by Paul Churchill | Feb 12, 2017 | Blog, Sober Meme, The Bottom, The first Year
Sober Recovery Memes
One of my favorite things to do while traveling is create sober recovery memes. They are all related to my memories of drinking and creating these recovery memes is a great way to add humor to my recovery. I’ve created over 100 sober memes and plan to keep on making these recovery memes as long as I am sober. Well, if I do drink, which isn’t the plan, I’ll continue to make memes about how drinking sucks.
You can see that the rock star in my life is my best friend Ben who is a standard poodle. When drinking, I often skipped his meals, didn’t deliver on promises of taking him on walks and overall was a sub par dog owner. Now things are much different as these sober recovery memes indicate.
Humor in recovery is essential and sober memes is a great way for me to express my creativity and smile. Sure there were tough times in the past when I was drinking, but looking back on these drunken moments and letting go is a big part of my recovery.
Be sure to add plenty of laughter to your recovery and don’t take yourself too seriously.
If you have any sober memes you’d like to add, send them to info@recoveryelevator.com. I found a free meme creator on the app store and I started creating memes. At first I thought it would be difficult creating sober recovery memes but once the creative juices starting flowing, I couldn’t keep up with my mind. Memes, although simple in nature, can be a powerful representation of how amazing sobriety can be. If you’re looking to get sober, I recommend downloading a meme app and creating some sober memes. They are a lot of fun to make.
Paul
by Paul Churchill | Jan 20, 2017 | Blog, Early Sobriety, Helpful Tips, The first Year
I was in my first 72 hours of sobriety when Paul threw out the stat that only 5 percent of those who want to get sober will make it to 90 days. Of those 5 percent, only 5 percent will make it to 2 years without drinking alcohol. Let’s see… Okay, for every 1000 people who desire to get sober, 2.5 of them will be sober in two years. I’m not shaking anymore, but the acute effects of withdrawal have not left. My mind is in a fog, my skin has pinpricks running throughout, and I have not strung together more than a few hours of sleep in three days. By the time I hear this depressing stat, I realize that the easy fix to my discomfort would be to have a few drinks… and apparently, 1,997.5 people wouldn’t blame me. I’m not getting to sleep anytime soon. Maybe I’ll just keep listening.
I think we all know that hyper-vigilant friend who attaches themselves to a cause. There is the one who can string together why shopping at Wal-Mart is akin to feeding “The Corporate Antichrist”. They are loaded with information about the 6 Wal-Mart heirs making more money than the lowest 42 percent of the population combined. They’ll make a great case for corporation not paying living wages or providing decent healthcare and in turn, how our taxes subsidize government benefits, the services that could be provided by billionaires. If that didn’t get you, they’ll pepper you with the working conditions of the children in Polynesia so that you know the true cost of your three dollar Duck Dynasty tank top. They are not wrong. They have done their homework. In fact, you are persuaded to the point that you feel ashamed, stop shopping at Wal-Mart for a few days, and maybe even clumsily repeat the stats to a non-intellectual so as to stroke your newfound sense of self-righteousness. Problem is, within days those facts went fleeting. While appalled, you were not as committed as your friend. Your habits did not include the same degree of rigorous study, and in a moment of consumer relapse, you’re pulling once again to the parking lot ready to make an offering to the “Temple of Social Injustice”. You deny your first impulse to think it through. You certainly do not want to call your friend so he can feed you additional information. Let’s not ruin the day by feeling bad about making the easy choice. Besides, the sun is out and your guns are gonna look sweet in that tank top.
Yes, I am taking a dig at Wal-Mart. Pick any cause though… If we put the effort into learning about factory farming and the mistreatment of animals that are our food source, we would cringe and give pause to the effects of our consumption. Find out a few more facts about the mortality rates of the workers who assemble our smartphones and we are confronted with moral choices. The truth is, when it comes to these issues, we shop, consume, use, and abuse as a means to survive. We use the littlest amount of thought to procure the food, clothing, and technology to communicate. It is the basis for survival and we let the lizard portion of the brain do the thinking. Ease and value compete against taking a more difficult, long term approach that benefits everybody.
Now let’s be honest. How many of those inspirational, uncompromised, hyper-vigilant, cause oriented, intellectually sound, unwavering social renegades do we know? Not that many. Most of us slowly go the way of the buffalo which makes the impassioned moral minority pretty easy to spot. That minority friend, whatever their cause, is the rare bird that continually absorbs information, which in turn, informs their actions.
I was pretty discourage with that statistic that Paul relayed over my headset that night. I had no false sense that I was going to be in that minority of the first 5 percent, let alone in the second 5%. If I was involved in this human experiment called sobriety, there was no indicator from the last 10 years of alcohol abuse that I would succeed. I was all impulse and little intellect when it came to using alcohol.
I am close to 40 days sober. I have just gotten current with Recovery Elevator podcasts at episode 99. I started at Episode 00 and listened throughout the 40 days straight through. I am so thankful for the wealth of information and experiences that have been shared on the podcast. There is such a diverse amount of helpful experience in sobriety on the show. As I reflect on what might be the common source of success in everyone’s personal recovery program, it’s that the sober alcoholic is continually feeding the executive center of their brain. The AA attendant gets information and advice from a group share or a big book. The self-employed travels in a car with a podcast in the background. A mom finds a group to confide in and have a source reminder of a difficult past. Someone struggles with temptation, they get immediate advice from a Facebook Forum. In quiet times the recovering alcoholic finds books, websites and blogs. Information.
I do not have a rigid program for sobriety. My goals are to be 100% honest with my wife and accept her help, insight, and accountability. Second, it is to reprogram my doublemindedness with helpful and encouraging information daily. If the lizard portion of my brain is the quickest to respond and tell me that I need a drink to survive, I want the part of my brain that controls reason, behavior, and executive decision making to be full and ready to Giving Up Alcohol. I think it takes community and positive information.
At my core, I know who I am. I shop at Wal-Mart. I eat fast food. I own an IPhone. I am an alcoholic.
Ultimately, I want to be that annoying, hyper-vigilant friend when it comes to my alcoholism, but I now understand why so few will make it. The same impulse to eat, commune, and provide shelter the easiest way possible is the same impulse that beckons me to take that first drink. The difference today is, I understand that drinking is not a means for survival. It wants to destroy my future.
by Paul Churchill | Jan 12, 2017 | Alcohol Relapse, Blog, Early Sobriety, The Bottom, The First 30
Yesterday, I eclipsed my first thirty days of sobriety in over twelve years. I stopped drinking on December 5th, 2016 and have remained sober using close accountability and honesty with my wife and listening to 90 RE Podcasts in 30 days. The support, encouragement, and connection with you and your interviewees of this last 30 days have been an immeasurable reminder of the depths I have slipped to at times, but more importantly, the hope of a limitless future without the pull and dependence of alcohol.
Like many, I probably should have hit what others would have viewed as a “bottom” a long time ago.
I am 41 years old and began drinking at age 12. I had the normal occasional weekend parties of going out with friends, finding alcohol, and using in that fashion through high school. This was normal within our social structure and I never questioned alcohol as a problem. I most certainly would have never predicted alcoholism in my future, as I spent the next 10 years only having the occasional beer/s on Thanksgiving, Super Bowls, camping etc.…
After high school, in 1993, I married young at age 18, and alcohol simply did not follow me into the responsibilities of young adulthood. At age 18, I acquired a low end job at an affiliate of the University in my hometown that focused on biology research. I was soon entrusted with lab and research responsibilities that that included genetic research on Downs Syndrome, ALS, and The Human Genome Project. In a ten year stretch, non-college educated, I was an author on three pier reviewed research publications. Professionally, paralleling this at home, I was involved in our local church as a staff Youth Pastor and developing my own small commercial business in the evenings. I was busy.
My wife developed Lupus in her early twenties and her condition was chronic and fairly severe. We had a child when I was 25 and a lot of his care, Dad and Mom duties, were directed to me. Normal life stuff, but by age 28/29 in 2004/2005 I had a wife and child in a big house in an affluent Denver suburb. Multiple income streams, including a growing small business. Little to no drinking… holidays, birthdays, a 6-pack of beer could sit in my fridge for months.
What changed?
As we settled into our ideal home, in the ideal neighborhood, we really started connecting with our neighbors. Weekend drinking, sitting out in lawn chairs, listening to music, watching the kids play started to become the norm. I loved it. My “responsibility bank” was overdrawn and I absolutely loved getting to the end of the week and winding down with friends and neighbors.
In 2007, a handful of us went down to a bar fairly close to home. We were celebrating a friend’s promotion. We had a designated driver, but she began drinking. Me, being the “caretaker” of all things, business, church, family, and now friends, I elected myself to drive us home. This was my first DUI.
Following the legal gymnastics of getting through the DUI process, I did not feel like I had an alcohol problem. In the secrecy of like company, you find out that a lot of people get DUI’s. In fact, the same prominent person who received the promotion, of whom we were celebrating, pulled me aside the next day and told me that he had gotten a DUI, and if his company did not bury it in a drawer, he would not have gotten his promotion. Normal, everyday people got DUIs. The court systems feed off of the DUI revenue…etc.
With my commercial cleaning business thriving, and the difficulties of taking care of everything I was juggling (family, business, and legal). I chose to quit working for the University and stop my research career, something I absolutely loved. I began to realize that just being a small business owner, a janitor, was a tad less fulfilling and weekend drinking in the neighborhood started to bleed into the weekday nights.
In 2008/2009, my 16 year marriage had run its course. I say this somewhat casually, but it was so difficult. I know people would probably assume that drinking played a big role in this divorce, but I can honestly take inventory and say that it didn’t. My wife felt like she had missed out on her younger years, said she felt like she was “35 going on 25”, and wanted new, more youthful experiences. There was infidelity discovered. I was devastated. I am the classic co-dependent, who finds his value in taking care of everybody else, my wife, my clients, my son, and my friends. I was highly functional and admired by everyone, yet all my efforts felt meaningless when publicly your marriage, something you hold dear, is dissolving. It felt like a moral failing. My elevator was about to start go down quickly.
In 2009, I had majority custody of my 8 year old son. My business, consisting of mostly evening work had to be fully staffed, so that I could be home with my son. I dialed everything in responsibility wise to maintain our home, business, and parenting. I had a lot of free time combined with a lot of self-pity. Woe is me, the guy who cares about everyone else, but just gets shit on. My night drinking bled into morning drinking to take the edge off a hangover and by the end of 2010 I was medicating day and night with alcohol just to feel normal. At the end of December 30th of 2010, I had wrapped up the end of month/year accounting for my business and I was going to celebrate at a bar in town. This was “going out” for me, and a rare occurrence. I did my drinking at home.
By the end of this evening, I knew I was too drunk to drive home. I called my cousin to see if she could pick me up. She came into the bar and, not to my knowledge, was already under the influence. I know she had a few more drinks at the bar, but she was my ride home and my only concern was that I was not putting myself in the situation of getting a DUI. Simply, on the way home, my cousin missed a turn and drove us into large rock barrier. I was transported by ambulance with a broken hip, femur, nose, 3 fingers, and torn ligaments in my neck. Hours later at the hospital my BAC was .36. I get it. This was supposed to be my bottom. Your friends and family standing over you in the hospital, your secret is out. Might as well admit you have a problem? My problem, as I saw it, were my first thoughts when I woke up in that trauma unit. “Shit, I’m still here?” I didn’t care if I did or did not have a problem. This is how I was going to get through the pains of life and other people and circumstances did not get to determine how I was going to live it. I was about to undergo serious physical rehabilitation and alcohol was going to help.
It didn’t. In the spring of 2011, just a few months later, I received my second DUI. I was going to pick up my son from school.
So, I know this was supposed to be “my bottom”, but I’d like to make an observation that I have not encountered on any of the Recovery Elevator Podcasts:
When you get a DUI, it can exacerbate drinking. The shame, the anxiety of an uncertain future / jail time, the stigma, the logistics of not driving, the piss tests, court ordered classes, forced AA, community service… Your whole world revolves around fixing this mistake and that mistake is ever-present before you. Second, and we all know this now, no one can make this decision to “How Can I Stop Drinking Alcohol” for you. So, at every turn, within the DUI process the authorities telling you not to do something, you are going to be obstinate. Forced quitting is counter opposed to an alcoholic’s pride.
I am thankful for the second DUI in so many ways. It forced moderation and I needed that, but I was an adult. I take care of my son, my bills, and my clients. I am functioning on a high level, and in a sick way, I liked the obstacles of the court system… I used to juggle so much more… I can juggle this too.
On July 4th of that same year, one day before I was to have my driving privileges revoked, I met my current wife at a 4th of July BBQ. I hesitated in giving her my phone number because I knew the journey I was about to undergo with all of the legal difficulties and lack of driving. I was embarrassed and ashamed and was content with putting my head in the sand and getting through it. That said, she called a week later, and I was transparent about what I was up against. We went through it together. We were married that following 4th of July, 2012. In many ways, I was able to hit the reset button. Legal problems aside, I looked like a normal drinker again, only because the court requirements, random tests, and eventually car breathalyzer demanded it. You probably know where this is going, but the further I got away from the legal restrictions, the more opportunities I/(now we) had to indulge in drinking more. –ISM (incredibly short memory) Ugh.
The drinking from 2013 – 2016 followed so many predictable patterns that I hear about on your show. We’d make rules and then break them. Only drinking on the weekends… broken. Only spending so much money a week on alcohol… broken. Only drinking at normal social events or holidays… broken. Geographical change (we moved up to a small mountain community) where we could reduce stress, business demands and of course, drink less… nope.
The best part of my story, is that I think I get to be a “high bottom”. It suits my pride to think so.
December 5th, for the most part, is my first attempt to quit drinking. Even with all of the difficulties described above, I never really had an interest in giving alcohol up. This is who I was, it was part of me and I would take the good with the bad.
My “Ah ha!” moment hit me at the end of July in 2016. My wife’s daughter had severe, multiple strokes from complications due to a car accident. I don’t know what it was, but it was the first time in my 40 years that I’d seen someone suffer like that. She was covered in more machines and apparatuses than you could see of her body. She was on blood thinners so that blood could get to her brain. Subsequently, the blood seeped from her mouth and nose. The doctors gave her a 5% chance of making it through the night. She suffered. The people around her suffered watching, especially her Mom.
I guess I had a lot of sober think time over those initial days, combined with an undoubtedly “Higher Power” experience in the hospital. The takeaway was that I could not imagine purposely putting myself in that situation where other people were standing around me. Watching me suffer from the effects of alcoholism and me, in turn, knowing that I had let the people down who loved me the most … especially, for something I should be able to control.
For the first time above all the other reasons that I should have quit earlier, this preview into my future was my moment. I had a conversation with my wife on the grass of the hospital about the way I was feeling, my drinking, how I wanted to have a better and healthier life. How I didn’t want alcohol to be the end of our story. My wife’s daughter recovered with all of the painstaking aftercare that went along with it.
Drinking was cut back considerably in the fall of 2016, but I have to be honest, the mental obsession with when, where, how much… etc. were all there. If there was an event approaching the drinking would start early and end late… I mean days late, you know?
On Sunday, December 4th I had my last drink. No fireworks, no DUIs, no drunken outburst, just a 3 day fog of drinking coming to the end and an honest understanding that I am unable to control alcohol.
Monday, December 5th, I talked to my wife about alcohol and the extent to which my brain was broke. I was not fearful of her lack of understanding or support, just fearful of being the guy who can accomplish anything, but just can’t seem to accomplish finding the breaks once I start drinking.
Again, thank you Paul. I curled up those first 24 hours sick and ashamed. I searched for Podcasts and found RE. I listened to 5 or 6 to get me through the day, and 90 episodes over the last 30 days. You have no doubt been in peoples ears while they tremor. Your interviewees have encouraged someone when skin was like a pincushion and sleep was nowhere to be found. Your voice landed tips in the right moments at the right times during the holidays. For people who cannot get to meetings, you have brought the meetings to them.
Many Blessings to you and the RE team for 2017. “We can do this.”
– Jeff
by Paul Churchill | Jan 12, 2017 | Alcohol Relapse, Blog, Early Sobriety, The Bottom
First, I want to say thanks for the podcast. It’s been a huge help on my road to recovery – it’s been 53 days! I’ve been listening to RE since I decided to get sober and only felt compelled to write you after listening to the last episode about cognitive dissonance because it really hit home for me.
My journey has been somewhat interesting (as is everyone’s I’m sure). To start, I’m 29, I live in Weehawken, NJ and commute into Manhattan for work everyday. I live with my girlfriend of two years and our awesome Pomsky puppy named Mylo.
I started drinking when I was about 13, casually stealing beers, wine coolers or whatever I can get my hands on, and started binge drinking around 15. The progression was somewhat slow, but the writing was definitely on the wall – even at a young age. For all intents and purposes I had a great childhood. Loving family, great friends, great high school experience – things were good. I loved sports – especially golf – and played religiously. This allowed me to earn a Division 1 scholarship to Seton Hall University in NJ.
My freshman year of college was unique I’d say. One of my teammates recognized himself as a born again Christian and I grew close to him. I’ve always had a strong faith in God and the question of “why are we here?” is something that burns in me everyday – probably more than most – which has definitely been a driver of my drug and alcohol use. I was attending bible study with other athletes, going to church regularly, reading St. Thomas Aquinas and Augustine in the library on Friday nights, and made the decision to not got drunk anymore – which is an interesting and tough choice for a college freshman. That lasted the entire year until my one teammate from England was graduating and heading back home. I got drunk that night and it was off to the races.
The next 3 years of college consisted of heavy drinking, blacking out, waking up and doing it all over again. Since I hung out with athletes we got access to painkillers on a regular basis so I’d dabble with them every once and awhile and occasionally smoke some weed, but nothing too serious because we got drug tested. I lost interest in golf and built this persona for myself around my group of friends – life of the party. And I liked it and fed into it. At this time, thoughts of being an alcoholic would creep into my mind, but I quickly made them disappear. “I have a 3.7 GPA, I’m a Division 1 college athlete, I never get in trouble, I’m not hurting anyone. Everything’s fine!” – I’d tell myself.
Once I graduated, I had plans to backpack across Europe with one of my teammates. It was 2010 and the job market kind of sucked, and I was in no hurry to go sit behind a desk. Him and I decided to caddy all summer, save up and hit the road. On my second day, I caddied for a man who worked on Wall Street – he offered me a job a week later, and I took it. To this day, it’s one of my biggest regrets.
I fell into “Wall Street life”, and I fell hard. I was 22 at the time. It didn’t take long before cocaine became my drug of choice, and it went hand in hand with the liquor. I’d spend every dollar I made and live paycheck to paycheck just so I can party as much as possible. 4-5 nights a week I was out, but I was young and living the life (so I thought). The cocaine slowly led into pretty much whatever I can get my hands on (Molly, pills, K, whatever). Anything to take me out of reality and into some other stratosphere. I’d ride that high into oblivion – whatever it took. My friends started to slow down and I just hit the gas harder. I switched jobs 4 times during the last 7 years… constantly searching for some change or something to make a difference. Little did I know that it was ME that was the issue.
Things really got out of hand during the summer when I was 27 years old. Looking back, I’m just happy I came out of it alive. I got deep into gambling, won A LOT of money and then lost A LOT of money, didn’t go to work for days at a time, took a trip to Vegas, and it finally culminated with me getting arrested outside of a nightclub in NYC for possession of cocaine. I spent the night in central booking. A fitting end I suppose – since I was simply playing Russian roulette every time I went out. My family found out and led somewhat of an intervention. I decided to go see a therapist and a few months later I met my wonderful girlfriend who filled a huge void in my life. I never had any meaningful relationships. I was guarded, walled off. I’d go from girl to girl never getting close enough to get hurt.
However, all of this was still not enough to quit. I continued to drink and use, however, the incidents grew farther and farther apart, but when I’d go off the rails it would wreak havoc on my life. Finally, on November 12, I had enough. I went out for lunch Friday afternoon (the 11th) and came home the next day at 8am. I missed my niece’s baptism class, my girlfriend and my dog were gone when I got home, and I just sat on my bed and cried. I finally couldn’t take it anymore.
As I go through my journey, I’m trying to understand my addiction and how/why I ended up here. While I definitely believe there are some genetic factors (my aunt is 10 years sober and my grandfather was an alcoholic) I firmly believe it has a lot to do with emotional connection. While I had a ton of friends my whole life and was always around people – I felt completely alone. My first girlfriend cheated on me at a young age, my great-grandmother died when I was 20, my grandfather committed suicide when I was 23, my uncle died unexpectedly when I was 25, and my Dad suddenly passed away this August. As each event happened, I walled myself off as much as humanely possible. If I never felt vulnerable then I can never get hurt. I’m realizing now that the secrets, the hiding, the lack of vulnerability, the inability to show any emotion, and my thoughts on working/life have been a very significant driver in my drug and alcohol use – along with the genetic dispositions of course.
Addiction is complicated for sure, but I also find it fascinating. I’m excited about being sober and present for the first time in 15 years. I’m currently going to individual therapy, attending a 12 week outpatient program, attending AA, reading, listening to RE and Sober Guy podcast and learning/talking to other sober people as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong – it hasn’t been easy, but I’ve finally let go and told my family, girlfriend, and friends my history and it feels like a million pound boulder has been lifted off of me. I’ve got a great support system around me, and I’m grateful for that.
Sorry if this was long! Haha – it’s actually been quite therapeutic. It’s the first time I’ve written all this down. Once again, thanks for what you’re doing. It’s changing lives.
-James
by Paul Churchill | Oct 26, 2016 | Blog, Helpful Tips
I have heard it said that to recover from an addiction, you need some intangible qualities. Among them are honesty, willingness, and an open-mind. These qualities may not come easily. They may only develop after you take some actions that you do not yet believe in, such as attending 12 step or other support meetings, listening to people you may once have shrugged off, or trying to practice a new set of principles. All these things usually are contrary to the nature of most alcoholics and addicts. Yet, I believe it is through action that you can also bring about a change in your outlook.
To recognize that you have a problem, you need to first be honest with yourself about your problem. Self-delusion is a roadblock that many addicts and alcoholics will stumble over. It prevents you from taking a good, reasonable look at your life and your circumstances. To remain self-deluded is to fool yourself into thinking you are perfectly fine, when in reality you are far from it. In so many instances, you are the last person who realizes you have a problem with substance abuse, and it is all too plain to see for everyone in your life. Getting honest with yourself about your using will allow you to begin to take steps toward recovery of your mind and body.
The open-mind then becomes a key trait. As you have become honest with yourself, you can then allow new ideas to filter in. Much like water flowing through a charcoal filter, it gets purified and the contaminants get removed. You are then able to grasp and see concepts that once would have been impossible. This all happens as your mind and body recover from your addiction. It takes time, and it is not easy, but it is attainable with effort.
Lastly, is willingness: for the alcoholic or addict, no real progress can be made in recovery until they are willing to change their behaviors and attitudes. Consistent sobriety may be hard or impossible to achieve without some degree of willingness. By being willing to take different actions and accept other viewpoints, you can then develop more honesty and a more open mind and thus grow as a person.
BIO:
Andy is a blogger for Step One Rehab. Through his writing, he attempts to raise awareness about addiction, substance abuse, and mental health issues. The goal of Step One Rehab is to match premium addiction treatment facilities with the needs of clients. Andy writes daily articles for Step One’s blog. To learn more, visit their website or check them out on Facebook, or Twitter.
by wordpress | Mar 12, 2016 | Blog
I remember the first 60 days of recovery like it was yesterday – and that’s a good thing! It’s one of the memories of my sickness that keeps me from going back to the bottle. The emotional side of alcohol recovery is hard enough – feelings of depression, sadness, doubt, anxiety, and loss. But add the physical side effects – the shakes, sweats, stomach cramps, cravings for alcohol and sugar – and you end up with chaos.
Many recovery programs deal with the physical side effects by covering them up with medications to help with the feelings of depression and to counteract the cravings. Group and individual therapy, as well as 12-step programs, go a long way in helping the recovering alcoholic deal with the “head part” of the business. However, they rarely work on repairing the damage done internally – liver, brain, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as basic nutrition.
Alcohol depletes our bodies nutritionally. It changes the way our bodies process food. It eats up the vitamins and minerals we do put in our bodies. Over time, we end up so malnourished that our brains cannot think our way out of our predicament. Alcoholics who have gone that far are usually the ones we see on the streets. All it took was one night sitting in an alley waiting for an ambulance to take me to the hospital when I thought I had alcohol poisoning to get my semi-lucid mind to make the decision to finally get help.
During my early recovery I tried radical vitamin therapy – I worked with a local naturopath to increase the amount of vitamins typically depleted in an alcoholic: L-Glutamine, L-Tyrosine, and L-Tryptophan, B-complex, Ester C, Calcium, Magnesium, GLA, Pancreatic Enzymes, Betaine Hydrochloride, and Melatonin. I think the vitamin therapy helped a bit, but I was not working on the underlying psychological and emotional issues that come hand in hand with alcoholism. The amount of vitamins I had to consume to “push out” the toxins was the equivalent of 15-20 capsules every 2 hours a day for about a month. The expense (about $650) and the time it took to prepare and consume that amount of supplements ended the experiment. Insurance companies will pay for drugs, but not for supplementation.
As a trained and experienced personal trainer and nutrition specialist, I knew the best course of action was 2-prong: get a complete metabolic screening (fasted blood test) and have it analyzed by a Registered Dietician (RD), and get serious about therapy and a 12-step program. Now, I know not everyone is keen on 12-step programs, but I knew that if I didn’t use every resource at my disposal to get to the root of my addiction, I would lose my family, my job, and possibly my life. For the purposes of this article, I’ll explain the nutritional recovery process I went through as part of my alcohol recovery, which I have shared with my own fitness and nutrition clients whom are also seeking a path to alcohol recovery.
But first, it is important to understand a few things about how the media has corrupted the science of nutrition, what type of damage alcohol may have done to your body, and why supplementation doses should not be left to the untrained.
- As a people, Americans are over-dosing on protein in animal and supplement form. Several diet plans popularized on Facebook and in other online and print resources call for drinking protein shakes after working out, using protein shakes as a meal replacement, and “health and fitness” magazines and sites promote eating large amounts of protein in both supplement and animal form. The truth is two-fold: everyone’s body is different and no two people should use the same stock nutritional plan and expect the same results, and our bodies can only digest so much protein. The macronutrient ratios long held by the fitness industry – more protein, fewer carbs, and sometimes more fat, sometimes less – have been turned upside down by rigorous scientific study. Carbs are not bad, but over-processed foods can be. Consuming an excess of animal protein is not only bad for the cardiovascular system but also the environment. Good fats (olive oil, avocados, etc.) make a positive impact on cardiovascular health, while bad fats (animal fat and processed fats (margarine) have a negative impact.
- Alcoholism affects the whole body, but the most damage is done to the liver and the brain. To simplify, your liver loses its ability to process alcohol properly, and in turn cannot absorb and utilize nutrients the way it is supposed to. As a result, the toxins remain in your system and can go straight to your heart and brain. Your body lacks the ability to synthesize protein, so if you are in denial about your alcoholism, hit the gym hard, drink those protein shakes and eat extra protein “to build your muscles”, then your body will just expel the protein before it has a chance to process it, and the toxins from the animal protein will end up in your heart and brain. All that working out and “eating well” will not do you any good if you are still putting alcohol into your system. Your brain decreases its endorphin production, because the alcohol is making it artificially happy. This is why the first few days of alcohol recovery are so painful mentally and physically.
- As noted above, we tend to overdose on protein. When I interview my fitness and nutrition about their daily nutritional intake, I often find that people are eating fewer good foods and instead relying on meal replacements or other supplements for their vitamins and minerals. It is true that much of our food supply is inferior to what it was even when I was a child, but your brain needs mastication to get the endorphins firing. Chewing is essential to brain function. It is one of the reasons I used to let my students chew gum or eat during exams. True story! Michael Pollan puts it well when he advises us to “eat real food, everyday, mostly plants”. While I advise most of my clients to take a daily multivitamin formatted for their particular age and activity level, I also insist that they get serious about what else they put in their bodies. I have them set aside the protein shakes and meal replacements for the first month that they work with me and instead focus on adding real foods to their daily intake, one meal at a time. Add an apple at lunch today, add a handful of greens to dinner tonight, and add some oatmeal to breakfast tomorrow. Just like the saying goes, one day at a time.
Now, you or your favorite diet book may disagree with the above statements. I would ask you the same thing I ask any of the gym members who say they already have an exercise and eating plan: How is that working for you? If your metabolic tests come out well, then keep doing what you are doing. Like I said before, everyone is different. My sisters cannot eat or workout the way I do and expect to get the same results. None of my clients are on the same fitness or nutrition program.
However, if you are in recovery, regardless what stage, I would urge you to do the following to at least get a baseline:
- Get professional help – The article in the magazine, or the blog post on Bodybuilding.com will not address your individual situation. Get a full physical and request the help of a Registered Dietician. As a certified nutrition specialist I can provide meal planning as prescribed by a primary care provider or registered dietitian. Your personal trainer is under the same rules, so if they are “prescribing” supplements or meal planning, they are working outside the limitations of their practice. Buyer beware.
- Metabolic Screen (fasted blood test) – When you get your metabolic screen, be sure it includes results for the following: blood count, chemistry profile, thyroid function, urinalysis, 5-hour glucose tolerance, serum zinc/copper levels, candida-antibody assay, serum histamine, hair analysis (not absolutely necessary, but will screen for toxins), amino acids, keyptopyrroles, and DHEA. Discuss the results with a registered dietitian. If you believe you may have a food allergy, then let your primary care provider know this so that they can screen for that. Keep in mind that there is no screen for gluten intolerance – simply because it does not exist. You can have celiac discorder, and that can be screened for. However, a suspected intolerance to gluten is likely caused by an additive or other food source.
- Take baby steps – Alcoholics are, by nature, control freaks. The irony is that we are out of control. So, there is a tendency to want to change everything all at once. Cut out coffee, nicotine, sugar, and of course alcohol. I know from personal experience, my own clients, and results of good science, that deprivation rarely results in lasting habits. Concentrate on the alcohol and the underlying emotional and psychological issues first. Then find a way to become accountable – for me it was a daily meeting at the same place and same time for the first 60 days without question. For you it may be someone or something else. And then attend to your nutrition, which includes real food and potentially supplementing with the right vitamins and minerals for your body.
- Resources – Your primary care provider and registered dietitian can give you advice on resources for vitamins and other supplementation. I use Vitacost online (http://Vitacost.com), because the prices are excellent and they sell very reputable products. You should also be able to find local sources – just check the labels for unnecessary ingredients with the guidance of a registered dietitian.
What should your take-away be from reading this article? Just like tackling your alcoholism, get help from the pros to improve your physical, emotional and psychological health. You may have to try a few different doctors and registered dietitians before you find ones which you feel comfortable working with and whom have had positive results with recovering alcoholics. Anything you do to improve your health should be something you are willing to continue to do for the rest of your life. This is why radical approaches rarely work – “fad diets” are called that for a reason. Remember, just because your best friend is doing it does not mean you should be, too.
Here’s to your health!
Shelly Larson, CPT, Pn1
Disclaimer: The opinions and information presented in this article and by Shelly Larson are for informational purposes only and should not take the place of professional advice from you primary care provider or registered dietitian. Please seek help before making any changes to your fitness or nutritional plans.
Shelly Larson is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist with over 20 years experience in the education and fitness sector. She is currently working as a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness Yorba Linda Super Sport in Southern California and continues to work with private nutrition clients, both in person and online. She holds a Master of Educational Leadership, and is certified by the National Association of Sports Medicine and Precision Nutrition. She is currently pursuing certification as a Health Coach through the American Council on Exercise. You can find more information about Shelly’s nutritional services at Shelly Larson Fitness (http://shellylarsonfitness.com).
