Eating and Smoking

[PattyWagon]

I'm new to this. I'm 20 days sober today and I'm doing GREAT! The only thing is, I can't stop eating junk food and smoking. This is really strange cuz I don't smoke and I'm a health freak. I know I'm doing it to cope. I recognize this but that doesn't mean I can just stop. Ugh. It has taken me 6 years to stop drinking....I don't need more problems. So, yes. Tomorrow morning, I'll get up and run. But I can't help but wonder if exercising, although it's healthy for my body, I don't think its going to help me realize what's really bothering me.

I would seek counseling, but I'm living in a foreign country and don't speak the language all that well.

Any thoughts?

[DSodaNow]

Patty- When I stopped drinking I suddenly had huge cravings for sugar. I never was a sweets person before, but now I love them! For me, I was drinking huge amounts of wine before I quit and I think that I was very hypoglycemic because wine has such a huge sugar content.

I was pretty concerned about it the first month because the last thing I wanted to do was gain more weight. I haven't drank for almost 5 months now and have lost about 20 pounds despite the additional sugar that I added to my diet.

Today I just try to keep an eye on what I am eating, but if my body is telling me I need sugar I try to eat it moderately and in healthy forms.

You are new to sobriety and it is a fragile time. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. It will get easier.

As for the smoking... I know a lot of people that picked the habit up after they quit. I am a smoker and what I want to tell you is quit now! BUT... smoking is not as bad as using, if it is what you need to get thru right now you can cross that hurdle later. I do see a therapist and he told me not to try and quit smoking for awhile. (I have been trying for years.)

Great job on your 20 days!

[ColdSweat]

I've always smoked, even before I started drinking/using... I know a lot of people stop when the kick their other vices, and good for them, power to them... but I feel as if I just need it, as SOMEthing. It'll kill me, but not as fast as the others would have. If you wanna quit, there are usually hotlines in certain states, like we have NYquits, its a 1800number... but you're from a foreign country... they probably have something like that too? Support and hugs hon.

[lizw]

I ate myself stupid when I first got sober. And I am still a smoker despite being sober for 10 years.

I wouldn't worry too much about the food thing. As far as I know it is quite common and evens out after a while.

I think it is easy to be fooled into the idea that 'excessive drinking' is just a 'bad habit' rather than a life threatening illness. If you bear this in mind the food/smoke thing won't seem so bad.

Sure you may eat one too many potatoe chips for awhile (and feel abit ill because of it) but it sure beats waking up next to someone you don't know....

[vegibean]

Are you just bored? Try some coffee, a nice tea to sip on or keep a big bottle of water with you. I know that I do it because I'm bored or have that missing void of my drink.

[lisa1235]

well for me was the same the first 8 mos in recovery i ate like crazy.i was also up to almost 2 pack a day cig habbit.i wouldnt trade any of it though because i was clean the first time in yrs and years.it took a year into it when i became increasingly upset about my weight and so out of breathe from all the smoking i couldnt workout.it started to interupt my serenity and that was it.others in n/a and a/a told me not to worry about my weight but i couldnt i was increasingly miserable considering going back to using just to lose the weight(that was my disease rationalizing)but i didnt,instead i took inicative and instead of doing that i fasted 4 3 days and prayed about my personal discontent.on the fourth day i had a new awakening ...i felt so much better that i decided not to buy anymore junk food for sweets i ate fruits and for salty things celery sticks,cucumbers and tomatoes.i eat senseably now and i bicycle any chance i get .i've become so satisfied that add this to my way of life.im down to a pack a day but i can live with that i couldnt with relapse.im back to wearing my old clothes and my serenity is back.this worked for me this is part of my story .i do eat a treat every now and them but its only one here and there.i hope this helps.congrats on your 20 days ..take youre time rome wasnt built in a day but recovery is one day at a time.

[CarolD]

Welcome to our recovery community

In early sobriety I followed an eating plan with good results.
Many of us have undiagnosed hypoglycemia
so see your doctor and Google for hypoglycemia

Smoking? Yes I do
I did before I was a drinker...during...
and do now that I am a non drinker.

Congratulations on your new sober life...

[Bamboozle]

Hello, everyone. I started off and on smoking (8 years ago?) before alcohol really became a problem for me. I always could take or leave cigs...I know, weird, because most people I know who smoke can't quit for any length of time.

Now that I've been sober for a little while, I smoke the occasional cig when I feel like I'm out of my mind (in other words, in the danger zone for relapsing). I know it's not good for me and I'm making excuses like, "It's okay as long as I don't take a drink", but it's been helping me to not drink (Now, I'm not recommending that anyone smoke in order to stop using. ) . One pack will last me about a month or two. Hopefully I'll leave the smokes behind eventually. I'm just trying to focus more on not drinking for now.

Oh yeah, and I have major food problems. I'm still working on that. Eek.

[nandm]

Welcome to SR and our womens forum!

I know that exercise helps me in my sobriety. I was fortunate enough to quit smoking and quit drinking at the same time. Eating though I fully understand. Your craving for sugar is not abnormal for early sobriety. Alcohol tends to make the body used to having sugar and so when we quit drinking our bodies crave that which we are not providing it. What I found worked for me was to go ahead and let myself have the sweets but try to limit it to a small candy bar instead of the biggest one I can find. The little bite sized ones are perfect for that. Also here there are 100 calorie packs of different cookies and such that are perfect for satisfying that craving. I did find that at about 3 or 4 years sober I needed to start watching my weight as I did gain but I also had a couple of years where I was unable to exercise because I was recovering from an accident. Take care and keep up the good work.

[PattyWagon]

Thank you to EVERYONE for replying!!!!!!

While there are no instant fixes, it's really good to know that I'm not alone in this!