High Performance and Wellness: Emily Judice's Journey to Achievement Without Alcohol /Ep. 018

Welcome to the Feel Lit Alcohol Free Podcast! In this episode, hosts Susan and Ruby are joined by special guest Emily Judice. Emily is a high-achieving entrepreneur and mother of four. They delve into Emily's inspiring journey of scaling her business while reducing her alcohol consumption and embracing an alcohol-free lifestyle. They discuss the impact of alcohol on various aspects of life, from anxiety and sleep to productivity and overall well-being. Emily shares her strategies for intentional living, emphasizing the importance of routine and discipline in achieving health, wealth, and happiness. "There is nothing that will make you meet yourself like removing distractions and these buffers, like alcohol and overindulgent food that are not helping you reach your health goals."- Emily Judice
 The hosts also highlight the positive impact of Emily's journey on inspiring others to reconsider their relationship with alcohol. She embodies the ethos of this podcast in empowering her clients to break free from a love-hate relationship with alcohol and discover true freedom and joy in life. So sit back, grab your favorite drink (alcohol-free, of course), and join us for an enriching and enlightening conversation on living an alcohol-free, intentional, and empowered life.

Where to connect with Emily Judice:
Website
Instagram: @emilyeatsandchats
Youtube

Keywords
Emily Judice, high-achieving woman, scaling business, 6 to 7 figures, reducing alcohol consumption, This Naked Mind, alcohol effects, Enneagram type 3, productivity, anxiety, sleep, macros tracking, reducing drinking, stress relief, intentional living, well-being, structure, discipline, bedtime routine, morning routine, intentional time, sensory walk, health journey, overachieving, vacation, social events, mindful decision-making, sobriety, routine equals freedom, weekender's mentality, alcohol freedom coaching.

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Websites:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

Transcript

Susan [00:00:36]:

Good morning. Welcome to the Feel It Podcast. And today, we have a special guest, Emily Judice, to share a bit about her choice to embrace exploring her drinking and an alcohol free lifestyle. So I'm just gonna introduce Emily. Emily Judice is a wife and mama to 4. Emily is the definition of embodied. She talks the talk; and walks the walk.

Susan [00:01:05]:

She is a certified fat loss coach to thousands of women, and Emily inspires belief in women that they alone hold the power to create the life they love through nutrition and movement. And together with cutting edge fat loss strategies, Emily focuses on the beliefs behind true behavior change when it comes to getting healthy in mind, body, and spirit. And she encourages her clients to think of a new way, a new question, and to question deep rooted beliefs and step into the woman that they can become. And that is so similar to what we do in our coaching, questioning those deep rooted beliefs. So there's so much synergy here, and I'm just so excited to welcome you to the podcast. Welcome.

Emily Judice [00:01:49]:

Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited to be a guest, and thank y'all for having me.

Susan [00:01:54]:

Yeah. Welcome. We would love for you to just talk a little bit about some of your choices about exploring your drinking in relation to your business and in relation to your weight loss goals and how you coach women around that. 

Emily Judice [00:02:10]:

Absolutely. So my kind of journey with all of this started about four and a half years ago, close to 5 years ago when I made the choice to start getting healthy. It's crazy because people who see me now on social media would never guess that I used to be this person who never worked out, ate fast food every single day, or drank alcohol every single day. Like, I just look back and consider myself like a lazy person. And, you know, at the time I had just had my 3rd baby, and I was, you know, wanting to lose the baby weight. That was the goal. And so I was like, I'm gonna do this program, and I'm going to learn how to eat and how to lose this weight and eat healthy and work out and all the things. And so when I did the program, I remember my coach at the time me being like, okay.

Emily Judice [00:02:58]:

Well, like, what about, like, wine? Like, can I have, like, wine? Like, can I have a glass of wine? Like, how often can I drink? Am I allowed to drink during this thing? And her kind of saying, well, let's try to limit it. And she explained to me how alcohol works in your body when you are trying to lose weight. It's like your body is gonna focus on metabolizing the alcohol first before it can focus on metabolizing the food. And so if you have alcohol in your system every single day, your body's not really gonna be able to focus on fat burning. It's going to be focused on alcohol burning. And so very quickly, I was like, okay. I’ve got to limit this.

Emily Judice [00:03:35]:

So I went from drinking, you know, a glass of wine nightly or a beer nightly to let's just move this to the weekends. And so I remember this being, like, a really tough thing for me. Like, very, very tough. And I was only having, like, one glass of wine a night, but I remember my husband would get home from work, and I would be, like, just really wanna pour, like, a glass of rose or, like, I just really wanna have, like, a beer. Yeah. And not at the time, I was just kind of like, oh, it's just because it's a habit. Now knowing what I know, I'm like, oh, it's because alcohol is addicting. That's why I was feeling like that.

Emily Judice [00:04:11]:

And so I literally was moving to just the weekends, and that was where my journey started. It's like it went from 7 days a week to 2 days a week. And then year 2, it went to, I don't know, maybe some weekends, it was 2 days a week. Some weekends, it was one day a week. And then year 3, it was maybe 1 night a weekend. And then it's just, like, slowly over time, it has evolved to I will say this past year is when really whenever I, like, dove more into, you know, I don't feel that good. Like, if I drink a glass of wine or 2, I have a headache the whole next day. And when I have a headache the whole next day, I'm on the couch the whole next day.

Emily Judice [00:04:48]:

And when I'm on the couch the whole next day, I'm not showing up like the mom that I want to be. And when I'm not showing up as the mom I wanna be, I feel guilty. And then I don't get stuff done in order to feel prepared for my week. So then my week feels behind. It's just like it just wasn't aligning with my goals. Right? I am a high achieving woman. That is the woman I attract into my coaching business. I really love to work with high achievers who are trying to do it all.

Emily Judice [00:05:20]:

And the thing is, like, if you drink alcohol a lot and you're a high achiever, like, you're not gonna be able to function at the top performing level that you need to. Totally. And so that is something that I've really discovered probably since, I wanna say, like, August or September. It's kind of when this kind of took a shift. Because I would say up until then, up until August, September, I still have this mindset of drinking for special occasions. No big deal. I drink on the weekends if I want to. No big deal.

Emily Judice [00:05:51]:

But because I've, like, you know, aligned my life in a certain way, I'm not as social as I used to be. So that naturally made the so then I went I I kind of did this program where I was like, I wanna focus on muscle building specifically for the next 3 to 4 months. And so I actually had to, like, go into a calorie surplus. Like, this is getting a little bit scientific. And when you do that, you literally are gaining weight on purpose on the scale in the form of muscle tissue. Yeah. And I remember the coach that I was working with because I'm a coach and I coach people, but I also highly, highly believe in hiring coaches. Yes. 

Emily Judice [00:06:38]:

I want to learn and get better at all the things. So I'm always hiring mentors and coaches. I was working with her, and I remember her just saying, like, alcohol really doesn't have a place in your life when this is your goal. So for the next 12, 16 weeks that you're doing this, you know, limiting alcohol as much as possible is a good idea. And so I was like, okay. I don't really drink that much. Like, once on the weekends, special occasions, like, this will be easy. And it was.

Emily Judice [00:07:03]:

And during that period of time, I wanna say that was the holidays. That was Thanksgiving. That was Christmas. They were Christmas parties. During that time, I think I had maybe 2 drinks in a 4 month period. And I was like, I can go to Christmas parties and not drink. Like, I can have Thanksgiving with my family and not drink. I can go to, you know, a friend's birthday dinner and, like, not have the margarita.

Emily Judice [00:07:29]:

And I am still having fun. And I wake up the next day, and I feel great. And I slept great that night. And for someone who's a high achiever who is, like, scaling her business from 6 to 7 figures right now, it's like, I just don't have time to feel bad. Yeah. Not to mention, you said at the beginning of this, I have 4 children. Yeah. I don't have time.

Emily Judice [00:07:50]:

You know? And so through all that, I ended up actually reading This Naked Mind and really learning, like, how alcohol stays in your system for 10 days after you drink. And I was, like, oh, my gosh. 10 days? Like, I cannot be not at my top performing, you know, effort level for 10 days. Like, I don't have time for that. And so that kind of started making it's like, if I had the choice of should I have a drink or should I not, I'd be like, alright. What do my next 10 days look like? And, 99% of the time, my next 10 days look like working per you know, doing all the things that I need to do, you know, as this high achieving woman. And, you know, I'm an Enneagram 3. So, like, success.

Emily Judice [00:08:28]:

I'm driven. I'm ambitious. Yeah. Exactly. So, there's just no room for alcohol. And so it really became and, plus, the snake in mind, you know, of course, teaches you all the limited all these liminal points of, like, yeah, it actually doesn't help with anxiety in social situations. It actually makes it worse. Right.

Emily Judice [00:08:46]:

So it actually doesn't help you fall asleep and help you sleep. It actually makes it worse. So all these reasons why people drink in my life, around me, friends, family, everything, and, like, let me tell you, when I come from a place of zero judgment, I do not judge people. Yeah. If they make the choice to drink. Like, people in my family drink. Like, my friends drink. It's fine. But where I'm going in life and what my goals are going, I started speaking about it a little bit more on social media and how I kinda wasn't really drinking.

Emily Judice [00:09:16]:

And I was going to birthday parties, and I was going to events, and I was just not having drinks. And I was like, no. It's really not that big of a deal. Like, I just, like, get, like, a little mocktail glass. It has a lime wedge in it, and I feel, like, fancy and fun, and it's fine. And then I slept well that night. And what's crazy is when you're tracking macros, which is what I do and teach people how to do, I can remember when I started the macro tracking journey, especially when I was in this, like, fat loss phase where you're trying to lose weight, figuring out, like, how can I fit in, like, a couple cocktails into my macros? And when you eliminate alcohol, it's just, like, not even a question. Like, you don't even have to think about that.

Emily Judice [00:09:52]:

You're just, like, not drinking. So it's just more room for food and less you don't have to worry about fitting alcohol in. And so, really, like, since August, I've just been, you know, drinking less and less, like, not skipping drinking when I for vacation, skipping drinking on work trips, which these were all events in the past where, like, those would be, like, the exception to the rule. Like, oh, I'm on vacation. Oh, well, I'm on a trip. Oh, well, I'm on you know, I'm at this party. And that would be when I chose to drink, and I really shifted away from that. And, you know, I'm not at a point in my life where I'm, like, oh, I'm never drinking again.

Emily Judice [00:10:29]:

I've made the choice to never drink again. I'm really taking it, like, 1 week, 1 month, I don't wanna say one day at a time. I don't wanna drink on a daily basis or really even on a weekly basis. But I'm just taking it, like, one event, one thing at a time. And sometimes, I don't wanna say sometimes. Like, here and there, once a blue moon, once every 2 months, I'll be like, I think I'm just gonna have a cocktail, and I'll just see. You know? I'll just see how this feels.

Emily Judice [00:10:58]:

And the handful of times I've done that, it's probably been 2 or 3 times this whole new year. We're 4 months into the year. I have not really loved it. I've had the headache for 2 days following the one drink. I have felt Yeah. Not my greatest. It's like alcohol is what's making you, you know, stressed in life. Like, I work with a ton of moms with young kids, and they're like, I need the wine at the end of the night because I'm very stressed out.

Emily Judice [00:11:25]:

And these small kids, small children I mean, I actually have a actually, my daughter's birthday is today. I have a 5 year old and a 1 year old.

Emily Judice [00:11:32]:

And so, like, I have, like I'm in the toddler stage, and I know what that feels like when you're stressed at the end of the day. You've worked all day, and you're like, I just wanna take the edge off and just, like, it helps. It makes me feel relaxed. But, like, it actually makes you more stressed. It is the reason you're stressed.

Susan [00:11:48]:

Yes. Yes.

Emily Judice [00:11:48]:

It is the reason you're stressed. And so I love it because when you remove alcohol, and this is the same thing I teach my clients about food, it's like, what's left with your life? Like, if you didn't have access to alcohol or you didn't have access to overindulgent food that Mhmm. You know, it didn't align with your goals. How's your life? How does your life look? Right. Does it make me feel happy? Does it feel fulfilled? There is nothing that will make you meet yourself like removing distractions and these buffers, like alcohol and overindulgent food that are not helping you reach your health goals. Yeah. And when you remove them, it's like, does your life feel happy? If it doesn't, then that is such an opportunity to dig into that. Yeah.

Emily Judice [00:12:33]:

And you know, as humans, we're taught, like, path of least resistance, whatever feels easiest, whatever the easy way is. And so most people don't wanna meet themselves. They're like, yeah. I don't wanna deal with those problems. I don't wanna deal with, you know, struggles in my marriage or struggles that I'm having with a kid who's having really bad behavior issues at school. I don't wanna deal with the stress of my job. I don't wanna deal. So I'm just going to distract myself with this by eating the cookies and eating and drinking the wine every night because that feels easier than just facing the problem head on.

Emily Judice [00:13:04]:

But coming from someone who has done that, who has faced the problem head on, that is the key that unlocks true freedom.

Susan [00:13:13]:

Totally agree.

Emily Judice [00:13:14]:

True joy, true contentment. If you wanna just wake up every day and just feel content in your life, that is the key.

Susan [00:13:22]:

Yeah. Oh my gosh. You are, like, preaching to the choir here. Yeah. I'm like whoo hoo.

Emily Judice [00:13:27]:

Yeah. That's why I'm taking people to church.

Ruby [00:13:30]:

Yeah.. What I hear  is that you have so much curiosity and awareness and, like, you're trying.

Emily Judice [00:13:36]:

Yes. 

Susan [00:13:39]:

Data. Yeah. Datum.

Emily Judice [00:13:40]:

Yeah. It's a curiosity. Like, just get really curious. Like, what is happening? Like, what if I don't drink the wine tonight? How will that make me feel? Yeah. It's from a place of, like, compassion and grace, like, giving yourself grace, giving yourself compassion, coming to yourself with love. This is not, like, a judging thing.

Susan [00:14:00]:

Yeah.

Emily Judice [00:14:00]:

But for me, it's, like, okay. Like, can I enjoy this vacation without alcohol? Like, can I enjoy this, you know, time with my family? Like, when you look at what you're really wanting in life, like, what do you want out of, you know, the weekend time? What do you want out of a vacation? It's like, so often people tell me things like, I just want connection. I, you know, we're rushing through the week with, you know, our jobs and kids activities and all things. So then when we get to the weekend, it's like, we just wanna be able to connect with our kids, connect with our spouse, you know, have some, like, downtime, have some relief. And, I'm like, all of those things can be accomplished without food and alcohol being a part of it. Naomi, yes. You do need to eat food, obviously. That's what I teach people, how to eat, correctly.

Emily Judice [00:14:46]:

And it's not about, like, never having a cookie ever again. But it's just about every day living consciously enough to make these mindful decisions about what you wanna eat and if it aligns with where you are in life. And, you know, like I said, there's been a handful of times this year, 2, 3 times in 2024, where I've been, like, very mindful and chosen, like, I'm gonna have a drink. One time, we were at a brewery with, like, our family, and I didn't go into this situation. There wasn't this, like, heavy anxiety of, like, oh my gosh. I'm going to a brewery. Like, should I drink? Should I not? Like, I'm not really drinking anymore. It was just it does it's not that it doesn't have to feel that serious.

Emily Judice [00:15:27]:

Yeah. Because to me, alcohol is so small. It's so much not a big deal that, like, I could take it or I could leave it. And if I leave it, no big deal. If I take it, maybe I'll regret that later, maybe not. I just don't wanna make it. It doesn't need to have that much power and control over me. And so that one day, I was like, I'm gonna have 1 beer.

Emily Judice [00:15:49]:

And it was like 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was on a Saturday. I knew that if I had it at 2, I was, like, you know, maybe I won't have the headache. And I didn't end up having a headache, and I slept great that night, and I felt great the next day. And I was like, okay. That's fine. But then, you know, it was probably another 8, 9 weeks before I chose to have a drink again. And I'm kind of at that point, that stage in my journey where that's what drinking looks like for me.

Emily Judice [00:16:13]:

Maybe it's 5 times a year I choose to have a drink. But then maybe in 2025, I realized those five times weren't worth it, and then I made the choice to, like, not drink again. And so I just want it to be like, this doesn't have to necessarily be like a black and white choice, especially for a lot of the moms that I work with. But the crazy thing that has been happening is, like, as I've been sharing about my journey, you know, there's definitely this fear of Oh, yeah. Me and this worry that, like, what are people gonna think? Are people gonna think that I'm, like, judging them? Are people gonna think I'm weird because I'm not drinking? Like, are people gonna be like, okay, Emily, we know you're healthy, but, like, you're taking it to another level. And so it's been a little bit scary to share about my journey. But the amazing thing that has happened is how much of a positive response I've been getting from people. Oh, so my gosh.

Emily Judice [00:17:00]:

Like, I wanna stop drinking. I wanna drink less. Oh my gosh. This resonated with me so much. I mean, people I would never think of. People that I'm like, oh, they're probably drinking a lot. They're probably looking at me like, you're crazy. And then they're the ones messaging me saying, I wanna quit drinking, or I wanna drink less.

Emily Judice [00:17:15]:

How do I do this? And I'm like, oh my gosh. You know? 

Susan [00:17:22]:

Yeah. You're turning into an alcohol freedom coach, and you didn't even mean to. 

Emily Judice [00:17:26]:

So this is actually helpful to people. You know? Yeah. And maybe there's people that are watching me on the sidelines, and they're not saying anything, but they're getting really curious about their own journey. They're getting really curious about, like, oh, wow, like, should I be, like, what? Should I be, you know, worried about how much I'm drinking? Like, should I be curious about that? Could I have fun on vacation without drinking? Could I navigate social events? And the answer is yes. You can. Absolutely. 

Emily Judice [00:17:56]:

And you might even enjoy your life even more if you don't do it. I've used this example. It's actually interesting to, like, think back even before August September. Like, we go to the beach with my family every year in the summer. And last June, we went for a week. So this was even before I had read This Naked Mind. This was even before I kinda had started drinking less on social events. And that week we were at the beach, you know, in the past, it's always been like, yeah.

Emily Judice [00:18:20]:

Like, we have ice chests of Michelob Ultra and White Claw. We're more like a beer family on the beach, you know. And we all start drinking at like 10 in the morning, and we're just drinking White Claw's and beer, like, on the beach all day. And it's fun, and it's enjoyable, and everything. Well, this specific trip, I was like, I don't know. I think I'm just like I'm just like I really want to feel good. And so, I was like, I'm gonna fix a huge Stanley of my mineral. I'm really big into electrolytes and minerals, and I make mineral mocktails.

Emily Judice [00:18:47]:

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm big on that. So I'm gonna make a giant 40 ounce Stanley of, like, my mineral mocktail, and I'm gonna drink that, And I'm not gonna open a drink until I drink that, the whole thing. Well, normally, it would be like this is kinda bad. I probably should have been drinking more than this. But it would be like 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock before I would finish the thing. So, normally, I was, like, opening my white cloth at 10 AM. Well, now it was, like, 3 PM before I was even finishing my minerals. So then I was like, okay.

Emily Judice [00:19:14]:

Like, now I can open a White Claw. And that whole beach trip, I think I had 1 White Claw, like, 4 or 5 of the days. And, like, that compared to, like, old Emily who was just I I don't know. Yeah. I never even kept track.

Susan [00:19:27]:

Yeah.

Emily Judice [00:19:28]:

Like, he just drank on the beach all day. And it was just interesting because it's, like, it's not that I made the decision, like, when I was on that trip, like, I'm gonna drink less. It just was, like, I wanna feel good. What's gonna help me feel good? I wanna stay hydrated. Alcohol actually dehydrates you so much, and it's so funny because people think when they're on the beach. Like, I just want ice cold beer because it's hot and sunny, and it's like, yeah. That's gonna make it worse.

Susan [00:19:54]:

Right.

Emily Judice [00:19:54]:

You're gonna be more dehydrated. And so for me, I was like, I really wanna be hydrated. I wanna feel good. I wanna have energy to deal with my kids. I had 4 of them. My baby at the time was, like, 11 months old. And so with that goal, the actions that aligned with that were just like drinking less. It was just that.

Emily Judice [00:20:12]:

Like, when you live in alignment, your actions align with your goals. That was just the actions that I took. And I left that beach trip being like, wow. Like, that was such a good beach trip. Like, I went to bed early every night. I woke up early, which is, like, my favorite thing to do. I felt really good every single day. I did not snack all day endlessly on the beach because I was drinking and then wanting snacks.

Emily Judice [00:20:35]:

Right. It was interesting. Like, it was but it was just me getting really curious and interested. Drink as much? Will it make my trip worse? Will it make my trip feel bad? No. It didn't. It made it great. It was so great. It was such a great trip.

Emily Judice [00:20:49]:

I still got to connect with all my family. We live away from family now. So, we love that trip. Because it's like all my nieces and my nephews and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law were all super close. And I was able to connect with everybody even more than I would have normally, because I was so present in my conscious mind and not drinking, like, endlessly all day.

Susan [00:21:10]:

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I just love a couple of things. Number 1, you're gorgeous and you're young and you're making this decision or you're exploring this now. You know, I work with older women, you know, in their forties or fifties and they've already, you know, their alcohol use has kind of, you know, the train has gone further down the track, so to speak, because they drank for a longer period of time. I love that you're exploring this when you're younger. And I I, you know, this is just so in line with the way that Ruby and I coach is about a feeling based goal, how you want to feel, and then making decisions based on how you want to feel. Exactly.

Emily Judice [00:21:51]:

Yeah. Yeah. And the whole thing is, like, me working, like, as a high achiever. Like, we said, I'm an Enneagram 3. You said, me too. Yeah.

Ruby [00:21:59]:

I'm a seven.

Emily Judice [00:22:00]:

It's like, I love it. I'm driven. I'm ambitious. I have huge goals. I'm an achiever. I thrive on success and achievement and all of that. And so with that is, you know, this drive that I have to do a lot. And so a lot of times, Enneagram threes can get caught up and they're, like, like, over functioning, overdoing, overthinking, fight or flight, revved up, high cortisol, adrenaline, all that stuff, which isn't necessarily good because we can get addicted to that stress cycle.

Emily Judice [00:22:30]:

That's a whole nother conversation. Yes. But, you know, when that is like my whole life, my AirPods keep falling out, my whole life right now is dedicated to me feeling amazing, literally. And the reason I say that, and a lot of people are like, yeah. But you have 4 kids and you have a husband. It's like, yeah. And the only way that I can perform at the level I need to as a mom, as a wife, as a business owner is to 100% focus on taking care of me. And so when I think about, like, every day and how I need to feel good.

Emily Judice [00:23:02]:

I need to feel my best. I need to be performing at, like, a plus level every day. Right? I'm like, I don't have time. I don't have time. I don't have room in my life to eat unhealthy and, you know, stay up till midnight watching Netflix and sleep in on the weekends and escape my life with alcohol. I just don't have the luxury of that because of the goals that I have. Yeah. And so whenever I think about how my whole life is literally dedicated to feeling good, alcohol just does not align with that.

Emily Judice [00:23:33]:

Yeah.

Susan [00:23:33]:

Yeah. I love that. And are those things really and are those things really luxuries? Isn't it more of a luxury to wake up early?

Emily Judice [00:23:41]:

It is essential. Yeah. It is essential. So that's the thing. A lot of people think, oh, well, that's a luxury that you get to work out. That's a luxury that you get to spend so much time and focus so much energy on your health and feeling good and eating healthy and all that. And I am, like, as a high achieving woman, it is essential. It is vital.

Emily Judice [00:24:01]:

It is not an option Yeah. To be healthy. Yeah. There's this: It actually helps you make money. That's how you get money. If you wanna make more money, get healthy. Get healthy.

Ruby [00:24:10]:

I know. I love it.

Emily Judice [00:24:11]:

A high achieving woman. Yeah.

Ruby [00:24:12]:

Yeah. There's this concept that I wanted to share with you that I really resonate with, and it's kind of aligning with what you're saying. It's that self-control equals freedom. For me, if I have control, I actually have way more freedom to feel better and enjoy life. So controlling that I'm not drinking, controlling my eating, you know, my bedtime routine, my morning routine. Like, these things seem like they're not freedom. But, actually, if you do little things and you have your practices or daily habits that are in alignment with how you want to feel, then you get to have freedom, it  gives you so much more freedom in the rest of your day. So I love this kind of concept.

Emily Judice [00:24:56]:

Yeah. So I use a very similar thing, but I don't use the word control. I'd say routine equals freedom. Routine.

Susan [00:25:02]:

I love that.

Emily Judice [00:25:03]:

Yes. So it's a slightly better routine where it's like, yeah. Control just makes it feel like well, it's like you can't always be in control because, like, obviously, there's circumstances that happen in your life that you can't control. But it's not about being a slave to the routine. It's about following your routine, but also allowing yourself enough flexibility. And that's a huge thing that I coach on. It's, like, creating margin in your life, so that you're not a slave to the routine.

Emily Judice [00:25:29]:

And you can ebb and flow when you need to. And you can pivot when you need to. But the routine is really what creates freedom, and, you know, this is that whole weekender's mentality. You know, I have this “weekenders” identity that I'm talking about a lot, where you use the weekend to create the life you want to live, not to escape the life that you have. And that mentality, that identity is so many people think that when they get to Friday, it's like the way that they're gonna feel relief and joy and contentment is to just, like, forget about their week and find this false dopamine in Mhmm. Fake TV, and drinking, and overindulging, and ordering takeout, and going out to eat, and staying up late, and sleeping in, and and just, like, kind of, like, vegging out all weekend. But that is not what is going to give you the the the joy and freedom

Emily Judice [00:26:26]:

that you want. It's the routine. It's, like, the empowerment you feel when you get to a Sunday night, and you're like, I did great all weekend. I followed my goals. I feel energized. I cannot wait. It's, like, no more Sunday “scaries”. No more Monday mood.

Emily Judice [00:26:42]:

It's, like, you get to Monday, and you're pumped for the week. You're excited for this because you just spent the weekend creating your life, and you get to, like, go through the week. You know you're prepared. It's like, I never start a week. We have 4 kids. They're in activities. My son plays baseball. My mother and son play tennis.

Emily Judice [00:26:57]:

My daughter does dance. Do they do piano? Like, we have activities. Right? I'm just as busy as the next mom. And we still have a dinner plan every single night of the week. We do not eat out during the week, really ever. We never go into a night and are like, what's for dinner? What should we eat? Like, there's always a plan. And we know, like, okay. Baseball's at this time, so we need to cook dinner by this time.

Emily Judice [00:27:21]:

Like, we just know all of that. And we do know this because on the weekends, we spend time planning for that. We also spend time, you know, getting caught up on laundry and making sure our house is orderly because those are the things that stress people out during the week. But, also, those are the things that you're not gonna have energy to do on the weekends if you are eating 3 baskets of chips and queso and 2 margaritas on Friday night. Saturday, all of a sudden you want to lay on the couch all day all day or it becomes you yelling at your kids to get in the car because you're late for soccer the soccer game on Saturday morning. Right. And you're in a bad mood and you're irritable because you didn't sleep well the night before, because you had 2 margaritas, and because you had 3 baskets of chips and queso. And that is not creating the life you wanna live.

Emily Judice [00:28:07]:

That is not aligned with most people's goals.

Susan [00:28:10]:

Right. Oh, I love how intentional that is. Yeah. Most of it's just that sort of work hard part, you know, party hard on the weekend. That just throws you into that cycle. It's like being intentional about how you wanna live your life. I use structure and Ruby uses control.

Susan [00:28:26]:

I use self discipline. So within discipline, there is freedom. 

Emily Judice [00:28:33]:

Absolutely. And part of discipline and part of routine can include things that feel restorative to your soul, like

Emily Judice [00:28:40]:

Watching a movie with your kids. It can include,

Emily Judice [00:28:42]:

like, making a bowl of popcorn with your kids for movie night. It can include, you know, it can include going out to a restaurant. But it's like, can this be mindful? Can this be intentional? Can it be not, oh, this week has been so bad. I just wanna go out to eat. I wanna clean the kitchen. I wanna cook. Blah blah blah. And then you go, and you're ordering 5 appetizers and all the things.

Emily Judice [00:29:04]:

And then you leave the meal, and you're like, you can't even breathe. You have to unbutton your hands. Like, that is not living consciously.

Susan [00:29:10]:

Right.

Emily Judice [00:29:10]:

But, like, can you go to the restaurant knowing that you're gonna get to connect? You don't have to clean the kitchen. That's really exciting. You don't have to cook a meal, and you can still order a healthy meal that aligns with your goals and leave the dinner feeling really good and empowered and sleep good that night. And it can be a part of your life. It's just about doing it mindfully.

Susan [00:29:31]:

Yeah. Yeah. That's so great. Yeah. I love it. Well, we are at the point in our podcast where we ask our guest what they are doing. It sounds like you're doing so much, like, on a daily basis, but what you would do to feel lit in your life.

Emily Judice [00:29:48]:

So I love this so much. I think that my answer, and it kind of goes along with what we've been talking about for a bit now, a lot of people would be like, that's so boring. Like, I don't wanna do that. But this is what makes me feel so lit every day of my life, and this is why I get to go through my life 7 days a week and feel so energized, so intentional. There are not days that I have where I'm, like, needing coffee at 3 PM because I'm so exhausted. That just doesn't happen for me because I take such good care of myself. And because the things that I do to feel lit are boring, that is why I get to feel lit all the time. So I would say my bedtime routine, my morning routine, I am sleeping by 9 o'clock every single night.

Emily Judice [00:30:30]:

Wow. I do not watch dude blue light before bed. Mhmm. So my phone is plugged in the bathroom Because as a high achieving woman, I do fall prey to scrolling my phone. It's wired and tired, where, like, you can't fall asleep at night because you're so wired, but then you're so tired during the day. And so I have taken steps to make sure that doesn't happen. So I plug my phone in the bathroom. Mhmm.

Emily Judice [00:30:53]:

I don't even turn the TV on. I read before bed. I'm sleeping by 9. I wake up early around 4:30 or 5. I have an intention. I have intentional time with myself. So funny, my parents are in town right now. Last night, my dad was like I said something about me waking up at 4:30. He was like, why do you wake up at 4:30? And I was like, because I have 4 kids, dad, and I there the baby is home off and on with me during the day.

Emily Judice [00:31:18]:

I have sitters here and there, but, like, a lot of times I'm trying to work and do the things with the baby here. So if I want quiet time to work, it's early in the morning. But I also use that time for nervous system regulation. I usually go on a 45 minute walk in the morning when I first wake up outside without AirPods, without a podcast, without music. I'm just with myself, being with myself, focusing on all my 5 senses. What do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel? What do I taste? What do I smell? And that truly is what makes me feel lit. That is how I'm able to show up as the mom that I want to be. That is how I'm, like, that girl.

Emily Judice [00:31:57]:

Like, when people are, like, on social media, and they're looking at me, and they're like, gosh. She's just, like, that girl, like, who has it all together. Has, Like, I walk the walk, but I all like, I talk the talk, but I also walk the walk. Like, I'm not just a social media highlight reel. Yes. There's hard things in my life, but I have designed and created my life to feel the way it feels. And I work really hard to help it feel the way it feels, and I get to feel “lit” every single day because of doing the hard things that end up making your life feel a heck of a lot easier.

Ruby [00:32:31]:

Exactly. You are speaking our language. Everything you say is, like, what we are about too, and this is this is the secret sauce. Yeah. I love it.

Susan [00:32:41]:

Yeah. It is. It is.

Ruby [00:32:42]:

And the secret sauce is simple. Not easy, but simple.

Emily Judice [00:32:47]:

So simple. Yeah.

Ruby [00:32:48]:

Yeah. So simple.

Susan [00:32:49]:

It was so inspirational. I'm like, oh, I do not get

Susan [00:32:52]:

to bed at 9 PM, but you are inspiring me. I've been doing time blocking, so that's where I'm creating more structure. But, yeah, just this is a very inspiring conversation. Thank you so much.

Emily Judice [00:33:07]:

It's so great. Nice to meet you all too. Thanks for having me.

Susan [00:33:10]:

Well, where can people find you so they can follow you and be inspired even more?

Emily Judice [00:33:14]:

Yeah. So Instagram is probably where I'm the most present on a daily basis. I post stories pretty much every single day. You can learn a lot from my feed. Yeah. Emily Eats and Chats is my Instagram handle. And, yeah, go follow me, send me a DM. I would love to talk to you about your journey, how you are trying to get healthier, what you feel you struggle with, you know, as an overachiever like me because it is it is it's it's it can be tricky, but there is absolutely a way to navigate it.

Emily Judice [00:33:44]:

There's absolutely a way to have it all, to have the health, to have the wealth, to have the happiness in your relationships, and I wanna instill that belief in women.

Susan [00:33:53]:

That is amazing. Well, we'll put that in the show notes also, and I love following you. It's always inspirational. Thank you so much. Okay. Yeah. Thank you, Emily. Thank you.

Susan [00:34:04]:

Thank you so much. Bye.

Emily Judice [00:34:06]:

Bye bye. Bye bye.

Ruby [00:34:07]:

Thanks so much for listening to the Feel LIt Alcohol Free Podcast. Do you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show?

Susan [00:34:14]:

All you need to do is head over to Apple Podcasts and do 2 simple things. Leave a rating and review telling us what you think of the show. And in that review, ask us any questions you have about breaking free from wine or living an alcohol free lifestyle. That's it. Then tune in to hear your question answered live. Don't forget

Ruby [00:34:34]:

to grab your copy of a wine free weekend at www.feellitpodcast.com

Susan [00:34:40]:

And remember, do something today that will help you feel lit. See you next time.