steve-in-kville

I am a cyclist, I commute to work most of the year. I ate clean and managed to loose some weight over the past few years, but I also was a heavy drinker.

So now that I am sober, what can I expect the first few weeks as I ease into it again (I took the summer off)? Will I see any immediate improvements, or will things take time since my body is still healing from the years of high whiskey consumption?

Dave42001

I think you'll be surprised how fast you bounce back!!

exercise is huge, I'm a mountain biker myself, love getting out and riding for a few hours, clears my head, work up a good appetite and I sleep better!!

Good stuff, give the bike a good tune up and hit the road!!

zjw

i didnt really quit with it in mind. but i started walking 6 months after i quit. 6 months after that or so i started running few months after that i went vegan anyhow my performance has gone off the charts i'm way fitter now then i've ever been in my life. and i smoked 2+ packs a day too for years so the body does recover.

Alkolik

I think its take some time mate. I know that because i hawe same problem. Alcohol cause some fat in body and person lose some muscle.

Think hawe to eat clean as you say and hawe to stay away from drinking.

ScottFromWI

It may take some time, but you should definitely see an improvment. As addicts our "instant gratification" tendencies still stick around even after we quit drinking - so while it's tempting to dive in head first so to speak, cut yourself a little slack if it doesn't happen right away.

zjw

lol yeah instant gratification alright 5+ years sober i still find myself frustrated if i take on some new thing and dont instantly succede lol.

Alkolik

How can i say, i just returned from military services for one year, so there i had bad times at first because alcoholism made me weak for a while, then monts later with hardcore sports evryday i start to regain srength. And i was not able to drink there maybe once a mont. So at the end ive able to run 5 km with equipment trust me its serious improvment.

Sorry for bad english all im trying to say

1 dont drink
2 eat good
4 do sports all the time, but dont start wery hard.

JD

I'm a cyclist too and restarted earlier this summer after quitting drinking. It's going to take awhile to build up the aerobic conditioning and strength. I started with a pretty good aerobic base,I quit drinking last summer and did a lot of walking with a backpack for a trek to mt Everest base camp this May. But the biking was another level of aerobics and different muscles. Start slow and just keep building on that. Oh, I'm a 58.year old guy so if.you're much younger you'll probably get up to speed quicker but don't expect to jump on the bike and be where you were before.

steve-in-kville

Wow, thanks for the encouragement! I used to do a lot of longer rides on the weekends, 30+ miles at a crack. But haven't for some years. I still ride the 7 mile round trip to work most of the year, though.

JD

I've only been on the bike about 8 weeks this summer and am doing 20 to 50 mile rides 4 days a week. So, stay off the booze and on the bike and you should be good in no time.

steve-in-kville

I got my fixed gear out and cleaned up. Just have to get my lights installed again. Been a while since I rode fixed, always made for a good workout!! Beats me up at first, though!

Forward12

There absolutely is a big gain once you stop drinking. The feeling of being beat down and having no energy will be gone, but also there are numerous studies that show alcohol suppresses testosterone and boosts "bad" estrogen, making athletic performance suffer greatly.

SixStringZen

300 pound drunk to 160 pound 50 mile ultra runner....but, it was NOT immediate...but, patience, time, work and more work can get you anywhere...

Onward and upward, mate!

steve-in-kville

mmmm..... ultrarunner.....

Whats the longest distance you've ever done?

Grungehead

I can't speak to cycling but I can speak about golf (no snickers please ). I can only imagine that the benefits of a highly aerobic sport would see huge benefits in the long run from sobriety. Golf was my passion from the time I was 11 years old and I had reached the collegiate level when my alcoholism really kicked in. It ultimately derailed a possible professional career in the sport.

I first got sober at the age of 29. Golf is tricky because it's one of those sports where you can actually drink while playing. The first couple of months after getting sober I couldn't even play due to how strongly I related golf with alcohol. My first year sober I played almost no golf at all. The following spring I started playing again and the results were amazing. My focus, hand eye coordination, and every other facet of the game had improved immensely.

One year later (in the spring) I was playing at the highest level of my life and took a part-time job at an exclusive 54 hole private club because the job included playing privileges as a benefit. Within 3 months I had enrolled in the PGA of America program, passed their playing aptitude test and was promoted to assistant golf professional at this club. The following year I played in several local and regional professional tours as well as 2 Web.com Tour events and 1 PGA Tour event (through local qualifying).

Unfortunately that's as far as I made it, but I would have never made it that far if I hadn't gotten sober. Long story short, I eventually started drinking again and my golf career was over within a year.

SixStringZen

Lot's of marathons and 30 milers in training, but 50 miles earlier this year was the longest...currently training for a hundo...so, we'll see!

EndGameNYC

In all things, the only thing over which we have control is our effort. The outcome will take care of itself.

Splash29

You'll for sure lose more weight. I was always low-average weight because I worked out even in my drinking days (helped with the hang overs). But after being sober ended up losing 7 lbs and gained some muscle. Lost like 3 inches all around. I got lift heavy weights I never thought I could. I can squat almost my body weight.

MissPerfumado

There was no change in body weight for me for the first 8 weeks or so. Then it was like a switch flipped and in short order I lost about 3 kgs (bear in mind I was slim to begin with). I thought the low-carb diet I was on was contributing to the weight loss but I have since gone back to a normal diet and have not put the weight back on.

Muscle-wise - I'm a petite female and I have built more lean muscle than any time when I was drinking.

Performance-wise - I am a keen half marathoner. My times have come down by about 10%.

So in my books ... apart from struggling to get weight on (people think I am unwell) ... it's all good.