The No Bullshit Guide to Getting Sober

By Maree MacLean

If your life appears to be right royally fucked from your drinking, it probably is.

But the good news is Maree MacLean's book is a call to action not a death sentence. The No Bullshit Guide to Getting Sober challenges us to get more honest than we've ever been before about how and why we are fucking up our own lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lasavia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781991189868

Maree MacLean

Maree MacLean began her career as a business writer at Television New Zealand during the dot.com boom. Her work-hard, play-even-harder lifestyle led to burnout, so she flew the coup, landing in Hong Kong during its first outbreak of SARS. Maree hightailed it across the border into Canton and fell in love with life in China where she remained for five and a half years. More than twenty countries visited, and one Danish husband later, Maree returned to New Zealand, speaking Mandarin and Danish, which didn't get her very far at all! Determined to address her drinking problem, Maree moved to Waiheke Island and finally knocked the booze on the head. You'll find Maree is happiest in or on the water, crewing on sailboats, especially if they are racing. When she is not working for her local medical centres, Maree writes a hilarious monthly newsletter called unf*ck yourself. Maree lives with her best friend Jimbo and his two black cats, Grace and Hope.

Book preview

Maree MacLean

The

No

Bullshit

Guide

to Getting

SOBER

This book is dedicated, in loving memory,

to my younger brother, Stu MacLean, who died from an esophageal bleed at age thirty-seven, related to his alcoholism.

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

Foreword

One of the best things to happen in the past decade is the explosion of quit-lit - sobriety and recovery related content. Books, podcasts, social media accounts, online communities – there are so many! It is a wonderful sign that the world is waking up to the dangers of alcohol, and that more and more people are looking to shift their drinking habits. It’s also a wonderful sign that a wider variety of content creators are adding their voices into the mix. That is what is needed– a mix of voices, stories and ideas that appeal to a wide variety of folk. Because every person’s recovery journey is unique, and every person needs a unique blend of tools and content to help them on their way.

Maree’s book is a delightful and brilliant addition to the mix. Direct, punchy, no-nonsense, and funny as hell, The No Bullshit Guide to Getting Sober is brimming with wisdom and advice. With her quirky style of communicating and refreshingly direct tone, Maree will get under your skin to help shift habits. She has a huge amount of knowledge, experience, and an ability to mix sage recovery wisdom with solid evidence-based suggestions. Whether you’re in a position to give up the booze immediately, or need to get a handle on your mental health first, Maree has thought it through for you.

Maree drops truth bombs left right and centre, speaking to you like she’s eyeballing you across a big old kitchen table with the teapot out and a plate full of gingernuts. Like your favourite Aunty telling you like it is but ultimately leaving the decisions up to you. No pussy footing around, no dilly-dallying with the facts. Just pure, unadulturated truth.

So if you’re wondering if you should quit booze, but not sure how to start – this is the book for you. The No Bullshit Guide to Getting Sober does exactly what it says on the tin, and may just be your ticket to a happy, healthy, long-term sobriety.

Lotta Dann

Content Shortcuts

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Answer honestly, or it’s all just a big fat waste of time, and I may as well wheel my gurney to the bottom of the cliff now.

My bullshit excuses for still drinking when I know it’s destroying my life.

BUT I come from a long wobbly line of alcoholics.

What if I just had a crap childhood? What can you do about that,

that alcohol can’t?

Everyone I am blaming for my drinking

except myself.

All the ways I’ve come close to dying, killing, or have hurt myself or someone else due to my drinking:

Don’t skip ahead. Go find someone to read it to that doesn’t drink.

What does that all mean?

What? I can create my own God?

Whatever blows my mind and brings me

joy and peace?

Next, surrender your problem.

What am I prepared to give up

to get sober?

Things I’m not sure I can give up,

to get sober.

My pisco sours, what do you mean I can never have another one?

But what about a beer when I’m barbequing? I can’t barbeque

without a beer in my hand.

I’ll get so much shit at after work drinks; I’ll never live it down.

I won’t be able to raise a toast at my daughter’s wedding.

How will I survive Xmas lunch with my in-laws without a drink? I can’t sit there with my arm hooked up to intravenous valium drip – it’s way too obvious.

What if I get a cancer diagnosis?

What if my kid gets a cancer diagnosis?

What if I need to change my entire

circle of friends?

You can’t get sober if you are allergic

to growing up!

Nope, I can control my drinking. You cant’t take away, my favourite toy,

fuck off.

Is it a weapon that’s going to fatten and superpower up your arsenal?

So, what exactly is cross addiction?

Deal with my feelings?

If you can control your breath,

you can control your mind.

What if I’m suffering from a mental illness, and I don’t know what came first, the illness or the addiction, can I still do this?

Now, how not to go mental waiting for help, and other important tips.

Be patient as they investigate:

Research

Research

Research

So, you are nearly ready!

Let’s talk about sex, baby…

The almighty power of the gut

Here are my couldn’t-do-without

supplements in early recovery.

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Rowan Sylva, Daniela Gast and the team at Lasavia publishing. For a little award-winning publisher you certainly punch above your weight. Thanks to Lotta Dann for writing this foreword and for her three brilliant books, Mrs D is going without, Mrs D is going within and The wine o’clock myth. Thanks to Judy Davis, for teaching me that taking away people’s power to help themselves does nothing for them. Thanks to Dawn and the late Don MacLean, my incredible parents and intrepid world travellers – what borders? I could never thank either of you enough. Thanks to Jackson, Stirling, Arabella and Kaitahu– the next generation – I hope you never need this book. Thanks to Catherine Lintott – that legal brain – there’s always time in your world to help those helping others. Thanks to Grace Bowman Jones, you are a spiritual powerhouse. I’m not sure where you came from and I’m not sure where you are going, but thank God I get to witness a bit of you in motion. Thanks to Aunty Adee –for your eagle eye in the eagle’s nest – thank you. Thanks to Jodie Hammond – the futures so bright we got to wear shades. Thank you to Jimbo – my 70-year-old best friend – for your