Let's face it: If you progressed to the point of seeking professional treatment or rehab for your alcohol or drug problem, you probably were not getting a lot of physical exercise and you definitely were not eating as healthy as you should. Improving in these areas can contribute to a healthier lifestyle and can help you remain abstinent.
Relaxation and Recreation
Becoming involved in recreational or physical activity can benefit your recovery by reducing stress that can be a trigger for relapse. It also can help reduce boredom, which for some is a key relapse trigger, and benefit you emotionally by restoring a sense of balance to your life.Of course, becoming more active will simply help you feel better physically and improve your overall health. This can aid your recovery by lessening the severity of any postacute withdrawal symptoms that may re-occur.
Take It Easy
If you have not been physically active at all for a long time, you should check with your doctor or healthcare provider before beginning any exercise program. You may want to ease into whatever physical exercise that you choose to keep from over doing it early and becoming discouraged.Becoming physically active does not mean that you have to begin training to become a world-class athlete. You can just take a daily walk in your neighborhood or in the mall, take your kids to play in the park, ride a bicycle, or pick up a sport you once enjoyed like tennis, softball or basketball.
The goal is to get more active at a level that you are comfortable with and make progress in improving your health. About.com's Health and Fitness Guides have some great tips for beginning a new physical activity:
- Exercise for Beginners
- Family Fitness - Getting Started
- Pilates Info for Beginners
- Running and Jogging
- Walking for Beginners
- Weight Training
- How to Start Doing Yoga
Poor Eating Habits
Hand in hand with physical activity in developing a healthy lifestyle is good nutrition. If you are like most alcoholics and addicts, you spent so much time with your drug of choice that you often failed to eat properly.Research shows that many alcoholics suffer from some level of malnutrition. Many of the drugs on the street today suppress the appetite. Consequently, many people who enter professional alcohol and drug rehab programs have skipped many meals simply because they did not feel hungry.
Good Nutrition Helps
Like physical activity, good nutrition helps with your recovery by lessening any postacute withdrawal symptoms you may experience and helps rebuild your body worn down by your alcohol or drug use.If you are in follow-up care from your rehab program, you will probably be asked about your usual eating habits and how much you know about good nutrition. Your current diet choices will be considered so that proper steps to eat more healthy and feel better in your recovery can be suggested.
Choosing a Balanced Diet
The key is to eat a balanced diet, following the dietary guidelines and choosing food from the different food groups - meat, poultry, and fish; dairy products; fruits and vegetables; and bread and grains.It is recommended that you eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Fortunately, Guides at About.com have tools to help you determine how healthy your current diet is and recommendations for diet plans to meet your personal needs:
- Nutrition: How Healthy Is Your Diet?
- Low-Carb Diets
- Low-Fat Cooking
- Weight Loss Diets
- Nutrition for Diabetics
- Tips for Busy Cooks
Sources:
National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research Based Guide." Revised 2007.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. "An Individual Drug Counseling Approach to Treat Cocaine Addiction: The Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study Model." Accessed May 2009.
