Simple Lifestyle Changes That Can Make Addiction Recovery Easier

Entering recovery after years of substance use is challenging. There are so many old coping mechanisms to change, there’s a mindset to alter, and a whole lifetime of behaviours geared towards alcohol or drugs to address.

What’s helpful to know is that there are small things you can do right away that help you on the healing journey.

Small changes can have a significant impact. By implementing some of the healthy behaviours below, a new lifestyle can start to unfold which takes the focus off substance use.

The Power of Daily Habits

Daily habits become an anchor for people in recovery. It might sound strange to emphasise the importance of habits but for many who have lived with alcohol or drug addiction, the structure and routine gained through curating daily habits is often minimal.

Substances affect people in a multitude of ways and having a solid routine isn’t always a priority, and where it is, it’s usually associated with acquiring or using the substance.

Addiction is a series of deep and consistent unhealthy habits. One of the most significant ways to address it is to create a lifestyle filled with replacement healthy habits.

The reason for this is the new meaning and purpose they bring. After years of being focused on alcohol or drugs, a new focus is needed, and finding new behaviours that support sobriety makes all the difference in creating a foundation for long-lasting abstinence.

Actionable Lifestyle Changes

There are many ways, new habits can be formed. Looking at lifestyle behaviours offers ideas on how to do this:

1. Prioritise Sleep Hygiene

Sleep is usually impacted by substance use. Often, people experience disturbed sleep, Insomnia, sleep paralyses, and irregular sleeping patterns. This has huge repercussions on health. The body does a lot of healing during sleep and so it needs to be prioritised during recovery.

Setting a regular sleep schedule is a positive new habit to aim for. You might decide to stop winding down around 7pm with a “lights out” goal for 10pm.

The new sleep routine might start with herbal tea at 7pm, you might stop screen time at 7:30pm. From here, a relaxing activity is helpful, such as journaling, meditation, exercise such as yoga, reading, or listening to music. At around 8pm, you might have supper, and then 9pm a bath to relax, before getting into bed ready for 10pm lights-out.

Bringing awareness and reflective change to evening behaviours has the power to bring a calming and healthy routine that supports healing.

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2. Improve Nutrition

Substances are filled with unhealthy toxins that ravage the body. Many people with addiction also don’t prioritise diet.

During recovery, getting a well-balanced diet is crucial. Doing so helps the body, vital organs, and various systems (i.e. nervous, lymphatic, cardiac, and respiratory) to replenish and heal.

It’s important to see a doctor who can do a check-up to see what deficiencies might exist (i.e. long-term alcohol use leads to vitamin B12 deficiency). In these cases, you might be prescribed supplements alongside a healthy diet.

There are particular foods that support the body to heal, the brain to recover, and mental health to improve.

Foods that support healing:

• Salmon and mackerel as well as nuts and seeds which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids
• Meat, dairy, and leafy greens for B vitamins
• Berries which are antioxidant
• Whole grains such as brown rice and oats are complex carbohydrates which support energy levels and mood
• Kimchi and kefir are great for gut health, which supports the immune system
• Bananas provide potassium and vitamin B6, which supports energy and mood
• Avocados are filled with healthy fats and potassium which supports brain health

It can be quite a shock to the system getting used to eating healthy or new foods. Creating a cooking routine offers another opportunity to form a new healthy habit.

Use foods you like while incorporating what’s healthy. For instance, if you like spicy foods, learn how to spice up all the healthy foods to suit your taste buds.

3. Move Your Body

It’s so important to become active. Being active is associated with longer life expectancy. That being said, recovery is a challenge and while it’s a positive move to introduce physical activities, they need to be manageable.

Many people begin with walking, or trying yoga, others try fun fitness classes, or gardening. It’s helpful to do something that is interesting and fun to you.

As well improving your physical health and introducing a positive new focus, physical activity improves mood and offers stress relief. These are vital healthy coping mechanisms that can make recovery last much longer.

4. Build a Supportive Social Circle

Human connection plays a significant role in maintaining abstinence and making recovery easier.

Being part of sober communities helps to fuel motivation. Being around others who are interested in the same activities introduces positive influences. As well as this, peer support groups often play a significant role in helping people stay focused, especially when challenges arise and the temptation to slip into old ways, rises with it.

Having regular events and places to go where you’ll meet with, and connect to, others provides a fun part of a weekly structure.

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5. Manage Stress Constructively

Accessing professional help means that new and healthy coping mechanisms are developed. This is essential to successful recovery.

Stress-reduction techniques are most effective when implemented as part of a daily routine. It mean that there is a new healthy habit but also means when you’re triggered, you will find it much easier to return to the coping mechanism that is inculcated into everyday life.

Helpful techniques include mindfulness exercises such breathwork and body scanning, there are also journaling, and body tapping that can be very useful in activating the parasympathetic nervous system which helps a person to emotionally regulate.

6. Limit Triggers in Your Environment

To help prevent old habits slipping back in, it’s important to analyse the home environment and identify any triggers.

For instance, ensure that your home is substance-free. It might sound obvious, but sharing a space with others can make this more tricky.Conversations need to be had so that you are supported.

If certain things trigger you, for example, a messy kitchen, makes you want a drink, ensure that you keep on top of tidying. Starting the day with a cleaning spree is quite common for people in recovery. A clean space is a clean mind is a clean body!

If triggers are an ongoing issue, it’s useful to seek advice and treatment at an addiction detox clinic.

7. Leveraging Technology for Support

A powerful tool that many people use nowadays in recovery is technology. There are a huge array of apps that support mental health and wellbeing.

Look for mood tracking apps, sleep apps, apps that offer guided meditation; whatever you’re interested in and want support for, there’s most likely an app out there to help!

Of course, on downloading, set app reminders to help you build those new habits into your life.

8. Personalising Your Journey

There are a lot of ideas here. The way to start, and to avoid overwhelm, is to choose 1-2 changes. Focus on these and when they’ve become a habit, perhaps, after a month, then try adding another 1 or 2 changes.

Don’t focus on perfection. What matters is progress and with each healthy change that becomes a regular occurrence, you’re doing well.

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Concluding comments

The power of developing small lifestyle changes plays a huge role in recovery. By actively assessing your life and choosing what to adapt, you become empowered to take control. It becomes increasingly easy to let go of unhealthy old behaviours as new healthy habits are formed.

If you’re thinking about recovery, take the first step now and start identifying what small changes you can make to your life to help you heal.