January 4, 2025 • 40 mins
Get ready to be inspired by Natalie Battaglia, the creative mind behind The Mindful Mocktail! In this episode, Natalie opens up about her transformative journey from struggling with alcohol dependence to crafting elegant, delicious non-alcoholic beverages that elevate any occasion. We dive deep into her personal story, exploring the power of mindful rituals, the art of creating visually stunning mocktails, and how to celebrate life without alcohol—all while embracing wellness and joy.
In this episode, you'll discover:
• Natalie’s raw and honest account of her relationship with alcohol
• How aesthetics and creativity breathe life into her mocktail recipes
• The obstacles she overcame on her path to a healthier lifestyle
• How motherhood reshaped her approach to drinking
• Valuable lessons from Annie Grace’s Live Alcohol Experiment
• Why inclusivity matters in the non-alcoholic space
• Fun, innovative mocktail recipes perfect for any celebration
• A peek into her fabulous Mindful Mocktail Recipe Book (on pre-order in Australia and for purchase internationally)
Whether you're sober-curious or just looking for ways to enjoy life more mindfully, this episode is packed with inspiration and practical tips!
NAT'S MINDFUL MOCKTAIL RECIPE BOOK
Pre-order (in Australia) or purchase (International orders) here: https://mindfulmocktail.com/MINDFUL-MOCKTAIL-RECIPE-BOOK/
LEARN MORE ABOUT NAT:
Nat: https://mindfulmocktail.com
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/themindfulmocktail/
MEG
Web: https://www.meganwebb.com.au/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/meganwebbcoaching/
Unwined Bookclub: https://www.alcoholfreedom.com.au/unwinedbookclub
ConnectAF group coaching: https://www.elizaparkinson.com/groupcoaching
BELLA
Web: https://isabellaferguson.com.au
Insta: @alcoholcounsellorisabella
Bi-Yearly 6-Week Small Group Challenges: Learn more: https://www.isabellaferguson.com.au/feb-2025-challenge
Free Do I Have A Drinking Problem 3 x Video Series: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/JTFFgjJL/checkout
Free HOW DO I STOP DRINKING SO MUCH Masterclass: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/7fvkb3FF/checkout
Online Alcohol Self-Paced Course: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/fDzcyvWL/checkout...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today I'm really excited to have Natalie Bataglia
on board and the Not DrinkingToday Zoom room.
Natalie, which I'm sure many ofour listeners would already
know, creates the most gloriousmocktails.
You might have seen some of hermocktails on Instagram and
(00:22):
she's the founder and creator ofthe Mindful Mocktail and has a
beautiful book that's soon to bereleased but is on pre-order in
Australia and we'll get to allof that and you'll have all of
those details here, so pleasestay tuned.
But I just wanted to say firstof all, a huge, heartfelt
welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Natalie, thank you so much for having me.
I know this has been a longtime coming and I've been seeing
it in my calendar and I've beenreally excited about it, so I'm
just heart-felt Welcome,natalie.
Thank you so much for having me.
I know this has been a longtime coming and I've been seeing
it in my calendar and I've beenreally excited about it, so I'm
just grateful to be here.
Thank you for asking me.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Oh, you are so welcome.
I wanted to first of all justsay your production quality of
your mocktails on Instagram isjust insane.
It's off the charts.
The colours, the textures, theutensils.
You can almost smell and tastethese mocktails.
It's just a delight for thesenses, incredible.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Thank you so much.
I do put a lot of work intomaking it a really fun space
online, because I know when Istopped drinking and we can
probably go into that but thereweren't a lot of fun spaces
online for non-drinkers and Ireally picked up on that quite
early.
It was, you know, a good fiveyears ago now that I, when I
stopped, and I just thought tomyself you know what?
(01:36):
We need a space, we need to berepresented online somewhere and
, it's just to be honest,somewhere.
And it's just to be honest,it's evolved even better than I
ever could have imagined.
So I did learn.
I guess what I have learned isthat we taste with our eyes
first.
So it was important to me thatthese drinks not just tasted
(01:57):
great, but also that they lookedgreat, and you know that we
still got to experience theritual of pouring ourselves a
pretty drink and a deliciousdrink, even though we weren't
drinking alcohol, and that'sreally where the whole idea came
from.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Oh, it's absolutely brilliant and it kind of um, uh,
it's I relate, relate or likenit to like dopamine dressing.
It's the dopamine of the colourand the movement of these
beautiful creations and becauseit's not just a mocktail or a
drink, there's more layers tothat.
(02:33):
Isn't there For men and womenthat want to be included in the
ritual, have something that'sfun and sophisticated, it's
elevated beyond lemonade and anumbrella.
It's inclusivity and choice,isn't it?
It's got a bit of a deeperlayer there.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh, it really does.
I mean, when you know, if yougo back to my very sort of first
followers, you know who arestill around to this day and
like there's just a handful of Icall them like my cheerleaders,
like they're my people andthey've been around my first,
like 500 followers, and so manypeople just say it's just never
(03:16):
been just about the drinks.
You know, it's just not.
The drinks are great, but it'scertainly not where it even
stemmed from.
And I noticed, when I firststarted the Mindful Mocktail,
every time I shared it wasreally more about my personal
story.
Then, you know, if you scrollright back, every time I shared
a drink I shared a story aboutmy struggles with alcohol or the
(03:38):
challenge I was having that dayin terms of not drinking or a
situation where I'd been, youknow, triggered to drink and how
I coped with it.
And that was really how theseoriginal connections were made
through these personal storiesrather than the drinks.
So, yeah, I think that shouldbe my tagline it's not just
(03:59):
about, it's never just beenabout.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oh, why don't we go there?
Because I think it is part ofjust the beauty of your book.
Your profile on Insta is thatyou are a woman who is creating
these beautiful mocktails, butyou've also made the decision
and the choice to be alcoholfree.
(04:23):
I'd love to hear a bit moreabout your story and what led
you to make that choice.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, sure, well, we'll go from like the nice,
bright, colourful, fun things tolike the truth of it all.
No, I shouldn't say that, butyou know it started from a
darker place.
It really did Like anything.
I think that ends up beautiful.
Really in life it generallystarts from a darker place.
It really did Like anything.
I think that ends up beautiful.
Really in life it generallystarts from a darker place and I
(04:54):
, oh gosh, I don't even knowwhere to start, but really just
I, um, I grew up as an Aussiekid in the eighties, so it goes
without saying I had alcoholaround me all the time, like my
parents, and we've had.
My parents and I we've had lotsof conversations about my
drinking and their drinking andhow their drinking might have
influenced my drinking.
And you know, all of theseconversations are very open and
(05:15):
honest and there's no animositythere or anything.
You know, this is just, Isuppose, the way me and so many
of my friends were raised, thatwe saw our parents drink to
celebrate and commiserate andthere was just always a reason
in our household to to pop thebottle.
So of course I guess it goeswithout saying that when alcohol
is sort of part of youreveryday life as a child.
(05:37):
When you see it, then, when yougrow up, you tend to take on
the same or similar drinkinghabits.
Because my house was very muchfull of love, like it wasn't an
angry, drunk household we'retalking about.
You know two people who wereable to.
You know we, our house wasfilled with love and and joy and
(05:57):
all of the things, but alcoholjust happened to always be
present.
So when I grew up and moved out, I essentially just took on a
really similar you know, reallysimilar drinking habits and, if
I'm really honest, those days mydrinking never bothered me.
All of my friends drank.
(06:20):
I built, of course, as drinkers.
Do you tend to build a lifewith other drinkers?
You know the boyfriend that Iwas seeing aters.
Do you tend to build a lifewith other drinkers?
You know the boyfriend that Iwas seeing at the time.
He used to drink a lot and itwas just never really an issue.
We would do the whole thingthat most people were doing in
their early twenties.
You know we'd go out Thursdaynight, friday night, Saturday
night, sunday night.
Drinking would always beinvolved.
(06:41):
The thought of not going outand not drinking was almost
laughable.
Um, and then I separated fromthat relationship and I met
someone else who is my nowhusband and it was quite
fascinating because he isItalian.
And here I am thinking I've metthis Italian guy.
We're going to be having pizzaand pasta and red wine and red
(07:01):
wine things and that, oh mygoodness, I was so excited.
And then I, to my utter despairand dismay, I realized that he
actually came from a family ofpeople who really didn't drink
at all.
So his dad would enjoy a littleport or something before bed,
like a little nightcap orsomething.
(07:21):
But this whole caring wine withfood and things that I had
grown up with, you know, damien,he had no experience with.
So we went through this.
It never caused any frictionbetween us, but we certainly had
a few conversations where, youknow, I thought he was the odd
one and he thought I was the oddone and you know, and you know,
(07:46):
we'd go to parties and he woulddrive and I would drink, and
that was just like the patternthat our relationship followed
and again, really never seemedto cause any issues.
You know, I would have yourstandard messy drunk nights, but
I certainly wasn't one of those, you know, traditionally like
messy drunk people where I wouldend up in hospital or anything
(08:07):
or committing a crime oranything like that.
Yeah, it was always a jokebetween my friends and I that I
could hold my alcohol reallywell, like I could have a glass
of wine and you just I would besitting here talking to you like
I am now, which is sometimesmore dangerous.
Might I just add yes, yes, Ithink it's worse, because no one
knows exactly how much you'vehad to drink, and it really
(08:29):
helped me hide it later.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That's, you know, remaining very poker-faced.
But after a few years, damienand I decided to get married and
have kids, and that was wheneverything changed.
Of course, your entire lifechanges when you have kids, but
it wasn't just that.
It was, I suppose, I didn't dothe newborn stage very well and
(08:58):
I was missing my old.
I loved my baby so much, but Iwas missing my old life.
Yes, and you know feeling sad,you know, about the life I used
to live, and resentful is notthe right word, but I just
remember thinking I can still bethe person I used to be, and of
(09:21):
course, part of my identity wasthe wine, was the alcohol, and
I was looking for something totake the edge off.
And so I went from, you know,going out, like before I had
Nathan.
You know, I was going out in asocial environment, drinking
with my friends and having fun,and then I found myself, like
(09:43):
drinking at those same levels,standing at home while Nathan
napped at the kitchen bench andI was folding the washing and
downing a bottle of red wine.
And you know, I feel like thedrinking, the social drinking,
to this day, was never my issue.
As I said, I didn't get introuble, not a messy drunk,
(10:05):
didn't embarrass myself any ofthe things, but I developed this
pattern of drinking alone andbecause Damien didn't drink
either, I was like truly alone.
It wasn't like he would comehome and we'd share a bottle of
wine, it was just me drinking toexcess, daily almost, and then
(10:26):
hiding it and then gettingthrough this, going through this
pattern of, you know, takingthe recycling bin out so no one
could feel how heavy it was, andI had this drinking cupboard at
home where I would have all mybottles of wine lined up and I'd
have all my glassware andinstead of like pouring a glass
of wine and drinking it at thetable like a normal person
(10:47):
cooking dinner, I would, I wouldhide it, I would have it in
this cupboard and just, yeah,just when I look back, you know,
I guess one moment where Ireally thought oh my god, man,
you're gonna have to get somehelp here.
Um, I knew Damien had gone outof the room and he wasn't going
to be gone for long, and so Iyanked the pork out of the
(11:08):
bottle and I just stood thereand gulped the wine directly
from the bottle.
And it's so weird to me now,even when I think about it
because we never thought aboutmy drinking.
He was always like it doesn'tseem to affect much except your
own wellbeing.
So if that's what you want todo, then go for it.
So it's not like he ever wouldhave even commented about how
(11:30):
much I was drinking, but I thinkbecause I knew I was doing the
wrong thing, doing the wrongthing.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yes, yes, Natalie, I actually just had a moment
because I had well, no, I talkabout it a lot, but it was
certainly a behaviour that I hadprobably, I'm sure, a million
billion times or escalated.
I'd gone down the track a fairbit, but that's not to diminish
(11:57):
the fact that any form of hidingthe alcohol, it strikes you to
the core, doesn't it?
It's a real moment where youthink, whoa, where did this turn
a corner?
Did your partner ever kind ofhave a conversation with you
around?
Hey, Nat, what's going on here?
Or was this all driven from you?
To make a bit of a change, orwas this all driven from you?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
to make a bit of a change?
It was really driven from me.
I mean, as I said, he knew hehad only ever known me as a
heavy drinker.
Do you know what I mean?
So it was almost like it didn't.
It wasn't odd, it sounds reallybad.
I mean, even when I tell thisstory now and think back, I'm
like I can't believe we had bothfallen into this pattern of
just my drinking was normal.
(12:41):
But I think you know, for a lotof people you know it is their
normal.
But I did have a bit of aturning point where, which I'm
happy to share if you'd like tohear about it.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Please, I'd love to, because all of these
conversations there's often one,two, three, if not a hundred
women that just go.
Oh yeah, me too it's.
Yeah, it's all part of the ohthe good stuff about sharing.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So please, if you're keen to, I'd love to hear.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sure I do get some raisedeyebrows when I tell this story
sometimes, so bear with me, butI have people talk about like
their classic rock bottom momentyeah, usually something
glorious like being arrested or,you know, injuring themselves
or something like that.
I don't have anything like that, but what I do have is and this
(13:37):
was like the last thing thathappened in a culmination of
very small things that justadded up.
A couple of little examples wasI remember once I was standing
at the kitchen bench drinking ona Friday afternoon and my
husband was due home from workany moment, so the door was open
(14:00):
and my little toddler's liketoddling around and he would
have only been I don't knowthree.
And we live on like this raisedsort of belt like area oh,
there's this big hill that sortof you know where our driveway
goes down.
So we have this balcony and Iremember coming out there one
day and seeing Nathan standingup on the pot plant near the
(14:22):
balcony like pier.
And just when I say theselittle things, that certainly
wasn't a little thing, but theseare the kinds of things that
had happened in the lead up,like to this moment that I'm
about to describe, my grandmahad passed away and I was doing
the eulogy and I it was aSaturday afternoon and at that
(14:45):
point I was like, pretty much,as I said, everything was an
excuse to you know, have somewine.
And I'd said to my husband mytwo.
So I'm home with my husband, mytwo boys, and I said to him I'm
going to go up to the study andI'm going to finish this eulogy
because I need to get it backto the funeral director tomorrow
and I'm going to take a winewith me.
So I'd taken this bottle of wineand I'd gone up into the study
(15:07):
and I'd been in there for awhile, probably had two or three
glasses of wine, typing away,and Damien calls me down from
the kitchen and says can youjust come here for a minute?
He had this really strange toneto his voice and I walk into
the kitchen and he had been mealprepping for the week so he had
all of these nuts on thecounter, right.
So he's got these pistachiosand these walnuts and he's
(15:28):
separating them all out intolittle containers for the week.
And I walk into the kitchen andI see my son who was then.
He would have been five, Ithink four or five then and he
is sitting on the bench with hisdad having an anaphylactic
reaction to the nuts.
(15:51):
So we didn't know that he had anut allergy.
We certainly knew after that,but we didn't know at the time
so we didn't even think that itwas an issue for him to be
around nuts.
But I just remember walkinginto the room seeing him there,
not really realizing what washappening, but knew that he was
in medical danger and that hewas having some sort of reaction
(16:11):
to something.
And just for this fleetingmoment, my reaction was that I
was really shitty because I knewI wouldn't be able to keep
drinking for the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I knew I would go back to my wine and I was like
this is just interruptingeverything and I just had this
moment where I was annoyed athim, oh my gosh, and it was
fleeting.
It was a split second before we, you know, sprung into action,
called the ambulance, did all ofthe things.
But later on I really had amoment and I was obviously ready
(16:48):
to hear this because I thinkall of these signs had been
there for a long time, like lotsof things.
I remember 15 years prior tothis googling am I an alcoholic?
Wow, I've known for a very longtime that I don't think that
this is right.
(17:08):
What, how?
My relationship with alcoholand how it's going.
And it was like that momentwhere in my head I'm putting the
booze before my son.
That was the moment.
And you know I tell that storyto parents, especially mums, and
they're like that's normal.
You know that's normal.
Like, of course, you'refrustrated because you know you
(17:29):
have to stop drinking and youhave to stop having fun, because
your kids hurt and these arebless their little hearts, but
they're usually my drinkingfriends and I'm like no, it's
not.
Or, if it is normal, I don'twant that to be my normal.
So I made a decision that daythat that wasn't going to be my
normal anymore, and I can have adrink again from that day, nat.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
it's a really good, powerful story.
I really love the story becauseit's powerful story.
I really love the story becauseit doesn't have that big, loud
crashing, flashing red lightsign, but it is incredibly
moving.
It's almost the silence of it.
That kind of gave me goosebumps, and you were saying, because
(18:12):
it actually reminded me as wellthose moments where I knew I had
to pick up the kids at a latertime in the evening and I
thought, oh great, well, thatmeans you know I'm not going to
be able to have my second orthird or whatever glass of wine.
So, with that powerful thought,what gave you the courage to
(18:34):
stop?
How did you do?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
it Well, again I Googled.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And it turns out, I think you're.
You're this naked mind coach,aren't you?
Yes, that's right, that's right.
Yeah, so I it's yeah, probablygood that I'm here with you,
because I called Am I anAlcoholic and I found an Annie
Grace article and I did her30-day live alcohol experiment.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
So did I.
I did exactly that same thingwith my journal and my pen and
those emails that came.
Yeah Well, I did one with.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
So you know how she has an online one, and then she
has a lot about the live one.
I don't know if she runs itanymore?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I don't think so, but I know that my co-host, meg,
did the live version and lovedit with.
Emma Gilmore was one of thecoaches.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I know Emma bless her heart amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
so did that?
Tell me what happened?
Did that work for you?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Oh yeah, by day 12, I was done Like, and again I
think it was like the universe.
I was ready to hear the message.
I mean, I'd had whispersforever, like I just described
to you.
Like for 15 years I thought tomyself is this normal, is this
normal, is this normal, is thisnormal, is this normal?
And it just gets louder andlouder, and louder and louder as
the years go on.
And then when that thinghappened with Nathan, it was
(19:59):
like someone was grabbing me bymy collar, shaking me going is
this normal?
Like this isn't normal.
Um, so, yeah, I found it wasall meant to be.
I googled am I an alcoholic?
Or help with alcoholism, orwhatever it was.
I found Annie.
Her live alcohol experiment wasstarting, I think like 10 days
(20:20):
later or something.
I signed up for it straightaway and I, you know,
participated in theconversations and I got the
emails and I did all the things.
But, as I said, by day 12, Idon't think I've actually ever
finished it, because by day 12 Iwas like I've just heard enough
.
I went down this completerabbit hole of, um, what alcohol
(20:43):
was doing to me, mentally,physically, all of the things.
Um, I read I hadn't even readAnnie's book at that stage.
But I did a little bit later onand it just really cemented
everything that I had already,you know, really just cemented
everything I already knew, Ithink, and just knew from that
day like I'm just sounbelievably done with this.
(21:05):
You know this thing whereyou're just like can I swear?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
You can swear yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
That expression where people just say, like true
change comes when you just getsick to death of your own shit.
Yeah, so sick of my own shit.
Like just waking up every dayfeeling like rubbish, swearing.
I wouldn't drink, usually byabout midday.
I'm like maybe I could justhave one drink and then I would
drink, and then the same thingwould and I was just.
(21:34):
It was just awful.
When I think back, I can'tbelieve I didn't do it sooner.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's really a great reminder also how what's normal
shifts quite suddenly.
Because you know, back when myhusband and I were big drinkers,
our normal was he had hisbottle of white, I had my bottle
of red.
That's what we would do everynight, let alone then the
Fridays, the Saturdays and theSundays with other people.
(22:00):
That was normal and itcertainly wasn't what my parents
were doing.
But they sounded very similarto yours in that sense of that
celebratory style of drinking inthe household.
And now I couldn't conceive ofit.
Imagine how unwell and how sickyou'd feel.
But it's a good chat, becausethere are still many households
(22:22):
out there that having yourbottle of wine a night in some
people's reality is actuallyquite normal.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
It's actually quite, you know, it's just what you do
yeah, absolutely, and I thinkit's all about choices, isn't it
?
Um, I think you know, thelonger I go so it's been almost
five years now but the longer Imove forward with this, you know
, journey for want of a betterword, that word's probably
overused but I realised that,you know, I actually don't think
(22:51):
I had an alcohol addiction.
I think I had some sort ofmental addiction and habitual
sort of addiction.
You know, because I will sharewith you, there's been two touch
points over the last five yearswhere I've told myself I'm
going to try and I'm going tohave one drink today and I'm
going to see what happens.
Yeah, it's been when I've beenvery I don't I'm not saying that
(23:15):
this is not a good ideaeverybody, but for me I was like
you know how Annie talks aboutdata points.
Yep, myself I'm going to tryone with safe people and let
them know exactly what I'm doing.
So I'd say to my husband or youknow, I was with my best friend
another time I'm going to haveone drink, don't let me have any
more.
I'm having one and I'm going tosee what happens.
(23:37):
And honestly, I just am so farfrom wanting to drink now.
It is unbelievable.
And I tell you one drink.
My sleep was shit but I did it,and I also wear like an Apple
(23:57):
Watch and they're amazing, likethe technology.
Those things are pretty amazing.
Now, both mornings, I've gotprint screens on my phone to
remind me how bad it is for me.
So we have heart conditionsthat run in our family.
Both mornings I woke up and gotan alert straight away that my
heart rate was 29% higher thenight before and like an alert
(24:20):
like has something you know?
Checked with your doctor?
Has something gone wrong?
It was just one drink, wow, onedrink, and so I feel like data
points can be beneficial ifyou're in a place where you can.
But yeah, it's certainly notsomething I would recommend,
unless you're years into thisjourney.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Agreed, agreed.
I had this chat with thechallenge members.
At the moment where we're sortof getting to within the last
week, we're talking about well,what are you doing in the next
phase?
Is it continue another bout ofalcohol-free or is it mindful
drinking and a dip your toe intothat?
We just talk about what theguardrails are around it and
we're just thinking look, ifyou've had an alcohol use
(25:02):
disorder mild, moderate, severeyou've got to try and get at
least a year under your belt.
I would have thought, just toget all your sober firsts and
your system recalibrated.
And even then the stats mayshow that people that jump back
in without the guardrails canoften be right back where they
were very quickly.
But there was one challengemember who and I won't mention
(25:28):
her name but I'm sure she won'tmind me saying she did have a
glass of Prosecco in front ofher for a celebration and took a
few sips and then couldn'tfinish the rest and it was
actually a lovely experiment toremind herself her choice.
It's not deprivation, she'sdeliberately saying no and it's
quite a nice thing for her to doagain with those warning signs
(25:52):
around.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, um, what?
And let me be your data pointbecause I can tell you right now
both situations, as I said,very safe conditions with people
who knew exactly what I wasdoing and why.
Um, honestly, it tasted awful.
Yeah, it was awful.
My, my whole palate hascompletely changed.
(26:14):
Tasted awful, did not enjoy itone little bit, slept, terribly
elevated heart rate.
I mean, if this is what onedrink is doing, what were we
doing?
What was actually going to mybody before?
It's just crazy to me what itwas actually doing to our bodies
(26:34):
.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Agreed, agreed.
God, the amounts, the amounts Iwas drinking.
I'm turning 50 next year and Iam thrilled just not to be doing
all of those behaviors when itcomes to alcohol that I was
doing.
Oh my god, hey, uh, now, beforeI just jump a little bit more
into your mock tales, I justwant to ask you this question
was it easier, do you think,because your partner was just
(27:00):
such a natural, easy non-drinkeror minimal drinker?
Did that make it easier for you?
Or was it still just very muchyour own journey?
Anyway?
Speaker 2 (27:09):
You know what I think I mean in all honesty.
I'm sure it makes it easierhaving a partner that doesn't
drink.
Yeah, I'm sure it would, if youknow, if we're being honest.
But regardless, it's still verymuch an individual thing, and
he was sitting there most nightsnot realizing the internal
(27:30):
battle that I was facing interms of, you know, would be
really nice to have a winetonight.
It would be.
You know, I don't want to say inany way, shape or form, it was
easy, but what I will say isonce I was armed with the
knowledge from the live alcoholexperiment and I had read
Annie's book and I had seen theYouTube videos and I had all the
(27:54):
tools in my tool belt in termsof podcasts and, you know,
connections online and all ofthe things I did not want to
drink it.
Yeah, yeah, it was really and Idid.
I had, by that stage, likethrown myself into the mindful
mocktail as well, so it wasalmost like I needed something
(28:17):
to divert my attention.
It was, I had all of it and I'mlike, hey, there's this hole in
my life, like it was a hole.
I was, you know, we were in arelationship, alcohol and I so
there was this hole that neededto be filled?
What?
How am I going to divert thisenergy into something else?
Speaker 1 (28:37):
yeah, well, you have diverted your energy, all of
your um, gosh, gosh.
It's entrepreneurship, it'screativity, god, it's such a
passion project and I have toshare with you that as part of
the challenge, we've sharedlinks, some links from your
(28:58):
Mindful Mocktail site during thecourse, just to sort of dip our
toe into what are some gloriousmocktails that we can do in
that 5 to 8 pm risk window.
That look amazing, they'rehealthy, they're colourful, it
doesn't matter if the kids seeyou make them.
It's actually quite a God.
(29:18):
What's the word?
I'm looking for where everybodyjoins in an inclusive process.
Looking for where everybodyjoins in an inclusive process.
And we made your watermelonfresca, your elderflower mojito,
peppermint tea mocktail and afew of us made your one-minute
Christmas mimosa.
And we've just got all thesephotos which I should actually
(29:40):
well, we should be sharing onyour site.
But they're glorious, they justadd a bit of fun into the
evening.
I love them.
Oh, that's good.
Can I ask you what is yourgo-to Christmas mocktail?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Do you know what the mimosas that you, so I, just
find at Christmas?
I don't know about you, but Ientertained for 35 people last
Sunday here, and what I can tellyou about Christmas is you want
something quick and easy, so Ido this every time.
So I will make the Christmasmimosas.
And if you're not comfortablewith alcohol-free wine because I
know some people aren't um, youknow, you even can use
(30:18):
something as basic as a flavoredsparkling water.
You can use a low sugar gingerbeer or ginger ale.
You, you can even use akombucha, like just something.
Sometimes it's not even aboutwhat's in the glass, it's about
the fact that you've got one.
You've got something likeeverybody else, so I would say
some sort of Christmas mimosa.
There's also on my website areally fun virgin cosmopolitan,
(30:44):
which is that glorious redcolour as well, so I really love
those, and this one's probablymore for your US clientele.
But, having said that, we stillmake it at Christmas time.
Here there's a mulled wine.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
I was going to mention that one Amazing.
Everyone loves the mulled wine.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
The mulled wine is really cool too, because you can
actually make it in a like acrock pot, like a slow cooker
pot or just a crock pot on thestove, and then you can just
leave it there.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
The smell, the smell is beautiful, yes.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
And it's a nice batch one.
Sometimes it's hard to bemaking individual drinks for
people, but anything that's in anice batch like that makes life
easier.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
And a great gift.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Oh my gosh, I think it's such a good gift.
You can mull it so you can gothrough the entire process of
the mulling, so follow the wholerecipe, cool it down and then
just put it in a bottle.
It's so pretty, like even justthose little bottles you get
(31:50):
from the $2 shops, like with thelittle cork things in them, and
then you can, you know, wrapsome dehydrated citrus or some
rosemary with a little bit oftwine.
It's just such a sweet,thoughtful present that doesn't
cost a lot of money and then itcan be reheated just in the
microwave or on their stovetop.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So yeah, I was just remembering about three
Christmases back.
It must have been threeChristmases back.
I tried one of yours.
I desperately wanted to have myown mocktail, whilst all the
rest of my family who haveactually cut back significantly
with me, and I made thestrawberry daiquiri, but we
(32:28):
didn't have a blender and thebar mix.
Oh no, I tried it with the barmix.
We didn't have a blender on myNutribullet and it was just
intense.
I'm not a natural cook, I'm notvery food creative and, uh, it
just took so long.
Warning, do not do it with abar mix.
(32:48):
And everyone was eating it witha spoon.
That kind of ended up like asorbet.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
I can imagine, little stick blenders would be strong
enough to blend the strawberries, would they?
Speaker 1 (33:00):
no, no, no, and I wonder I'm gonna have to tell.
I thought should I take a photoand show Natalie one day, one
day if I might get to interviewher?
And here we are.
But I like your idea of thevirgin cosmopolitan and the
mimosa really, really works.
And look, I didn't want to.
I also had that point and youmentioned it really before which
(33:22):
was, yes, the beauty of yourmocktails are also that there
are 101 options there if youwant to have a creation that
does not mimic alcohol, BecauseI forgot that this is actually
quite a massive.
Well, it is a very uniqueindividual decision and it's a
massive.
People just just want thechoice.
(33:45):
They want the choice.
They're going alcohol free.
Is it going to trigger or nottrigger?
So it's a big issue.
So that's that's the othermassive bonus from your
beautiful mocktails, Natalie.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
I love them yes, I have had a few stories from
people and I usually put alittle disclaimer in any post of
mine that has a non alcoholicwine or non-alcoholic spirit,
because they can be verytriggering for some people.
And I think it was a good, Iwould say, eight or nine months
after I stopped drinking alcohol, that I dipped my toe in with
um.
The first one was a GeissenSauvignon Blanc, which is still
(34:19):
one of my favorites to this day,but, um, it took a while and I
probably wouldn't even recommendit like super early on if
you're uncomfortable in any way,because it can be a bit of a
gateway back into the real thing.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Now, Natalie, this book would be a glorious present
for anybody.
It's great to have a website,but it's so much better to have
that tactile, colourful bookwhere you can plonk it on and
e-bookmark the pages.
Give us the lowdown on whenAustralians can order it and the
(34:57):
pre-order process and how theywould go about getting their
hands on your book.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Oh, absolutely.
Well, it's available forpre-order now.
So we'll include the linkprobably in the show notes, I'd
imagine and when you click onthe link it'll take you through
to the sales page.
So you're just looking for thesection marked Australia,
because it's available worldwide, which is really exciting.
So it's available for pre-ordernow.
It will be available on theshelves by the end of February,
(35:24):
which means all of thepre-orders will also be sent out
at the end of February.
We're really trying to get itout on the shelves now, like
before Christmas.
But we had a huge shippingdelay.
It was devastating.
I had a big cry and then I hadto get over it.
So if you're in you, if you'rein the US or Canada, good news.
(35:45):
It's available now, but for ourAussie listeners it will be the
end of February.
And the book really came aboutbecause the number one well, I
guess the top requests I havehad since I started the Mindful
Mocktail is that no one wants togo from a alcohol addiction to
(36:06):
a sugar addiction.
So can we please keep themlower in sugar?
Can we please make them alittle bit more functional?
You know nourishing, can wehave some health benefits thrown
in and can we possibly avoid,where possible, uses of, like
multiple bottles ofnon-alcoholic spirits where it
can cost you, you know, 90 justto make a drink or two right.
(36:30):
So I heard all of thoserequests loud and clear.
They've been the top three forthe last five years that I've
had and I basically took all ofthat advice and I put it into
this book.
So every recipe was designed inconsultation with a nutritionist
to make sure that they're thevery, very best that they can be
.
They're both nourishing they'relowering refined sugar compared
(36:54):
to what you find in those, youknow, traditional mocktails and
they're made with easilyaccessible ingredients.
So ingredients that you can,you know, at very best, find
already in your fruit bowl orfridge or, at worst is a quick
click of a button online.
But general, just everydayingredients that can be found in
your, in your fridge or fruitbowl.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Fabulous and I can also say it helps to have
beautiful glassware and yourgarnishes, the whole lot.
It's just beautiful.
Nellie, just remind ourlisteners where they can follow
you find you.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Well, sure.
So I have a website which ismindfulmoctowlcom.
All of my recipes are thereavailable for free.
There's hundreds there, and themain.
I'm on across all the socialplatforms, but the main social
platform would be Instagram, andyou'll find me at the mindful
mocktail there.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yes, you have to go.
Follow the mindful mocktail onInstagram and you won't be able
to get off the page.
It's just, it's mesmerizing,it's beautiful.
My love of color just draws mein.
I think glorious.
It has been a delight to talkto you.
Natalie draws me in, I thinkglorious.
It has been a delight to talkto you, Natalie.
Wish you all the best with yourbook and can't wait to see more
of your creations online.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Today I'm really excited to have Natalie Bataglia
on board and the Not DrinkingToday Zoom room.
Natalie, which I'm sure many ofour listeners would already
know, creates the most gloriousmocktails.
You might have seen some of hermocktails on Instagram and
(00:22):
she's the founder and creator ofthe Mindful Mocktail and has a
beautiful book that's soon to bereleased but is on pre-order in
Australia and we'll get to allof that and you'll have all of
those details here, so pleasestay tuned.
But I just wanted to say firstof all, a huge, heartfelt
welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Natalie, thank you so much for having me.
I know this has been a longtime coming and I've been seeing
it in my calendar and I've beenreally excited about it, so I'm
just heart-felt Welcome,natalie.
Thank you so much for having me.
I know this has been a longtime coming and I've been seeing
it in my calendar and I've beenreally excited about it, so I'm
just grateful to be here.
Thank you for asking me.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Oh, you are so welcome.
I wanted to first of all justsay your production quality of
your mocktails on Instagram isjust insane.
It's off the charts.
The colours, the textures, theutensils.
You can almost smell and tastethese mocktails.
It's just a delight for thesenses, incredible.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Thank you so much.
I do put a lot of work intomaking it a really fun space
online, because I know when Istopped drinking and we can
probably go into that but thereweren't a lot of fun spaces
online for non-drinkers and Ireally picked up on that quite
early.
It was, you know, a good fiveyears ago now that I, when I
stopped, and I just thought tomyself you know what?
(01:36):
We need a space, we need to berepresented online somewhere and
, it's just to be honest,somewhere.
And it's just to be honest,it's evolved even better than I
ever could have imagined.
So I did learn.
I guess what I have learned isthat we taste with our eyes
first.
So it was important to me thatthese drinks not just tasted
(01:57):
great, but also that they lookedgreat, and you know that we
still got to experience theritual of pouring ourselves a
pretty drink and a deliciousdrink, even though we weren't
drinking alcohol, and that'sreally where the whole idea came
from.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Oh, it's absolutely brilliant and it kind of um, uh,
it's I relate, relate or likenit to like dopamine dressing.
It's the dopamine of the colourand the movement of these
beautiful creations and becauseit's not just a mocktail or a
drink, there's more layers tothat.
(02:33):
Isn't there For men and womenthat want to be included in the
ritual, have something that'sfun and sophisticated, it's
elevated beyond lemonade and anumbrella.
It's inclusivity and choice,isn't it?
It's got a bit of a deeperlayer there.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh, it really does.
I mean, when you know, if yougo back to my very sort of first
followers, you know who arestill around to this day and
like there's just a handful of Icall them like my cheerleaders,
like they're my people andthey've been around my first,
like 500 followers, and so manypeople just say it's just never
(03:16):
been just about the drinks.
You know, it's just not.
The drinks are great, but it'scertainly not where it even
stemmed from.
And I noticed, when I firststarted the Mindful Mocktail,
every time I shared it wasreally more about my personal
story.
Then, you know, if you scrollright back, every time I shared
a drink I shared a story aboutmy struggles with alcohol or the
(03:38):
challenge I was having that dayin terms of not drinking or a
situation where I'd been, youknow, triggered to drink and how
I coped with it.
And that was really how theseoriginal connections were made
through these personal storiesrather than the drinks.
So, yeah, I think that shouldbe my tagline it's not just
(03:59):
about, it's never just beenabout.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oh, why don't we go there?
Because I think it is part ofjust the beauty of your book.
Your profile on Insta is thatyou are a woman who is creating
these beautiful mocktails, butyou've also made the decision
and the choice to be alcoholfree.
(04:23):
I'd love to hear a bit moreabout your story and what led
you to make that choice.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, sure, well, we'll go from like the nice,
bright, colourful, fun things tolike the truth of it all.
No, I shouldn't say that, butyou know it started from a
darker place.
It really did Like anything.
I think that ends up beautiful.
Really in life it generallystarts from a darker place.
It really did Like anything.
I think that ends up beautiful.
Really in life it generallystarts from a darker place and I
(04:54):
, oh gosh, I don't even knowwhere to start, but really just
I, um, I grew up as an Aussiekid in the eighties, so it goes
without saying I had alcoholaround me all the time, like my
parents, and we've had.
My parents and I we've had lotsof conversations about my
drinking and their drinking andhow their drinking might have
influenced my drinking.
And you know, all of theseconversations are very open and
(05:15):
honest and there's no animositythere or anything.
You know, this is just, Isuppose, the way me and so many
of my friends were raised, thatwe saw our parents drink to
celebrate and commiserate andthere was just always a reason
in our household to to pop thebottle.
So of course I guess it goeswithout saying that when alcohol
is sort of part of youreveryday life as a child.
(05:37):
When you see it, then, when yougrow up, you tend to take on
the same or similar drinkinghabits.
Because my house was very muchfull of love, like it wasn't an
angry, drunk household we'retalking about.
You know two people who wereable to.
You know we, our house wasfilled with love and and joy and
(05:57):
all of the things, but alcoholjust happened to always be
present.
So when I grew up and moved out, I essentially just took on a
really similar you know, reallysimilar drinking habits and, if
I'm really honest, those days mydrinking never bothered me.
All of my friends drank.
(06:20):
I built, of course, as drinkers.
Do you tend to build a lifewith other drinkers?
You know the boyfriend that Iwas seeing aters.
Do you tend to build a lifewith other drinkers?
You know the boyfriend that Iwas seeing at the time.
He used to drink a lot and itwas just never really an issue.
We would do the whole thingthat most people were doing in
their early twenties.
You know we'd go out Thursdaynight, friday night, Saturday
night, sunday night.
Drinking would always beinvolved.
(06:41):
The thought of not going outand not drinking was almost
laughable.
Um, and then I separated fromthat relationship and I met
someone else who is my nowhusband and it was quite
fascinating because he isItalian.
And here I am thinking I've metthis Italian guy.
We're going to be having pizzaand pasta and red wine and red
(07:01):
wine things and that, oh mygoodness, I was so excited.
And then I, to my utter despairand dismay, I realized that he
actually came from a family ofpeople who really didn't drink
at all.
So his dad would enjoy a littleport or something before bed,
like a little nightcap orsomething.
(07:21):
But this whole caring wine withfood and things that I had
grown up with, you know, damien,he had no experience with.
So we went through this.
It never caused any frictionbetween us, but we certainly had
a few conversations where, youknow, I thought he was the odd
one and he thought I was the oddone and you know, and you know,
(07:46):
we'd go to parties and he woulddrive and I would drink, and
that was just like the patternthat our relationship followed
and again, really never seemedto cause any issues.
You know, I would have yourstandard messy drunk nights, but
I certainly wasn't one of those, you know, traditionally like
messy drunk people where I wouldend up in hospital or anything
(08:07):
or committing a crime oranything like that.
Yeah, it was always a jokebetween my friends and I that I
could hold my alcohol reallywell, like I could have a glass
of wine and you just I would besitting here talking to you like
I am now, which is sometimesmore dangerous.
Might I just add yes, yes, Ithink it's worse, because no one
knows exactly how much you'vehad to drink, and it really
(08:29):
helped me hide it later.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That's, you know, remaining very poker-faced.
But after a few years, damienand I decided to get married and
have kids, and that was wheneverything changed.
Of course, your entire lifechanges when you have kids, but
it wasn't just that.
It was, I suppose, I didn't dothe newborn stage very well and
(08:58):
I was missing my old.
I loved my baby so much, but Iwas missing my old life.
Yes, and you know feeling sad,you know, about the life I used
to live, and resentful is notthe right word, but I just
remember thinking I can still bethe person I used to be, and of
(09:21):
course, part of my identity wasthe wine, was the alcohol, and
I was looking for something totake the edge off.
And so I went from, you know,going out, like before I had
Nathan.
You know, I was going out in asocial environment, drinking
with my friends and having fun,and then I found myself, like
(09:43):
drinking at those same levels,standing at home while Nathan
napped at the kitchen bench andI was folding the washing and
downing a bottle of red wine.
And you know, I feel like thedrinking, the social drinking,
to this day, was never my issue.
As I said, I didn't get introuble, not a messy drunk,
(10:05):
didn't embarrass myself any ofthe things, but I developed this
pattern of drinking alone andbecause Damien didn't drink
either, I was like truly alone.
It wasn't like he would comehome and we'd share a bottle of
wine, it was just me drinking toexcess, daily almost, and then
(10:26):
hiding it and then gettingthrough this, going through this
pattern of, you know, takingthe recycling bin out so no one
could feel how heavy it was, andI had this drinking cupboard at
home where I would have all mybottles of wine lined up and I'd
have all my glassware andinstead of like pouring a glass
of wine and drinking it at thetable like a normal person
(10:47):
cooking dinner, I would, I wouldhide it, I would have it in
this cupboard and just, yeah,just when I look back, you know,
I guess one moment where Ireally thought oh my god, man,
you're gonna have to get somehelp here.
Um, I knew Damien had gone outof the room and he wasn't going
to be gone for long, and so Iyanked the pork out of the
(11:08):
bottle and I just stood thereand gulped the wine directly
from the bottle.
And it's so weird to me now,even when I think about it
because we never thought aboutmy drinking.
He was always like it doesn'tseem to affect much except your
own wellbeing.
So if that's what you want todo, then go for it.
So it's not like he ever wouldhave even commented about how
(11:30):
much I was drinking, but I thinkbecause I knew I was doing the
wrong thing, doing the wrongthing.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yes, yes, Natalie, I actually just had a moment
because I had well, no, I talkabout it a lot, but it was
certainly a behaviour that I hadprobably, I'm sure, a million
billion times or escalated.
I'd gone down the track a fairbit, but that's not to diminish
(11:57):
the fact that any form of hidingthe alcohol, it strikes you to
the core, doesn't it?
It's a real moment where youthink, whoa, where did this turn
a corner?
Did your partner ever kind ofhave a conversation with you
around?
Hey, Nat, what's going on here?
Or was this all driven from you?
To make a bit of a change, orwas this all driven from you?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
to make a bit of a change?
It was really driven from me.
I mean, as I said, he knew hehad only ever known me as a
heavy drinker.
Do you know what I mean?
So it was almost like it didn't.
It wasn't odd, it sounds reallybad.
I mean, even when I tell thisstory now and think back, I'm
like I can't believe we had bothfallen into this pattern of
just my drinking was normal.
(12:41):
But I think you know, for a lotof people you know it is their
normal.
But I did have a bit of aturning point where, which I'm
happy to share if you'd like tohear about it.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Please, I'd love to, because all of these
conversations there's often one,two, three, if not a hundred
women that just go.
Oh yeah, me too it's.
Yeah, it's all part of the ohthe good stuff about sharing.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So please, if you're keen to, I'd love to hear.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sure I do get some raisedeyebrows when I tell this story
sometimes, so bear with me, butI have people talk about like
their classic rock bottom momentyeah, usually something
glorious like being arrested or,you know, injuring themselves
or something like that.
I don't have anything like that, but what I do have is and this
(13:37):
was like the last thing thathappened in a culmination of
very small things that justadded up.
A couple of little examples wasI remember once I was standing
at the kitchen bench drinking ona Friday afternoon and my
husband was due home from workany moment, so the door was open
(14:00):
and my little toddler's liketoddling around and he would
have only been I don't knowthree.
And we live on like this raisedsort of belt like area oh,
there's this big hill that sortof you know where our driveway
goes down.
So we have this balcony and Iremember coming out there one
day and seeing Nathan standingup on the pot plant near the
(14:22):
balcony like pier.
And just when I say theselittle things, that certainly
wasn't a little thing, but theseare the kinds of things that
had happened in the lead up,like to this moment that I'm
about to describe, my grandmahad passed away and I was doing
the eulogy and I it was aSaturday afternoon and at that
(14:45):
point I was like, pretty much,as I said, everything was an
excuse to you know, have somewine.
And I'd said to my husband mytwo.
So I'm home with my husband, mytwo boys, and I said to him I'm
going to go up to the study andI'm going to finish this eulogy
because I need to get it backto the funeral director tomorrow
and I'm going to take a winewith me.
So I'd taken this bottle of wineand I'd gone up into the study
(15:07):
and I'd been in there for awhile, probably had two or three
glasses of wine, typing away,and Damien calls me down from
the kitchen and says can youjust come here for a minute?
He had this really strange toneto his voice and I walk into
the kitchen and he had been mealprepping for the week so he had
all of these nuts on thecounter, right.
So he's got these pistachiosand these walnuts and he's
(15:28):
separating them all out intolittle containers for the week.
And I walk into the kitchen andI see my son who was then.
He would have been five, Ithink four or five then and he
is sitting on the bench with hisdad having an anaphylactic
reaction to the nuts.
(15:51):
So we didn't know that he had anut allergy.
We certainly knew after that,but we didn't know at the time
so we didn't even think that itwas an issue for him to be
around nuts.
But I just remember walkinginto the room seeing him there,
not really realizing what washappening, but knew that he was
in medical danger and that hewas having some sort of reaction
(16:11):
to something.
And just for this fleetingmoment, my reaction was that I
was really shitty because I knewI wouldn't be able to keep
drinking for the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I knew I would go back to my wine and I was like
this is just interruptingeverything and I just had this
moment where I was annoyed athim, oh my gosh, and it was
fleeting.
It was a split second before we, you know, sprung into action,
called the ambulance, did all ofthe things.
But later on I really had amoment and I was obviously ready
(16:48):
to hear this because I thinkall of these signs had been
there for a long time, like lotsof things.
I remember 15 years prior tothis googling am I an alcoholic?
Wow, I've known for a very longtime that I don't think that
this is right.
(17:08):
What, how?
My relationship with alcoholand how it's going.
And it was like that momentwhere in my head I'm putting the
booze before my son.
That was the moment.
And you know I tell that storyto parents, especially mums, and
they're like that's normal.
You know that's normal.
Like, of course, you'refrustrated because you know you
(17:29):
have to stop drinking and youhave to stop having fun, because
your kids hurt and these arebless their little hearts, but
they're usually my drinkingfriends and I'm like no, it's
not.
Or, if it is normal, I don'twant that to be my normal.
So I made a decision that daythat that wasn't going to be my
normal anymore, and I can have adrink again from that day, nat.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
it's a really good, powerful story.
I really love the story becauseit's powerful story.
I really love the story becauseit doesn't have that big, loud
crashing, flashing red lightsign, but it is incredibly
moving.
It's almost the silence of it.
That kind of gave me goosebumps, and you were saying, because
(18:12):
it actually reminded me as wellthose moments where I knew I had
to pick up the kids at a latertime in the evening and I
thought, oh great, well, thatmeans you know I'm not going to
be able to have my second orthird or whatever glass of wine.
So, with that powerful thought,what gave you the courage to
(18:34):
stop?
How did you do?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
it Well, again I Googled.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And it turns out, I think you're.
You're this naked mind coach,aren't you?
Yes, that's right, that's right.
Yeah, so I it's yeah, probablygood that I'm here with you,
because I called Am I anAlcoholic and I found an Annie
Grace article and I did her30-day live alcohol experiment.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
So did I.
I did exactly that same thingwith my journal and my pen and
those emails that came.
Yeah Well, I did one with.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
So you know how she has an online one, and then she
has a lot about the live one.
I don't know if she runs itanymore?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I don't think so, but I know that my co-host, meg,
did the live version and lovedit with.
Emma Gilmore was one of thecoaches.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I know Emma bless her heart amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
so did that?
Tell me what happened?
Did that work for you?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Oh yeah, by day 12, I was done Like, and again I
think it was like the universe.
I was ready to hear the message.
I mean, I'd had whispersforever, like I just described
to you.
Like for 15 years I thought tomyself is this normal, is this
normal, is this normal, is thisnormal, is this normal?
And it just gets louder andlouder, and louder and louder as
the years go on.
And then when that thinghappened with Nathan, it was
(19:59):
like someone was grabbing me bymy collar, shaking me going is
this normal?
Like this isn't normal.
Um, so, yeah, I found it wasall meant to be.
I googled am I an alcoholic?
Or help with alcoholism, orwhatever it was.
I found Annie.
Her live alcohol experiment wasstarting, I think like 10 days
(20:20):
later or something.
I signed up for it straightaway and I, you know,
participated in theconversations and I got the
emails and I did all the things.
But, as I said, by day 12, Idon't think I've actually ever
finished it, because by day 12 Iwas like I've just heard enough
.
I went down this completerabbit hole of, um, what alcohol
(20:43):
was doing to me, mentally,physically, all of the things.
Um, I read I hadn't even readAnnie's book at that stage.
But I did a little bit later onand it just really cemented
everything that I had already,you know, really just cemented
everything I already knew, Ithink, and just knew from that
day like I'm just sounbelievably done with this.
(21:05):
You know this thing whereyou're just like can I swear?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
You can swear yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
That expression where people just say, like true
change comes when you just getsick to death of your own shit.
Yeah, so sick of my own shit.
Like just waking up every dayfeeling like rubbish, swearing.
I wouldn't drink, usually byabout midday.
I'm like maybe I could justhave one drink and then I would
drink, and then the same thingwould and I was just.
(21:34):
It was just awful.
When I think back, I can'tbelieve I didn't do it sooner.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's really a great reminder also how what's normal
shifts quite suddenly.
Because you know, back when myhusband and I were big drinkers,
our normal was he had hisbottle of white, I had my bottle
of red.
That's what we would do everynight, let alone then the
Fridays, the Saturdays and theSundays with other people.
(22:00):
That was normal and itcertainly wasn't what my parents
were doing.
But they sounded very similarto yours in that sense of that
celebratory style of drinking inthe household.
And now I couldn't conceive ofit.
Imagine how unwell and how sickyou'd feel.
But it's a good chat, becausethere are still many households
(22:22):
out there that having yourbottle of wine a night in some
people's reality is actuallyquite normal.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
It's actually quite, you know, it's just what you do
yeah, absolutely, and I thinkit's all about choices, isn't it
?
Um, I think you know, thelonger I go so it's been almost
five years now but the longer Imove forward with this, you know
, journey for want of a betterword, that word's probably
overused but I realised that,you know, I actually don't think
(22:51):
I had an alcohol addiction.
I think I had some sort ofmental addiction and habitual
sort of addiction.
You know, because I will sharewith you, there's been two touch
points over the last five yearswhere I've told myself I'm
going to try and I'm going tohave one drink today and I'm
going to see what happens.
Yeah, it's been when I've beenvery I don't I'm not saying that
(23:15):
this is not a good ideaeverybody, but for me I was like
you know how Annie talks aboutdata points.
Yep, myself I'm going to tryone with safe people and let
them know exactly what I'm doing.
So I'd say to my husband or youknow, I was with my best friend
another time I'm going to haveone drink, don't let me have any
more.
I'm having one and I'm going tosee what happens.
(23:37):
And honestly, I just am so farfrom wanting to drink now.
It is unbelievable.
And I tell you one drink.
My sleep was shit but I did it,and I also wear like an Apple
(23:57):
Watch and they're amazing, likethe technology.
Those things are pretty amazing.
Now, both mornings, I've gotprint screens on my phone to
remind me how bad it is for me.
So we have heart conditionsthat run in our family.
Both mornings I woke up and gotan alert straight away that my
heart rate was 29% higher thenight before and like an alert
(24:20):
like has something you know?
Checked with your doctor?
Has something gone wrong?
It was just one drink, wow, onedrink, and so I feel like data
points can be beneficial ifyou're in a place where you can.
But yeah, it's certainly notsomething I would recommend,
unless you're years into thisjourney.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Agreed, agreed.
I had this chat with thechallenge members.
At the moment where we're sortof getting to within the last
week, we're talking about well,what are you doing in the next
phase?
Is it continue another bout ofalcohol-free or is it mindful
drinking and a dip your toe intothat?
We just talk about what theguardrails are around it and
we're just thinking look, ifyou've had an alcohol use
(25:02):
disorder mild, moderate, severeyou've got to try and get at
least a year under your belt.
I would have thought, just toget all your sober firsts and
your system recalibrated.
And even then the stats mayshow that people that jump back
in without the guardrails canoften be right back where they
were very quickly.
But there was one challengemember who and I won't mention
(25:28):
her name but I'm sure she won'tmind me saying she did have a
glass of Prosecco in front ofher for a celebration and took a
few sips and then couldn'tfinish the rest and it was
actually a lovely experiment toremind herself her choice.
It's not deprivation, she'sdeliberately saying no and it's
quite a nice thing for her to doagain with those warning signs
(25:52):
around.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, um, what?
And let me be your data pointbecause I can tell you right now
both situations, as I said,very safe conditions with people
who knew exactly what I wasdoing and why.
Um, honestly, it tasted awful.
Yeah, it was awful.
My, my whole palate hascompletely changed.
(26:14):
Tasted awful, did not enjoy itone little bit, slept, terribly
elevated heart rate.
I mean, if this is what onedrink is doing, what were we
doing?
What was actually going to mybody before?
It's just crazy to me what itwas actually doing to our bodies
(26:34):
.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Agreed, agreed.
God, the amounts, the amounts Iwas drinking.
I'm turning 50 next year and Iam thrilled just not to be doing
all of those behaviors when itcomes to alcohol that I was
doing.
Oh my god, hey, uh, now, beforeI just jump a little bit more
into your mock tales, I justwant to ask you this question
was it easier, do you think,because your partner was just
(27:00):
such a natural, easy non-drinkeror minimal drinker?
Did that make it easier for you?
Or was it still just very muchyour own journey?
Anyway?
Speaker 2 (27:09):
You know what I think I mean in all honesty.
I'm sure it makes it easierhaving a partner that doesn't
drink.
Yeah, I'm sure it would, if youknow, if we're being honest.
But regardless, it's still verymuch an individual thing, and
he was sitting there most nightsnot realizing the internal
(27:30):
battle that I was facing interms of, you know, would be
really nice to have a winetonight.
It would be.
You know, I don't want to say inany way, shape or form, it was
easy, but what I will say isonce I was armed with the
knowledge from the live alcoholexperiment and I had read
Annie's book and I had seen theYouTube videos and I had all the
(27:54):
tools in my tool belt in termsof podcasts and, you know,
connections online and all ofthe things I did not want to
drink it.
Yeah, yeah, it was really and Idid.
I had, by that stage, likethrown myself into the mindful
mocktail as well, so it wasalmost like I needed something
(28:17):
to divert my attention.
It was, I had all of it and I'mlike, hey, there's this hole in
my life, like it was a hole.
I was, you know, we were in arelationship, alcohol and I so
there was this hole that neededto be filled?
What?
How am I going to divert thisenergy into something else?
Speaker 1 (28:37):
yeah, well, you have diverted your energy, all of
your um, gosh, gosh.
It's entrepreneurship, it'screativity, god, it's such a
passion project and I have toshare with you that as part of
the challenge, we've sharedlinks, some links from your
(28:58):
Mindful Mocktail site during thecourse, just to sort of dip our
toe into what are some gloriousmocktails that we can do in
that 5 to 8 pm risk window.
That look amazing, they'rehealthy, they're colourful, it
doesn't matter if the kids seeyou make them.
It's actually quite a God.
(29:18):
What's the word?
I'm looking for where everybodyjoins in an inclusive process.
Looking for where everybodyjoins in an inclusive process.
And we made your watermelonfresca, your elderflower mojito,
peppermint tea mocktail and afew of us made your one-minute
Christmas mimosa.
And we've just got all thesephotos which I should actually
(29:40):
well, we should be sharing onyour site.
But they're glorious, they justadd a bit of fun into the
evening.
I love them.
Oh, that's good.
Can I ask you what is yourgo-to Christmas mocktail?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Do you know what the mimosas that you, so I, just
find at Christmas?
I don't know about you, but Ientertained for 35 people last
Sunday here, and what I can tellyou about Christmas is you want
something quick and easy, so Ido this every time.
So I will make the Christmasmimosas.
And if you're not comfortablewith alcohol-free wine because I
know some people aren't um, youknow, you even can use
(30:18):
something as basic as a flavoredsparkling water.
You can use a low sugar gingerbeer or ginger ale.
You, you can even use akombucha, like just something.
Sometimes it's not even aboutwhat's in the glass, it's about
the fact that you've got one.
You've got something likeeverybody else, so I would say
some sort of Christmas mimosa.
There's also on my website areally fun virgin cosmopolitan,
(30:44):
which is that glorious redcolour as well, so I really love
those, and this one's probablymore for your US clientele.
But, having said that, we stillmake it at Christmas time.
Here there's a mulled wine.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
I was going to mention that one Amazing.
Everyone loves the mulled wine.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
The mulled wine is really cool too, because you can
actually make it in a like acrock pot, like a slow cooker
pot or just a crock pot on thestove, and then you can just
leave it there.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
The smell, the smell is beautiful, yes.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
And it's a nice batch one.
Sometimes it's hard to bemaking individual drinks for
people, but anything that's in anice batch like that makes life
easier.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
And a great gift.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Oh my gosh, I think it's such a good gift.
You can mull it so you can gothrough the entire process of
the mulling, so follow the wholerecipe, cool it down and then
just put it in a bottle.
It's so pretty, like even justthose little bottles you get
(31:50):
from the $2 shops, like with thelittle cork things in them, and
then you can, you know, wrapsome dehydrated citrus or some
rosemary with a little bit oftwine.
It's just such a sweet,thoughtful present that doesn't
cost a lot of money and then itcan be reheated just in the
microwave or on their stovetop.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So yeah, I was just remembering about three
Christmases back.
It must have been threeChristmases back.
I tried one of yours.
I desperately wanted to have myown mocktail, whilst all the
rest of my family who haveactually cut back significantly
with me, and I made thestrawberry daiquiri, but we
(32:28):
didn't have a blender and thebar mix.
Oh no, I tried it with the barmix.
We didn't have a blender on myNutribullet and it was just
intense.
I'm not a natural cook, I'm notvery food creative and, uh, it
just took so long.
Warning, do not do it with abar mix.
(32:48):
And everyone was eating it witha spoon.
That kind of ended up like asorbet.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
I can imagine, little stick blenders would be strong
enough to blend the strawberries, would they?
Speaker 1 (33:00):
no, no, no, and I wonder I'm gonna have to tell.
I thought should I take a photoand show Natalie one day, one
day if I might get to interviewher?
And here we are.
But I like your idea of thevirgin cosmopolitan and the
mimosa really, really works.
And look, I didn't want to.
I also had that point and youmentioned it really before which
(33:22):
was, yes, the beauty of yourmocktails are also that there
are 101 options there if youwant to have a creation that
does not mimic alcohol, BecauseI forgot that this is actually
quite a massive.
Well, it is a very uniqueindividual decision and it's a
massive.
People just just want thechoice.
(33:45):
They want the choice.
They're going alcohol free.
Is it going to trigger or nottrigger?
So it's a big issue.
So that's that's the othermassive bonus from your
beautiful mocktails, Natalie.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
I love them yes, I have had a few stories from
people and I usually put alittle disclaimer in any post of
mine that has a non alcoholicwine or non-alcoholic spirit,
because they can be verytriggering for some people.
And I think it was a good, Iwould say, eight or nine months
after I stopped drinking alcohol, that I dipped my toe in with
um.
The first one was a GeissenSauvignon Blanc, which is still
(34:19):
one of my favorites to this day,but, um, it took a while and I
probably wouldn't even recommendit like super early on if
you're uncomfortable in any way,because it can be a bit of a
gateway back into the real thing.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Now, Natalie, this book would be a glorious present
for anybody.
It's great to have a website,but it's so much better to have
that tactile, colourful bookwhere you can plonk it on and
e-bookmark the pages.
Give us the lowdown on whenAustralians can order it and the
(34:57):
pre-order process and how theywould go about getting their
hands on your book.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Oh, absolutely.
Well, it's available forpre-order now.
So we'll include the linkprobably in the show notes, I'd
imagine and when you click onthe link it'll take you through
to the sales page.
So you're just looking for thesection marked Australia,
because it's available worldwide, which is really exciting.
So it's available for pre-ordernow.
It will be available on theshelves by the end of February,
(35:24):
which means all of thepre-orders will also be sent out
at the end of February.
We're really trying to get itout on the shelves now, like
before Christmas.
But we had a huge shippingdelay.
It was devastating.
I had a big cry and then I hadto get over it.
So if you're in you, if you'rein the US or Canada, good news.
(35:45):
It's available now, but for ourAussie listeners it will be the
end of February.
And the book really came aboutbecause the number one well, I
guess the top requests I havehad since I started the Mindful
Mocktail is that no one wants togo from a alcohol addiction to
(36:06):
a sugar addiction.
So can we please keep themlower in sugar?
Can we please make them alittle bit more functional?
You know nourishing, can wehave some health benefits thrown
in and can we possibly avoid,where possible, uses of, like
multiple bottles ofnon-alcoholic spirits where it
can cost you, you know, 90 justto make a drink or two right.
(36:30):
So I heard all of thoserequests loud and clear.
They've been the top three forthe last five years that I've
had and I basically took all ofthat advice and I put it into
this book.
So every recipe was designed inconsultation with a nutritionist
to make sure that they're thevery, very best that they can be
.
They're both nourishing they'relowering refined sugar compared
(36:54):
to what you find in those, youknow, traditional mocktails and
they're made with easilyaccessible ingredients.
So ingredients that you can,you know, at very best, find
already in your fruit bowl orfridge or, at worst is a quick
click of a button online.
But general, just everydayingredients that can be found in
your, in your fridge or fruitbowl.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Fabulous and I can also say it helps to have
beautiful glassware and yourgarnishes, the whole lot.
It's just beautiful.
Nellie, just remind ourlisteners where they can follow
you find you.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Well, sure.
So I have a website which ismindfulmoctowlcom.
All of my recipes are thereavailable for free.
There's hundreds there, and themain.
I'm on across all the socialplatforms, but the main social
platform would be Instagram, andyou'll find me at the mindful
mocktail there.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yes, you have to go.
Follow the mindful mocktail onInstagram and you won't be able
to get off the page.
It's just, it's mesmerizing,it's beautiful.
My love of color just draws mein.
I think glorious.
It has been a delight to talkto you.
Natalie draws me in, I thinkglorious.
It has been a delight to talkto you, Natalie.
Wish you all the best with yourbook and can't wait to see more
of your creations online.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
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