Weight loss after 10 weeks of no alcohol when all else has failed...

Hi,

I was hoping to get opinions/thoughts/advice on peoples experiences of losing weight after giving up alcohol. A bit of background info might help. I’m a 45 year old male, 5’ 10 in who has, in the past, been a regular moderate drinker (although some may say heavy rather than moderate I guess). Quite often I'd be drinking a couple of glasses of wine a night, sometime wine was substituted for a couple of g&t or a couple of beers. I think the first thing to say is that I was drinking more nights than not. Occasionally I’d have a week or two where I’d go drink free, but this was never sustained over a long period of time. My weight was a fairly constant 82-83kg or there abouts. Over the last few years I have been fairly active, had stints at the local gym and been a semi regular runner (5k loop around local park two or three times a week). The thing is I never seemed to significantly shed any fat that had collected around my chest, belly and bum, despite trying to eat healthy.

In August of this year I suffered a nervous breakdown and was really hit for six – completely floored by it. One of the things that I did immediately after was to stop drinking entirely. For the first month I didn’t massively notice anything but since then I have dropped almost 2kg in weight. Looking in the mirror, it appears (and feels) like I’m finally starting to lose some of the stubborn fat that I’ve been trying so hard to for such a long time. I’m gaining the definition in my upper arms that I had years ago and I’m even starting to see the beginning of my abdominal muscles starting to emerge from the excess weight around my middle. I’ve also noticed that I’ve had to take my belt in a couple of notches during the last month or so. All good you would think??? The problem I have is that this noticeable weight loss is also making me quite anxious…very anxious actually. Having never given up regular drinking for such a long time, I don’t know if this kind of weight loss is typical for almost 10 weeks of no booze. My appetite seems better too; no late night cravings for carby snacks (which I suppose may also be contributing to my weight coming down) as well as I’m feeling somewhat more alert in the mornings when I wake up.

I guess I’m hoping that at some point my body will find it’s baseline weight and settle at that, once it’s purged itself of the excess fat it has piled on over the years. Someone told me that when you stop drinking, the liver has chance to start using the food you eat as energy rather than struggling to process the empty calories from alcohol which can result in weight loss. So while I’m happy that I’m actually starting to shed some of the flab, it’d be really helpful to hear if anyone else has had similar experiences after giving up drinking for a notable period of time.

Thanks so much in advance.