224. How Ditching Alcohol Helped Sumner Brooks Live Life Fully and Parent With Presence

“I really felt like alcohol was the one thing that was keeping me from being the person that I wanted to be."

If you’ve ever wondered how alcohol might be impacting your ability to show up fully in your life, or if you’re just curious about making any change that feels a little scary, this episode is for you. I sat down with Sumner Brooks, a registered dietitian, mom, and author of How to Raise an Intuitive Eater, who bravely shares her story of quitting alcohol and how it changed everything from her mental health to her parenting and beyond.

While we usually focus on food and body image on Diet Culture Rebel, today we zoom out to explore what it means to get curious about anything that might be getting in the way of living your fullest, most connected life. Sumner opens up about what finally made sobriety "stick” for her after years of trying, how vulnerability paved the way for real change, and the actual joy and presence she discovered in sobriety.

We also talk about how ingrained alcohol is in our daily lives and our culture, what it looks like to navigate those familiar “Why aren’t you drinking?” comments, and where food and alcohol are similar (and importantly, different) when it comes to compulsion, habituation, and addiction. Sumner’s story is a powerful reminder that even if everything looks fine on the outside, you’re allowed to want more peace and presence on the inside.

No matter what you’re working on - food, alcohol, or something entirely different - I invite you to go into this episode with curiosity and self-compassion. Sometimes, you don’t even know when you need to hear something until you do.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Sumner realized alcohol was keeping her from showing up in the life she worked so hard to build
• The role of vulnerability and community storytelling in making big life changes
• Why “mommy wine culture” is so normalized, and how that intersects with diet culture’s mixed messages about food and alcohol
• How reading other women’s stories helped Sumner finally quit drinking for good
• How sobriety changed Sumner’s relationship with herself, her parenting, and her ability to be fully present
• The real differences between intuitive eating and “intuitive drinking”, and why abstinence from alcohol is not the same as cutting out foods

Thank you so much to Sumner for sharing her truth so openly and authentically. If this episode sparked anything for you about drinking, food, parenting, or just wanting more presence in your life, hold onto that curiosity and let it guide your next step, even if it’s small.

Check out Sumner's book, How to Raise an Intuitive Eater: Raising the Next Generation with Food and Body Confidence.

Come back next week for another episode and connect with me over on Instagram at @diet.culture.rebel.

Struggling with food, but not sure where to start?

You don’t have to feel 100% ready to get support. If you're tired of obsessing over food or feeling stuck in the diet cycle, my team of Registered Dietitians is here to help. We offer one-on-one nutrition counseling—and we accept insurance! Spots are limited, so head to https://dietculturerebel.com/insurance to see if we’re covered in your state and learn how to get started.