Breaking up with booze was something I personally had to do to discover how I was actually feeling. Physically and emotionally. Between hangovers, drunken misunderstandings, taxed relationships, bar food, skipping meals and getting shitty sleep on the reg I felt not so great.. Not so effing great at all. Angry, depressed, dehydrated, anxious, misunderstood, lonely, bloated, exhausted, broke, confused, lost, you name it… I had all the feels and I didn’t want to deal with any of them. Taking booze out of the equation made a noticeable difference but I still felt a lot of these things, maybe just to lesser degrees or perhaps sobriety made them feel less intense. Probably a bit of both, who’s to say? What I do know is that once I started paying attention to what I was eating things really started to shift. Eating real, easily pronounceable, unprocessed food made my guts happier and my mood lifted too. I was less bloated. I was less anxious. I started to want to move my body, like for fun. But better yet I began to feel available to and curious about some of my negative emotions.. the things that had me drinking in the first place. It is interesting how as my physical digestion improved so did my ability to process all my long ignored emotional stuff. To anyone out there who is new to sobriety and not quite feeling all those benefits everyone talks about just yet, I invite you to be patient with yourself and take a look at what is on your plate. Physically and emotionally.
Day 255: Oat groats cooked in coconut milk with butternut squash and Granny Smith apples sautéed in coconut oil, cinnamon, turmeric and ginger. Topped off with a lil maple syrup (for sweetness and zinc), hemp hearts, chia seeds and pomegranate arils. I could have eaten this all day! So comforting. It had a real tropical mountain cabin vibe. As someone who almost always wants things both ways I am about it. The earthiness of the turmeric works well with the sweet squash and tart apples. They all just get in line together. Plus turmeric is amazazing for you. It is super well know for its anti-inflammatory properties and if anything makes you inflamed it’s alcohol. So this is something I highly recommend in recovery. It’s easy enough work into your diet. Tea, golden milk, a paste that can be added to anything. Soups, sauces, oats, granola bars, chia pudding, lemonade.. go nuts!