

Addiction Unlimited Podcast
Angela Pugh
Are you ready to ditch daily drinking, reclaim your confidence, and create a life of freedom? Each week, Angela combines no-nonsense advice, personal stories, and science-backed strategies to tackle the challenges of sobriety. Angela Pugh is a globally-ranked Life Coach and podcast host, a professional Interventionist, and entrepreneur with more than 18 years of personal sobriety, helping people rebuild their lives since 2008. From navigating relationships to managing triggers, you’ll discover practical tools, empowering insights, and real-world solutions to thrive in sobriety. It’s time to stop feeling stuck and start feeling unlimited. Listen now for the inspiration, tools, and support you need to live a sober, confident, and happy life.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 1, 2023 • 49min
Quitting Sugar Tips To Make You Feel Motivated
quitting sugar
If you’re looking for inspiration to get more energy, lose some extra pounds, get rid of your achy joints, improve your skin and digestion… you’ve come to the right place!
If you're anything like me, you want to live a healthier lifestyle and make good choices for yourself and your family. And being a bit of a perfectionist leaves you feeling overwhelmed and totally confused by all the conflicting information in the diet culture.
You want the health benefits of intermittent fasting, you love the idea of being sugar-free and eating clean, but you struggle to actually give up your favorite comfort foods and, let’s face it, who wants to give up sugar?!?
No matter how strong, smart, and educated you are… this stuff is HARD.
With all the eat this, don’t eat that, intermittent fast, drink a gallon of water a day, no carbs, no sugar, go vegan, eat paleo, exercise, high-protein, high-fat… it’s so hard to know where to start and what’s right for you.
And when you reach a breaking point, much like I did, you are humble enough to know you need some support and guidance to change your habits, make healthier choices, and feel better.
My guest today is Netta Gorman. And her passion is to inspire you to live a happy and healthy sugar-free life that you love!
On this episode, Netta is going to share with you how making these changes brought her a life of freedom:
freedom from cravings
energy crashes
from that love-hate relationship with sugar
from all the health issues she had
Buckle up, my friend! We’re getting down and dirty about clean eating!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Netta Gorman: https://www.instagram.com/mylifeaftersugar/
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
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4 snips
Feb 22, 2023 • 28min
Healthy Coping Skills to Deal With Uncomfortable Feelings
Learn how to develop healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable feelings and stress. Discover the importance of pausing and thinking before reacting. Explore different coping strategies for managing emotional responses. Find out how movement and positive solutions can help with uncomfortable feelings. Also, get tips on managing anxiety and improving decision-making.

Feb 15, 2023 • 52min
Making It Back When Relapse Is A Part of Your Recovery
relapse
When you make a BIG mistake, pull up your bootstraps, get scrappy, and use it as a learning experience.
Have you ever made a hasty mistake in your personal development journey that had the potential to be a disaster?
I definitely have. In fact, I think back to the night I realized I had no control over my drinking. I had to see my probation officer the next morning and decided I would have just one drink while I took my dog for a walk after work. Next thing I know, it’s 5 in the morning, I’m drunk, and my appointment was at 10. I was angry at myself, in shock that I really couldn’t stop drinking once I started, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
But here’s the thing that I couldn’t see at that time: Making those kind of mistakes, like the one I made years ago, are necessary -- no matter how much you think you know and how careful you think you’re being. You have to muster some strength, channel your inner bad*ss, and use the experience as an opportunity to learn.
That’s what my guest on this episode (and 6 week course alumni!), Debbie McKillop, did when she had that moment of clarity that she had to stop drinking once and for all.
Some people fall apart under the pressure of a sober future, but Debbie did the exact opposite.
Instead of beating herself up and falling to pieces, she immediately got into action and figured out how to use this frightening momentum to her advantage. And guess what? She went on to rebuild a sober life that is happier than ever before...
Yes, you heard me right.
In this episode, Debbie shares her story of how she used the experience of relapse, to better herself as a mom, wife, and daughter, plus exactly what she did to get the fun and supportive sobriety we all want. She also shares:
Her major a-ha moment when she realized she couldn’t moderate her drinking and needed to quit 100%.
The things about recovery she wished she would have known from the beginning.
What she plans to do next to take her sober life to the next level.
This is a great listen for anyone, no matter where you are in your sobriety – and I know you’ll find Debbie as inspiring as I do.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Sober Vacation: https://addictionunlimited.com/earlybird
Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”

Feb 8, 2023 • 39min
Refuse to Give In: 6 Ways to Curb Your Cravings
addiction cravings
When it comes to dealing with urges and cravings, check your thoughts, first.
What is your real struggle?
If you’re like most of my clients, especially in my 6 week program, you’re a very high-functioning, successful person. You have achieved things, you have a good job and family, and this makes it even more challenging trying to troubleshoot what the heck is going on with.
Sound familiar?
It’s like, "Wow, I’ve done all these great things and I’ve built this life, so whey the heck can’t I figure this one thing out? How do I not have control in this one area??"
It’s super frustrating, it’s totally normal, and we can work through all of it.
And I do this, too!
I will eat healthy and exercise and I want to see pounds fall off my body. The problem is, I’ll do it for like 3 days then get mad that I haven’t lost 10 pounds.
Then I start ruminating about how hard it is and how hard it’s going to be to keep it up long enough to get the results I want, and how much sacrifice it’s going to take... and BAM! All of a sudden I want a cheeseburger.
You see what I’m saying here?
Underneath the craving is my fear of how hard it’s going to be and my fear that I’m not strong enough to do it. That fear is what's driving the craving.
If you're ready to get answers, you're ready for REAL solutions that no one else is telling you about, then you're in the right place! This is an action-packed checklist for you to get to the bottom of what really fuels your cravings so that you can kick them to the curb and get more of what you want in your recovery and life.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”

Feb 1, 2023 • 36min
Marijuana Addiction Treatment Grows As More Potent Weed Creates More Addicts
Jake Yoder, a remarkable advocate for holistic health, shares his deeply personal journey with marijuana addiction that began in his teenage years. He explores the rising potency of THC and its implications for increased addiction rates. Yoder emphasizes the often-unseen challenges of marijuana dependency, outlining the unique signs that complicate recognition and recovery. He calls for open conversations about these challenges, along with community initiatives like boxing classes, to support holistic wellness and recovery.

Jan 25, 2023 • 31min
Moderation, Gray-Area Drinking, and the Stages of Alcoholism
what is moderate drinking
If the illusion of moderation is very persistent and you find yourself thinking, “Maybe I can, in fact, have just ONE drink”.
And things aren’t going as well as you’d hoped, or you find yourself feeling left out in groups, or the lie tells you that once you ‘work through it’ then you can manage just one drink.
If any of this sounds familiar then you, my friend, are in the perfect place right now. This is a must-listen-to podcast if you are any of those scenarios.
So, if you’ve ever had challenges with the moderation myth or your brain keeps telling you it will different now and you’re a little bit worried about how to get through it, today is like a checklist of different areas that you can troubleshoot to make sure if you’re stuck you can move through it; and if you haven’t fallen into the trap yet, then you can side step some of these big mistakes.
It’s important that you actually listen to this episode and not tune out because this isn’t happening for you right now. This is a weird little tick in sobriety that can happen any time. None of us are shielded from these thoughts and traps- no matter how long you’ve been sober.
It took me a few situations before I really understood that I couldn’t control my alcohol intake. And when I say that, it doesn’t mean I never had nights out that I controlled it, I did. I had a few of those nights when I just had a few and went home without any drama.
But those nights were very few and far between. Just like you can quit for 30 days for Dry January or Sober October, or, sometimes we quit for much longer- and that feeds the myth that there is some level of control.
Let’s go ahead and dive into the trouble with your moderation dreams.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Signs You Should Stop Trying to Moderate Your Drinking: https://addictionunlimited.com/signs-you-should-stop-trying-to-moderate-your-drinking/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”

Jan 18, 2023 • 41min
Addiction On Screen: Using Movies About Addiction to Get Sober
Movies About Addiction
Today’s episode is a little extra special.
The reason for that is that we’re approaching this topic from a totally different angle.
We’re not going to talk about programs. We’re not talking about pitfalls, recovery plans, and another day 1. Not that we’re not talking about any of it, but, we are going to talk about a totally different approach to quitting drinking that you’ve probably never thought of before.
Today, we are talking about movies about addiction. That might seem a little bit weird as a way to get sober, and, if you know anything about me you already know I’m a planner and like to have things laid out. So this completely unorthodox way of approaching recovery really intrigued me.
When my new friend, Ted Perkins, reached out to me about his book and wanted to talk about the connection between movies and addiction and how he used movies about addiction to get sober, I thought it was something I definitely wanted to explore.
Ted is a former Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Studio executive, university lecturer, public speaker, Hollywood producer, and a successful screenwriter for film and television
He watched 100 movies in 100 days to beat his alcohol addiction and documented his journey in his new book, Addicted in Film, and he’s here to tell you all about it! It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the best (and worst) movies ever made about addiction and recovery, and what they can teach us about living a happier, healthier, more balanced life.
I like that Ted turned to what he knows and loves, and used it as his support to make huge changes and understand sobriety on a new level. This is the epitome of figuring out a plan that is individualized to you!
I also really value what he shares. It’s different than how my brain works and that’s sometimes uncomfortable and always exciting at the same time. I don’t want to give it all away. I am going to let you listen in and see if this is something you might want to take action on. I know I definitely will be.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Dry January Kickstarter: A 30-Day Free Bootcamp: addictionunlimited.com/bootcamp
Addicted in Film Book: https://amzn.to/3HGG6GZ
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”

Jan 11, 2023 • 34min
5 Useful Methods To Make Dealing With Triggers Easier
dealing with triggers
I’m going to start this episode with a mind-blowing statistic. Are you ready? Okay, here we go. Everyone has triggers. Crazy, right? I know, I know, it’s not that mind-blowing when you think about it because we are all living life, dealing with the ups and downs and the changes we have to make as we go through it.
Change is inevitable. And when we are undergoing change, leaving old behaviors, habits, and people behind, there will be triggers.
It’s also a little comforting to know we’re in this together because if you’ve had to overcome triggers, like I have, then we’re not alone. Actually, we’re in great company.
Now, if I told you that you can get through all your triggers and I can show you how to do it, would you be interested? Yes? I hope you just said yes because that’s what we’re doing today. It’s important to continue talking about this topic of triggers because I know many of my clients experience it, to the point that they fear starting new and exciting endeavors or they will start and they definitely don’t follow through on these new and exciting endeavors because they begin to think, “I don’t want to deal with triggers and cravings 24 hours a day. Thursdays are a huge trigger for me and I don’t know how to get through it.” And so they don’t start, or stick with, the process.
Have you been guilty of this? I know I have, for sure. And I’ve overcome it, and I want to talk about how you can as well. The thing is, triggers are a real thing. And if you’re dealing with them and sometimes feel like they are winning the battle, I want you to know you are far from alone, there is nothing wrong with you, and you can definitely overcome it.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Episode #114, Relapse Triggers: https://addictionunlimited.com/relapse-triggers/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”

Jan 4, 2023 • 50min
The Truth About People-Pleasing You Can’t Ignore
people pleasing
People pleasing is a common struggle for most people, especially those of us with addiction issues. The key is to not let those habits stop you from doing the work that you know you need to do. So what do you do when the fears of saying “no”, or setting boundaries around your time and energy threaten to throw you off your game or derail you completely? You get guidance, take action, and learn to keep moving forward. And sometimes you need a little inspiration to keep you going.
In this episode, my friend Nick Pollard (TikTok phenom) and I are going to dig into the underlying fears and feelings people have that turn us into exhausted little people-pleasers. As a Coach, Nick’s work is to pull back the curtain on the underlying issues we have to work on to create happier lives with more energy for our friends and families, and feeling more confident in the choices we make. Some of the very things you may be experiencing now may be obstacles, but they are not insurmountable.
This is my 15th year of being a Life Coach and Nick is in his 10th year! We’ve seen it all and have experienced ALL the fears ourselves (and still do!), so get your ear buds ready and listen in to the helpful insights Nick is sharing for you and your life!
You’re going to learn some valuable tips and tricks that will help you navigate the fears that come with making changes in your life, cutting back the people-pleasing, and stepping into a better version of yourself.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Dry January Kickstarter: A 30-Day Free Bootcamp: addictionunlimited.com/bootcamp
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”

Dec 28, 2022 • 46min
Create A Powerful New Year Plan That Will Actually Work
New Year Plan
Can you believe 2022 is over already?
I know it’s so cliché and everyone is saying it- but this year has gone by so fast!
Maybe you can relate. I know when a year is packed with as many projects, challenges, milestones reached and lessons learned as 2022 has been for me, it makes time fly by.
Some years ago I adopted a new way of thinking about it - instead of thinking about resolutions, as if something isn’t right and needs to be resolved – I think about my intentions for the upcoming year. And because my sobriety birthday is in January, I have a tradition at the end of the year I always reflect back on what my life was like before I got sober.
Of course, that immediately puts me in a place of gratitude because I was such a mess in so many ways.
And, it gives me fresh inspiration on how I want to approach the coming year.
This year, I went through some major stuff. And, if we all get honest here, every year is full of major stuff.
So as I was reflecting on the past 12 months, I was writing down so many things that I had to turn it into a whole podcast episode for you.
Because, I want you to approach your next year with a fresh perspective and sense of determination like you’ve never had before. But also, a sense of ease. Like, we’re going to make this so effortless, and you are going to feel so empowered, that you look forward to getting started and following through!
The strategy I’m going over today is all about a different way to approach your goals so that…
you will get more done
everything is set up for you to succeed with ease
you end the day feeling more satisfied with your whole life
In particular, if you want to build a life around recovery and confidence in whatever you do, this strategy will be really applicable for you.
It will help you get more done with less stress, less guilt, and less resources… you know, all the precious commodities we never have enough of.
I suggest curling up with the last Christmas cookie, stir a little eggnog creamer into your coffee, and enjoy a final moment of holiday hibernation to brainstorm your 2023 intentions.
In the end, your intentions are really all about your balance. Understanding we are working on personal growth and taking on new habits more than just accomplishing tasks. Adding too little will leave you underwhelmed and unsatisfied; adding too much is just way more stress than you need.
This episode is your personal low-down on how to think about your intentions, and how to set yourself up for success from day one so that you can get your life and your goals aligned for an amazing year!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Dry January Kickstarter: A 30-Day Bootcamp with Angela Pugh:addictionunlimited.com/bootcamp
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/addictionunlimited
Book A Call With Angela: addictionunlimited.com/call
Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts
“I love Angela & Addiction Unlimited Podcast.”