About Live Better Sober and Susan Gast

About Live Better Sober: I created this site to help women break the nightly drinking habit at home with a self-paced, shame-free 66-day structure built around The Somatic Marker Method.

I know what it’s like to feel trapped in a nightly drinking routine and wonder how something that once seemed manageable became so hard to stop.

Live Better Sober was created for women who want a practical, private, at-home way to change that pattern without scolding, labels, or pressure.

About Live Better Sober and My Story

For 20 long years, from age 17 to age 37, my drinking started out socially.

At first to fit it. To fend off shyness.

What grew out of that was a dependency. In the final five years of my "drinking life," I was drinking daily — in the evenings. What began as a "reward" for a day's work done well placed me inside a drinking habit loop.

What Changed

Over the years, my drinking pattern changed. Imbibing 2 or 3 times a week turned into a nightly routine: I'd get home from work, change clothes, and pour the drink.

It seemed that every other month I'd try to quit but I always fell prey to the whiskey and Coke. I was tired of being on a Merry-go-Round.

On January 17, 1998 — everything changed. I knew I had to quit the booze.

I didn’t need more shame. I didn’t need pressure. I needed a way to interrupt the pattern before the first drink happened.

What helped me get (and stay) sober was learning how to use somatic marker moments to weaken the urge to drink.

When the urge to pour a glass popped into my head, I purposely brought to mind some of my most unpleasant events associated with drinking too much — such as being extremely sick with stomach cramps so bad I thought I'd eaten the bottles — to remind me what it felt like.

I did this to disarm the drinking habit before the urge won out. And these instances are known as somatic markers.

How The Somatic Marker Method Can Help You

I came to understand that in order to quit drinking, willpower alone was not enough and that somatic markers came to my rescue.

To that end, I created a course based on what I call The Somatic Marker Method.

It's about recognizing the moment when you:

• anticipate the reward
• negotiate with yourself
• feeling the internal shift toward drinking
• realizing, “I’m probably going to drink tonight”

That is the time to bring one of your somatic marker memories to the forefront.

The goal is not to shame yourself for having the thought.

The goal is to catch it earlier, understand what is happening, and create enough awareness to interrupt the automatic drinking habit-loop.

Why This Approach Is Different

I didn't want this website — or my course — to be viewed as a preachy program. And I didn't want you to make a public announcement like at an AA meeting. 

Instead, it is a self-paced, private at-home approach for women who want to break the evening drinking loop and build a better life alcohol-free.

This is not about becoming a completely different person overnight.

It is about recognizing the pattern, interrupting it earlier, and building confidence one decision at a time.

The 66-Day Structure

My course, Live Better Sober: Quit Drinking — Break the Alcohol Habit, follows a structured 66-day approach designed to help women interrupt the nightly drinking habit and build a calmer life alcohol-free.

The goal is not perfection.

The goal is to become more aware of the pattern, interrupt it earlier, and build confidence one decision at a time.

Each stage is designed to help you better understand the nightly drinking habit, recognize the emotional patterns behind it, and create steadier, more lasting change without alcohol.

A Personal Note

I never expected to spend my life talking about alcohol.

When I quit drinking in 1998, I wasn't thinking about creating a website, writing books, recording videos, or building a course.

I simply wanted my life back.

What started as a personal decision eventually became a desire to help other women who felt stuck in the same nightly cycle I once knew so well.

If my story helps you take even one step toward a better life, then sharing it has been worth it.

Ready for More Support?

Explore Live Better Sober: Quit Drinking — Break the Alcohol Habit, a practical, shame-free 66-day course designed to help you recognize and interrupt the pattern behind your evening drinking.

➡️ Learn more about the course here: Break the Nightly Drinking Habit