To accompany your AA Big Book, I would recommend getting a copy of the book “Living Sober”.
It is AA approved literature with lots of great tips for the newly sober and old timers alike.
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I’d recommend yoga, but the only pose I was ever good at is downward spiral. Haha, but seriously.
I have a pretty high stress job at times. There’s something to be said for forcing yourself to work through stress, but that’s not something I would recommend to most people early on in sobriety. Most of my stress was made much worse by bad eating, no exercise, and alcohol. Once I cut out the alcohol, I still ate bad and wasn’t exercising. It took me about 6 months to clear the Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS). Check out some articles on it. It’s widely documented, and I learned a lot about how and why I felt like I did after getting sober. Your body chemistry takes a while to readjust to not having alcohol in your system regularly. And with me, it was a lot of alcohol a lot of the time. Cravings and fatigue are two very common experiences during PAWS. After about 6 months, I felt clear headed and my energy started coming back fairly well. Now, I work out 5 days a week, and crave good and healthy foods again. Sleep is still somewhat of an issue, but that’s partly my horrible work hours.
Now, stress is much more manageable. In the mean time, I would recommend taking breaks when you start feeling stressed or overwhelmed. It could be just being in a different room, making a quick phone call to a friend, closing your eyes and breathing deep for a few minutes, putting on some music that always puts you in a good mood, taking a 10 min walk around the neighborhood, run an errand that you were going to do later, etc. Change of venue can change a mindset quickly.
Also, me just knowing I wasn’t alone in my struggles early on was help enough sometimes. “This too shall pass.”
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Tom, I like the way you think 
Thank you!
I did so much deep breathing techniques in the beginning , there’s a lot of natural vitamins and herbs and adoptogens that are helpful , a good playlist with songs you like for your drive home , avoiding the news and stressful tv
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And exercise !
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Thank you, Jeremy, for that information. I will have to look into that. That could very well be part of my issue. I miss regular exercise and being someone who is very choosy with food choices, I'm kind of disappointed in my eating habits lately. My personal trainer is willing to help with food and exercise. She's pretty good at keeping me accountable. I haven't seen her in a year so it's time. I think if I had some more energy, I'd utilize more tools for activity.
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Don’t be too hard on yourself! That low energy period sucks to go through. It can be confusing too. If I knew then what I know now, I’d have been much easier on myself.
I’ve never been an ice cream kinda guy, but I can’t tell you how many pints I ate in my first 6 months of being sober. Haha. Such a weird craving, but I kept giving in. I craved sugar and high fats. Guess that was my bodies way of making up for the huge blood sugar change of not having the alcohol anymore. Like I said, it’ll pass. Hang in there!
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Thank you 
That is very helpful to know. I seem to be craving the same things & I hate it. I am looking forward to this passing! I'm even back to having a cup of coffee or 2 in the morning bc I can't make it. I was doing so good without it too. I will keep in mind this is temporary and try not to be so hard on myself.
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Oh now exercise OUTSIDE, especially yoga, sounds like a great way to decompress! I will have to give that a try I meditate outside but can't say I've tried exercising outdoors. Thank you!
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