All or nothing in every aspect of my life.
 

I'm on my second day of recovery. I'm trying to figure out how to replace my drinking time with something else. I have a variety of interests, but the addict in me makes this difficult. For instance, when I decide to start eating well I do it to the extreme and eat super healthy or super bad. When I decide to exercise I push myself too hard and eventually stop. Just like my drinking and past drug use (mostly cocaine and marijuana) I go all out or nothing at all. How do I go about normal daily activities without behaving like an addict? I think recognizing this is a good first step, but I have little clue how to do anything about it.

Therein lies the mystery of recovery and the challenge to live one day at a time.

Set limits before you begin.
Time, exertion level, frequency, reps.
chart it until you internalize it.

I'm a lot like that too.

Well, the things you mentioned overdoing won't kill you. Alcohol can. I don't really have any advice other than to say when it came to drinking, it was all in or nothing for me, too. So you're not alone.
A support group, like AA, may be helpful. I don't think you can overdo meetings. Have you considered that? There are other methods, too.

Congratulations on two days and best to you.

Keep in mind you are extremely early in sobriety, and remember that you aren't going to magically transform to a sober life in just a few days. It can take weeks or even months for your body to get used to the physical removal of alcohol. And the mental adjustments can take even longer.

Probably the biggest hurdle though is the underlying issues that sobriety suddenly brings to the forefront. Many of us drank to avoid them, but we really just postponed them until later. Have you ever spoken with a therapist or recovery group about your addictive personality? Sometime we need a little external help to steer us down the right path.

Congrats on the 2 days, just be kind to yourself and don't set unrealistic expectations.

First, congrats on your two days! Also for recognizing that an addictive personality is just that no matter what your drug of choice is. Some great suggestions here, limit and chart yourself to keep a handle on it.

You can do this!

I have exactly the same problem as well. I can do an hour cardio and then if i eat the smallest thing i want to go for a 10 mile run to burn it off!

I never understood it until learning about being an addict, but people have suggested good things and hopefully something can work :-)

Interests are nice, it's good to keep busy, which serves as a distraction from thinking about drinking all the time. But a hobby isn't a recovery method.

Replace drinking with the work of getting and staying sober...and go all in.

Same here. All through my life every hobby or interest I have ever had I have take. To the obsessive extreme, usually before getting bored and moving on to something else. It makes sense that my drinking would follow suit. I think it's just how our brains are wired

ribbit ribbit

I work from home which is worse than in an office. Because I don't have to go home, I become work obsessed and it sometimes goes on four fourteen or fifteen hours a day to get finished. Must try to pace myself in the new year :) x

I like the idea of setting limits. I do everything to the extreme too. I think it's part of being an addict. I've found that now that I'm not drinking, my extreme behavior has transferred over to other things, like food. Especially sweets...I can't stop eating lol. Now that I know when I sit down with a whole gallon of ice cream that I'm going to eat the whole thing, I have just stopped buying it.

You're still very new to sobriety so don't be too hard on yourself. One thing at a time....over exercising it indulging right now won't kill you. Drinking will.

I was the same way. Still am sometimes. This is the problem...it's the mindset and the booze, weed and blow are the symptoms of the problem. For me I see it as a physical, metal and spiritual problem that takes a serious recovery program and willingness to change to execute.

Congrats on your second day of sobriety but recovery is executing on an actual recovery program.

If your like me there is deep trauma and insecurity that Leeds to excess to quiet everything else bc the mass release of dopamine is the only way to feel good for the moment. I hit four months Friday and it feels like an eternal roller coaster ride but worth very minute.

Books helped me such as Big Book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, The Power of Now, Happiness Hypothesis, Awareness, Turning your mind into an Ally, living Sober, The Little Book - Rational Recovery. I also use AA but have adopted parts of RR and see a therapist weekly and of course SR.

Good luck.

That's your OCD...All or nothing at all. Now that you're not medicating it with alcohol, it's going to come at you with a vengeance. Not that I'm recommending that you drink.

As I wrote in your other thread, I hope you can find the professional help you need.

I am the same way. I take everything to the extreme. Even when I didn't drink it drove my wife crazy. Like already mentioned, that's how a lot of us are. Find something good and be obsessive with that. Be obsessive at helping others.