If you’ve ever felt rundown, depleted or out of shape healthwise in sobriety, this book might be for you. If you want to get healthier in sobriety, this book is for you. If you need a guide, a plan and solid science to back it up, you’re in luck!
As a health coach, a sober person and a lifelong student of health and nutrition, Spiritual Adrenaline, A Lifestyle Plan to Nourish and Strengthen Your Recovery, by Thomas Shanahan (Central Recovery Press, Jan. 15, 2019), checked all those boxes and more for me. Shanahan guides us with skill, science and a practical, no-nonsense attitude through all the reasons and ways active addiction depletes our bodies physically and how to address those deficiencies, so we can not only stop the damage but in many cases reverse it, and even get into the best shape of our lives.
In the first chapter, the author explains that, “It’s critical to understand that Spiritual Adrenaline is not a substitute for a traditional 12-step program, working with your sponsor and regular meeting attendance. Only after you have established a solid foundation in your 12-step practice and after at least six months in recovery should you begin to focus your energy on the interrelated outside issues.”
For the next several chapters, Shanahan takes us through the science of why and how we become so nutritionally depleted in active addiction, and more importantly, all the nutrition and exercise benefits available from proper eating and working out.
Next he gives us a clear plan to address this, including daily schedules for food and exercise, with each spelled out in easy to apply detail. Chapter 12 offers The Seven-Day Spiritual Adrenaline Detox, followed by Chapter 13’s The Spiritual Adrenaline Thirty-Day Program.
Throughout the book are personal stories from people who have integrated a healthy lifestyle into their recovery and live active, inspiring lives in sobriety. Stories of people who started sober active communities, lost hundreds of pounds and became a triathlete, found the courage in recovery to try new things and fell in love with running, swimming, or going on active sober travel adventures.
Spiritual Adrenaline is a reference book, a recipe book and a workout guide all rolled into one. Shanahan’s desire to give you a one-stop-shop for A Lifestyle Plan to Nourish and Strengthen Your Recovery hits the bullseye. If you are looking for a sober health coach-in-a-book, this is it!