.784)
I would say do it. You know, you have nothing to lose really. It's a judgment-free zone. People in our group had a glass of wine and they would come in and share that. And there was never any like, you never made anybody feel bad about that. You were like, let's use this information. How did you feel? You know, what do you think?
Maureen Benkovich (32:13.474)
Right. We talk about it.
Carrie Chojnowski (32:26.202)
you know, do you think, what do think he'll do next? Or I don't even honestly don't remember. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (32:29.144)
Yeah, it's data and what are we gonna do with the data? Instead of being mindless, you're taking that information. Did I get what I wanted? How did I feel the next day? How could I have done it differently? Yeah, but so if someone who feels scared, I think it's important, like you said, what have you got to lose? Because we're not saying forever. We're saying be curious for six weeks, structured break, getting this information to help you truly understand. Like, was that the biggest part for you?
Carrie Chojnowski (32:46.822)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (32:55.362)
because you are very educated in health and you do understand so much, but there were a lot of aha moments that you had.
Carrie Chojnowski (33:02.268)
Yeah, I I knew at a surface level it wasn't good for me, but like why? And also, I mean, I thought what was so fascinating was how your liver puts everything else on hold to get alcohol out of your system. I think it was one of the Huberman podcasts I listened to that you share with us. And I was like, holy cow, because I was struggling to get my thyroid kind of, it wasn't out of control, but it was up and down and up and down.
Maureen Benkovich (33:04.963)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (33:27.772)
And I think about that with, you know, that's where your gut processes thyroid hormones. That's where, or your liver, your liver processes thyroid hormones, your, your, your, yeah, yeah, like all of that. And if it's, and if it has to put everything else on hold to get rid of this toxic substance, no wonder we're all feeling like crap, you know? It compounds the already chaotic, like, world of midlife.
Maureen Benkovich (33:31.31)
Mm-hmm.
They're HRT, super midlife women.
Maureen Benkovich (33:44.898)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (33:56.098)
Right. You put it so well.
Carrie Chojnowski (33:56.155)
Right? Like we're, our hormones are already a roller coaster. Like the alcohol just puts the roller coaster out of control. Really. You know? So you're paying, you know, I know a lot of, particularly women who pay a lot of money to get coaching and get, and this is like one of the things I think, I mean, I would love them to come see me, you know, too. But I think this piece is the one piece that so many women ignore.
Maureen Benkovich (34:06.69)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (34:23.392)
Mm-hmm, yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (34:24.358)
And it impacts all the other pieces way more than they even understand. And you help make that accessible. You make that way more accessible.
Maureen Benkovich (34:30.446)
Yeah, how has that helped you? Thank you. How has that helped you become a better coach in your own business and talk a little bit about that? Because you do deal with gut health and now that you don't ignore this toxic carcinogen substance, how does that help you be a better coach?
Carrie Chojnowski (34:41.551)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (34:49.692)
Well, it's definitely a topic I talk about way more, you know, even if people don't bring it up, it is a question. And even I ask them about, you know, because now there's a whole other topic, but like, if they're not using alcohol, they're using something else. There's usually something else. And so we, we need to kind of get to that underlying piece and how that is influencing how their body's functioning. it has given me the ability, you know, I've, I've
I give them mocktail recipes, I give them alternatives. I have a whole boatload of alternatives for them now to help them replace. And then I definitely work on the neuro resilience piece of it and helping them regulate their nervous systems because so often people are using alcohol to try to do that. And it's really not working in that way. It's really not working in that way. It's actually working against them. And now I understand that.
Maureen Benkovich (35:21.038)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (35:41.28)
Yes, especially the gray area drinker. Right.
Yeah, and now you're actually living it and walking the walk. So you don't have that hypocritical feeling, right?
Carrie Chojnowski (35:53.754)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because then I used to be like, well, don't, you know, we shouldn't drink as much. I, yeah, yeah, exactly. Now it's like, I've lived this and this is what I've experienced. And I can tell them that, you know, and that that was, that has been a big piece of, because people have been more curious to try it because they know I've done it, you know? Mm Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (36:00.814)
Do as I say not as I do
Maureen Benkovich (36:08.952)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (36:17.014)
Mm-hmm. Right, right. Exactly. Yeah. Well, I am so, I hope you take this the right way, proud of you, you know, as continuing to explore this and move forward with this and alcohol-free first. you know, we've become good friends too and I love that. And so tell people a little bit about thriving with Carrie, because you're now kind of branching off into your own business and talk about, you also have a reset.
Carrie Chojnowski (36:25.371)
Yes, yeah, thank you.
Carrie Chojnowski (36:34.234)
Yes, yeah, yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (36:45.04)
Yes. Yeah. So, like I said, you know, I'm a holistic gut health coach. So I do a lot with helping women understand how to nourish and men. work with men. I also work with, I'm starting to actually branch out a little bit into student athletes because I have two teenagers who are athletes. And as a population in general, we are all either overeating junk or under fueling healthy food. Right. And so
Maureen Benkovich (36:57.848)
Yes. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (37:10.446)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (37:13.032)
Just really helping people understand how to fuel their bodies because when you fuel your body appropriately and you get appropriate fiber and protein and all of those things, then you have the energy and so many people struggle with energy. So that's a big piece of what I do, helping kind of identify the underlying root cause issues, you know, maybe food sensitivities or infections. I'm not able to do labs anymore, but I
Maureen Benkovich (37:33.56)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (37:41.48)
can give people the labs, you know, the information on what they need to ask their doctor for. But once we have that data, we can really kind of help the body heal. Our bodies are designed to heal. And if we remove, yeah, yeah, if we remove the toxins and we, yeah, or the offending, and we add in fueling, nourishing food, and sometimes supplements, we, you know,
Maureen Benkovich (37:53.26)
Yeah, and they're miraculous. They can heal.
Yep. Move the offending substance.
Carrie Chojnowski (38:09.896)
and rest and so many people are just living this life of burning the candles at both end because that's what our culture says we need to do. Our culture says we need to overwork, under eat, cut out and it's not meant, we're not meant to do that. We're meant to actually add in and that's what I've had a conversation with one of my friends and she said, I hate the idea of cutting food out and I said, that's not what I talk about.
I talk about adding in, we add in fiber, we add in protein, we add in variety and diversity. And it's a totally different way of thinking than what our culture says we need to do.
Maureen Benkovich (38:49.25)
Yeah, and that's very much aligned with what I'm saying. I don't want you to just remove alcohol and not look what's underneath all that because very rarely is it ever just about the alcohol. It's all the other things you're trying to avoid, cover, not feel, discomfort and also maybe you are not feeding yourself properly, getting hydration, enough rest, learning other techniques to regulate your central nervous system. So we really overlap and align with what we do.
Carrie Chojnowski (38:55.289)
Yes.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:00.571)
Never, I can't imagine.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:09.691)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:15.537)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (39:17.472)
And you have a podcast to thrive with Carrie, right? And how else can people find you? And I'll put it in the show notes.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:19.953)
Yep, yep, Thrive with Carrie, yep.
So my website is thrivewithkari.com. I am on Instagram at thrive.with.kari. And on Facebook, you can find me at Thrive for Life Holistic Health. They're all linked. So if you go to Instagram, yeah. And my website is linked to all my socials. And I do individualized coaching with families and athletes.
Maureen Benkovich (39:38.723)
Okay.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:49.925)
families of student athletes. do some family coaching. I do individualized coaching. I'm going to continue with, you know, helping women in midlife and men if they so want to work with me. And I also am running a January Nourished Metabolic Reset. I work with a line of supplements from Plexus Worldwide and they have an amazing metabolic reset that helps kind of reset your system from burning
Maureen Benkovich (39:52.43)
So good.
Carrie Chojnowski (40:19.323)
just carbs and sugars and everything to actually burning fat as fuel and gets your blood sugars regulated, calms all the inflammation in your gut and really helps to nourish your body. And in addition to that, you get my coaching. There's actually one of your videos in there and a meal plan and all kinds of good stuff to help really address your, I like to look at the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual aspects of health.
Maureen Benkovich (40:23.47)
Ketones.
Maureen Benkovich (40:35.701)
Yeah
Maureen Benkovich (40:46.274)
Yeah, you have to look at it all, all of it.
Carrie Chojnowski (40:49.145)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not just physical. And that's what most people just focus on is their physical health. You know, am I getting enough water? Am I exercising? Am I eating well? And am I sleeping? And their idea of eating well is pretty skewed, given what our culture says. Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (41:01.102)
Right. Yeah. Exactly. Well, you, I mean, you are definitely living it. are thriving. Carrie is thriving with Carrie. And, you know...
Carrie Chojnowski (41:08.103)
Thank you. Yeah. I try, but I I implement everything I code, you know? So like I have plenty of days where I don't feel like I'm thriving, but I always know I have the tools to go to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (41:16.984)
Sure, that's human. And she can honestly say that she thrives without alcohol. So I hope this was encouraging to those of you who are considering taking a break. in the middle of December right now. Everybody's drinking all the time with all these events and parties and invitations. So take a look at my website, soberfitchic.com. You can see all the details from my six-week reset. I like to keep the groups kind of small because I want to have good individualized coaching in our group.
Carrie Chojnowski (41:24.592)
Mmm
Carrie Chojnowski (41:31.807)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (41:45.58)
So please sign up soon, go check out the details. You can always reach out to me for a call if you wanna hear more about it. But thanks again, Carrie, for coming on and go check out Thrive with Carrie and I will see you all soon.
Carrie Chojnowski (41:57.52)
Awesome. Thank you so much.
