Former adult film star Jenna Jameson took to Instagram this week to celebrate three years of living sober.
“Today is an important day for me in my recovery. 3 years. I can’t begin to explain what sobriety has brought to my life. But I will try,” Jameson wrote in an Instagram post. “Yes, I’m not the intensely self centered ‘the world owes me something’ woman anymore. I am now the ‘What can I do for the world’ woman.”
Jameson hasn’t spoken extensively about her addiction, but there are reports that she was abusing alcohol and prescription pills. Her post was tagged #aa and #na, and she has suggested that she used 12-step fellowships to help her stay sober. Along the way, the 44-year-old said that she discovered new things about herself.
“Sobriety has taught me a lot about myself, my coping mechanisms that I ignored came bubbling to the surface quickly after getting sober,” she wrote. “That scared me. Everything I knew was wrong. Everything I believed in was hurting me, not helping. Meetings and leaning on my Sober friends… made things bearable the first year. I was surviving. Sober. It was shocking at first, but now it’s my new normal.”
Now, she recognizes that her substance abuse was an attempt to fill a void. “I think back to the way I used to run… run as far and as fast as I could, and I pray to God I never feel that emptiness again,” she wrote.
In April 2017, Jameson gave birth to a daughter and struggled afterward with her weight. Now, she has dropped from 187 pounds to 130, a journey she has celebrated on social media.
“My weightloss has solidified my toughness and strength,” she wrote. “I know I am capable of beautiful things and these are the qualities I want to teach my daughter. No matter what life throws at you, you can overcome and flourish. 3 years. 3 whole years. I am grateful. Just for today.”
Previously, Jameson worried that she couldn’t maintain weight loss while sober.
“I was worried I couldn’t lose the weight sober,” she wrote earlier this year. “I’m being real with you. When I was in my addiction it was easy to stay thin. Sobriety and being overweight was new to me. I kept telling myself if I could beat addiction and stay sober, I can easily lose the weight… and I did. The healthy way.”
Both weight loss and recovery have shown her how to tap into her inner strength, she said.
“And as of today I can say my mental game is STRONG,” she wrote on Instagram. “I feel I can do anything, I conquered abuse, addiction, PTSD and depression.”
