August 20, 2014

Time For a Change to a Healthier Sobriety

I see so many of my sober friends leading such healthy lives! They do yoga, and eat vegan, and grow organic foods, do cleanses on regular basis, and are totally into green everything! I am amazed. How do they do that?

My husband and I are both sober but we still smoke, drink tons of coffee and eat probably way too much sugar. There is no exercise or yoga on regular basis for us, and we love red meat and lots of butter over our veggies.

Is it time for a change?

When I was first getting sober, trying to quit anything else at the same time was not even a thought. As a matter of fact at the rehab they told us not to quit anything else within the first year. They told us that the different stages of withdrawal from alcohol may be harder when combined with the withdrawal from certain foods, and also some foods like sugar may help with withdrawal. So I used caffeine and nicotine as my crutch... and candy... of course those aren't foods either! LOL! But, it still feels like sometimes I need a crutch. I still think that getting sober was so very, very difficult, especially following the four years of miserable relapsing - I just feel like I can't give up anything else! I don't want to give up anything else!

And rewards! Where are my rewards! I also often feel like I don't have any rewards left at all, you know for job well done, or the end of the week, or birthdays and holidays! I used to drink as a reward! No wait, who am I kidding - I drank because that's what I did; I did not need a reason!

But, I read so many blogs and see so many of my friends going all healthy! I am truly amazed and I admire them that they are be able to turn their lives around so drastically! But me? Eh. I mean I have dieted after my babies and I did quit smoking when I was pregnant, but I love my occasional smoke breaks! And a nice piece of steak with garlic butter? Hmmm good! What is really weird is that I also feel like I deserve it. I often and still feel like I have quit my bestest friend in the entire world (not really a best friend, really more like my worst enemy) and now I can't ever drink again, so instead, I can have anything else, no matter how bad it is for me (well excluding mind altering substances!) and I still think if I don't have a crutch then what will I do? Will I drink again! Oh and I so don't want to drink again! But I have been sober for a while... I shouldn't need a crutch anymore, right? Ugh.

So well, I was thinking, I suppose it's all in moderation, like they say! Ha, so they say, but moderation is not really in my vocabulary! LOL! (Definitely not when it comes to drinking,) But maybe it's time to get a bit healthier! Maybe nothing horribly drastic, I don't see myself going vegan any time soon! LOL! But a little less caffeine? A little less sugar? And maybe little more exercise and salads!

In the end, this is just like getting sober; I think that I am giving up things, instead of looking at all the things that I will be gaining!