VinnyMcM

Any doctors in the building?

I’m 6’3”. My last drink was December 17th and I weighed 229. I mainly now just drink water with the occasional Sprite. I’m by no means a vegan but I’ve cut out all fast food and fried food. I estimate that I’ve cut ~1500-2000 calories a day in alcohol alone.

I am also exercising for two hours every day doing all cardio. I haven’t done any weights yet so I know it’s not a gain of any muscle mass.

It’s now day 9 and I’m up to 232. I wasn’t expecting to lose 10 pounds the first week but I definitely wasn’t expecting to gain any weight.

What gives?

biminiblue

Well, IMO nine days isn't really long enough to see a trend...three pounds is well within the normal range of water weight fluctuations that happen for all kinds of reasons.

Here, this will help:

Scale Fluctuations are annoying. Here’s what’s going on

I'm not a doctor! Just a long-term weight management person (my own weight, no one else's.)

Notch8

Not a doctor, but from past experiences sobering up, the body was so used to being dehydrated if you drank everyday. Now it wants to retain as much fluid as possible. Give it some time.

VinnyMcM

Thanks for the responses! It’s just my impatience coming out. I’m sure it’ll start dropping off soon.

soberista

Thank your lucky stars your not drinking and just go about life day to day being very gentle on yourself. Your body needs time to recover. You've been metabolising huge amounts of sugar in the form of alcohol through your liver. You're blood sugar will be all our of whack, your cells will be taking in fluid, your brain chemistry will be changing and moreover your body is going to take time to get some homeostasis. It certainly doesn't happen overnight. Patience, self care and love. Best wishes. X

ScottFromWI

As addicts we have a penchant for instant gratification - and that doesn't go away when we quit drinking. Think back to a few days ago - you were worried because you couldn't eat much. A few days later it seems the opposite, time is the ultimate healer when it comes to quitting.

I lost weight at first - likely due to the fact that i had horrible eating habits during the last days of my drinking- lots of beer dinners and crappy food mixed in between. Then I started gaining as I was eating everything in sight. After a while it will level off...and if it doesn't do consult with your doc ( which I believe you are already doing? )

Reid82

I'm sure the weight will balance out after a while after you're body becomes to being sober. Get a good exercise and diet plan, it might take a few months to notice any great difference but remember you can do this if you're sober, Drunk, forget about it.

VinnyMcM

Can relate to the drinking and crappy food. My routine used to be drink til 7:30. Eat pizza. Pass out.

Now it’s exercise for 3 hours a day, no booze and a healthier dinner much earlier and then a sprite for my tv watching time. Someone here also said water weight. I think that’s spot on. I got obsessed with drinking a gallon a water a day to flush my system.

Anyway, I’m now down 4 pounds since the start of this thread. I need more damn patience!

biminiblue

STRESS is one of those things in the article I linked. Cortisol (the stress hormone) increases inflammation and inflammation is retained water.

So see? It pays to be zen and let your body do its miraculous work without stressin'.

Glad your scale was nice to you this morning. Caution, they are very fickle.



At least I think that's in the article, there's a lot in there and I haven't read it in a long time. It's a common issue. My body had a Lot of healing to do in early sobriety.