Sober October Made Simple: Life Coach Shares 30-Day Roadmap to Alcohol-Free Living
EL PASO, Texas, Oct. 2, 2025 — Sober October is the perfect moment for people to pause and reevaluate their relationship with alcohol. Chris Najera, certified life coach and author of The Hard Truth! Stopping Alcohol, delivers a timely, practical guide to help readers take a 30-day break from drinking, blending personal experience with actionable strategies for lasting change.
Najera knows the challenge firsthand: He battled alcohol use disorder for over 30 years. In The Hard Truth!, he shares candid, lived experience alongside research-based advice, offering readers clarity, courage and a roadmap toward freedom from alcohol. Designed for anyone who drinks regularly — from casual to daily drinkers — the book empowers readers to break free from dependency and reclaim control over their lives.
“If you’re looking to stop, you’ve come to the right place,” Najera said. “This book gives you the tools to take that first month seriously, see real progress and start discovering the person you were meant to be before alcohol disrupted your life.”
So what happens on Day One of Najera’s 30-day plan? Simply deciding to stop.
“You have to want to stop,” Najera said. “You have to want it more than anything. You have to have a paradigm shift in your mind.”
While Najera’s narrative is hopeful and encouraging, he doesn’t shy away from pointing out the darker aspects of alcohol usage and the damage it does to the human body. He also shares phone numbers and websites for a range of organizations where individuals can find the help they need — and discover what works best for their personal journeys. Ultimately, Najera challenges readers to confront alcohol’s hold and make more informed choices.
“What makes this book unique is its honesty and practicality,” Najera said. “Whether you’re questioning your drinking habits, taking part in Sober October or seeking lasting sobriety, The Hard Truth! offers clarity, guidance and encouragement. This isn’t just a book — it’s a tool to empower individuals and educate communities about the risks of alcohol and the possibility of change.”
The Hard Truth! Stopping Alcohol
Publisher: Spines
Release Date: June 13, 2025
ISBN-13: 979-8896917939
The press release above may be published in part or entirety by any print, broadcast or internet/digital media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.
Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews and Q&As are available upon request.
About the Author
Christopher J. Najera is a certified life coach, public speaker and author who spent 35 years battling alcohol use disorder. Najera speaks from a place of raw honesty and lived truth. A weekend drinker who turned to daily drinking, alcohol consumed him, and he sought outpatient treatment. After seeing others suffering, he realized he didn’t want to end up on dialysis or a liver transplant list like his peers. It was in those moments that real change was the best outcome for his future.
Driven by a mission to expose the truths alcohol companies never reveal, Najera brings together powerful facts, personal stories and practical tools to help audiences understand their relationship with alcohol and reclaim their lives. His work aligns with global health efforts, including the World Health Organization's campaign to reduce harmful alcohol use by 2030 at the local level.
Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Najera balances his work as a life coach and author with mentoring others on the path to sobriety. He lives sober, advocates for healthier choices and proves that transformation is possible at any stage of life.
The Runner's Workout Handbook
Run Your Way to Fitness and Health
September 20, 2017 (New York, NY): Running is the easiest and most affordable way to build and maintain fitness, targeting both muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance. However running can be monotonous with plateaus easily reached. Until now...
Let expert and multi-sport coach Terri Schneider fire up your runs with a combination of skill training with variations in speed, distance, and technique as she presents 100 of the best running workouts designed for all experience levels.
These expert-designed plans guide you to get the most out of your running program and helps you break through training barriers. Clearly, The Runner's Workout Handbook for an effective and easy-to-follow series of running workouts designed to make for stronger, faster, and more proficient runners.
Whether you run competitively, to get fit or to stay fit, The Runner’s Workout Handbook is your complete guide to finding innovative and engaging running plans to make the most of your training time, providing a wide variety of workouts to keep you challenged and motivated, all while improving your performance.
About the Author
Terri Schneider is an ultra-endurance athlete, speaker, author, coach, and sport psychology consultant. A former 10-year professional triathlete focusing on the IRONMAN® distance, she expanded her challenges to include adventure racing with the inception of the Eco Challenge in 1995, as well as ultrarunning and mountaineering. Terri earned a degree in exercise physiology as well as a master’s degree in sport psychology with a research emphasis on risk taking and team dynamics. She is co-author of Triathlete’s Guide to Mental Training and author of Dirty Inspirations and Triathlon Revolution: Training, Technique and Inspiration.
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THE RUNNER'S WORKOUT HANDBOOK
Written by Terri Schneider
978-1-57826-697-5, $15.00 paperback
978-1-57826-698-2, $9.99 eBook
New from Hatherleigh Press.
Distributed through Penguin Random House.
Available wherever books are sold.
www.hatherleighpress.com
Building A Healthy Child - Book Review
Many parents feed their children as if they are adults. The truth is, however, that organs and body systems mature at different times, which means nutrition needs at different ages vary.
In her new book, “Building a Healthy Child,” naturopathic doctor Melina Roberts outlines a revolutionary nutritional program that aims to change the way parents introduce foods to their children -- significantly improving the health of the future generation.
“If we introduce foods based on these key concepts, we can avoid common childhood illnesses like allergies, eczema and asthma, and also form the foundation of long-term health,” Roberts said.
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of her book. Although I do not have children I have many clients who do so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn and be able to give better advice to my parenting clients. Most parents want whats best for their children and there are a lot of misconceptions out there. This book is great for learning that up and I would recommend it to any mom or dad out there looking to raise a healthy baby.
She covers a wide variety of topics including: First foods, problem foods, solid food introduction, supplements, remedies, liver and toxins and even includes healthy recipes for different ages. So grab a copy and get reading so that you can have a healthy baby!
Melina Roberts, N.D., is a naturopathic doctor and founder of Advanced Naturopathic Medical Centre in Calgary, Canada. She is a graduate of University of Waterloo and the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and is a leading authority in the field of naturopathic medicine. She currently resides in Calgary with her husband and daughter. For more information, visit http://advancednaturopathic.com.
3 Steps To Help You Grocery Shop
Take grocery shopping into your own hands. The following three steps will help you to properly navigate your way through the grocery store in order to support your healthy lifestyle, avoid diet sabotage, and impress your family or the significant other in your life. Carry these tips in this article before you make your next trip to the grocery store and remember to never go grocery shopping if you are hungry.
STEP 1: THE SHOPPING LIST
Before heading to the grocery store prepare a comprehensive weekly shopping list. I recommend sitting down on a Sunday to plan out your main meals for the week, from there you can create a shopping list of all the ingredients/items you will need to make your healthy meals. You can do this on a scrap paper, in a notebook, iphone or blackberry.
Having a list will help you stay focused in the grocery store and avoid picking up “temptation items” that can be detrimental to your healthy, clean eating diet. Lastly, remember to stick to the main rule: IF IT’S NOT ON THE LIST KEEP IT OUT OF THE CART! That meals not even an extra candy bar at the counter. Sticking to the list also helps you stay within your budget.
STEP 2: THE GROCERY STORE
For the majority of your food items you will only need to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Processed foods and foods that contain sugar and startch are what is normally found in the aisles. Along the perimeter is where the fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, and whole grains can be found. You can venture into the aisles for food items like flax seeds, oatmeal, cooking oils, spices, or whole grains.
STEP 3: READING LABELS
Reading food labels can be very confusing and most people don’t really know what to look for. Avoid foods with: Trans fats, long ingredient lists with lots of artificial ingredients and added chemicals, unhealthy additional sugars such as sucrose, glucose, sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup etc. Do not believe everything you read because occasionally food labels make claims to trick you into thinking they are the healthy choice when they truly aren’t. Watch out for statements that include claims like “no added sugar”, “contains real fruit”, “all natural”, “fat free”, “low carb”, “high protein”. Be aware and investigate these claims by checking nutrition labels and ingredient lists. These claims are made in order to deceive people into buying it so don’t fall into their trickery so always double check.
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