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Alcoholism & Weight Gain

Old 11-26-2017, 11:52 AM
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Alcoholism & Weight Gain

Hi all!

Over the past few years I've been drinking heavily. During those past few years I gained about 40 pounds or more! I used to work out 4 to 5 times a week at least two hours a day. Or I would walk at least 2 miles a day. Now, I'm gross, out of shape, and it's hard for me just to go up a flight of stairs or walk across an airport. I'm worried I'm never going to get back into shape. I get so out of breath doing simple things.

During the time I drank, I came home from my desk job, took care of my bills and pets, lied on my bed and just drank. If I didn't pass out from drinking, I would get the munchies, order a pizza or some other food like that, and then pass out.

Has alcohol ruins my muscles and body?… Is anybody else in this situation
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Old 11-26-2017, 12:19 PM
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I think you are in relatively early recovery, so maybe you can make a plan to begin to get fit again. I started walking a lot and I generally walk about 4 -5 miles a day. It helps me enormously. You can get back into shape again, but you may have to be patient and persistent.
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Old 11-26-2017, 12:28 PM
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I lost weight with heavy drinking: people would compliment me and I’d think if you only knew. I replaced food with alcohol. It unfortunately took unwanted pounds off my body and because I still worked out, I kept muscle. It bothered me that everyone wanted to know how I got my new figure, I’d say low carb because that was my usual diet, but actually it was straight whiskey instead of dinner.

It caught up with me. I started gaining it back when I tried to moderate my alcohol intake and I started missing workouts due to hangovers.

Sobriety has been a real wake up call. I still haven’t figured out my eating, I’ve gained about 12 pounds in sobriety so far because of a raging sugar addiction, so I’ve ramped up my exercise to crossfit. It’s actually just today that I am starting a new plan. First, sugar and refined carbs I’m definitely ditching but the rest I don’t know....

You may lose in sobriety because you gained while drinking. I’ve found that it’s either or usually with alcoholics. You’ll be fortunate in that weight loss will reinforce your sobriety if that’s the case, for me sobriety made it more difficult.

I’m figuring it out because drinking isnt an option but it’s one of my biggest sobriety challenges.

Your mileage may vary, you’ll just need to see what happens after you quit and adjust accordingly.
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Old 11-26-2017, 01:02 PM
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Laziness and poor diet ruined my physique. But the body is resilient and recovers nicely once we treat it nicely.

My first year of sobriety I gained 30# because I ate tons of ice cream. I craved sugar and I caved to those cravings. My thought was as long as I wasn't drinking then who cares. This second year, I've cut out ice cream, cheese, and other calorie dense foods. I have been trying to get the exercising in but still lack motivation. At least my weight is slowly coming down. My thinking is still as long as I am sober then I am on the right track for my journey.

Good luck
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Old 11-26-2017, 02:52 PM
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Thanks for all the advice guys. My energy levels are horrible. In my brain if I just stop drinking for a few weeks then I should be doing backflips… Maybe that would've been so if I was in my teens… Hit your 30s though, it's different.
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Old 11-26-2017, 03:08 PM
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Walking a lot really helped me the first time I got sober. I still do it and I’m really grateful for that. It’s healthy for the heart and mind and it’s good for the environment too😀
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Old 11-26-2017, 03:16 PM
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As you start to feel better, you may find yourself more inclined to exercise. I've always been total couch potato, especially when drinking, but even I have been going swimming and for walks. You can do it
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Old 11-26-2017, 04:53 PM
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I am a 54 year old man.

I was 6 ft 3 in. by the time I was 16 and was always in good shape and around 190-200 pounds.

I started drinking heavily at age 25; and along with daily drinking goes poor eating habits and laziness.

By age 30 I was well over 250 pounds and in my 40's I peaked at almost 300 pounds. I had insanely high blood pressure and cholesterol. I started medication but kept drinking.

I am now 13 months sober, still weigh 280 pounds and it is really hard to lose any weight. I am out of shape and out of breath all the time.

27 years of daily drinking and abusing my body has messed me up.

I see the doctor again in a few weeks.

Clean up your act before it is too late.
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Old 11-26-2017, 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Ilovepi View Post
Thanks for all the advice guys. My energy levels are horrible. In my brain if I just stop drinking for a few weeks then I should be doing backflips… Maybe that would've been so if I was in my teens… Hit your 30s though, it's different.
Sobriety is no different than drinking in this regard, imho. If you want to be fit and slender you simply watch your diet and exercise regularly. I’ve seen people lose weight by tracking calories, or by going low carb/keto/paleo (how I get fit easiest) or by doing a healthy vegan diet: it just takes persistence. You really do have to get off the salty snacks, sweets, ice cream and bakery treats most of the time no matter what you do.

Sobriety is not a free food pass. As much as I want it to be...waaaah!

Rates of diabetes and alarming changes in weight among recovering alcoholics is high, for obvious reasons. I’ve done some reading on it, it’s a problem...enough to try to be aware of eating habits after quitting drinking.
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Old 11-26-2017, 11:55 PM
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First of all ... well done on quitting! Secondly, the utmost priority as you know is to stay quit... losing weight and/or getting into shape is secondary.

However, if you would like to feel physically better, exercise is a great option, IMO and IME. Alcohol can do a lot of damage but with some sober time, I think you'll see lots of improvement if you start exercising regularly.

The body without alcohol reacts a lot better to exercise, for a start. Did you know that, if you drink, the first fuel the body burns - before anything else - is alcohol? It's cruddy fuel too.

After 8 weeks of sobriety, my body flipped a switch and started to lose weight relatively easily. Walking, running, hiking, weights, swimming, riding... whatever exercise you choose, you should see benefits with a bit of sober time. You don't have to become an animal with the exercise ... just be regular.

And as Stayingsassy points out, it's also about cleaning up your diet. I'm fortunate that I've never been a junk food addict, even when drinking heavily. I reckon if you eat well and start exercising regularly, you'll drop those 40 pounds over a few months.
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Old 11-27-2017, 05:48 AM
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Yep. I got wicked fat at the end of my drinking and then I got sober and ate my face off and gained even more. Last year I joined Weight Watchers and started eating healthy and exercising regularly. I'm almost back to my goal weight now. So the answer is yes..alcohol can cause weight gain. But sobriety, coupled with healthy eating and exercise is the remedy!
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Old 11-27-2017, 06:35 PM
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As MissPerfumado said, I didn't see major improvement right away, but after 6-8 weeks the weight started falling off. I was one of those that exercised even when heavily drinking, and I'm still down over 30# compared to this time last year. It's been a great motivator.
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Old 11-27-2017, 08:54 PM
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I’ve gained 50+ pounds while drinking, all of the extra calories, dropped the exercise and had been eating like crap. Now 30+ days of sobriety and I’m watching my beer belly slowly but surely disappear. I used to have a great weight and cardio routine but am very out of shape now. The road back seems long, but if I break it down to doing the right things each day- eat mindfully, get in some physical activity and STAY SOBER - I know it will get better,.
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Old 11-28-2017, 07:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Doug39 View Post
I am a 54 year old man.

I was 6 ft 3 in. by the time I was 16 and was always in good shape and around 190-200 pounds.

I started drinking heavily at age 25; and along with daily drinking goes poor eating habits and laziness.

By age 30 I was well over 250 pounds and in my 40's I peaked at almost 300 pounds. I had insanely high blood pressure and cholesterol. I started medication but kept drinking.

I am now 13 months sober, still weigh 280 pounds and it is really hard to lose any weight. I am out of shape and out of breath all the time.

27 years of daily drinking and abusing my body has messed me up.

I see the doctor again in a few weeks.

Clean up your act before it is too late.
I am older than you are.

I did bodybuilding in my mid-30s, and also wasn't drinking much then, although the seeds were sown in grad school.

I quit after about a year, and didn't really exercise for years.

In my late 40s, I started walking 5 miles daily before work, more on weekends. Blood pressure resolved, lost weight. This was about year after quitting smoking after 30 years of a pack-a-day habit. My doctor was ecstatic.

Got out of that habit and into a drinking one. Drinking steadily increased and eventually led to a long binge that was so bad that my leg muscles atrophied to the point that I could barely walk.

Been sober almost 7 months. About a month after sobriety the pink cloud wore off, and I fell into a pretty dense depression for about a month. Lost the five pounds I gained in rehab.

Started exercising, cardio and gradually intensifying weight training about 100 days sober, and went on strict keto at about 120 days.

I've now lost 35-40 pounds (I don't weigh myself) and 3 inches on my waist. The fat has melted off everywhere but my midsection and chest, which are the first to put on and the last to go. I'm much stronger and in better shape than I've been in years. My blood pressure has dropped, and I feel great physically and mentally. When people give me that look of sympathy and "How ARE you?" I can honestly say never better.

The point of all this? It's NEVER too late. Yes, you wreck your body, but you can get it back. It takes work, but it's possible.

I'm actually getting bicep peaks...
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Old 11-30-2017, 05:46 AM
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Just my experience on energy levels, mental state, and weight fluctuations over the first 10 months of sobriety. I always exercised while drinking, but stopping actually created a bit of a fitness hiccup for me:
- Month 1: tired and lazy and hungry, easily injured (muscle cramps, etc), mostly walking, pushups, pull-ups. Feeling rather soft and weak. Changed routine from morning to night b/c of laziness factor.
- Months 2-4: feeling better, jogging but still not very ambitious, losing weight
- Months 4-6: feeling good, mixing up the exercise, getting stronger, muscles making a comeback and probably burning more calories because of it
- Months 7-9: getting ambitious and doing much more challenging workouts, dropping a lot of weight and building muscle. Feeling good, although a bit stiff.
- Month 10: injury (hamstring strain). Nothing serious, but a reminder that we need to focus on flexibility in addition to strength. Otherwise, still feeling pretty good.

Re: diet, I think it helps to keep things really simple if you are trying to lose weight and stay nourished. Think beans and rice, tuna, light salads. If you can stop drinking, getting into a healthy food routine should be comparatively easy, sort of like staying away from your party friends.
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Old 11-30-2017, 05:59 AM
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You may find that without drinking, the pounds will begin to slip off from the sheer fact that you're not adding booze (which breaks down to sugar) to your daily caloric intake. Mindless eating will subside probably. You'll start feeling better and feeling better about yourself, which may motivate you to start walking or working out. I LOVE walking. I love to slip on some headphones (I'm old school - no earbuds) and just walk and think and sing along to whatever is on the playlist. Doing that alone (and not even every day, mind you) helped me drop about 20 lbs. in about 2 months. On top of that, it gives you that "feel good feeling" that replaces the urge to drink to "just ease the stress of the day". Good luck to you and keep it up!
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Old 11-30-2017, 06:15 AM
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Obviously, this is not medical advice, but it's doubtful that you ruined your body. As many here have confirmed, the body tends to be quite resilient and can make great gains once you begin treating it right.

Case in point, in my nearly 2 years of sobriety, I've dropped 50# of fat and packed on 10# of muscle. I've competed in power lifting events, got back into mountain bike racing and skied some awesome double-blacks out west - and I'm in my mid 50's!

There's a great thread on this forum where a bunch of us gym rats and fitness buffs humble brag about our workouts. It's a great support resource and just an overall enjoyable place to hang out!
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Old 11-30-2017, 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Eaglelizard View Post
Just my experience on energy levels, mental state, and weight fluctuations over the first 10 months of sobriety. I always exercised while drinking, but stopping actually created a bit of a fitness hiccup for me:
- Month 1: tired and lazy and hungry, easily injured (muscle cramps, etc), mostly walking, pushups, pull-ups. Feeling rather soft and weak. Changed routine from morning to night b/c of laziness factor.
- Months 2-4: feeling better, jogging but still not very ambitious, losing weight
- Months 4-6: feeling good, mixing up the exercise, getting stronger, muscles making a comeback and probably burning more calories because of it
- Months 7-9: getting ambitious and doing much more challenging workouts, dropping a lot of weight and building muscle. Feeling good, although a bit stiff.
- Month 10: injury (hamstring strain). Nothing serious, but a reminder that we need to focus on flexibility in addition to strength. Otherwise, still feeling pretty good.

Re: diet, I think it helps to keep things really simple if you are trying to lose weight and stay nourished. Think beans and rice, tuna, light salads. If you can stop drinking, getting into a healthy food routine should be comparatively easy, sort of like staying away from your party friends.
I do better with keto, hands down...but I wanted to tell you that your timeline here is very helpful. I am on my third month. I haven't attempted sobriety sincE I got in shape last year and the fatigue, lack of fitness and slowdown was very tough for me these last months, more injury as well and just no energy while exercising. It's been extremely disappointing but I am finally finding myself slowly making a comeback at crossfit and I think it's because of where I am in sobriety, my body just rebelled at no longer running on alcohol and acetate....I needed to heal which is bizarre because I was in great shape while drinking....less body fat, Lots of energy and just more general strength. Strangest turn of events ever but I think I am finally on an upswing.
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Old 12-02-2017, 06:59 AM
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You will get back into shape if you want to.
The body is quite resilient.
One day at a time.

I run everyday and do alternating work outs. Its been helpful for anxiety, depression and my overall mood. You can do this.
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Old 12-02-2017, 07:27 AM
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I went from 6' 4" 220 lbs lean to 6' 4" ~300 lbs in just 4 years of drinking moderately heavily (6-12 beers a day). In just the last 100 days I'm down to 262 lbs by not drinking or eating as much junk food. Alcohol kills inhibitions and makes you just eat a whole pizza and chug down 6 more beers without thinking about it.

If I look at myself in the mirror now and then look at pictures from just a few months ago I am disgusted. The muscle gains I've gotten in the gym since quitting alcohol is insane. I can see my abs now and my quads pop out of my gym shorts. I'm happy to see myself in the mirror and I've even gotten compliments from strangers..

Alcohol is toxic and screws our bodies and minds up.
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