Rebuilding life after addiction nearly broke me, but I fought like hell to take back my body, mind, and purpose—and I’m proving every day that it was worth it.
Addiction doesn’t just take—it destroys. It rips apart every part of you, leaving nothing but a hollow version of who you used to be. It doesn’t happen all at once. It sneaks up on you, creeping into your habits, choices, and thoughts until one day, you wake up and don’t even recognize yourself. Rebuilding life after addiction isn’t just about quitting. That’s just the first fight. The real battle starts when you have to figure out who the hell you are without the thing that’s been numbing you for years.
I know this fight. I lived it. At my lowest, I was 305 pounds, barely able to function. My body was wrecked—gasping for air after walking a block, drowning in high blood pressure, living off a diet of alcohol and junk. But my body wasn’t the only thing I let go. I stopped caring about myself entirely. I didn’t shower regularly. I didn’t brush my teeth. My home looked like a war zone because, honestly, I didn’t think I deserved to live in anything better. Addiction had taken everything from me, and I let it.
But here’s the truth most people don’t want to hear—rebuilding life after addiction isn’t about just putting down the bottle, the pills, or whatever had you in a chokehold. That’s survival. Rebuilding means taking ownership. It means standing in the wreckage you created and choosing—every single day—to do something about it.
The first thing I had to fix when I was rebuilding my life after addiction was my body. Not because I cared about how I looked but because I needed to prove that I was still in control. I couldn’t run. Hell, I could barely walk. But I started small. A few steps turned into a block; a block turned into a mile. My lungs burned, and my legs felt like lead, but I kept moving. Because I knew if I could do this, if I could take back control of my body, then maybe—just maybe—I could take back my life.
And with every step forward, the fog started to lift. I saw what addiction had done to me. It wasn’t just my health—it was my entire existence. My hygiene? Nonexistent. My mindset? Completely broken. I had been treating myself like I was worthless, and it showed. If I was serious about rebuilding life after addiction, I had to start acting like I deserved to be here.
So, I forced a routine. Shower. Brush my teeth. Wear clean clothes. Not because I felt like it but because I needed to. It felt stupid at first like I was just going through the motions. But then something shifted. The more I took care of myself, the more I started to believe I was worth taking care of. And that changed everything.
Then came my diet. My body had been running on poison for years. I didn’t just need to eat better—I needed to fuel myself. I learned, experimented, failed, and kept going. I trained. I built strength. And over time, I took it so seriously that I became certified in nutrition coaching and counseling. What started as survival became passion.
But here’s something most people ignore while rebuilding life after addiction—your environment matters. My home was a disaster. Messy. Cluttered. Depressing. It was a mirror of the chaos in my mind. If I was going to rebuild life after addiction, I needed to create an environment that helped me grow, not one that reminded me of my lowest point. So I cleaned. I built structure. I created a system—because chaos breeds relapse, but discipline builds success. My home became a place of order, not a reminder of my past failures.
Rebuilding life after addiction isn’t just about one thing. It’s not just sobriety. It’s not just getting in shape or, eating right or keeping your house clean. It’s about all of it. It’s about reclaiming every single thing addiction took from you. It’s about showing up when you don’t feel like it, pushing forward when you want to quit, and proving that you are stronger than your worst days.
Now? I’m 170 pounds. I run. I train. I live with purpose. Not because it’s easy but because I refuse to go back. Because I know what it’s like to wake up in a body that feels like a prison. I know what it’s like to let addiction dictate your life. And I know the only way out is through discipline, action, and the relentless refusal to stay broken.
This isn’t a quick fix. It’s a war. But it’s a war worth fighting. Every day you choose to show up, every habit you change, every time you push forward instead of falling back—it matters. Because rebuilding life after addiction isn’t just about staying sober; it’s about building a life so damn good that you never want to escape from it again.
Stay disciplined. Stay resilient. Live with PRIDE.
Jim Lunsford
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