giving up alcohol

I actually drank daily. Not getting smashed, but anytime i was off duty and the evening came around I'd pop a few. I'm on my 3rd day of not drinking. It's an odd feeling since I'm used to having a beer casually, after practice, or just to chill. Well maybe a few beers. being I'm a big boy I can kill a six pack and have a good buzz but not drunk. This site actually helps me stay motivated to not. The amount of calories that I put into my body Even if just on a weekend day is astonishing. As I'm cutting a 1000 cals off my diet, and I train hard, and strength train, my body is starting to crave calories that i need in food not beer. Are you currently doing any fitness plans or workout regimines?

PS I have quit drinking completely before and lost approximately 20 lbs in a month. This happened twice. It's amazing how much you lose.

I also was a big drinker. I still drink so I haven't given it up completely, but I try to opt for lower calorie options (or one regular one), fit it as close to my daily calorie intake as possible (if it goes slightly over and I planned for it, fine, but not over by too much - hopefully not at all), and so on.

I still drink. Just not as much and not as often.

Just finished three years of uni, so was binge drinking around twice a week (at least).
Only drinking at big social events now (weddings etc), if I know I have something coming up, I cut calories even more leading up to it (and then just cut loose on the night, some people talk about 'cheat diet days' and foods they just can't live without, a big night partying is my weak spot).

I drink socially on the weekends (wine and vodka mixes mostly) and I always feel horrible the next few days. Bloated, belly aches, headaches.. I keep telling myself I should just give up drinking all together.

I've just posted a friend request in 'Introductions' for this very reason OP (and it looks like I'll have to shameless bump it later). I would say I am probably alcohol dependent. Addiction is such a subjective thing but, I don't have to drink first thing, I don't get withdrawals, I'm not hiding it etc. But, I DO drink too much when I do drink. I can go a week without fine but, then I'll have a bottle of red one evening, which then leads to a bottle and a half the next evening and the same for the consecutive two or three days and then I stop again for a while.

I'm 4' 10" and can down two bottles of red and not get 'drunk' and suffer no hangover. That's probably not good. Thing is, although I don't get hungover, I am more lethargic, less motivated, lower in mood etc on the day after I have had alcohol. On the flip side, the longer I stay alcohol free the higher my mood, motivation and energy levels get.

It's become a bit of a 'no brainer' really. I am stopping for a while, as of today and I am determined to go as long as I can without. For the sake of my 'beer' belly.

OMG - this is ME!! I am 100 lbs, 5'2" and can down a bottle of wine in an evening. I do feel a little bad in morning but not really a hangover either!!! But, I drink and then binge eat. Stuffing junk food down my throat. I hate this!!

Today I am with you on NO drinking.

Honestly? I don't want to preach, but giving up alcohol was the best decision I ever made, and also the hardest.

My story may differ slightly in that I was addicted to alcohol - I never suffered any particular health ramifications other than weight gain, hangovers etc - my liver is fine thank god. For ten years, I drank weekly, mostly daily, and exceeded 20 units a week every week pretty much (in most cases, it was more than 20). I would buy three bottles of wine a week, more if I had the opportunity and I got to the stage where one bottle of wine barely even touched the sides. I would constantly seek people to go to the pub with and no meal was complete without a glass or three of wine.

Weight loss, as you can imagine was pretty slow - I did lose weight whilst drinking alcohol, but I cut right back three years ago. Then for whatever reason, I started to allow it back into my life. It came back stronger and harder and I was funding my habit by getting into debt.

Finally, over Christmas 2012 I switched medication after a breakdown and the tablets reacted so strongly with alcohol that I slowly stopped drinking...one week without...two weeks without and so forth. I turned 28 in January and was taken out to a restaurant with my Father and his alcohol dependent wife and ended up drinking a bottle of wine and felt so horrific the next day I resolved to cut it out.

I'm not a teetotal. I would never put that pressure on myself, but I genuinely believe I can contain it. Do I fancy a drink? Sometimes, especially if I'm with the friends who drink regularly or used to drink loads. I'm fortunate in that my family are not drinkers, and my boyfriend doesn't really care for it. Sometimes I think "God, I'd love a glass of wine" and I take ten minutes out and think how I'd feel if I drank one; pointless, waste of calories, waste of sugar, just a waste really. I also couldn't promise that I wouldn't spiral again because I have an addictive nature.

Health benefits? Well, I've lost weight. I probably could have done it with drinking alcohol, but it may have been slower/harder. No hangovers. More alert. More money! My liver functions fine - I have no idea how. I feel in control and I feel like alcohol is a thing of the past. I can walk past an aisle in the shop and think "No point" - it's mental AND physical.

The hardest part? Detoxing. Realising that the root of my mental issues were being hidden by the perpetuating cycle of consistent drinking. I never got completely off my head because I have to be in control (I've only ever vomited 4 times through drinking in 15 years) but I'd get so drunk I'd do the stupidest of things and wake up the next morning feeling like crap. The alcohol only masked my problems. For a long time, I thought alcohol was the only thing that could make me real and functioning - now I realise it had the opposite effect.

Sorry if this is too long, and preachy - whatever. It helps me to get it down and if I help another person, that's even better.

x

I've cut back from 3-4 times a week to once a week and slowly I'm craving it less. I only do it socially now instead of by myself at home. Exersise has pretty much taken over the drinking and I feel so much better.

No, I just factor it in to my calorie intake... sometimes it brings me over if I'm going out or have friends round but considering most other days I am a little under it all evens itself out nicely. I don't really go with the cutting out things entirely school of thought.... cut down yeah but don't cut out....

I think alcohol is more of an issue for people who drink most days. I drink once or twice a week and will continue to do so... it's non-negotiable for me and it doesn't affect my weight loss but I guess everyone is different. It may be harder for people who live on pizza and burgers and do minimal exercise to drink as well but overall I eat a healthy diet and I exercise so I don't really see the need to cut out things in their entirety

I would think what you choose to drink is just as important as how much and how often you drink. Socially should be fine but choose low calorie alternatives ..diet soda and tonic mixers. Its also good to stick to more happy hour like events since you'll turn into bed earlier. The later your out the more you'll drink and in turn crave garbage foods. While its easy to blame the alcohol for weight gain or trouble losing weight those pub menu items are doing no favors either.

Bearkisses - I am doing this also as I went for 6 months w/only a drink every now and then. The last two weeks I went back to my old drinking habits!!! AARRGGHH.. One day at a time. My worst hours are between 4-7PM so I am planning on doing anything to NOT drink

I cannot assume I know anything about your life, but I have struggled with alcohol misuse before. It sounds like you could possibly benefit from a support group of people who have or are trying to quit drinking. If you are genetically predisposed to alcoholism, it can be very hard to stop once you start. Going through a period of time when you are problem drinking doesn't necessarily mean you are an alcoholic, but you may want to evaluate your relationship with alcohol and the stress it causes you. (And I'm only saying all of this because I see in your posts what I have seen in myself.)

Give it up?

Hell, I'm drunk right now.

I've been watching my weight since I was 8 years old and never got too big . . . until I moved to the UK. If something good happens, everyone goes to the pub. If something bad happens, everyone goes to the pub. If nothing's happening, everyone goes to the pub. If something's going to happen, then everyone goes to the pub first . . . I got fat. I didn't realize until I started tracking it how much I was drinking!

Now I'm back in the US where I have to drive everywhere, so I usually don't drink at all and if I do, only one or two. I'm a size 4 again and I feel a lot better too.

- My husband and I are very social and our circle of friends party pretty hard. Of course, we're all always talking about our diet needs, losing weight, and getting healthier. ;o) We've cut back a lot, for financial and health reasons, tho. We drink moderately to heavy 2-3 times a month, but like you - all of our progress from good eating and working out goes down the toilette for the next day or three following a night of partying. What I've done to cut back on the other affects I get from drinking (bloat, water retention, cravings for carbs, etc) is change what I drink. Tom (hubby) likes to drink Crown and Coke Zero or Sprite Zero. I drink Pinot Grigio wine over ice, cut with lime seltzer water or Sprite zero and a squeeze of lime. It keeps me hydrated, produces a slow and steady buzz, I never get 'drunk', but still enjoy the affects of a cocktail. I've turned some of my friends onto it, too. Sometimes I make it in big batches and put it in a drink dispenser. ) If I stick with this, i'm rarely if ever bloated in the AM, am never hung-over, and don't crave as many sweet and salty carbs the next day. If you're drinking 'out', this may be more difficult. I sometimes have they bring me 'set ups - a glass of Sprite (they rarely have diet sprite or sprite zero), a glass of white wine, and a big glass of nothing but ice. Then I mix it myself. I never drink beer, margaritas, sweet drinks like Colorado Bulldogs (unless I'm on vacation) anymore. Those are the kiss of death for me and any weightloss issues...

I've been watching my weight since I was 8 years old and never got too big . . . until I moved to the UK. If something good happens, everyone goes to the pub. If something bad happens, everyone goes to the pub. If nothing's happening, everyone goes to the pub. If something's going to happen, then everyone goes to the pub first . . . I got fat. I didn't realize until I started tracking it how much I was drinking!

Now I'm back in the US where I have to drive everywhere, so I usually don't drink at all and if I do, only one or two. I'm a size 4 again and I feel a lot better too.

yeah the US is known for it's handle on obesity....

I drank a TON. That's where my weight gain came from. Now I can't even finish half of a beer. Since I haven't been drinking and changed my diet I've been able to lose weight. (I also have two kids under two..)