Alcoholism unanonymous

candythorns

The hardest part of this "journey" for me is the absence of alcohol.
I am always thinner when i do drink. I drink a ton, and feel too amazing to eat. But i have been workimg on my sobriety which im ok with but i eat like a *kitten*.
Anyone in a disclosed point of recovery?

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candythorns

@sarahbums maybe i just need to learn how to properly eat again. Congrats on your dedication.

LeeBGoode

8+ years here. I gained a lot of weight after I got sober. A lot of people do. But honestly, focus on sobriety for a while, you can't get fit if you're dead. Slow and steady. Congrats on your sobriety!

koalastare

I drink way too much and is nearly solely the cause of my weight gain. I know this because last year i had a job where i had to blow zeros twice a day and started work at 3am. So i had to cut down significantly. Without changing anything else i lost heaps of weight. But then i left that job and i put on heaps of weight as i fell into my old habits.

ishmallow

The only thing that keeps my alcoholic tendencies at bay is lifting. I had some tough times last year and became a heavy drinker. Solo most of the time. Always needed to drink at night. To sleep. To socialize. To keep from boredom. Any excuse I could come up with and I was off to the store, if I didn't plan ahead and stock up. Many times it's lead me to very bad places, terrible hangovers, missing out on life, skipping work, letting people down etc. Just a generally miserable lifestyle, with an emptying wallet to boot.

I've kept busy and gotten better but still would nightcap and sometimes that would get out of control into another store run and an all nighter blackout.

Got a gym membership a few months ago and have mostly been a whole new person. I get 8 hrs minimum of truly restful sleep. I eat a LOT and finally started putting my weight back on. I've slipped up at least 3 times( Thanksgiving flying home for a week, and a couple random spirals).

Now I have a new mantra. To every poor thought: "you can't give yourself an inch." I don't have that control. Started truly sober living this month, gym every day, hit daily cal goals. the weight lifting completely destroys the itch. That keeps me dry, which keeps me lifting and eating. It's a beautiful cycle. Never seen such speedy progress before in my life!

hayleymarshall3

My drinking is going to make or break my weight loss. I'm an alcoholic though... it's hard.

canadian_bakin

candythorns wrote: »

The hardest part of this "journey" for me is the absence of alcohol.
I am always thinner when i do drink. I drink a ton, and feel too amazing to eat. But i have been workimg on my sobriety which im ok with but i eat like a *kitten*.
Anyone in a disclosed point of recovery?

Really not sure if I'd consider myself an alcoholic, however, I gave up booze on Jan 9, 2016. I was thinner when I drank *kicks rocks*

lulalacroix

I quit drinking 40 days ago due to just drinking too much, too often. The majority of my weight gain is due to drinking and then making poor food choices.

I feel so much better without it. I have so much more energy and almost never overeat. I'm losing weight steadily. One of he best decisions I ever made.

candythorns

feedmeandtellmeimpretty wrote: »

candythorns wrote: »

The hardest part of this "journey" for me is the absence of alcohol.
I am always thinner when i do drink. I drink a ton, and feel too amazing to eat. But i have been workimg on my sobriety which im ok with but i eat like a *kitten*.
Anyone in a disclosed point of recovery?

Really not sure if I'd consider myself an alcoholic, however, I gave up booze on Jan 9, 2016. I was thinner when I drank *kicks rocks*

Thats what im dealing with. Its easy to be skinny when you replace food with booze!

lemurcat12

It's not active, but you might be interested in this (or not, either way is cool): http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/23586-becoming-sober

Anyway, I had a similar experience -- was at my thinnest when drinking because I was super disciplined about food (and sometimes just not that interested). (I was also a really active person until the end, way after I knew my drinking was way excessive, until really going out of control.) Quit and replaced booze with food, basically, and told myself it was fine because I was saving all those calories not drinking. Started again, but didn't stop eating, quit off and on for a while and gained a bunch of weight either way (was basically depressed and inactive too through this period). Finally quit for good on Jan 2, 2010 and told myself I just wouldn't worry about food since at the time I felt like I just had to concentrate on the sobriety. I think that was the right thing for me, but let it go on way too long and finally started focusing on my weight against in Jan 2014, yay, and lost a bunch. Not back to my thinnest yet, but I'm pretty good where I am and working on it.

Hulbert0089

I'm a social drinker and it doesn't affect my work or relationships. Just for fun every now and then. My problem is that the day after a few beers/drinks I can't control my hunger impulses. I could eat a chipotle burrito and still crave something else a few hours later. If it's once or twice a week it's a guarantee to add 2lbs a month.

tat2cookie

I am now 13 days alcohol free. Sadly this is the longest I have gone without a drink in years. I went from having a glass or 2 on the weekend to 4-6 glasses a night. I finally got to a place where I knew I needed to make a change. I know it's going to be a long road, but I'm finally ready to change.

WickAndArtoo

@tat2cookie very cool! Keep us updated on your progress. It has been 6 months since my last drink, and it's totally worth it! You absolutely can do it, as long as you want it

ishmallow

tat2cookie wrote: »

I am now 13 days alcohol free. Sadly this is the longest I have gone without a drink in years. I went from having a glass or 2 on the weekend to 4-6 glasses a night. I finally got to a place where I knew I needed to make a change. I know it's going to be a long road, but I'm finally ready to change.

Hell yeah!

Irv2015

Amazing stories. Take a look at soberistas - it's the MFP equivalent for those trying to kick alcohol - success stories, etc. I have been trying to be more moderate with consumption as it leads to bad food choices for me (and the obvs health impact).

ishmallow

I screwed up but I did not go down the path to an all nighter. did what I know I shouldn't and said Sure to a couple social beers with dinner. Downed it like water and felt the buzz, more of an itch for more .. for all of it. Everything. Throw my routine away, go run off and buy some liquor kind of thing.

But at this point, acknowledging the problems and struggle I was able to snap out of it and make the smart choice and switch to water.

It's funny. A few weeks ago and I would have said yep, you deserve this , and just gone and got *kitten* faced waking up hating myself. I was finally able to branch off from that one way slope. Dunno if I'm proud of that or not for even drinking in the first place.

In other news broke a deadlift PR today

ishmallow

Also, I noticed I rode the high from my lift straight into the buzz from the alcohol. What normally feels an awesome and pleasant ride into bedtime just fizzled out as soon as the alcohol wore off.

Don't ruin your post workout highs!!

SierraFatToSkinny

Hulbert0089 wrote: »

I'm a social drinker and it doesn't affect my work or relationships. Just for fun every now and then. My problem is that the day after a few beers/drinks I can't control my hunger impulses. I could eat a chipotle burrito and still crave something else a few hours later. If it's once or twice a week it's a guarantee to add 2lbs a month.

Have you tried drinking more water on those days?

Tabbycat00

I've had some issue with drinking in the past and made the choice to try and go alcohol free for all of 2017 (so far so good...but, you know, it's only the 15th). I'm a little worried as to what this will do to my body since I've read some posts about people gaining and losing weight here. I'm trying to maintain. I guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time. I'd love some accountability friends. People to check in and make sure I've been sticking with it.

WickAndArtoo

Tabbycat00 wrote: »

I've had some issue with drinking in the past and made the choice to try and go alcohol free for all of 2017 (so far so good...but, you know, it's only the 15th). I'm a little worried as to what this will do to my body since I've read some posts about people gaining and losing weight here. I'm trying to maintain. I guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time. I'd love some accountability friends. People to check in and make sure I've been sticking with it.

@Tabbycat00 nice work so far I am absolutely here for you if you need a friend and accountability in your resolution! One of the hardest parts of giving up alcohol is that usually our friends all drink so it can be tough to say no, so hopefully if you have someone with the same habits and values you can stay committed!

courtneyfabulous

I quit alcohol to benefit my weight loss- that extra 1 or 2 glasses of wine on the odd weeknight and 3 or so on weekends or at social gatherings was packing on the pounds big time! I haven't drank in about 5 months except a few tropical drinks I had on a week long Hawaiian vacation recently. Alcohol bloats me terribly and seems to slow my metabolism, and I get hangovers easily. I don't miss it at all!