Quit Drinking and Slightly Reduced Calorie Intake...

Hello and HAPPY 2019 to all my readers!!!

I apologize for being MIA for so long...
Life happened and I got overwhelmed with obstacles. The honest truth is that I have been a functional drinker for so long that when things got challenging I would just drink and forget my problems - in turn that led to procrastination in many areas of life; one of them being posting on my blog about latest nutrition findings and workouts!! 
HOWEVER, on January 3rd (my birthday) I decided to stop drinking alcohol and start making changes in my life to help me find peace and fulfillment and achieve mental clarity. I joined AA (alcoholics anonymous) on January 7th and have been attending meetings anytime i feel like resorting to alcohol. 
This has been going well and has brought me closer to the community; I have learned that i am not alone in my struggles and have met some great people at meetings that help support me in desperate times. As they say "no man is an island." 
My drinking stemmed from unresolved issues from childhood along with feelings of being inadequate and "not being able to do enough" to name a few. These are triggers for wanting to escape and drown the noise in my mind. However, it was becoming somewhat of a "horse and carriage" effect: Drinking would lead to procrastination and the cycle seemed to be never ending. The hardest part for me was taking that first step YET AGAIN to try and STOP running from my problems. I am happy to say AA really made a difference, along with talk therapy and reaching out for help to friends and family. I've got a great support system and no longer feel alone. Every day is a new beginning to create possibility and the only way to see life this way is to LET GO OF THE PAST and be present.

As far as fitness goes I have been training consistently for the past few years, but as of fall 2018 I switched to a more vegetarian style of eating and started running long distance. I ran my first half marathon on Oct.21st: "The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon." It was a surreal experience for me to run 21km straight with hundreds and thousands of other people. Since then I have decided I would like to do more races and marathons and have been working on improving my V02max (cardio/endurance) and have stuck to a 75-80% vegetarian diet. I do eat the occasional antibiotic free chicken, and i absolutely LOVE liver. So, once a week or biweekly I will pick up beef liver (hormone free) from the local butcher and eat a whole bunch. 
As of last week I started to decrease my caloric intake to under 2000 calories. I am using my FitBit to track how many calories i burn which is usually 2500-2900 daily. 
Prior to this I had been consuming 2500-3500 calories daily from all sorts of nutrient dense foods, and burning 3500-3700 calories daily. The purpose of this was to increase my metabolism and improve my athletic conditioning! 
I am now steadily dropping lbs. and have ZERO cravings. This has a lot to do with my new nutrition plan which I will talk more about over the next few weeks/months leading into spring and summer. 

I hope you are all having a blessed start to 2019 and remember: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
Stay fit, focused and WARM (this winter sucks ass.. lol)


xo,

A Little Recess Will Keep Your Recovery On The Right Track

Article courtesy of Constance Ray from www.recoverywell.org

Just like eating your vegetables and flossing your teeth, everyone knows that exercise is good for you. But thousands of wasted gym memberships prove that plenty of people don’t want to do it.

Why does getting regular physical activity have to be such a chore? The problem is, we’ve forgotten what every child knows. The best kind of “exercise” is play. You’re going to have to reach back into the best days of your childhood and find that feeling again. Exercise is the reward you’re giving yourself for all the hard work you’re doing to get sober. This is not a workout. This is playtime. School’s out, let’s have some fun!

Pursue Your Passion:
First thing’s first. You have to move, every single day. Even on days when you don’t really feel like doing anything. So let’s find some things that you actually like doing, so you can get busy doing them. This doesn’t mean you have to do the same thing every day, but you have to do something every day. If you’re sporty, you can check out the local scene and join a team. Do you like music? Enroll in a dance class, break out your old mixtapes and dance in the living room, whatever gets you moving.

Not a big fan of anything that involves sweating? Go for a swim. Do you enjoy being outside and communing with nature? Start going for walks, taking hikes in the woods, or even biking around your neighborhood. Is there anything you ever wanted to try, but were afraid to? Now is your chance. Don’t be afraid of not doing it well, or looking clumsy or silly. Your friends and family want you to be feel better. Consider inviting them to participate in your new sport or hobby activities. It’s always more fun to do stuff with your friends.

In the moment, and in yourself:
In recovery, we are often encouraged to “be in the moment.” Part of that is learning how to reinhabit your body. Focus on taking joy in its movement.  As you get stronger and healthier, you’ll find it can do all sorts of things you didn’t know that it could. Everyday, it will change and adapt. Exercise actually promotes the growth of new nerve cells, so as you keep doing an activity,  you get better and better at it.

Test your own limits and make a game of what you can do and how much you can handle. Get down on the floor and stretch out your body to see how far each bit flexes. Study how you master new movements or physical skills. Keep track of your progress and be proud of your accomplishments.

Arrest Anger and Stave Off Stress: 
As a recovering addict, you’re going to have dark days when you don’t want to move. There will be times when anger almost overwhelms you. This is normal. But studies show that exercise actually has a preventive measure against anger. If you are getting regular exercise, your blow-ups will be weaker and shorter duration. Your mood swings won’t be as wild. Those dark days will be somewhat brighter.

When we are under physical or mental stress, our body makes less serotonin and raises its levels of cortisol, which triggers depression and increases emotional volatility. But when you’re physically active, your brain produces higher levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate your mood and endorphins, which act like painkillers, activating the opioid centers in the brain. This is the source of the fabled “runner’s high.”

So when you know you’re heading into a situation that might be stressful or make you angry, schedule some playtime in advance, doing a little preventative anger management.

You have spent a long time neglecting your health. Now you’re ready to start putting yourself back together and making yourself a priority in your own life. Addiction is a traumatic experience for the body and mind alike. You need to heal. It will take time, and it’s going to be a lot of work.  But if you’re serious about your recovery, a healthy exercise regimen can be a great place to start on the road to a brand new, happier you.