Maureen Benkovich (00:02.912)
We all know gut health is the key to feeling our best, but what about when it comes to alcohol? Even in the wellness world, it is the elephant in the room and in the personal training world, I know that too. My client and friend, Carrie Janowski, a holistic gut practitioner and certified health coach is here to have an honest conversation about the impact of alcohol on our bodies, especially for women in midlife. After her own health struggles, she discovered the life-changing power of gut health.
Today, she's sharing the real truth about balance, healing, and reclaiming your vitality. So welcome, Carrie. That was a mouthful, but there's so much to share about you and how we met that I just wanted to try to get it all in there. But I'm so glad you're here today.
Carrie Chojnowski (00:47.438)
Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to share my experience and just yeah, whatever you want. I'm an open book today. So Thanks for having me
Maureen Benkovich (00:56.586)
Good. Thank you. I think we met at Dr. Kinney's office who has this sort of naturopathic meetup of all kinds of coaches and health related practitioners. And that's where we first met. And I was then running one of my six week alcohol reset groups and actually ran into at our church after a Bible study. I'm like, Hey, do you want to do my reset? And you're like, I don't know.
Carrie Chojnowski (01:10.53)
Yep. Yep.
Carrie Chojnowski (01:18.893)
Yes.
Carrie Chojnowski (01:26.784)
Yeah, no, think I actually, yeah, I mean, I think we were at a couple of the events together and every time you spoke, there was always this voice in the back of my mind, in my head, in my heart, you know, I mean, I truly think that was God speaking to me many times, basically saying like, if you cut back on alcohol, or if you give this to me, this elephant in your room, things you can imagine what I will do with your life kind of thing, right?
Maureen Benkovich (01:32.682)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (01:39.264)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (01:43.338)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (01:48.214)
Hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (01:56.706)
But like, I, so anyway, we'll get into that. But like, you would come and speak at these holistic practitioner group things. And I was like, hmm, that's interesting. But when you shared about that group, I was like, yeah, maybe that's something I might want to do. But do I really want to do that? You know? So when we, when, I think I scheduled a call with you, maybe a discovery call. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like,
Maureen Benkovich (02:15.339)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (02:20.5)
Maybe that, yeah, think you're right.
Carrie Chojnowski (02:24.558)
Approaching it in a mindset of like I'll help her with her content. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna be a coach who can help her refine what she's doing and maybe learn something in the process, you know, I figured I'd learn, you know, but I didn't realize how much I'd learned.
Maureen Benkovich (02:28.862)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (02:39.316)
Yeah, God health. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (02:48.278)
Yeah, I should clarify that. I don't randomly walk up to people and ask them to do my alcohol reset. We had had some contact and I knew there was interest. And what typically happens is even when people are interested, they're like, but wait a minute, I have a wedding and it's Christmas. And that's kind of what you were feeling.
Carrie Chojnowski (03:04.738)
Yes.
That's what I said. Yeah. I had a wedding. So it started what October 3rd or something or six. And I had a wedding. My nephew was getting married of all things, you know, my nephew, my whole family was going to be there. October 18th, I think was the weekend. We were going to Cape Cod, which is where we vacation every summer. So in my mind, you know, that all that is associated with alcohol and kind of letting loose. And so I was like, well, I'll do it, but maybe that weekend I'll just not.
Maureen Benkovich (03:29.845)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (03:37.387)
Yeah, yeah. Because you had like four weeks leading up to it. I was like, yeah, let's do that. Let's, you know, see what you can feel and learn and change and grow. And so you joined and it was a small group and that was great because there was a lot of good conversation. There were some other health practitioners in there too, different kinds of coaches and practitioners. And what would you say, you know, was the turning point for you? Like what happened when you went to that wedding?
Carrie Chojnowski (03:38.028)
Yeah. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (03:50.339)
My joy.
Carrie Chojnowski (04:07.18)
Well, first thing, like you said, it was a small group and it was other health practitioners who were ambitious women who were kind of just like me. And I think that was one of the biggest things was that I was like, I'm not the only one struggling with this. And this was something that was kind of sitting in, like I said, this little voice in my mind, but also a lot of my family members have gone through different
Maureen Benkovich (04:10.09)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (04:36.376)
gone through different, what do call them, approaches, I would say to not drinking, you know, or sobriety, I guess. And I never saw myself in alignment with any of those things. I never thought I really had a problem, right? It was just like, well, maybe when I was younger I did, but like I'm older now, I can control all that. Which I was doing a really good job, you know, not getting blackout drunk, but like it didn't mean it wasn't affecting me, right? So, but.
Maureen Benkovich (04:38.72)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (05:00.085)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (05:05.856)
I think the biggest thing with the question you asked as far as like, was the turning point for me to actually be able to make it through the whole weekend, wedding weekend, not drinking was,
Maureen Benkovich (05:14.582)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (05:21.932)
Well, first we did our why, you know, like you had us kind of dig deeper and kind of go to the multi-layered, like, why are you, why do you want to do this? Right? Why is that what it
Maureen Benkovich (05:23.936)
What's your why?
Maureen Benkovich (05:32.982)
Yeah, I have people dig a little deeper because the surface ones are like, I don't want to be hung over, I don't want to have brain fog. And we do an exercise that's like five layers deep to get you to, well, what does that mean? Why is that important?
Carrie Chojnowski (05:41.921)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (05:45.9)
Right, so mine was to have more energy and clarity. And ultimately what I came down to was that I wanted, and you know, I dug deep and it was like, my next part was like to be more connected with my family during the day and in the evening. And then I wanted to be closer to my kids. And I realized that alcohol was getting in the way of that. And then I, my final like level five was to be exactly what they need for me to be for them. And I know that like it kind of.
Maureen Benkovich (05:48.544)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (06:13.258)
That is a deep, well, that's much deeper than clarity and energy, right? But that's what you got from that, right? You went all the way to, wow, I want to be really more present with my kids and my family.
Carrie Chojnowski (06:16.716)
I want more energy.
Carrie Chojnowski (06:22.956)
Yeah, yeah. And over the few weeks leading up to the wedding, I came to the realization without alcohol for that long, which doesn't even seem like that long because it was like three weeks. But, you know, most of us who are pretty regular drinkers will like go through the week, even if you go through the week without a drink. And now I've learned in your group that
Maureen Benkovich (06:33.994)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (06:45.898)
even without the four days of drinking or whatever. And even if you just have a couple drinks on Friday or Saturday, that still stands, stays with you. The residual effects of that stays with you till the next time you drink four days later. So like, I didn't realize how much it was actually affecting me. I wasn't, what I really came to the conclusion in those three weeks was that I would have my glass of wine while I was cooking dinner. And by the time I was done that glass of wine, I was in my little bubble.
Maureen Benkovich (07:15.218)
Mm-hmm. Well, right.
Carrie Chojnowski (07:16.002)
by myself and I wanted to stay in my little bubble, like my calm little bubble. So by the time dinner was ready and everybody came to me to sit and actually connect, I was kind of tired and I was disconnected. And so I was kind of exacerbating my disconnection with my family by having a glass of wine at night.
Maureen Benkovich (07:38.058)
Yeah, that's such a huge realization because a lot of people think I'm going to drink to connect. And you actually realize with your family, it was actually disconnecting. The very opposite.
Carrie Chojnowski (07:44.588)
Yeah. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (07:49.548)
Yeah, yeah. And I didn't think that was happening at all. I actually would try over dinner to connect, but because alcohol was hitting me in such a different way than it had when I was younger, I wasn't, I guess, the most pleasant person. I didn't realize I was just a little less, I was edgy. I was more edgy at dinner. My son even made a comment, like when I was, I think, six weeks.
Maureen Benkovich (07:53.237)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (08:02.646)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (08:18.232)
I had, maybe two months I hadn't had a drink. And I said, I haven't had a drink for two months. Do you notice? And he said, yeah, you're not so, and he like pointed his little finger. I was like, like scolding. And I was like, my God, what? Like seriously? And he's like, yeah. I said, was I that bad? He goes, no, it's just, could tell. Like he said, I guess I didn't even think it was related. He thought I was just cranky. He just thought it was a cranky. I was just a cranky mom. And
Maureen Benkovich (08:20.512)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (08:28.118)
Ha
That was sort of a revelation to you, wasn't it?
Carrie Chojnowski (08:47.635)
he wasn't even equating it, wasn't pairing it with the alcohol until the alcohol was gone.
Maureen Benkovich (08:51.456)
Yeah. Yeah, I just want to go back to a couple of important points that you said. So first of all, just being willing and open to take a look inside and take a break from alcohol. And the reason we do that is so that your central nervous system, your body can experience a time period without alcohol. And then these changes start to emerge like being less irritable, less anxious. And so it's not about like
white-knuckling it through, it's about learning along the way other ways to down-regulate your central nervous system. Like you were saying you had the wine at dinner, that became sort of your habit, your transition from workday to evening, how you were calming down and de-stressing, but it was having other unintended results. Yeah. And the other important thing you said too was you had felt you would come to a point where you're controlling your drinking because you weren't
Carrie Chojnowski (09:40.428)
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (09:51.467)
blacking out like you used to when you were younger. And this is such a common belief that holds people back from reevaluating their relationship with alcohol because they're like, well, at least I'm not doing that, you know, and I'm high functioning, I have a business, I have a mom, I do all these things. So society says, you're drinking like everybody else, why take a look at it? But you knew for you, and you said, you heard, you know, you really felt that God was like kind of
pushing you to like, hey, I've got so much more for you, but this substance is holding you back. So I just want to, I guess, compliment you on how you listened to all of that and you were willing to try something new. And there was actually one more piece that you listened to and you said it was fine if I shared this, that you had been in therapy for a while and worked on a lot of things. And I think right before we started working together, and maybe this is what also motivated you to...
Carrie Chojnowski (10:37.25)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (10:47.158)
set up a call with me, it was your therapist said, you know, you've done all this work, you're doing great. There's one more thing, you just really just need to get rid of alcohol.
Carrie Chojnowski (10:55.662)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, his biggest thing was, you know, we have a very strong family history of alcohol use. mean, it just, I grew up in a Northern Maine town. It's what you did. Like literally that's how we stayed warm and that's generational. I mean, passed down by generation, generation. And, you know, I don't fault my parents for that, but that's how they grew up and that's how I grew up. we really, all my siblings for the most part and I, know, we, we,
Maureen Benkovich (11:07.958)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (11:14.934)
No.
Carrie Chojnowski (11:24.748)
That's how we coped and it has caused problems in a lot of people's lives, in my relative's lives. And so that was the one thing my counselor who was working with my husband and I for three years, he's like, you guys have seriously come so far. he said, kind of bluntly where I was, like, there's no place in your life for alcohol. You're a health coach. It's not in alignment with anything that you do.
Maureen Benkovich (11:30.122)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (11:50.134)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (11:53.984)
anything that you preach, anything that you coach, and it's really not serving you. he wasn't saying it because it was like, my husband or anything was like, this is a problem, because it had really significantly improved. Like I had already reined it in, like on my own, a lot, a lot. And, but I just couldn't like...
Maureen Benkovich (12:06.763)
Yeah.
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (12:16.394)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:22.222)
cut it off, you know, kind of thing. was still something I went to many nights and I would fall into particularly like, like the change of seasons. was like, I don't know. It's like, you know, the holidays and then you got, when you go back to school and then you're like, you know, like it's just one of those things I just kept going back to. And we had actually, we go, like I said, to Cape Cod every August and this past August was like even
Maureen Benkovich (12:31.36)
Yes.
Carrie Chojnowski (12:51.124)
It was something I had actually talked to like my friend and we stay on the same street every year and my friend Laura, who I talked to every year. I mean, she had kind of seen alcohol be an issue with my husband and I and arguments and stuff. And she, when we left this year, she was like, wow, you guys are doing so great. Like you, like you're so happy. You look so happy. look, you know, and, and I think because I didn't really drink on that vacation much. mean,
Maureen Benkovich (13:02.838)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (13:18.122)
Yeah. You were already starting to really change and remove it. And it's that last piece that's so important because understanding that first of all, all those things you just listed are, you know, familial triggers, nostalgia, the way it was modeled, the way you grew up, holidays, know, tradition, all that stuff is hardwired and etched into your brain, years and years and years, and also generational.
Carrie Chojnowski (13:31.616)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (13:47.209)
Of course, these are all triggers. So then really understanding that alcohol is addictive. It's an addictive substance and these neural pathways that we just mentioned, all of those are etched into your brain. So we really have to do the work of rewiring and making new neural pathways, new ways to enjoy holidays with your family, to be in Cape May, to be with your friends, to be with your family. And that's, what you were willing to do.
Carrie Chojnowski (13:52.718)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (14:13.12)
Right, right, right. And even just like with my husband, right? It was like, how is this going to be? I mean, we this is what we do, you know, although it wasn't really functioning very well. You know, we actually didn't get along very well when we drank. Like, I always wanted to be like that couple where we could just have fun drinking together. And we we very rarely had fun drinking together. Like we did when we first started dating, but like
Maureen Benkovich (14:16.394)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (14:20.597)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (14:25.398)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (14:33.344)
Yeah, same with me. Same with me.
Carrie Chojnowski (14:41.528)
quickly because honestly I drank too much like and I and then he he also didn't I don't think realize how much he would always think it was me and really get grumpy too. So then it was yeah, it was like it was so he's ranked in his drinking a lot and I think one of the biggest things when when I kind of got to I think to the three-month mark like even before the whole man might have been even before Thanksgiving it may not have been that far in maybe six weeks.
Maureen Benkovich (14:50.036)
Yeah, that's easy to do.
Carrie Chojnowski (15:10.634)
I, when we finished the group, said, I think I'm going to continue this, you know, I think I'm going to continue not drinking. And we were with our counselor and Dan said, like, I'm completely fine supporting you in that. Like, I think this is really something you should continue. And I was kind of shocked. I was kind of shocked. was like, doesn't want drunk Carrie, but like.
Maureen Benkovich (15:13.462)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (15:27.35)
So he noticed the difference too. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (15:36.974)
Like there's always that little part in your head but...
Maureen Benkovich (15:40.022)
Yeah, we still want to hold on to that. We're like, wait, really? Are you sure? Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (15:43.486)
Yeah, well, because I think I was still so new at thinking I could have fun without it.
Maureen Benkovich (15:47.701)
Of course you are because, and this is what I always say to clients and I had to learn myself. I mean, I was drinking for 45 years. So why would a six week trial without alcohol be like, okay, now I got this, right? It takes a while to carve those new neural pathways. And really it's the whole first year is about experiencing all the triggers, alcohol-free and gaining the confidence and teaching your brain.
Carrie Chojnowski (15:54.542)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (16:01.74)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (16:12.322)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (16:15.934)
and yourself that you can do this. And you've been systematically knocking out really big things like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and most recently, you just went on a cruise. I mean, that is one of the big ones that people are like, I could never do that, you know?
Carrie Chojnowski (16:28.022)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, the first biggest one was like the airport. Like the airport, I think, I swear the airport was probably my biggest. Like, I can't be at the airport without wine. Like that was like my favorite thing to do is to go to like, well, that was like this one wine bar, they have charcuterie. They don't even have it anymore. It's like vinovolo or something. Yeah. And I would love to travel by myself.
Maureen Benkovich (16:36.106)
Yes, let's talk about the airport.
Maureen Benkovich (16:42.578)
I get that.
Maureen Benkovich (16:50.55)
I what you mean. In BWI airport, Yes.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:01.11)
because I would be like, that's where I'm go.
Maureen Benkovich (17:03.732)
Yeah. Vacation starts at the airport and that involves alcohol, right? Because it's like another bubble in the airport. You did.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:07.13)
At the airport no matter how early, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I knocked that one out at the wedding initially. So that was, yeah. And I just had a, I had a like zero proof beer. mean like, yeah. Yeah. A replacement. Yeah. Yeah. And at the wedding, my sister is also not drinking. So that was helpful. So she was like my buddy, right? And then she had...
Maureen Benkovich (17:21.034)
Yeah, which is great. You had a replacement, you know. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (17:35.978)
zero proof champagne at the wedding. know, so that was I mean, that was really, really helpful.
Maureen Benkovich (17:42.711)
And we talked a lot before these events, like making plans, here's what we're going to do, you know, and we'd run through that. So you had already visualized it and that's the tactic when you visualize it and go through it, your brain thinks it's already done it. So when you actually experience it, your brain doesn't feel like it's the first time.
Carrie Chojnowski (18:02.134)
Right. And that's, I would say that's probably one of the biggest techniques I use. Like, and I do it thinking about how I want to feel in the morning. That's the biggest thing because in the moment, sometimes it's like, just really, I just, what's the big deal, right? If I just have a glass of wine, whatever. And, but then I think about like, do I really want to feel it in the morning? And like, I just literally, like we were just on a cruise.
Maureen Benkovich (18:06.229)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (18:12.502)
It's a big one.
Maureen Benkovich (18:17.61)
Yeah, what's the big deal?
Carrie Chojnowski (18:30.766)
you know, for five days and I don't need a vacation for my vacation. I, that's just like the biggest gift in the world. Like I'm just, and I didn't, I mean, I was actually, and I don't judge people, but like I'm, it's like, you notice like, wow, the sloppiness, you know, and it's like, I don't want to feel like that. my God. You know, it's, I have no judgment at all because it's more me thinking like, I'm so grateful. I don't feel that
Maureen Benkovich (18:35.326)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (18:47.048)
You absolutely notice when you stop.
Maureen Benkovich (18:57.792)
Of
Carrie Chojnowski (19:00.558)
Or I'm not. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Like I'm not going to like, I don't know. just literally, I'm just grateful. Like I don't, I'm not going to feel crappy.
Maureen Benkovich (19:00.884)
It's more gratitude. Yes. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (19:13.14)
Yeah, it's validating when you see other people do what you were doing and you know what that feels like. You've done it for years, know, historically, you know exactly what that feels like. Now you're doing something different and you keep gaining more confidence and clarity and you've been talking about how opportunities in your life have been opening up for you since no longer drinking. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Carrie Chojnowski (19:19.949)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (19:36.366)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just feel like I think part of it is I'm more confident in, you know, sharing because I, you know, as a health coach, you know, I became a health coach because of my own health journey, right? I had really pretty some pretty significant struggles about nine, eight years ago with my health and addressing my gut health and inflammation and blood sugar regulation and all of those things.
Maureen Benkovich (19:44.544)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (19:54.219)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (20:06.086)
really changed so much in how my body functioned how I felt. But there was always this underlying brain fog and anxiety and kind of insecurity in myself. And now I know that was the alcohol getting in the way. Not because in my mind I was thinking, maybe in my mind I was thinking I shouldn't be drinking, but I think just
Maureen Benkovich (20:09.195)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (20:34.178)
the chemical imbalance caused this insecurity. So now I'm just anxiety. Yeah. So I'm just so much more confident that what I'm teaching is working, you know, and what, not just the alcohol piece, but like all the other things that I've, cause I'm basically a walking, like everything I coach, I do, right? yeah. And
Maureen Benkovich (20:39.058)
Anxiety. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (20:51.926)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (20:57.642)
Yeah, sure. Same with me. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:02.112)
I can say that now because I don't have alcohol getting in the way.
Maureen Benkovich (21:03.641)
Yes. And that's such an important point right there because you know, even if it's just subconsciously, here you are, this gut health coach, you've been through all these struggles, you're working on all these areas of your life and we talk about this, except for the elephant in the room. We don't want to look at this one piece because I don't want you to touch my alcohol. I'm going to do all these other things. It can't possibly be that the alcohol is still a problem because I'm so healthy in all these other ways. And I was right there with you. Absolutely doing that.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:18.51)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:22.252)
Right, right.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:29.858)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (21:31.528)
And so that was such an important aha to realize that last piece that we were both holding onto and removing that. And I felt the same call that you did that God was like, Maureen, I got a lot more for you, but you got to let go of this stuff.
Carrie Chojnowski (21:43.32)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And health wise, I mean, I can't even begin to, you know, I, I was actually talking about this on the cruise. Like I, you know, I track a lot of things on my Fitbit for, you know, sleep wise and a year ago exactly I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and I had a CPAP and you know, I was like, yeah, yeah. And it was, it sucked. mean, having a CPAP is terrible.
Maureen Benkovich (22:05.578)
You did? Wow, I didn't know that.
Maureen Benkovich (22:10.462)
Yeah, that's like Darth Vader.
Carrie Chojnowski (22:12.814)
But I mean, it's necessary, you know, and everybody like my mother has it, my sister, my brother, like it's everybody in my family has a CPAP, right? And I was surprised, but I barely needed it, but I needed it. I was also struggling with some other things like mold toxicity. didn't realize. So once I actually cleared the mold toxicity working with Dr. Kinney, we figured that out. I kind of didn't really need my CPAP anymore. However, when I drank, I would notice I was short of breath at night.
And I was classified in my Fitbit as a giraffe, a giraffe sleeper. And you think about how the heck does a giraffe sleep like standing up? It's like light. It's like this light, like continuous waking, you know? And now about, I would say about three, probably starting in like,
Maureen Benkovich (22:49.654)
Yeah, standing up. I don't know. Okay.
Maureen Benkovich (23:00.029)
yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (23:08.226)
the beginning of January, so it's at three months after giving up alcohol. I'm a bear. I sleep like a bear. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (23:15.206)
like a hibernating bear. But that's so important because the wearable tech now really shows people, gives them tangible evidence, alcohol is really messing with my sleep, even one or two drinks. Because so many people are like, I drank that earlier, a couple hours earlier, it's out of my system. It is not how it works.
Carrie Chojnowski (23:36.14)
No, no. And you know, I lost my brother in 2012. He had a massive stroke and like, he probably had sleep apnea. I don't think he drank much actually, but I think he had sleep apnea undiagnosed. And so we know like a lot of the research points to apnea really affecting cardiac function. And so like in my mind, I'm like, I'm not sleeping without this thing. Cause I don't want to put myself at risk.
Maureen Benkovich (23:40.894)
I know, I'm so sorry.
Carrie Chojnowski (24:02.188)
I don't even need that thing anymore because like I'm, I took away one of the contributing issues was the alcohol. I think for me, for my body in particular, maybe it wasn't, you know, that wasn't what the issue was with my brother. I don't know, but like, can't help but think that that like, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (24:09.716)
Yeah. Yes. A hundred percent.
Maureen Benkovich (24:18.174)
you showed yourself again by experiencing it yourself, you let your body know. And so many people tell me things like they're not taking, know, antacids anymore, reflux medication, all those kinds of things when they stop drinking.
Carrie Chojnowski (24:33.1)
Yeah, yeah, I know people as well, like anxiety meds, you know, they don't need them anymore because they, you know, you're of like fighting, you're exacerbating that anxiety with the alcohol. And we think it's helping us.
Maureen Benkovich (24:42.782)
Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, so when you take the break and you work with me or, you a coach, you learn what alcohol is really doing, the chemical cascade of events that happens every time you drink because your body sees it as a toxin and it's trying to get rid of it. So all these events happen. So would you say that learning that was what helped you, especially because you're very interested in health. You love learning all of that.
Carrie Chojnowski (25:08.888)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (25:10.898)
And once that made sense to you, you could make an informed choice instead of feeling like, I want to get people out of feeling deprivation and have them feeling, I'm making an informed choice for me, for my health.
Carrie Chojnowski (25:23.67)
Right, right. And you know, even one of the things that I see a lot in the population that we coach, you we coach a lot of women in midlife and a lot of thyroid issues. And I will say since letting go of alcohol, my thyroid, I've been able to drop down on my thyroid. You know, things have shifted in my thyroid, you know, like I wouldn't say like it's going to completely change it, but I think because
some of that conversion happens in the liver, the thyroid conversion, I'm not going to go into the science of it, but like that, lot of it, a lot of things happen in the liver. The liver is responsible for so many vital functions in our body. And if you can remove the stress on the liver from the alcohol, your liver can, yeah, yeah, you can do so. And that was one of the biggest things you taught us was like the liver will prioritize alcohol over everything.
Maureen Benkovich (25:55.115)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (26:10.112)
Yeah. And it is a lot of stress on your liver. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (26:21.314)
And then we wonder why thyroid function is terrible, know, or women, women's hormones are tanking and you know, it's like, really is, alcohol really is getting in the way of our body's ability to process anything.
Maureen Benkovich (26:37.61)
Yeah, your body will stop doing everything else. Like we've got to get rid of this toxin, we got to prioritize this. So everything else is on hold. So drugs that you're taking that need to be metabolized and broken down, food that needs to be absorbed for nutrition. There's so many things that have to be put on hold until you get rid of this toxic substance. And that's the biggest thing I hope to get across to people. Because like you, once I realized that, I'm like, I'm doing all these other things over here. But this is actually much more harmful than I thought.
Carrie Chojnowski (26:44.333)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (27:04.003)
Right.
Maureen Benkovich (27:07.508)
you know, the Surgeon General just came out and said there is no healthy or safe recommended level of alcohol to carcinogen.
Carrie Chojnowski (27:16.088)
Right.
Maureen Benkovich (27:16.182)
But let's move to what you do now and you are a gut health coach, holistic practitioner. Can you talk about what you do and this program that you help, which I am now doing. So now I've become a client of Carrie's as well.
Carrie Chojnowski (27:30.553)
Yeah
So I started working basically, like I said, through my own health journey, started addressing learning about gut health because let's face it, I was doing all the things that I could possibly think of. I was seeing every medical professional under the sun to help me with chronic lower back spasms, chronic irritable bowel issues like
Maureen Benkovich (27:59.841)
Bow.
Carrie Chojnowski (28:01.998)
colitis type issues. had reflux, you said, you know, I had anxiety. I had so many things going on. My hormonal, my cycles were like crazy heavy. And so there was just so much plaguing me and I did a lot and even modified my diet significantly to remove things that could be causing inflammation. And what ultimately helped was adding in some prebiotic specific
Maureen Benkovich (28:09.142)
Hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (28:32.098)
prebiotic, probiotic, know, stuff to address systemic yeast, things to help balance my blood sugars. I specifically Plexus products. If you're interested, reach out. Yeah, yeah, because I can help give you access to that and guide you with those. But I also use a host of, you know, now that I'm at the kidney clinic, there are so many other ways to support your body. But...
Maureen Benkovich (28:43.85)
I will put that in the show notes, people.
Carrie Chojnowski (28:57.268)
That was kind of like the catalyst for change. The products themselves were the catalyst to change for me. And that's when my body started to regain its ability to heal itself. And then once I to a much better place of clarity and functioning, really, then I realized I needed to change what I was doing for work because there was so much stress in that. I was in a very political, well, not political as we would talk about today, but
political in, I was a speech pathologist working in the deaf community and there was just a ton of politics and it was not so, and I was in this constant state of fight or flight and I was learning that being in a constant state of fight or flight is almost more detrimental than even the food you put in your body. So that's when I decided I'm going to make a change. And I decided to go into the coaching realm and really help
Maureen Benkovich (29:31.926)
And that was stressful on your nervous system. Mm-hmm. Yes.
Carrie Chojnowski (29:56.846)
people find healing with the things that I had done. So, and then I got my coaching certification through the Holistic Wellness Coaching Academy. So I'm a Holistic Gut Health practitioner specifically addressing gut health and inflammation. And I incorporate the blood sugar balancing from that, from I've learned, you know, kind of separately from that, but it's all tied together. But I've taken, you know, all of the tools that I use and have created
an amazing toolbox to help people get to a much better space. And then I connected with Dr. Kinney through the holistic practitioners, you know, wellness networks that she had put together. And I was like, if you need a coach, like I need a practitioner who can help my people, you know, like, because you can only be a coach and go so far, you know, I couldn't do the blood work. couldn't, you,
Maureen Benkovich (30:34.582)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (30:55.926)
I wanted to see the whole person and know exactly what I was suggesting was actually helpful.
Maureen Benkovich (31:02.624)
Now, can you also see clients who aren't in this area? Okay.
Carrie Chojnowski (31:06.176)
Yes. Yeah. We see people virtually. Yep. Yep. So we can do a whole host of blood work to look at hormones, thyroid. look for, sometimes there are underlying infections like Lyme and Epstein-Barr and mold. Like I said, I had mycotoxins. you know, look at, do complete blood work that you could get at a regular doctor, but even more. And
Maureen Benkovich (31:29.024)
Good. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (31:32.214)
we address the nutrition piece and the end, you know, regulating your nervous system and that, that is really, mean, 99.9 % of the population is living in fight or flight all day long.
Maureen Benkovich (31:43.319)
Yeah, so let's hold on that for a minute because that's so important. So we are all in fight or flight and what that means is just we are in this constant state. Our nervous system is really irritated, aggravated, out of control. And that is when we reach for something like alcohol because it's a central nervous system depressant. No doubt it has that first effect of down regulating your central nervous system fast and that's why people do it.
between you and me and Dr. Kinney and others, we're helping other people learn other ways to down regulate your central nervous system that become their toolkit and that is healthy and that is not inflammatory or a toxin. So yeah, that fight or flight or freeze is so important for people to understand because in our society, it's just go, go, go. So learning healthy ways to down regulate your central nervous system, I think is what we both coach too. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (32:21.218)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (32:35.5)
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think people most, a lot of people don't even realize that your thoughts can create this fight or flight. It's not, you know, a big traumatic event that happens. It's like a negative thought. Like, I can't believe you just said that in a meeting or whatever, you know, truminating. Yeah. Traffic, driving in traffic. You know, your kid stomps upstairs and slams the door.
Maureen Benkovich (32:40.533)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (32:48.309)
Right.
Maureen Benkovich (32:53.066)
and then ruminating.
Carrie Chojnowski (33:01.496)
fight or flight, you know, I mean, there's so many things that on a constant, you know, turning on social media these days, forget it.
Maureen Benkovich (33:09.728)
Yeah, yeah. And also not, yeah, not taking that time in stillness, meditation, prayer, journaling. So you can, again, it really has this amazing calming effect. And if you start your day with that, you're setting your day with a different intention. And, you know, we can get into circadian rhythms and early morning sunlight and turning off your devices. All of those things matter. But if you're consistently introducing alcohol, you are
Carrie Chojnowski (33:24.078)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (33:29.996)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (33:37.313)
fighting against all these healthy things you're trying to do because it is dysregulating. Only that first drink gives you that down regulating effect. After that, it is completely dysregulating and depletes your neurotransmitters, the very things you need to feel good. But what I love now is you are, and so am I, living authentically and in alignment with what you felt inside that originally nudged you.
Carrie Chojnowski (33:42.958)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (34:04.426)
to reach out to me and you can share that with your clients now.
Carrie Chojnowski (34:07.874)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (34:09.928)
Has that changed the way that you coach since you no longer drink?
Carrie Chojnowski (34:14.082)
Yeah, I think it totally does because I know it has, because I don't think I felt capable to like, valid. I didn't think I could. Yeah. Yeah. Like I could tell them, you know, I used to do with a lot more people, I would do this full six week gut restoration protocol where we would eliminate like everything inflammatory, right? So it'd be sugar, dairy, gluten.
Maureen Benkovich (34:27.624)
It's not authentic, right? If you're drinking, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (34:38.208)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (34:43.928)
caffeine, alcohol, and like, you know, people would do it for six weeks. I don't necessarily do that with everybody anymore because I don't think it's necessary necessarily depending on what their symptoms are. But the biggest thing is like alcohol is in no way good for you. And I don't think I would, I don't think I was as convicted about that and could say, now I can give my own experience. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (34:47.574)
which is great. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (35:10.794)
You can speak with your own experience. That makes all the difference in the world. Same with me. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (35:14.572)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, people still are like, know, but.
Maureen Benkovich (35:20.21)
Of course, and now you know why because it's an addictive substance and we don't want to let go of it because it's become our friend. It's been the way we relax. It's the way we think we can have fun. And that's why you have to show yourself by taking this break with getting educated at the same time and rewiring your brain. It makes all the difference in the world. And yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (35:38.914)
Right. One of the biggest things I will say, you know, to those of you who are listening, who are like, I don't know if I could do it. Like once I figured out the, what was triggering it. So, you know, I love the halt, like hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Cause that, those four things were like the triggers for me all the time. Most of it was being lonely, right? And
Maureen Benkovich (35:58.742)
Yes.
Carrie Chojnowski (36:05.196)
Like I said, alcohol would make me kind of fulfill that prophecy, of, know, self-fulfilling prophecy is like, why am I alone? I don't want to be alone, but yet I'm isolating myself upstairs folding laundry because I feel like everything I say is coming out wrong. You know what I mean? Like it was like, would, I would view so many things negatively after one drink. Yeah. And then I could keep drinking. Right. but so.
Maureen Benkovich (36:09.6)
Self-fulfilling.
Maureen Benkovich (36:28.158)
And also you can drink more, you can keep drinking. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (36:35.52)
What I, what I was trying to say was that if you can get past that, with one, so I just use like, I'll use like seltzer water or I have these fun little mocktails like recess or, you know, you relax or something fun to take the place, right? Like you said, a replacement that urge goes away.
like within 20 minutes or like if I eat some protein or fill if I'm hungry and I eat some protein, I'm like, don't really the craving. I was surprised at how quickly the cravings would subside and then I would be fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And now like the weekend comes and oftentimes it'll be Sunday night and I'm like, I didn't even think about alcohol this weekend. Huh, weird.
Maureen Benkovich (37:10.816)
They're so sad. Yeah, we learn to surf those urges like a wave and then they break.
Maureen Benkovich (37:26.826)
Yeah, yeah. I know, I keep trying to get her to shift from weird, from weird to awesome. It's different.
Carrie Chojnowski (37:27.52)
I'm still in that phase where I'm like, it's so weird.
Carrie Chojnowski (37:35.406)
Because it's it's different. It's just not.
Maureen Benkovich (37:39.423)
It's different and that's why I always go back to, but that makes sense because you've been drinking for 45 years. I use that number for me. So of course, this, while it's amazing what we've been doing, it's still a much shorter time period. So of course you're going to have those thoughts and we always want to work on reframing that. See, I can't stop coaching even on this podcast.
Carrie Chojnowski (37:58.166)
No, I know, but it's true because it's like now I'm at a point where I can, I can say like, yeah, this is awesome. Whereas I think it took it like, it was just up until a couple of weeks ago where I was still like, it's so weird for me. It's so, it just isn't of character for me to not drink, which is like not really something I should be proud of. You know, it's, but it's like, it just is what it, you know what I mean? It's yeah. Well,
Maureen Benkovich (38:16.096)
Different.
Maureen Benkovich (38:23.366)
you should be very proud.
Carrie Chojnowski (38:26.764)
That's how I was, you know? Like it was just, I mean, I started thinking that like...
Maureen Benkovich (38:28.35)
Yeah, But that's okay, but that's an important piece though, right? Because I often talk about that, the compassion piece. Of course we drink a lot. We are in a society where it's legalized, glorified and romanticized. So, and we were going with the flow, it was in our families, and all those things. So the self-compassion piece is so important. Makes sense that I was drinking like that. But now you've just, you've changed generational habits. I mean, you've done something really big here.
Carrie Chojnowski (38:52.886)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that, you know, that is really what continues to drive me. It's just, I don't want my kids, I don't want them to feel like that's how they need to, what they need to reach for to cope. I don't because, know, particularly my older son, like he's got a bit of a person, you know, he's got a bit of a personality that's not as social, but also he's just more anxious, you know? And I could see,
Maureen Benkovich (39:19.766)
Mm-hmm.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:21.846)
Like him just falling into the same habits that I fell into once alcohol hits his lips, you know? And I started drinking young. I was like 13. Like how? don't even, you know?
Maureen Benkovich (39:30.89)
Me too, 14. Yeah. Just throwing a couple older brothers and sisters and we're watching, right? Kids are like sponges, they're watching. You know, and it just, everybody thinks it's a rite of passage that all kids have to go through, but I think that's starting to change too. And yeah. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (39:37.036)
Yeah? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
Carrie Chojnowski (39:48.362)
That is, I do see that changing now. Yeah. To a degree, I mean, it's shifting to other things, which, you know, doesn't necessarily mean they're not leaning on other things. and I want to teach my kids that they don't need to lean on any of that.
Maureen Benkovich (39:54.998)
Yeah, right.
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (40:02.986)
Yeah, and you have all the tools to teach them what they can do instead that is going to be so much more healthy and longer lasting and they'll have their own toolkit. So I think so great to see all that you've conquered, all the changes you made, how it's affected your business, your home life, your personal life. And best of all, we're friends. I love that too. Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (40:12.321)
Yeah.
Carrie Chojnowski (40:23.712)
Yes, I know. I know it's been such a gift. I, yeah, I never imagined when I said yes, that, you know, I would still be where I am. And like, yeah, it's just been amazing. It's just opened up a whole new world to me. Feeling of really living life, like not just getting through the days. Yeah. Yeah. There's like, there's so much joy.
Maureen Benkovich (40:35.21)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (40:43.848)
I love that.
Maureen Benkovich (40:47.658)
Not just getting by. yeah, that is so important that.
Carrie Chojnowski (40:53.666)
So much more joy, like I can actually feel the joy that I was numbing for so, you know, it was like I was trying to numb whatever I was dissatisfied with, but I was also numbing my ability to feel the joy. Cause I, I think the alcohol would make me see the negative. So now that I don't have that, like I just.
Maureen Benkovich (41:05.13)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (41:16.064)
Yeah, we also talk about how it changes your pleasure baseline over time. So it changes your brain chemistry because your brain's trying to establish homeostasis. And we go into that in the course, but it literally changes what you used to get joy out of is now kind of gray and dull. And it takes a lot more for you to feel joy and you start to feel like you need alcohol at everything, every event.
Carrie Chojnowski (41:36.246)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. Like the things that used to seem now, used to seem like awesome, don't seem as awesome. And the things that bothered me so much don't really bother me. It's like, I don't know. So it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool.
Maureen Benkovich (41:54.613)
Yeah, that is pretty cool. And that's why I love doing this is watch people have their ahas and change and feel joyful. Like you just definitely come across. Yeah, like...
Carrie Chojnowski (42:00.492)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, definitely much, much more joyful, much more just like just thankful and grateful. And yeah, I'm going to be 50 this year or next year, not yet, January. And it's less than a year, but I'm excited to like, I don't know, celebrate that in a much different way than I thought I probably would. yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (42:09.814)
com.
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (42:16.466)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (42:29.162)
Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm so glad you came on here and shared your story because I think so many people can relate to so many points of your story along the way. And also, if you are listening and you want to have a healthier gut and learn more about your gut health, you can reach out to Carrie. I will have her information in the show notes. And thanks again, Carrie, for coming on.
Carrie Chojnowski (42:46.498)
Yeah. Thank you so much. Love being here. Take care. Bye.
Maureen Benkovich (42:50.964)
Yeah, see you soon.
