Hi Lenina, off topic, but I am curious, I was wondering why your sponsor recomended having a more organized life? I'm wondering how it helps in recovery. Asking because I have been very unorganized and recently have been trying to develop a routine for bed time and getting up. I find it just makes me feel better. I am interested in the subject and interested in getting more organized!

I was thinking about this thread because I made breakfast as 8:30 a.m. today which is a FIRST. And it's because yesterday I only ate a banana, a veggie burger w/lettuce/tomato/and some chocolate chip cookies.
Slept fine and woke up around 5:30 a.m. and by 8:30 I was ravenous. I cooked a big breakfast, eggs, hash browns, corned beef hash, 12 grain toast, and orange juice. I hope to stick with it, maybe not such a ginormous greasy one every day!, but to get a more "civilized" - GREAT word - routine going with meals.

I've never been much of a breakfast eater, and since I quit drinking, lunch doesn't much appeal to me either. I dunno why but I haven't had much of an appetite since I got sober (I ate way more when I was drunk). I'm not complaining about the 40 pound weight loss but I'm sure it's not healthy to eat as little as I do! I like to exercise so instead of doing that in the afternoons, I've started doing it in the mornings and that has helped a little with my appetite. When I do get hungry, I don't eat very much so I try to make what I DO eat something healthy. I have always heard that breakfast is the most important meal, as it gives your body the fuel it needs to do whatever you're going to be doing during the day. I've definitely found that to be true for me - when I manage to choke SOMETHING down in the morning, I have more energy. Coffee is great but I've kinda made it it's own food group. ;)

Hahaha same here, though now I find myself drinking more energy drinks and soda's not cool but I will sorry about that later. Actually after a month my eating has done a dramatic 180. I was scarffing down everything I could get my hands on. Now I find myself nibbling through the day and having one good sized meal usually lunch, with a lite snack or part of what was intended to be a meal for dinner. It might be due to lack of activity meaning that I have been fairly sedentary latley, but that is hopefully going to change soon. I am not sure if I look forward to the gym and more run time but I might look forward to being able to eat more. Thats me trying to force myself to focus on the positive side haha.

I like food. Wish I only ate to live and didn't think about it so much.

I remembered why I don't usually eat breakfast. It makes me sleepy.
So since I'm not going anywhere today, I'm hanging out in my sweats for the first time in like two and a half weeks with nothing on the agenda.
So I took a nap, and woke up wanting something sweet. I baked cookies. Those slice and bake ones with the peanut butter cup pieces in them. Mmmhmm.
Now I'm thinking veggie burger.
It's like eating that early makes me hungrier all day, or maybe it's just being home all day....I'm going to make that veggie burger.

One of the physical effects of alcohol is spiking blood glucose (sugar), and then dropping fast when not drinking.

So in early sobriety, our hunger is not just a signal that we need to eat; it's also a reflection of blood chemistry adjusting itself. Hence craving for sweets, odd hungers and lack of appetite; everything has to rebalance and this takes time.

One of the best ways to help is to make sure you are getting good quality protein regularly throughout the day: yogurt, cheese, peanut butter, lean meat tofu, eggs.

These will make a stable platform for the rest of your nutrition, which should also include vegetables and fruit and complex carbs (brown rice, whole wheat, grains).

Breakfast should include or even center on protein. What makes me feel the best is an almost entirely protein breakfast (protein shake, or two eggs scrambled with some spinach, or plain yogurt with walnuts and some blueberries).

Try something quite small: 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt, with nuts and berries. You just need to reset your appetite and give your body enough fuel to let your healing continue.

I am a huge believer in the helpfulness of good nutrition for maintaining sobriety!!!

Drinking plays havoc with our bodies normal processes of releasing sugar into the bloodstream. It takes time before those kick back in, and more time before they stabilize.

We don't get the feelings from what we've eaten for 20 minutes. That fools people who get an urge for something sweet and eat it, expecting to be satisfied immediately. If they eat a sh**load of ice cream for 20 minutes they feel satisfied, but that satisfaction is from what they ate off the bat, before they overindulged for no reason or benefit.

Newly sober people should eat a little something of decent quality every 2-3 hours during the day to even emotions and help with mental acuity. Responding to low sugar levels is a catchup game and you don't want to spend your day going over and under the mark.

Eventually your body heals and can deal better with eating sporadically and missing food groups, but babying it at the beginning helps all round.

So eat breakfast or pay the price.

Patty lulu,

My life had very little routine. I work crazy hours, crazy days and nights. I would lose track of days and time (still do! But I'm old now) and my darling sponsor E (rip) knew I had to start somewhere. Just setting a decent daily routine really helped me. Besdies the nutritional importance of having regular diet, being able to have a few minutes to think, meditate, make decisions about my day was really helpful for me. E gave me things to read for inspiration and self-improvement.

For me, structure in my life was needed. Just having that little bit of time every morning helped me build on a healthier, calmer mental attitude.

I hope this helps!

Love from Lenina