How to Help Yourself Get to Sobriety and Recovery

November 27, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus

by Melisa Cammack

The depths of addiction are a scary place to be, and those of us who have experienced this in the past or are facing these issues now know that crawling out into the light is not an easy task. Giving up something as seemingly comforting as addiction can be frightening and overwhelming. To say recovery is easy would be a lie, but as they say, the best things in life are worth fighting for. How, though, should you begin cutting through obstacles and blazing the trail to success?

Seeking Help

Chances are if you’re reading this article you realize you have a problem with some substance or another and you realize you need help, and that is step one; this is arguably the most important step. Realizing there is an issue and reaching out for help takes a large amount of honesty and insight on your part, so be proud of yourself! Rehabilitation centers, talk and group therapy, hospitalization, or even self-help literature are all legitimate forms of help, however some of these methods may be more effective than others; if you have little to no willpower like most addicts, you should consider a rehab center.

Making Changes

Having a completely sober period of time under your belt is a huge accomplishment, so the next step is to try not to relapse. It is heavily suggested to cut contact with any friends you may have used with. Don’t worry, because this may not last forever. You could very well serve as an example to your old friends of what sober living can look like. Attracting people to being sober is truly an invaluable skill that all recovering addicts possess.

Starting Anew

It is also important to avoid any past routines that make you think of using your old substance of choice. Music is a very strong trigger for many people, so try finding some new musical groups to attach fresh memories to. Experts encourage addicts to get rid of any old albums, photos, clothes, movies, video games, and other things that have negative memories associated with them. It can be difficult, but a clean slate is without a doubt worth a small loss of material possessions.

You are about to endure the most important, most difficult, most worth-while journey of your life. You might very well slip, and that’s okay. It’s normal, even! As long as you pick yourself up and put one foot in front of the other, you’re on the road to recovery.

About the Author: Melisa Cammack has been freelance writing for several years, and loves writing for parenting and self-help articles. Melisa is currently promoting the Delray Recovery Center, and encourages those who are seeking help with abuse to look into recovery facilities.

How to Have a Happier Holiday Season

November 15, 2012 by Featured Author

The magic of holiday music, lights and excitement resonates with my soul.

Every year, I look forward to this time of year. But I haven’t always felt so positive; as a young adult, I struggled to enjoy the season.

During my childhood, the holidays were all about presents, snow and cookies. After I moved out on my own, I realized I needed to grow up, and the holidays began to lose their magic.

I now had to work to afford presents for my family and friends. I couldn’t always take off work to celebrate with my family. Some years, I didn’t even have gas money for the drive home. When my family decided to visit me, I had to keep the house clean and tidy. And I still had to go to work every day.

Keeping on track with my fitness routine was hard too.

I usually gained 10 pounds because I was too busy to work out, and I gave in to the temptation from all the seasonal sweets.

In time, the stress became unbearable. I started resenting the season. I wished I could crawl under a blanket in October and emerge in January. I stopped attending holiday parties and resented family get-togethers. I embodied Scrooge, and everyone around me knew it.

Then a few years ago, I heard about seasonal affective disorder. A friend casually mentioned that her sister always felt depressed during the holidays. Bright lights and a support group gave her a better outlook on the season.

I decided to talk to my doctor, and he discussed sources of the holiday blues. Physical fatigue, financial pressure, family conflict and unrealistic expectations were the cause of my depression. He suggested a few useful techniques that helped me overcome the holiday blues.

First, I stopped worrying about expectations. The holiday season is fun, but I can’t do everything. I have to choose the most valuable and important traditions and let everything else go. Holiday cards were the first expectation I dropped. I can always send a free electronic greeting card to the people I don’t see every day. My stress level lowered immediately, and I decided to cut down on the decorations this year. I’ll hang the lights, but the rest of the décor will stay in a box in my garage or get donated to charity.

Next on my list was the food. Homemade sweets and seasonal buffets taste great, but they’re not great for my waistline or mood. I decided to indulge in a few bites of my favorite sweets only during parties and keep up my healthy eating regimen.

I’m also going to stay physically active. Last year, I committed to following my normal workout schedule, and I felt good physically and emotionally.

My family will be visiting my house for a meal this year. I’ll tidy up before they come over, but they’ll have to clean up any dust bunnies they point out. I want to enjoy spending time with my family, not stress out over the cleanliness of my home.

We also decided to forgo gifts. Instead, we’ll enjoy being together as we play games and watch old home movies.

To adults, the holidays may never regain the magic they had when we were kids, but they can be enjoyable.

If you feel stressed, depressed or unmotivated to celebrate this year, talk to your doctor. He can give you tips on recognizing the signs of depression and finding the joy again. Bust the holiday blues this season when you give yourself permission to feel the magic again.

About the Author: Danielle writes on behalf of Sears and other brands she uses. This Christmas, she’s asking Santa for a treadmill so she can channel her stress into physical activity all year long. She hopes it will also help her deal with post-holiday blues as she exercises away all the extra calories she will inevitably consume.

When You’re Afraid to Eat

October 25, 2012 by Featured Author Leave a Comment

I don’t know when it happened.

Somewhere between me being 6 and becoming an adult, the world changed. Somehow, some way, children everywhere started to have allergies. Everyone you talk to tells you how they can’t pack their kids an old fashioned PB & J sandwich for lunch because so many other kids are allergic to peanuts. Parents everywhere have begun worrying about feeding their children nuts or peanut butter. Children are ostracized because they have to sit at the “peanut butter/nut table” at school.

How and when did this all happen? More so, why did this happen?

When I was a little girl, my mother gave me a freshly picked peach. It was beautiful and plump and I was was so excited for this tasty treat…..until about 5 seconds after my first bite. In under a minute, my throat was closing, I was having trouble breathing, and I had hives everywhere. I was so itchy. I knew I didn’t feel right, but I didn’t even know I was supposed to be scared. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening until I was sitting in the doctor’s office being pumped up with Benadryl while seeing the fear in my mother’s eyes. Apparently, my allergy to peaches decided to show its lovely face that day, and it has stuck by my side ever since. After lots of tests, it was learned that I’m severely allergic to nuts. Not peanuts, but tree nuts. (Peanuts grow underground, so they are in the legume family like a bean or a pea.) Because nuts are related to the pit and seeds in many fruits like that killer peach I ate that day, I’ve had to watch every single thing I put in my mouth at every meal thereafter.

If you have food allergies, you know how annoying this can be.

Of course you learn to embrace it because you have no other choice, but it sure can be a nuisance when you’re at a party or a restaurant or when you first start dating someone and they make you fresh chocolate covered strawberries and you start to break out. Or how about when you order Oreo frozen yogurt and you pull an almond out of your mouth and the lady at the counter tells you, “oh, sorry, we use the same scoop on all of the flavors, even the ones with nuts” Believe me, it’s not fun, but you have to learn to adapt to it. It’s a part of who you are after all, and you should love every single part of what makes you different. It’s still irritating though when you eat healthy all week and really want that one cookie, until someone tells you there might be traces of walnuts in it. What a buzz kill.

The worst feeling is being afraid to eat.

It’s terrifying to take a bite of something and worry that you might feel that feeling all over again. Even though you carry your Epi-Pen every where you go, it’s still the scariest sensation in the world. Yes you learn to live with it, but I don’t think the fear is something that will ever 100% go away. Personally, I know if I ate an almond and didn’t have my Epi-Pen, I would go into anaphylactic shock. But what I have taught myself over the past 19 years is that I need to live with it. I need to learn exactly what I can and can’t eat, and hey, if I can’t have that cookie, it’s one less fattening thing I’ll be eating! You have to go to the allergist and figure out exactly what to stay away from and learn how to enjoy the foods you can eat. Take care of yourself, and see if the allergist can check to see if anything has changed. I need to do this soon. It’s one of the ten little things I want to do before I turn 26. Once you’re educated, you’ll feel a little better, but you will always be extra cautious. Keep yourself updated by regularly visiting the FAAN website. Learn all about cross pollination.

If you’re one of the lucky ones who don’t have food allergies, good for you.

You have no idea how fortunate you are. If your kids are allergy free too, count your blessings. I can only imagine how nerve-racking it was for my parents to let me have dinner over friends’ houses. I go back to my previous question though, why are kids all of a sudden being born with these severe allergies? When I was little, I was one of the only ones. It was strange. I always knew I was different from the other kids. I hated having to explain why I couldn’t have the same desserts or candy as everyone else. So, I leave you with one piece of advice. Don’t ever make fun of the people who do have food allergies.

You never know how they feel, and there’s nothing worse than being afraid to eat.

About the author: Holly is a 25 year old writer from New England who is on a journey to a happier and healthier life. She’s a firm believer in loving yourself, being kind to others, learning from mistakes, and letting go of what holds you back from being the best version of yourself. Aside from writing, she enjoys eating healthy, staying fit, traveling to fascinating places, fashion, helping animals, spending time with family and friends, and meeting people that inspire and encourage her. She loves to express her stories, ventures, and feelings through words and photographs. Writing about her life is a beautiful release, and she hopes to enthuse her readers along the way. Learn more about her at www.thecatzmeow.net, or Hollyamber28@gmail.com

5 Ways to Stay Fit at a Desk Job

October 9, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

by guest author Kyra Kuik

There was a time, not so very long ago, when human life involved a lot of movement.

With most people doing hard labor in the factories, fields and home, only the upper middle class and above knew much about the sedentary lifestyle. Sadly, as these sorts of jobs have spread across all echelons of society, calories have become more and more condensed into cheap (and delicious) products, packing a one-two punch for our guts and our health. It takes a lot of creativity to stay fit at a desk job, where it’s easier to reach for that slice of cake in the break-room than it is to jog across town to the grocery store for a nice rewarding pack of carrots. Here are a few unexpected ways to sneak that healthy lifestyle in.

5. Get the Most Out of Your Commute

If you can’t get a good workout in either before or after work (and even if you can), try turning that commute into an opportunity for exercise. Run, walk, bike, flap your arms like a bird, whatever; even taking public transport to work will require more movement, as you’ll have to walk between stations and your destinations. This can also be a good way to sneak in time for stimulating podcasts and audiobooks, which can get you into a contemplative or creative mood for the workday, or help you let down after a long one.

4. Sneak in Movement

Despite how it may seem, there are opportunities for movement throughout the workday. Start by getting up to stretch every 30 – 45 minutes, increasing blood flowing through those legs. Drink a lot of water, too, and you’ll have a regular excuse to get moving. Try visiting a colleague’s desk across the office rather than firing off an email, and host a good old fashioned West Wing-style walking meeting once in awhile.

3. Schedule in Time for Lunch

For workhorses, it’s tempting to work through lunch and sneak in a few extra tasks. But the human body and mind have limited productivity, and you’ll find you’ll actually get a lot more done if you take the time to relax and let your mind refresh itself. When I recommend scheduling in time for lunch, I mean actually blocking it off on your calendar like it’s as important as a meeting…because it is. If you take the time to fully enjoy your meal, both your mind and body will take note of what you’re doing, keeping you better satiated for longer. If eating isn’t as important to you, take this time to sneak in a workout at the gym around the corner.

2. Snack…Strategically

Snacking’s bad rap is largely undeserved. Sure, if you throw back a salty, fatty packet of chips three times a day, your body isn’t going to like you. But healthy snacking can actually be your key to staving off hunger-induced binges, keeping energy levels constant, and losing or maintaining weight. For the best results, keep those portions small and try to snack every several hours or so. Go forhealthy snacks that provide nutrients and vitamins along with calories, like fruit, nuts, or whole grains that won’t spike your insulin levels.

1. Get Your Whole Office In On It

If you’ve got friends at the office with fitness goals of their own, why not make them your support network? They’re right there, and you’ll be a lot more likely to head to the gym after work if you know you’ve got a nearby friend in on it. If you’re up for some lobbying, ask your boss about implementing a workplace wellness program. This can be anything from gym memberships to developing incentives and initiatives for taking time out of the work day for working out, guilt-free. Working out gets a whole lot easier if you’re not having to sneak it in, and a company-wide preventative health program can actually lower insurance costs if they offer wellness programs.

Staying fit at a desk job is possible, just as long as you get your supportive network in place and your creativity hat on. So snack well, get moving, and work better while feeling better, too.

About the Author: Kyra Kuik works for a creative internet marketing company in Seattle, WA. You can connect with Kyra via Twitter.

The Power of Accountability

September 4, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

by guest author John Lenning

The following is a letter that I received from a new friend. I asked him if I could share it because I thought it was awesome.

I just wanted to say “thanks” for helping to get me back on track.
For a little over a year before I contacted you, I had been having pain in my hip flexors. It started off as nagging pains, but got worse and worse with each month. About one month before I met you, I went to my sister’s house for a weekend get-together.

One of my college buddies who I had not seen in over 9 months was there. When he saw me, he said “Haven’t seen you in a while, what have you been up to?”

I paused for a second, then replied “Work, and uhh…that’s about it”

He replied, “Work, that’s it?”

I said, “Yeah….”

He then said, “Seriously, you haven’t done anything else?”

I just kind of stood there with a dumb look on my face, thinking, “Wow, I really have not been doing anything, have I?”

After what seemed like forever, I kind of laughed and acted like it was not a big deal. I then quickly changed the subject to something about his job.

For a week after that, I just kept asking myself what I had been doing. His question made me take a look at myself and realize that I had let my pain prevent me from doing things. I had been using it as an excuse. I had used my hip injury to justify skipping the gym, camping trips, and other things. I even used it to justify my poor eating habits.

I realized that I had been passively going through life, never stopping to see that things seemed to be going downhill.

Even after that experience, it took me over three weeks to convince myself that I needed to start doing something about the pain. I finally convinced myself that I needed to actually do something and was able to convince myself to talk to Mike. The rest is history.

I am thankful that I was able to finally break through the walls that I had built, and ask Mike if he knew what I should do. If I had not, I would still be living a mediocre lifestyle. Thanks to you guys I am back to my old self.

Thanks again,

Here is the lesson:

If you are having a difficult time motivating yourself, get someone you can trust and tell them what is going on. Then, tell them that you are not comfortable in your situation. Ask them to hold you accountable to do something about it. You do not need to ask for “help” or “assistance” just accountability

About the Author: John is a competitive athlete and trainer. When John is not working out, coaching, or eating, he is usually trying to learn something new. He currently writes about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of hip pain at his personal site.

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