Exercise, Therapy and Religion Helped Me Climb Out Of Alcoholism and Unhappiness

Hello! Who are you?

Hi, I’m Brittany and I live in Austin, Texas. I work for myself as an Executive Coach for high performers who want to say goodbye to alcohol for good. I am married, I have a 4-year-old daughter and a dachshund named Louis and a heeler named Macey. My new favorite passion is gardening!

I do consider myself happy because my life used to be pretty miserable until I quit drinking and discovered the truth of who I am: a woman with a resilient heart.

What is your struggle and when did it start?

I struggled with alcohol for 10 years. I experienced blacking out, vomiting up blood, sometimes paralysis of my body, the shakes in my hands, seeing things and hearing voices, and terrible headaches.

I started drinking around 17 to try and fit into the crowd, but what perpetuated it was a sexual assault after a night of drinking. I was told by the offender that I needed to keep quiet about what he did to me, and so I did for 13 years.

My drinking developed over time from getting drunk with friends at frat parties in college to drinking alone by myself in my own home on weeknights and eventually on weekends. I refused to leave the house sober, and I had a very difficult time giving myself permission to stay sober.

Eventually, it impacted my job, and I was let go at 25 after a weekend celebration of my birthday. It was the beginning of my rock bottom.

Today, alcohol does not impact me anymore, but it does kill 500 people per day in the US. It is constantly shoved in our faces on TV, at restaurants, and at parties. When you’re asked why you don’t drink, people look at you as if you’re a different breed of human.

How did this struggle make you feel at your worst moments?

Alcohol took me down a path of loneliness, a separation from myself and from God. I never knew what it was like to feel so sad and by myself, but drinking showed me exactly how one could ruin one’s life over time. I was never happy except in the moment. But that moment quickly faded and I was left with that overwhelming feeling of being alone again.

Everyone around me at first didn’t think I had a problem. It started out as “normal college behavior”, but that behavior began impacting my job, my relationships with friends, and it especially affected my family.

My friends wanted to stage an intervention to help me, my sister was also part of that experience and I ran. My parents offered rehab, even speaking to a clergyman, but I refused to see that I had a problem. I isolated myself and wouldn’t answer the phone, or I locked the door and wouldn’t let anyone visit.

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Was there a moment when you started to turn things around?

The moment I felt something change for the better was when I was sitting at a bar sipping on a beer, and I called my father. I told him I truly didn’t want to drink anymore and really wanted to get sober. He sighed and said, “We tried to help you. Now it’s up to you just to stop drinking.”

I asked him how that was going to be possible considering all of my options ran out. He screamed into the phone, “JUST STOP” and hung up. It was the fire I needed to go home, get on my knees and cry out to God for forgiveness and for help. I asked God to help me get sober and to show me the path forward.

After crying myself to sleep, I woke up the next morning feeling different and it’s hard to explain what changed. 

I grabbed my laptop and began researching ‘how to get sober without rehab’. A story of a heroin addict who got sober by way of CrossFit popped up on my news search. After reading that article, I began looking for gyms in my area. I found one about 25 minutes from my house called CrossFit King of Prussia. I booked an appointment for 2 days later after deciding not to drink again. I was 48 hours sober heading into this gym on a Tuesday night. I looked around and saw nothing but really fit people. 

I felt embarrassed because I was out of shape and overweight, but I showed up and that mattered. I walked up to the front desk and told the guy sitting there that I was 2 days sober and wanted to apologize in advance that I might get sick on the floor and may not make it back the next day because I’d be sore or sick. 

He was typing away listening to me when he finally stopped, paused, took a deep breath and said, “Hi, my name is Tim McCann and I am going to be your coach today. If you get sick or you’re sore, we’ll help you out with that! Oh and by the way…I am 5 years sober myself. Welcome, you’re going to love it here.”

What steps did you take to overcome your struggle?

The first steps I took to overcome my struggle were: 

• Identify
• Belief 
• Action

I needed to become aware that I had a problem and identify as an alcoholic.

I believe I needed to seek help, but didn’t know which avenue to take until doing my research.

I took action because if I didn’t, I would be dead. That action for me was CrossFit. I tried some Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but for me, all I saw were old men who had been there for 40 years still chasing something. I did not know what they were chasing until I figured out it was themselves.

I didn’t want to waste my time in a church basement trying to figure out who I was, so I took major action joining that gym and found myself again.

What also helped me was EMDR therapy and getting to the root of why I drank. It helped me rewire the neural pathways in my brain while also seeing I drank because I forgot how to love myself.

And lastly, surrendering to God truly helped me above everything else. Yes, I took action, but I needed to see that my identity wasn’t in drinking anymore. I personally needed to believe that I could take unapologetic action because I was being backed by God and could not fail.

Have you shared any of this with people around you in real life?

I share my story often on Linkedin, with my friends and often with my coach or mentor. My family knows some of my struggles, but it’s still not something they fully acknowledge. 

My mom denies I had a drinking problem and just saw me as an “angry drinker”. My dad doesn’t feel comfortable either, despite also having struggled with alcohol 40 years ago. I don’t know much of his story, so if I openly share he begins to shut down.

I do not find it difficult to share my struggles with others, because my story brings awareness to the dangers of reality; people need to be able to face their reality and hate it enough to make a change.

If you could give a single piece of advice to someone else that struggles, what would that be?

I wish I knew that vulnerability was my greatest strength. The moment I began sharing my struggles and my story was the moment I began to heal. Had I known that when I was trying to perform in my job as an alcoholic, I would have quit sooner. But I chased the dollar so I could drink the poison.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, YouTube channels, or other resources for you?

A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson helped me realize that, in order for me to change, I needed to figure out how to truly love myself again. I needed to see that I was responsible for coming home to myself, the truth of who I was, and that truth is what sets you free and apart from your addiction.

Fitness changed my life: Crossfit King of Prussia and Dane’s Body Shop both played a very crucial role as part of my sobriety journey and I credit a lot to Amiee Lyons and Dane Krager for my recovery.

Honestly, the most important resource for me was my faith and finding my way back to God/Higher Power as I understood Him.

Where can we go to learn more about you?

You can read more about me here on Linkedin. I share about sales and sobriety!

💡 By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here. 👇

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