DontEverStop

Whether you are 2 weeks sober, or 2 years - I'm interested in how great you felt you looked after quitting. How long did your bloating stay? Did you lose weight? Did your skin glow?

Soberwolf

Within a month ppl that knew me started commenting how good i looked

i look after myself more than i have ever done in my life before

Sobriety wins every single time

newpage119

Hello,
I am on day 11 of my quit. Already I have been able to put on (and wear comfortably) some jeans that I couldn't possibly button 11 days ago! Also I see cheek bones re-appearing that were getting lost in puffiness.....

Years ago I quit for over a year, and lost 40 pounds EASILY, without even trying...AND looked GOOD!!!

So worth the struggle......

Dee74

Hi Don'tEverStop

It's not really something I worry about, but I definitely look better now than I did 10 years ago

Welcome to SR

BarrysMama

I love this topic... haha

I notice that my face looks markedly less bloated than it did when I was drinking heavily- without making any other real lifestyle changes at all-

Also, no more red and ''blotched out'' skin, as my SO used to call it...

Vanity is kind of like icing on the sober cake to me I suppose..

MiniBK

After about 2 weeks, I noticed my eyes looked clearer and bigger! My body wanted good food to eat, my sense of smell was improving and my brain was getting sharper.

thisisme

10 years younger looking.
48 pounds less.
I cannot describe how I feel. It's like there is a new me. I do recognize the drunk me anymore.

zjw

i lost 17lbs initially but didnt really loose weight till months later.

to be honest sometimes I can look at my face and the lines and wrinkles from the lack of fat and bloat now and think gosh i've aged the fat and bloat hid some of that to a degree. But other times I can look and go i look pretty stinking good for my age etc..

Otherwise i'm still healing but i've made incredible progress. I would have /never/ made this kind of progress had i kept up the drinking.

DoloresHaze

I'm on Day 16 and there are good changes and not so good changes. My face looks a lot better! I had tiny broken veins all over my cheeks and bags under my eyes. Both have gone away.

however, since getting sober I've been shovelling food in my mouth like a maniac, so I'm paranoid about weight gain. I believe if I stop that now i will lose weight though.

Lusher

Hey DontEverStop-

Have a look at the below link from this forum, dated 10-27-14. One of the members, GracieLou, added a comment in reference to a similar topic. She was kind enough to upload a Before & After image of herself, which shows a difference between when she was a drinker and after she had stopped. The difference is truely remarkable.

It's post #17
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...alcoholic.html

Eauchiche

I get to buy smaller clothes now. My lab work and blood pressure are great. I am not hung over on Monday any more. My liver is shrinking back to normal size and does not hurt any more. My memory has improved.

Frankly, I can't come up with a good reason to ever drink again, even a little bit....

Hawk07

I'm at almost at a month sober and things I've noticed are evened out skin tone with far less blemishes. Before my face was puffy, pasty and always red around my nose. That's gone. Eyes are clear and bright and I can see a lot better.

Cheers to sobriety.

Chrysalides

I lost 12 lbs pretty much immediately after quitting, all within one month. It actually scared me a bit. Those calories from alcohol really do add up! My skin is better and my eyes are clearer.

DoubleDragons

I definitely lost weight right away the first few months of getting sober, but I think a dawning moment in the looks department for me, was seeing the difference in my husband! He basically quit drinking in support of me and I remember looking at him a couple of months into sobriety and just being amazed at how much younger and better he looked. I didn't realize how much drinking had affected our looks until we quit and I saw how much better we could look!

DoubleDragons

BTW, before I quit drinking my triglycerides were a very unhealthy 175. A year sober and they are now 115.

Aellyce

Many of the things that were already mentioned above. My bloat was gone completely after about two weeks, even earlier. One thing that I hated while drinking heavily was really dry skin and hair due to the dehydration and probably nutritional deficiencies. The skin was more a uncomfortable feeling but my hair is something that I really like about myself and I like to play with different colors etc. That, with the effect of alcohol, did not please me. I saw a change in these features already after about a week, but after a month I was surprised.

Weight I did not need to lose but I did lose some despite eating a lot to fight the cravings, but eventually it balanced out.

Vision improvement, too.

DontEverStop

Thanks everyone for responding These things, along with other health concerns of course, help motivate me to keep going.
Lusher- that picture was amazing... Wow...

Gottalife

Trying to put on weight was more the thing when I got sober. Most of us were suffering malnutrition. Overweight alchies were uncommon unless it was due to too much good living in sobriety.

Soberpotamus

The bloating went away quickly, the eyes cleared, skin became even toned and more supple. I looked and felt great very early on. Most people think I'm about seven or eight years younger than I am.

All that said, I went through moments of hating my general appearance and this was mostly related to my delicate self-esteem at the time. Early sobriety (the first year) forced me to learn to accept, like, and even love myself. Not sure how many people go through this, and not sure how gender related it is either, but I really struggled.

In time, I learned to focus my attention on my internal qualities and less on my outward appearance. I still have my moments of self-doubt, but my self-esteem has greatly improved. So has my overall confidence.

hiddenzebra

the bags under my eyes shrank, and my skin got better.

I received compliments on how good/healthier I looked; I didn't want to hear any of it.

I definitely looked better