Quitting alcohol and no weight loss?

violamegan
violamegan Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey guys

I could use a little support here. I made the decision to quit drinking to help support me in my weight loss efforts. I have stopped for only two weeks at this point (my goal is six months) and I'm tracking my calories and staying mostly in range. I will consume my exercise calories most of the time. I have gained a little. What's up??? I would think the calorie deficit would do the trick. Anyone else have this issue? Advice, thoughts?

Replies

  • htimpaired
    htimpaired Posts: 1,404 Member
    Are you measuring?
  • eIIekay
    eIIekay Posts: 164 Member
    hi, maybe your exercise calories are overestimated. how long have u been in range for? you dont need to stop drinking, unless you drink a lot. if you keep your drinks in your range, then all should be good.
  • T0M_K
    T0M_K Posts: 7,526 Member
    edited October 2016
    What are your stats? are you weighing your food? don't use labels they are wildly inaccurate and nearly impossible to determine an accurate serving size.

    you say you stay "mostly" in range...stay in range.

    eating back exercise calories. its VERY hard to determine accurate calorie burn, so only eat back 50%.

    alcohol is fine if it fits in your calorie goal, stop it you wish, but you should be planing on doing what your doing for a lifetime...make this about changing forever, not just till the weight comes off.

    stay persistent, don't give up, tighten your logging, keep moving.
  • barkleygal
    barkleygal Posts: 1 Member
    This hit my HOT SPOT. I had the same experience but I'm really old and a heavy (20 per week) drinker. It took my body 22 days to finally ADJUST. I lost the water weight immediately 4# and stayed under 1,000 calories with 6 micro meals per day HIGH PROT, NON PROCESSED, with LOW CARBS from veggies only. NO fruit, dairy. On day 21 I lost 3# and have been losing 2# per week consistently since. BOTTOM LINE............stay off the booze, plan your days menu in advance until you reach GOAL WEIGHT. Then slowly introduce a life long maintenance menu. Some folks cannot tolerate fruits, sugar subs, or grains..........others can. Stick with it and you will find what works for you.
  • EmPersson
    EmPersson Posts: 768 Member
    Hi! Great point, @barkleygal - stick with it. You didn't gain all your weight in 2 weeks, you won't see an immediate shift down in 2 weeks either, unless it's just the water weight. Alcohol is addictive - when you suddenly stop, cold turkey, you're going to go into withdrawal whether you realize it or not. Your body is just adjusting to those suddenly lost calories, and the "need" for alcohol. Give it some time. And @Tomk652015 is right, too - make sure the choices you're making are sustainable. If you go back to drinking as much as you were before after 6 moths, you're likely going to have some gain-back. Keep doing what you're doing, and you will eventually see the difference!
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
    Give it at least 4 weeks (or a whole menstrual cycle, if that applies to you) before assessing results, and look at your scale weight in terms of trends or averages, not individual data points (which can vary widely due to normal, healthy water weight variability).

    Giving up alcohol helps by (1) giving you more calories for food, which makes your deficit easier to stick to long term, and (2) eliminates alcohol-induced inhibition-reduced munchies. I agree, if you still don't see expected results after 4 weeks, you might want to reevaluate your exercise calories. Many online tools & machines overestimate the burn.
  • violamegan
    violamegan Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you all...I guess I'm just wondering if there are others that have had the same experience. I honestly have been sticking to my calories give or take 10 or so calories. I haven't measured myself...just use clothes as a guide.
    Giving up alcohol is a personal choice and yes, I do hope to see some weight loss. I don't plan on going back to drinking. My wedding is in six months and we hope to start a family right away. To give you guys a better idea of my consumption prior to this decision I would have 1/2 a bottle of wine most nights of the week with a couple nights leaning towards 3/4 a bottle. Some weeks I would take off a couple nights.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    I'd start by eating back only about half of the exercise calories.

    Give yourself another week or two. You may have hit this at a time when you're hormonally holding on to more water (time of the month, ovulation, contraceptive amount variations - this can vary per person) or have increased/changed exercise.
  • sarahlovesfood25
    sarahlovesfood25 Posts: 408 Member
    Dont beat urself up and feel bad, sounds like ur sticking to ur calorie intake and doing ur best to cut out alcohol, its been 2weeks just give it abit longer and u will c a weight loss,, i like alcohol but i like WKD and thats full of sugar and has high calories ive changed this for vodka and sugar free pop or low calorie juice!
    Keep doing wot ur doing and u will c a difference, good luck
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    edited October 2016
    violamegan wrote: »
    Thank you all...I guess I'm just wondering if there are others that have had the same experience. I honestly have been sticking to my calories give or take 10 or so calories. I haven't measured myself...just use clothes as a guide.
    Giving up alcohol is a personal choice and yes, I do hope to see some weight loss. I don't plan on going back to drinking. My wedding is in six months and we hope to start a family right away. To give you guys a better idea of my consumption prior to this decision I would have 1/2 a bottle of wine most nights of the week with a couple nights leaning towards 3/4 a bottle. Some weeks I would take off a couple nights.

    Be sure not only to log, but weigh all the food you eat. If you're not losing weight (or actually gaining weight), it means you're either underestimating how many calories you're eating, or your overestimating your workout burn, or both. Both is most likely.

    Give it a little more time, but if you don't start seeing results, it means you need to do some adjusting. Eat back only half of your estimated exercise calories to start and see how that goes.

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