EATING MY WAY TO RECOVERY
I realized the other day, as I was testing out a new recipe, life in recovery and the way we eat have a very similar connection. When we are in the depths of our addiction, we live our lives like a fast food restaurant: quick, unhealthy, and a willingness to return to it far too often than we should. It is sad when looking back at all the unhealthy things I put in my body, besides the alcohol, that I was so heavily addicted to for 12 years. I worried about my health, but my addiction was more important and overshadowed everything. Every day during my addiction, my days were spent eating unhealthy foods and consuming lots of wine. Nothing was ever prepared in a healthy manner and portion control wasn’t even a part of my vocabulary. Most of the time, these meals served two purposes: either to prepare me for my ‘drunk fest’ for the evening (meaning more food would allow me to drink more) or to help me lessen the hangover, so I could function easier in life.
After entering recovery, I came upon a movie named “Julie and Julia”. The movie was about a lady name Julie who has decided to get her life in order, and how she was going to do that was by cooking every recipe in the Julia Child cookbook ‘Mastering The Art of French Cooking’ and then blog about it. I was completely intrigued by this idea but the problem was, I wasn’t that great of a cook, but neither was Julie! So the next day, I ordered the cookbook set, and was ready to roll up my sleeves and learn the art of cooking.
Most of the recipes in the book were based on the experience Julia Child had as she studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in France, so they weren’t very healthy but man were they good! I didn’t go nearly as far as Julie did, probably only making 15-20 of the recipes, but it made me realize that I did know how to cook, I enjoyed it, and I just had to step out of my comfort zone and try new things, which is a good testament to how we should live our lives in recovery.
Now that I am firmly settled into my life of recovery (over 5 years now) I realize how important cooking and being healthy is for me. I don’t deprive myself completely (you have to enjoy some sweets every now and then) but I also know the damage I did to my body for all those years and I want to do all I can to repair it for a long, happy, healthy life. Now instead of living a ‘fast food’ life, I live a ‘gourmet meal’ life, full of healthy dishes, savoring each bite, and knowing how lucky I am to be here to enjoy it all.
www.heroesinrecovery.com
No comments:
Post a Comment