From Stress Drinking to
5+ years Sober and Thriving.

My STORY of how I calmed my nervous system + managed stress in sobriety


Hi!

If we haven't met yet...my name is Lora and I'm so glad you landed here 💗

If you're taking the time to read this, I'm guessing something in my story resonated with you enough to read on....maybe you're an overachiever? Using booze to deal with the pressure and stress that comes with it? Trust me...I get it. I was the epitome of a high functioning alcoholic. I'm so grateful to share what I've learned with you about stress, sobriety, and how to reclaim my calm without booze.

I had my first drink when I was 16 because I wanted to fit in and feel good. All the cool kids were doing it, and I LOVED the way it made me feel. In hindsight, this was the beginnings of using alcohol as a coping mechanism for mental health struggles. I had social anxiety, stress from school and work, and a lack of true connection and friendships. After a few drinks though...that all went away. I felt calm, confident, and safe with alcohol.

This pattern continued into college and my early 20's when I pursued a career in the restaurant industry. What was a weekend activity quickly turned into nightly, and I just didn't feel like myself unless I had a few drinks in me. I was also one of the top performers in my position. There was constant pressure to hit the goal, get the next promotion, win the contest. I found myself counting down the hours until I could drink again.

In 2018, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. I naively though that my drinking would get better because of the change of scenery...but I was WRONG!!! My relationship with alcohol took a turn for the worse when I had more time on my hands, more pressure to "make it" on my own, and absolutely no clue what I was doing. I drank because I didn't know what else to do and I had never experienced that level of stress in my life.

In 2019, my physical and mental health started to decline as a result of my chronic drinking (and the underlying stress that was accumulating in my body).

I was experiencing:

âž¡ Constant anxiety
âž¡ Panic attacks (especially at night)
âž¡ Inability to focus on things
âž¡ Trouble sleeping
âž¡ Bloated and inflammation
âž¡ Lost libido
âž¡ Being overstimulated
âž¡ Easily irritated
âž¡ Unmotivated
âž¡ Hopeless
âž¡ Constantly getting sick

On March 3rd, 2019 I had my last drink. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired and something had to change. I knew it I continued down this path, I would be in very bad shape if not dead over the next few decades.

When I was 100 days into my sobriety, I went to the doctor to get routine tests (which I had been avoiding for years), and also told her about my anxiety/stress symptoms and that I was struggling with my mental health. She handed me a survey on a clipboard with about 20 questions, scored me, and handed me several prescriptions and a "good luck". I threw them in the trash on the way out. I did not get sober just to replace alcohol with toxic medication. That was July 2nd, 2019 and the day I decided I was going to find a more holistic, natural, and clean approach to my healing. I had to figure out a better way to deal with my stress and nourish my body after years of high cortisol, inflammation, and toxic buildup from chronic stress.

I spent the next 3 years in sobriety trying all of the things: Yoga, meditation, journaling, exercise, sauna, detoxes, crazy diets, energy healing, and even dabbled in THC . You name it, I tried it. I like to say that I "raw-dogged" my sobriety because I never went to rehab, AA, or therapy. I went inward instead and tried to figure this shit out. I did a lot of things right, but there was still a HUGE piece that I overlooked which turned out to be the missing link in my stress management plan:

I wasn't taking care of my gut and hormone health.

I knew gut health was important (everybody poops right?), but when I actually started to go down that rabbithole I was FASCINATED to learn a few things:

🧬 My gut microbiome is made up of trillions of bacteria that regulate and signal to all other systems in the body
🧬 My gut health is DIRECTLY correlated to my mental health (via gut-brain axis) and ability to handle stress
🧬 My poor gut health was the root cause of my nervous system disregulation, brain fog, and hormone imbalances
🧬 I was running off high cortisol for YEARS (due to stress)
🧬 Alcohol destroyed my gut microbiome, killing off good bacteria
🧬 I can support my gut health with a simple holistic protocol

Once this light bulb went off, I did my due diligence in seeking out a performance mocktail that could do the job. I am VERY picky about what I put in my body...so I wanted to the purest, highest potency, and scientifically proven products to nourish me from the inside out. Through a recommendation from a friend, I selected an elite product combo and started the next chapter of my healing journey.

Over the next 30, 60, and 90 days I would watch the incredible results unfold...

✨ I had sustained energy with no crashes
✨ My bloat disappeared
✨ No more panic attacks!!
✨ I was able to focus on tasks
✨ My aches and pains went away
✨ I started to sleep better
✨ My skin cleared up
✨ My sugar/carb cravings gone
✨ I stopped getting sick all the time
✨ My cycles improved
✨ I lost weight/fat
✨ I was motivated to move and get shit done
✨ I was excited for the future again...rejuvenated + hopeful

I am now over 2 years into this stress protocol (taking consistently every day), and have to say I am thriving. I feel like I've discovered the best kept secret to mental wellness..and I don't want it to be a secret anymore. You CAN handle stress without booze...in a way that nourishes your body rather than poisoning it.

I will turn 40 next year, and I'm in the best physical and mental shape of my entire life. My only regret in sobriety is not having a stress protocol earlier. My biggest hope for you is that you don't wait that long because I introduced you to a solution that works.

...2012


My stress didn't physically catch up to me until the age of 27. I had just gotten my biggest promotion, was in a new relationship, had a beautiful house, and everything on paper that people pray for...But along with that came a lot of pressure and responsibility that I wasn't mentally equipped to handle. *Enter the mysterious health symptoms*

I started to experience GI issues, trouble sleeping, anxiety so bad I would be shaking, getting sick all the time, and for the first time in my life I didn't feel safe in my own body.

I was so confused and fearful about what was happening that I was obsessed with going to the doctors, having excessive testing done, and many trips to the ER...only to be told that it was just stress. It was just stress and anxiety...and here's a pill to fix that...now go home. Luckily I never took the pharmaceutical route. My drug of choice was alcohol.

My drinking started to increase with the compounding health issues I was experiencing. I remember saying to myself "I don't know what's wrong with me...but I know that when I drink I feel better". And that was the honest to goodness truth at the time. That's how little I understood about what was happening in my body. Alcohol took off the edge, calmed my nervous system, and allowed me to relax and feel safe again. I didn't see any other way to deal with how I was feeling at the time.

...2017


This cycle continued for the next 5 years as I developed a heavy drinking habit and also used food to cope with my stress, anxiety, and depression that crept in more and more as I watched my health slipping away from me. I started to become unrecognizable (to myself), but still what you would consider a high functioning alcohol so nobody knew what was really going on. I lost all my motivation at work, and even elected to take a demotion because I wanted to work less so I could drink more. I found myself going home at 5pm....plopping down on the couch...pouring the biggest glass of wine you could imagine....and watching TV for the next 4-6 hours until I went to bed with a solid buzz. I would buy boxes wine to save money and so I didn't know how much I was drinking (God forbid I actually have a limit). I drank in the car, all day on my days off, and even snuck it into church a few times. I was out of control and nobody knew it. But at least I didn't feel stressed and my hand stopped shaking.

...2018


A huge turning point for me came when I was in my brother's wedding. I had been avoiding scales and measurements for so long, because I didn't even want to know what they were. When I purchased my bridesmaid dress, I was a size 24. When I weighted myself shortly after...the scale said 232. Not to mention the acne, aches and pains, GI discomfort, chronic fatigue, lack of motivation, panic attacks, and constant state of fight or flight my body was in.

My body was keeping the score and I was losing the game.

At the age of 32. I spent the next year knowing that I needed change, but not willing to commit to it yet. I went through all the mental gymnastics and negotiations of "I'll just drink on weekends", or "I get two cheat days a week"...and basically any other excuse I could come up with to drink or eat like shit. Moderation wasn't working. And I didn't have anyone around me that was pressuring me to change or holding me accountable. I had to do this for myself, or it was never going to happen.

In August of 2018 I left my job and hospitality industry I had been in for 17 years. This massive lifestyle change gave me back the freedom to prioritize my health again and of course not being around free food and a drinking culture was helpful. I was free! This was going to be easy now!

Or so I thought. What happened next was the biggest plot twist I didn't see coming...my drinking actually got WORSE when I entered entrepreneurship. I had a lot of time on my hands, no one watching over me, and a ton of new stress and anxiety that comes from working from yourself. I also learned during this time that loneliness and boredom were my two biggest drinking triggers. I left a fast-paced career where I was surrounded by hundreds (if not thousands) of people every day, to work alone in my home office with no support team and no clue what I was doing. I was stressed, anxiety, and didn't have any coping skill to calm my body. So I drank.

...2019


March 2nd, 2019 was just another day of socializing and networking over binge day drinking. I was hosting a rooftop Marty Gras party and the drinking were flowing. By 2pm I was blackout...which rarely happened but today was that kinda day. I don't remember how I got home. I don't remember who I talked to. I don't remember how much I drank. I woke up in my own bed at 8pm, halfway clothed (but alone), smelling like fresh vomit, and already beginning what I knew was going to be a 2 day hangover.

It was in that disgusting and incredibly foggy moment that one thing was ironically crystal clear....I can't fucking do this anymore. I made a decision. In that moment, in my hot mess state, in that quiet and stanky bedroom...I made a decision that enough was enough and my health was worth fighting for.

The very first thing that came to light in my sobriety was how poor my mental health was. Everything I had been drinking away for years bubbled up to the surface and was amplified. Some of it immediately : Anxiety, depression, hopelessness, lack of motivation. Other things revealed themselves over time: PTSD, sexual trauma, OCD, low self-worth, guilt and shame, and even the occasional thoughts of not wanting to be here anymore. I realized if I wanted to stay sober, I needed to get to work.


Just to check the box, I went to the doctor for some routine testing after I hit 100 days of sobriety. I wasn't even sure at that point if my organs were still working, I could also have diabetes, high cholesterol, or something far worse. I did 17 years of solid damage with alcohol. The good news was that all my tests were perfect. They bad news was that all my tests were perfect. Which meant that there were no easy answers why I felt like shit. Once again, the doctor passed along prescriptions that I threw in the trash on the way out the door. That was July 2nd, 2019 and the day I made another monumental decision in my journey: I was going to become my own doctor and take agency back over my health. I was going to learn everything I could about mental wellness, holistic health, and how to heal my body from the inside out. I have been committed to that ever since.

...2020


2020 was the year we will all remember the world shutting down. I had already been pretty isolated from getting sober and leaving my job, that it just added onto that challenging part of my mental health. At this point I was journaling, walking daily, meditating, eating really healthy, and really in a self-discover phase of what was inside me that I buried for years. I spent this year in a lot of solitude, quiet, and just letting things come up without judgment. What I found was that I had DECADES of mental challenges I had been drinking away, and it wasn't going to take overnight to work through all of them.

2020 was also the year I decided to come off hormonal birth control after 17 years of daily use. I was in the process of detoxing my body, had done my research, and made the decision to quit. It was a shitshow. I was crying almost daily, getting really irritated over the smallest things, I developed acne and the dreaded back-ne, and I knew my hormones were in BAD shape. I got tested and sure enough...I had hardly ANY sex hormones and metabolic hormones. But I did have plenty of one thing....CORTISOL. Once again, the doctor recommended going back on birth control or taking other synthetic hormones. It was yet again a hard pass for me. I was going to figure this out on my own...and was able to start making lifestyle changes to shift my hormones back in the right direction. I was able to make some progress by doing that, and testing just short of "normal range" by the 2021.

...2022


This was the year I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and say I GIVE UP (and probably some cuss words too). I was officially 3 years into sobriety and doing everything right. I was eating healthy (still), moving my body, staying hydrated, taking vitamins, getting 8-9 hours of sleep, detoxing, and doing the emotional deep work...But something was still missing. I had just lost my mojo.

I was experiencing extreme brain fog, chronic fatigue, weight gain around the midsection, cystic acne, getting sick all the time (and never fully recovering), constipation, bloating, inability to focus, constant anxiety and lack of motivation to do anything. I felt like I was just going through the motions and everything was just so blah.

This was the year that the universe "tossed me a bone". I was introduced to someone who was working in holistic gut health and hormone balancing...and it at least got me curious. Could this be the thing? Could this be the missing link I've been looking for? Is this what all the doctors have been missing (or not even looking for)? What I learned over the next few months would change the trajectory of my entire health journey.

It turns out all the "mysterious" health symptoms I was experiencing were a result of three very interconnectioned things happening in my body:

1. My nervous system was stuck in fight or flight
2. My cortisol was sky-high
3. My gut health was garbage (from all the drinking, antibiotics, stress, etc)

It was all starting to make sense. I spent almost 2 decades doing damage to my gut, and never made it a point to nourish and support it in my healing journey.

Once I dove into the connection between our gut, nervous system, immune system, and mental wellness...I was equally excited and frustrated. The answers were there all along...but no doctor was talking to me about this. Because the solutions don't help meet their sales quota.


So I started on a holistic protocol to kill off bad gut bacteria, replace it with health gut bacteria, support my hormones and immune system, and reset my gut-brain axis. I was finally supporting my gut to produce more dopamine (motivation hormone) and serotonin (happy hormone), while naturally lowering cortisol (stress hormone). I was actively shifting my body out of fight or flight while building stress resilience in the process.

After the first few weeks on my new protocol I began to notice more energy, productivity, and less feeling of sadness and anxiety.

After a few months I noticed my cycles improve, acne fade, feeling rested, ache and pains subsided, mood regulated, and got my MOJO and JOY back.

I literally felt like I discovered the cheatcode. The missing link all along in my mental wellness.

...2024


I am now 2+ years on my protocol and honestly struggle to put into words what this has done for me. I felt lost and frustrated for years, and gave up hope so many times that I would figure out what was happening in my body. Divider

We live in a world of chronic stress and toxins that will reek havoc on our guts, immune system, and nervous system. We have to be proactive to not only repair damage already done, but to thrive and combat the circumstances of this modern world.

The only regret in my health journey is that I didn't know about this sooner. You don't know how good good feels until you find it. I didn't realize how much pain and suffering I went through until I came out the other side.

I have a new lease on life that never would have been possible without my supplement protocol that changed it all.

My Sober Stress Protocol:
Happy Juice

Happy Juice is my good-for-your-gut nootropic mocktail that is a simple mixture of 2 products:

1. Mentabiotics

Formulated with specific strains of bacteria scientifically proven to improve mental wellness

2. Edge+ Nootropic

A combination of 6 unique ingredients, formulated to support mental flow, motivation, focus, and clean energy.

What to expect with
Happy Juice:

I'm so excited for you to experience the life-changing results of this product, like I have. This is the missing link for so many in their mental wellness, and I'm confident you will feel like a whole new person once this clicks.

Once you place your order, I will text you my personal contact info along with steps to get started. You will also get shipping/tracking updates and should expect to review your products within a week!

I partner with you on this journey, and couldn't be more grateful to help you thrive in your sobriety journey too.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]

Cheers to living the vibrant life we deserve 🥂

xoxo,
Lora