I’m really proud of Lindsay for not drinking for a whole week and all, but doesn’t AA teach that you’re supposed to stay away from your old crowd and keep out of the bars if you can help it? Lindsay has been sipping water and Red Bull while out at the same old places she used to drink and presumably drug at.

She claims she’s been in AA for a year, and is bragging about her whole first week of sobriety. Baby steps I guess. Still, it seems like she should clam up a bit and earn her own three month chip before she starts talking about it.

It’s in a quote at the end of her rambling interview that she reveals her whole rehab strategy. She’s just going to take a stab at it, and if she’s not successful it’s not her fault or anything. It was fate:

Lindsay Lohan had a good reason to be late for a holiday party at Hollywood club Shag in on Monday. “I just left an AA meeting,” she told PEOPLE.

“I’ve been going to AA, for a year by the way,” she added. Why didn’t she say so until recently? “Well it’s no one’s business. That’s why it’s anonymous!”…

“I haven’t had a drink in seven days. Or anything. I’m not even legal to, so why would I?” Lohan, 20, told PEOPLE. “I don’t drink when I go to clubs. I drink with my friends at home, but there’s no need to. I feel better not drinking. It’s more fun. I have Red Bull.”

But, she added, “I didn’t feel bad before. I never felt bad. I just wanted to, like, find a balance. I was out too much. I was too caught up. I mean, I’m 20 years old. I was off from work, I was getting ready to start a film, and I was like going out just to get it out of my system. I was going out too much and I knew that, and I have more to live for than that.”

Lohan said she hopes to shift the focus from her partying to her career. “I was like, I don’t want to be written about at these clubs with these people. I work, I act, I have a living. That’s what I do every day. I work every single day.”

Asked if she had advice for those seeking recovery from substance abuse, Lohan said, “I think, don’t do it for someone else. Do it for you, ’cause if you do it for someone else you’re going to relapse. It’s not going to be a change. You have to really do something if you want to do it and … if it doesn’t work, you’re not meant to.”

Maybe it will work out for Lindsay and she’ll find that life balance she so sorely needs. It seems like she would do well to keep her mouth shut and try to have some success at her new lifestyle before she starts telling everyone about it. If she doesn’t stay sober, though, it wasn’t her fault or anything and she can just try again at some other point when she reaches rock bottom or needs the publicity.

Photos from linds-lo.com