True Health

LinBaba · MIP Old Timer

True Health

TwelveSteps · Senior Member

I think it's important to distinguish between adfiictive and potentially addictive drugs (ativan, Ambien, etc.)

GG

maire rua · Senior Member

Thank you for this post. I have just tackled a whole pile of clutter while in a fugue and had to drag my ass out of the bed kicking and screaming, all poor diet related I might add. I would 100% agree that there is a physical dimension to this one.

LinBaba · MIP Old Timer

TwelveSteps wrote:

I think it's important to distinguish between adfiictive and potentially addictive drugs (ativan, Ambien, etc.)

GG

I think it's important to live a healthy lifestyle

Marijuana is not considered "addictive" yet I personally know hundreds of people that have smoked just about daily for upwards of 30 years

Do they classify Sugar, white flour, food additives, fast food, sodas etc as addictive?

No, but try giving them up, watch what happens

my point is Sobriety includes a healthy lifestyle for me, not that I adhere to it all the time, but we are not Saints, and progress not perfection

peronally there are many things that others can and will do and call it sobriety that I can't do, and vice versa, I will be sharing at a meeting about how my rigorous honesty doesn't include me giving my money to the IRS and someone sitting across the room from me loaded on a cocktail of opiates/Xanax/valium that his Dr prescribed him will be judging my program and thinking to himself that I am not truly sober

/shrug

I don't have to differentiate between any of it because I am not interested in taking any of it, I don't differentiate between xanax, pot, valium, ativan, effexor, ambien etc my program doesn't include taking drugs other then aspirin, tylenol, ibuprophin etc, and unless I get hurt/sick, then watch me take the morphine as it is medically prescribed, if crippled by depression again I would consider taking a maoi or whatever they are called if all else failed, such as another trip through the steps and having my friends drag me around kicking and screaming

I'm not "telling" anyone else what to do or what to think, I am saying -for me- I can't work a program and eat drugs, what was it Dr Paul says, the guy who wrote "Doctor, Addict, Alcoholic"?

In the end I had to do the same with alcohol and all pills. I wasnt able to quit chemicals as long as they were in the house. If they were around, I always found a need for themespecially the pills. I never in my life took a tranquilizer, sedative, or pep pill because I was a pillhead. I always took it because I had the symptom that only that pill would relieve. Therefore, every pill was medically indicated at the time it was taken. For me, pills dont produce the desire to swallow a pill; they produce the symptoms that require that the pill be taken for relief. As a physician and pharmacist who had grown up in a drugstore-home, I had a pill for every ill, and I was sick a lot.
Today, I find I cant work my A.A. program while taking pills, nor may I even have them around for dire emergencies only. I cant say, Thy will be done, and take a pill. I cant say, Im powerless over alcohol, but solid alcohol is okay. I cant say, God could restore me to sanity, but until He does, Ill control myself with pills. Giving up alcohol alone was not enough for me; Ive had to give up all mood- and mindaffecting chemicals in order to stay sober and comfortable.
To this day, I am amazed at how many of my problemsmost of which had nothing to do with drinking, I believed have become manageable or have simply disappeared since I quit drinking.
I had already given up all the narcotics, most of the pills, and some of the alcohol when I first came to A.A. By early July I had tapered off alcohol completely, and I got off all pills in the ensuing few months. When the compulsion to drink left, it was relatively easy to stay off alcohol. But for some time, it was difficult to keep from taking a pill when I had an appropriate symptom, such as a cough, pain, anxiety, insomnia, a muscle spasm, or an upset stomach. It has gotten progressively easier. Today I feel I have used up my right to chemical peace of mind.
It helped me a great deal to become convinced that alcoholism was a disease, not a moral issue; that I had been drinking as a result of a compulsion, even though I had not been aware of the compulsion at the time; and that sobriety was not a matter of willpower. The people of A.A. had something that looked much better than what I had, but I was afraid to let go of what I had in order to try something new; there was a certain sense of security in the familiar.
The truth of the matter is me writing this is me combatting these tendencies in myself, I am battling seasonal depression and I am writing down the actions I need to take in order to combat this, such as cleaning my house, getting some sun, hitting a meeting, and getting off my ass, I truly don't care what anyone else does, I'm here to work my program not anyone elses

-- Edited by LinBaba on Monday 3rd of January 2011 02:34:34 PM

LinBaba · MIP Old Timer

maire rua wrote:

Thank you for this post. I have just tackled a whole pile of clutter while in a fugue and had to drag my ass out of the bed kicking and screaming, all poor diet related I might add. I would 100% agree that there is a physical dimension to this one.

I'm right there with you, I'm doing the same thing, shorter days and less sun is brutal on my mental health, then I get lazy and start eating crap food, and the elevator starts picking up speed

pinkchip · MIP Old Timer

Cigarettes were the most physically addictive thing to me. I was physically addicted to alcohol to and that destroyed my soul in addition to my health though. I also couldn't stop smoking until I quit drinking. I am now crazy addicted to working out. I go to the gym about 4 times a week. I recognize what I am doing though when I have crazy thoughts like I wish I could leave work so I could go to the gym. While I will always get hooked on things, as that is my addictive nature, working out and eating right has been pretty positive. It was much easier to quit smoking after going to the gym. I need the lung power to do cardio. It would be sheer torture to be on that elliptical 4 or 5 times a week and hack and cough like i used to. Needless to say, cigarretes and alcohol tripled my anxiety and depression. Now that I eat better, have lost like 70 pounds, exercise regularly, and am sober, I almost do not need medication for anxiety and depression. I know people have lots of opinions on meds, and I wish like hell I didn't have to take them, but I am glad to not be at the point where I used to be which was being obese, actively alcoholic, chain smoking, and still feeling miserable all the time despite taking multiple high doses of psychotropic meds. Yuck..gives me shivers to think how unhealthy I was.

Sacrifice · Veteran Member

Hello LinBaba,

You said and I quote "My mind is an incredible thing, more powerful then any computer, and it can be as harmful or as helpful as I allow it to be". I love that because you are right on the money! For myself my mind can hinder me from doing things that I desire to do either because of fear or because I am just not a social butterfly, but that just leaves me stuck in my own space walking in circles trying to figure out what to do!! It is ridiculous how one person can love to do something so much but refuses because of fear or omg people are watching me! Ex: I am a hola hoop a lot and when I say a lot I mean 3-5 days a week sometimes for 2 hrs and could go more. I am amazing and I am so confident when I am surrounded by fellow hoopers but when standing alone I'm like no not right now. So I understand the harmful and helpful part of your statement. My mind is quite helpful as well, lol...it has kept me sober for almost 3 yrs:) and has kept my head held high when things in my life have not gone as planned but hey I quess you have to have the highs and the lows to appreciate it all. That's all thanks for giving me something to think about!

Rob84 · MIP Old Timer

Thanks Lin,

I agree 100% with the importance of fitness and nutrition. I started going to the gym with some AA's when I first got sober and have since never taken more than a week off.

I changed my diet upon doing the lemonade/maple syrup/ cayenne pepper fast/ detox a few years ago. I never realized how processed foods affected mood, digestion and mental clarity.

The great thing about overcomming alcoholism is that we now have the confidence and courage to make other changes in our lives.

Unfortunately, most people are never able to stick with any type of program of change, I do believe people in AA are more able to make change areas of their life than the general population...another one of the gifts we receive.

Today, 80% to 90% of my diet consists of fresh fruits and vegetables. I go to the stores where a lot of 1st generation Latino's buy their foods, they are always packed with great produce at reasonable prices.

Avoid refined pasta's and breads and products containing refined sugars, these foods give us a insulin "rush" that just makes us want to eat more, then makes us tired.

In making the above statements, if you are new in Alcohol recovery it is not suggested you try to make too many changes at once. "First things First" focus on AA recovery until you feel compelled to make other changes.

TwelveSteps · Senior Member

I work out every day. It's more important to my sobriety than meetings or pretty much anything else.

GG

LinBaba · MIP Old Timer

TwelveSteps wrote:

I work out every day. It's more important to my sobriety than meetings or pretty much anything else.

GG

That, to me, is an incredibly frightening statement, reminds me of "here are some of the methods we have tried; taking more physical exercise"

I'd be incredibly interested to talk to you about this statement in 5 years

I just say that speaking from my own experience, where I had, how do I put it, "lingering notions" and misinformation about the nature of my own alcoholism, and it took 3 years for a similar "pebble in my shoe" to become so agonizingly painful I drank, even though I worked the steps 3 times I had missed a small and crucial bit of information about my alcoholism

It reminds me of using just meetings to stay sober, it works for awhile but the day comes when just meetings, or any other "human power" or even replacing one addiction for another, no matter how healthy, stops working, it's like getting in a relationship in early sobriety, we replace one addiction for another and then the new addiction either becomes "the problem" or stops working, I am of course speaking from hindsight, which is 20/20 and not making any indictment of you or "your program", but truly, i would be incredibly interested in speaking to you in 5 or 10 years to see what your experience with this approach was

-- Edited by LinBaba on Tuesday 4th of January 2011 01:27:35 PM

TwelveSteps · Senior Member

The point is that physical exhaustion I find, is very useful.

GG

attilio · Veteran Member

my sponsor told me to start by taking a one hour walk each day and progress into a fitness program that fits my situation and i will do just that its a start ,,,,,,,

e

pinkchip · MIP Old Timer

The depression I have functions independently from alcoholism. I had it before I even took a drink. Tools from AA help tremendously, but they don't solve everything. Similarly, like I stated earlier, I eat healthy and work out too. It helps but doesn't take clinical depression away. I will have to take medication for it my whole life. I am just glad it works.

P.S. Lin...Stop smoking! That is the worst way of breathing in toxins in the world.

AstrowPuall · Newbie

Health Is Relationship between You and Your Body Said By Rachel Anderson

________________

Thank You!

Tanin · MIP Old Timer

AstrowPuall wrote:
Health Is Relationship between You and Your Body...

Some very good points in this thread...

What ever happened to LinBaba? Haven't seen him post in a long time.

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

I know... miss him... miss these kinds of discussions.

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

I asked dean about a year ago... he said he's as doing good... working outside living life.

davep12and12 · MIP Old Timer

Just wanted to point out that the new "astrowpuall" account, which revived this five-year-old thread, is a SPAM account.

It's purpose is to scatter those links in its comments.

Admins, please delete it.

CatherineArchie · Newbie

Decreasing tips that harm instead of benefit

Standard food against light products exchange is also one of the widespread weight loss tips. Who then but fully reflected the abdomen with Light yogurt and Co., also commits a diet-sin, for "light" does not mean "no calories", but only that the products do not exceed a certain amount of fat. According to "NaturalHealthcorner.Com" of reduced fat content of these foods is often offset by the sugar.

Also to movement do not pass in a diet - healthy diet alone is not enough. about three times Ideal are sport a week, if you want to permanently reduce your weight. But after exercise, you should not again resort to cheeseburgers and Co. - are the pounds are falling, is a healthy, balanced diet despite the hot hunger after exercise compulsory - otherwise you commit namely the next Diet sin.