When you go through rehabilitation for alcohol addiction, it can be a demanding experience. Everyone has different experiences of rehab with some coming out of it feeling very fragile and wanting to focus as much as they can on getting and staying well, and others feeling extremely positive and eager to get on with their new lives. For many people, overcoming alcoholism may have been the main thing they wanted to get past in terms of their health and lifestyle, but there are often other things they’d like to change too ? perhaps giving up cigarettes, losing weight, or getting fitter.
Wanting to Make Positive Changes
There is no doubt that alcohol addiction can do a number on your body. Some people gain a lot of weight through drinking calorically dense things like beer, whereas others lose extreme amounts of weight and muscle tissue from not eating and drinking things that don’t provide as many calories, like hard liquors. People who have experienced problem drinking also often have other unhealthy habits like a poor diet or smoking, and so it is only natural to think of getting clean from alcohol as just one step in a chain of things you need to do to feel and be healthy again.
Having quit drinking with the help of an alcohol rehabilitation center, you may well start to see that making positive changes is possible. However, some experts believe it is best not to change too many things at once.
Why Wait to Make Further Lifestyle Changes?
Some people come out of rehab with a new lease on life and immediately start dieting, running, training, and giving up all their other bad habits. This can be a good thing for them, as it means they will make complete changes to their lifestyles that make relapse less likely, as they simply don’t have any of the same routines or habits they did when they were drinking; they also have new places to focus their energy and gain motivation from. However, people who can do this tend to be in the minority, and for most people, quitting drinking is enough of a struggle, so it is a better idea to settle in the sober state without trying to change too much else about yourself for six months to a year.
Go by How You Feel
If you feel you are in a fairly raw state and getting into normal life without alcohol is a struggle, then concentrate on that and give it a year before you start thinking about losing weight, quitting smoking, or any other additional challenges. However, if you feel up to it ? or even that it will help you stay clean and motivated, there is no real reason not to start making other healthy changes as soon as you want to.
Effectively, this is your journey to a new and better life, and while some people like to take it all on and transform their lives all at once, others need to pace themselves a little. Listen to your body and d what feels right for you.
