Real Recovery Talk

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**Real Recovery Talk**

We are a podcast dedicated to sobriety and recovery from alcohol and drugs. (And whatever other addiction that is out there) It doesn’t matter what you have been through in the past. We have all done very bad things in our addiction. This does not define who we are. We know there is a way out of addiction. Family and loved ones, you play a part in this as well. There are plenty of stories out there of families and loved ones not knowing what to do with their addicted loved one. Let us guide you on the right things to do and the right decisions to make to ensure that you and your loved one gets the help that you need.

Latest Episodes:

117 - 5 Min or Less: Does it need to be said, by me, right now? Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Does it need to be said? Does it need to be said by me? Does it need to be said by me right now?

After putting down the drink and drug, my next goal was to figure out how to live life.

How can I live life in such a way that minimizes anxiety, worry, resentment or the like?

I know that if I live my life feeling these negative feelings as a constant, I will eventually go back to the "ease and comfort" of a substance.

So my new job is to minimize the amount of time that I have these feelings. The question is, how do I keep these feelings to a minimum? That begins with making sure that I do not put myself in such situations to begin with.

How can I best avoid confrontation and conflict so that these feelings don't arise? First of all, I need to learn how to communicate with others. One of the best ways to do this, is to figure out when and where to involve myself in disagreements.

I have come to find that by just sitting back and keeping my mouth shut, I find myself in less confrontation. Time heals all wounds.

What may have seemed like a big deal today, may mean nothing by tomorrow. If I had just kept my mouth shut, I could've avoided a lot of confrontation.

116 - 5 Min or Less: You are who you surround yourself with! Jan 27, 2020

Show notes

You are who you surround yourself with!

The people that we choose to hang around with will directly affect the level of success we achieve throughout our sobriety. If we choose to hang out with losers, we will lose. If we choose to hang with winners, we will win.

This goes for anybody in life. Not just people getting sober. If you want to be a successful business person then hang out with successful business people. If you want to be a successful mountain climber hang out with successful mountain climbers. Although this sounds very surface level it is the absolute truth.

Often times people claim they want to be "sober" but spend the majority of their time doing things that non-sober people would do. Sobriety means so much more than just putting down the drink or the drug. It is about changing our lifestyle. And that often times means changing our people, places and things. We need to have a total mindset shift when getting sober and that happens by hanging out with people that resemble sobriety.

Stick with the winners!!!

115 - 5 Min or Less: What does the word "Surrender" actually mean? Jan 25, 2020

Show notes

So you think you know what it means to surrender in recovery?

A term that gets thrown around a lot in recovery is the word surrender.

It sounds good when you say it, but do you really know what it means? Do you really know what you're committing to? I thought surrender meant to go over to the winning side, or give up.

Come to find out, it means "to agree to the terms of peace." Meaning, if you want peace, there is going to be terms. There may still even be consequences.

Just because I surrender, doesn't necessarily mean I get to go home free. I'm probably still gonna have to go to jail or report to court at some point. That doesn't sound fun!

Point is, surrender is usually followed up with some sort of commitment, task, consequence or the like. When I surrender to a life of recovery, it means that I am going to have to do some work to find and keep the PEACE.

114 - 5 Min or Less: You gotta put the work in! Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

5 Min or Less

You Gotta Put In the Work!

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If you are going to take the plunge into getting sober, you have to understand that it is going to take a lot of hard work. I sometimes think that people are under the misconception that getting sober is just about stopping using drugs and alcohol. That is very far from the truth.

I have noticed that when things get hard for people that is when they tend to quit. When challenges arise, or uncomfortability sets in, then they'll throw in the towel. This is the time that you have to knuckle down and do the work that you don't necessarily want to do. When you are in addiction treatment it is hard work. If you want to get anything out of treatment itself you have to be willing to work hard, be vulnerable, be honest and grind it out

If you're able to continue to work hard and to put forth all your efforts into your sobriety you will succeed. I can guarantee sobriety for anybody that is willing to work hard, nonstop! Don't come into this looking for an end date or a graduation certificate. Come into this understanding that there is no end date and this isn't something you graduate from, it's a lifestyle.

113 - 5 Min or Less: I can see through your stage character! Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

5 min or Less

I can see straight through your "stage-character!"

There is a reason 30 days is not enough to get to the underlying issues and the root of the problem.

Every client comes into treatment presenting their stage character. This is the person that they want everybody to think they are, so they can get the reputation they think they deserve.

Funny thing is, this usually gives way after about three weeks. When a client is under the watchful eye of a facility, they can only keep their character defects hidden for so long.

Their true character will eventually come out. This is a good thing.

It exposes the truth about their personality and character. A personality and character that must change in order for an individual to attain long-term sobriety.

My sponsor told me, I didn't have a drug and alcohol problem; I had a personality problem.

So let me ask you. If it takes a treatment team around three weeks to see what the underlying issues are, how are we supposed to fix that in a remaining week? This is assuming the client committed to 30 days of treatment. This is why it is so highly recommended that somebody commit to around 90 to 120 days at minimum.

Years of drug and alcohol addiction can not be undone in 30 days! This is assuming, you are of course the real deal addict or alcoholic.

In my case, I have the PRIVILEGE of participating in recovery everyday for the rest of my life! And it is awesome!

112 - Brad Jensen - Founder and CEO of Key Nutrition talks drug addiction and how he became the entrepreneur he is today Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery. Look for our new daily shows, which are five minutes or under! Listen in for yourself or for a friend. You can also find our new short episodes on our Facebook page.

Today I will talk about the process and path of a person moving from being a "normie" to using drugs and alcohol and becoming an addict.

In this episode, I talk with Brad Jensen, the founder of Key Nutrition, and is in recovery. He comes to us today to talk about how fitness and health have positively impacted his sobriety. Brad also talks about his struggles with sobriety. He'll talk about his experience, his awareness of the three pillars to life, and how he can assist clients with his coaching to be more successful on the path of sobriety.

Struggling with anxiety and ADD from age 12, he tried alcohol as a release and found drinking worked to relieve his stress. Additionally, he was overweight and was picked on by friends. By age 14, Brad jumped into reading books on health and fitness and was hooked on his health class at school. He remembers wanting to look like a bodybuilder on the cover of a magazine, then realizing that alcohol would not let him achieve his goal and quit drinking. At the end of his sophomore year, he was fit, but still had anxiety and was presented with opiates at a party.

Even with a stable family situation and a good life, Brad fell into drugs and alcohol. "This wasn't supposed to happen to a guy like me," he says, recalling his stable family life. Brad continued bodybuilding, along with his heroin addiction, until he finally ended up in prison for an extended period.

Listen in to find out how Brad denied his addiction for years, how he recovered from his long-term addiction in November of 2012, and the best thing his parents did for him during recovery. Brad also talks about how the loss of his grandfather affected his recovery from addiction.

Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review!

Show Notes:

[03:59] Brad's journey through addiction and his background with drugs and alcohol.
[06:01] Brad tells his story of how he was introduced to and hooked on opiates.
[08:45] His experience of trying to take more pain pills and how to get a hold of more.
[10:56] Building his identity through distributing opiates, the significant power this gave him and his first experience with heroin.
[14:52] His senior year of high school his mom found a briefcase full of drugs.
[22:56] Brad's first experience with a long-term prison sentence.
[26:18] How Brad's parents stopped enabling him and how this helped him to stop using drugs.
[28:06] What happened when Brad asked his mom for drugs.
[30:00] Brad's first steps to recovery after he was released from 30 days in prison.
[36:54] How materialistic items can keep people sober.
[46:30] How fitness and health has impacted Brad's sobriety.
[51:54] Get your anger, anxiety and issues out of your head with a good workout in the gym.
[54:54] It's not how long you've been sober, it's what you've done during and after your recovery time.

Links and Resources:

Real Recovery Live Chat
Real Recovery Talk on the Web
Real Recovery Talk on YouTube
Leave Real Recovery Talk a review on iTunes
Rock Recovery Center
Ideas for a show? Email us tom@realrecoverytalk.com and ben@realrecoverytalk.com
Brad Jensen | Key Nutrition Coach

111 - 5 Min or Less: MTV Halfway House Living! Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

MTV Real World: "the halfway house"

In this video I will discuss the abundance of stimulus one feels while living in a sober support community.

There is always something entertaining going on. It is the excitement of a new environment. It is the chaos of living with others.

I discuss this topic to bring awareness and preparation for the day that you move out into the adult world. All of a sudden you will find yourself alone and dependent upon the outside support community that you have either built or have not built.

I always tell our clients to duplicate the same sense of community they feel in treatment, outside of treatment. Being in treatment exposes one to the connection that can be felt. After being exposed, one may find value in establishing a more permanent recovery Community.

Treatment and halfway is only temporary. Are you preparing yourself for the day that you move out? Will you feel like you have an abundance of support even though you are no longer enrolled in treatment?

Forget halfway, and go the WHOLE-WAY!

110 - 5 Min or Less: You get more with Honey than you do Vinegar! Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

Have you ever tried having a conversation with someone and it just isn't going the way that you thought that it would? 🙋🏻‍♂️

I know for myself when someone is not responding to me in the way I don't want to be responded to, I get on the defense. I will start to justify why I am right and you are wrong, I will get angry, I will get defensive and in the end it's not a productive conversation at all. In this video I discuss why it's important to try and have healthy conversation as an adult in recovery. We know resentment is the number one offender. So it is important for us to be able to have conversations with people in a manner that gets something accomplished rather than getting into arguments and everybody gets in a race to see who can become victim first.

Ben taught me "You get more with honey than you do vinegar." When I first heard that I questioned it. 🧐 I wasn't quite sure what he was trying to say. But over time it makes sense, the goal is to have constructive conversations with people and in the end everybody is happy.

It's easy for me to get angry and defensive and jump on the defense but that never accomplishes anything.. We all do it, but we can all fix it!!

109 - 5 Min or Less: To Smoke Weed or not to Smoke Weed? In Recovery..... Jan 19, 2020

Show notes

5 Min or Less

To cannabis or not to cannabis in recovery?

A very popular subject amongst the recovery community is whether or not utilizing marijuana is a relapse or not. The sober support community that I surround myself with does consider it a relapse; Though, one will find individuals who fall into both camps. Who is to say what is sober and what is not?

I believe this is for every individual to decide for themselves. We have the only disease, that tells us we don't have it, that has to be self diagnosed. If one chooses to take the risk, are they willing to potentially pay devastating consequences as a result of putting certain motions into play?

Or maybe they pay no consequences? Does someone who has worked hard for their recovery really want to take the risk? In this video I will discuss my personal opinion, and look at some of the potential downfalls to partaking in cannabis use. I would advise against doing so, but that is just my opinion.

108 - 5 Min or Less: Am I the only one that I am hurting? Jan 17, 2020

Show notes

5 Min or Less

Please like and share Real Recovery Talk

Am I the only one that I am hurting?

Often times as addicts and alcoholics we think that we are the only ones that we are hurting. The unfortunate part is that we are hurting a lot of people around us. The people that we are hurting the most are the people that we hold closest to us.

The loved ones tend to think as well that they are not the ones with the problem an"why can't he/she just stop?" Or "its their problem, they can figure it out". So, loved ones, understand that you are part of the problem too. We all play a part in this wether we like to admit it or not.

BUT once we are all able to admit that we ALL play a part, let the healing begin!

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