One addiction to another

How long have you been drinking? Maybe a therapist would be a good idea?

Hi, this is undoubtedly a very hard time for you. When we give up something we had been using or doing daily (whatever that may be), we are often left with A LOT of free time on our hands...It can be very hard to fill that free time in a way that is not counter-productive, e.g. you stop drinking, so you start eating; you stop smoking, so you start drinking more...you get my drift. Anyways, things I have found that help: guzzling herbal teas. I mean a lot of them. Pounding soda water or sparkling water. I can easily drink 2L in a couple of hours. Reading. It seems to be an activity I can really get absorbed in. Busying myself. Doing laundry. Painting my nails. Organising my closet. Reading endless MFP forums. Do you have any activities like that? I wish you the best of luck. I am not saying you have to be perfect, e.g. perfect diet, perfect habits, etc., but if your goal is to feel better about yourself and your physical and mental health (and it sounds like it is), it does not seem that replacing one negative habit (drinking a lot) with another (eating a lot) will help you find what you need. I hope this helps in some way. x

UGG- I totally feel your pain and am going through the same thing. I had lost quite a bit of weight a few years ago after getting out of a bad relationship. After I lost the weight, I (stupidly) got right back into a relationship with the same person, got laid off (add in other unfortunate life events here), and began drinking A LOT. Now I have gained everything I lost back and then some. I literally weigh more than ever outside of being 9 months pregnant.
I think for me, it is more the mindless eating that comes with it, not so much the booze (I almost exclusively drink whiskey). Yes that pint of whiskey has like 700 calories but the delivery pizza consumed has like a million.
Admittedly there may have been some misery eating and other issues. And you are precisely right- it's hard to eat salad or exercise when you feel like crap from the night before.

I went from 7 days a week to 2 days recently and allow myself just a couple of drinks on those days. I too am concerned about my liver, but this is a good solid start.

I feel better not drinking as much, but now my sweet tooth is back. When I was drinking a lot, sweets had no appeal.

I likely do not have any answers but can commiserate with you. For me giving up the alcohol is not a moral choice or anything negative- I just have to do it to lose this weight. It's like giving up fast food or cutting back to taking it in moderation.

I do know that working out gives me the same sense of something that I get from drinking. Now if I could only get motivated get into exercise again...

You're clearly motivated to do something and that is the most important part of the journey.

I'd say do things gradually with little steps. You've stopped drinking which is great so your next step is to eat better and excersise. If it were me I'd integrate training in gradually and improve your diet weekly through little changes. Don't try and do it all at once as it might be too hard to adjust. If you can though that's great. Good luck

QueenZeeIsm wrote: »

Well I have been drinking for a long time... maybe more then 15 years but the last year has really taken on another level. I was the hiding bottles at the back of the cupboard type. I do not want to be that person again.

I have two beautiful kids under 10 and I am doing a online degree so I am always busy. Oh I also have a fulltime job and a husband who travels so he is hope on the weekends. I also think the loneliness in my busyness has also contributed to this habit.

I have considered professional help but I am not sure if I'm ready for that.

I was hoping that exercising will help as a distraction of my drinking time.

It is really helping knowing someone else can truly understand and relate what I am going through. Thank you for your responses. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

If you have kids, then you should become ready for professional help. There is shame in not seeking help, not shame in admitting there is a problem. If you know you have an alcohol problem, everyone else knows it too already, if this is what you worry about. Talk to your husband and seek a therapist. If addictions were easy to overcome, no one would be really an addict.
You are focusing on the wrong problem. At this point, if you are 30 or 100 lbs overweight it is not what you should be stressing about. Address the addiction first, the rest will follow. You cannot solve all the problems at the same step.
Good luck.

1. Be GENTLE with yourself, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate.
2. it is really hard to lose weight and maintain that loss if you still have underlying issues with addiction, it is easy to replace addictions with exercise and you just cycle through. I'd recommend talking to someone.
3. Spend a few weeks sober, then work on eating healthier and portion size, once your body has recovered, then make a new plan. small goals.

I think you should focus on your sobriety for now. Maybe just eat at maintenance for a few weeks.

I developed a sweet tooth when I quit drinking and in retrospect wish I'd reached for fruit instead of M&Ms.

Willpower is not always an unlimited resource. Calling on it in one area constantly can make it much harder to exercise it in other areas- this is why it's so easy to slip from one unhealthy habit in to another.

Getting professional help and support to help you resist drinking and restructure your life in a way where you aren't constantly battling the urge to drink may free up some reserves of emotional energy/willpower for making good health choices. In trying to fight alone against your urges to drink, to eat to excess, and to be sedentary all at once, you're creating a circumstance where it's highly likely that you'll give in to at least one of those urges, if not all of them in turn.

As health promoting behaviors go, sobriety is the most important thing, and the bonus is that reaching a more stable state of sobriety will also make it much easier to achieve healthy eating and movement habits. Please consider contacting one of the resources listed above.

There's more information about willpower fatigue here: https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf

Rational Recovery's Addictive Voice Recognition Technique helped me to not abuse alcohol and food.

I'm reading more about Cognitive Behavioral Techniques here: The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person

QueenZeeIsm wrote: »

Thank you for all those informative posts. I have made an appointment with a therapists. It might be the only way.

I will be focusing on my sobriety first and slowly add changes to my lifestyle (for the better).

Good to hear about the appointment.

I knew you were ready for therapy because you started this thread. Well done.

Be who you want to be, not what you hate to be. You can make those changes. You've already started. Best wishes, and my warm regards.