Ashes

I'm on day 5 (again) and I've noticed that my face looks thinner. I'm a little on the "soft" side naturally, and I'm always dieting, but the alcohol has been a major contributing factor in my weight gain over the past couple years.

I've been trying to be very healthy, eating lots of veggies and only low-cal, high protein foods, and taking supplements in addition to my mutivitamin. Today at work, two people actually commented that I looked good, but I don't know if it was because of my face or because I wore blue instead of black, since one person said that I should wear this shade of blue more often because it brightens up my face (I normally wear only black or gray.)

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you noticed this on yourselves too? It's a great motivator to keep it up (not drinking.)



~ashes

2dayzmuse

Yep, not long after I quit drinking I heard comments on how much thinner my face looked. I lost a few pounds from abstaining, but mainly I lost the bloat that occurs from drinking. There is a certain look that goes along with excessive drinking. I can recognize it in others. It's a great reminder of why I don't want to drink anylonger. I also saw pictures from 2 Christmases ago...not good. I looked unhealthy.

CarolD

A healthy lifestyle makes one look better....

My hair and skin were quickly improved.
I begin wearing brighter cheerful colors too.

Recovery really rocks!

TracyAgain

My skin color is normal again. It was getting that ruddy, terra-cotta tone common in alcoholics and flower pots.

Tracy

NoMoBeer

I absolutely look better after getting sober. In fact, last week I was at a business meeting, my VP came up to me (I hadn't seen her in about 6 months, and was still drinking when I'd seen her last) and said she didn't recognize me b/c I'd lost so much weight. Now, I exercise, watch what I eat and have lost a couple of pounds, but I think it's the bloatedness that has gone away.

For me, beer made my body a water retaining machine! Puffy, bloated and a downright polluted system.

I love being an athletic alcoholic! (non-practicing of course )

Ken

ninthchance

Oh my goodness, yes my face looks different. My mom always told me i looked really bloated and sick after days of drinking but i just shrugged her off. Then just recently i had the really disturbing experience of seeing pictures. Pictures from just last year i looked healthy and happy, and then shortcut to just a few months later, when i was drinking really heavily and having a really bad time, i was horrified at what i saw. I went to a friends wedding, trying to look good of course, but in the pics i saw that i was bloated, pale and looked just plain sick. I remember sweating a lot that day too...feeling very bad. I was looking at the pics with some of my friends and i got embarassed- they must have soooo known that something was wrong with me. I'm trying to stop now, and getting back to a place where i can look and feel healthy again is a really strong motivation. just a few of the laundry list of things i can look forward to with sobriety!

GettingSober

Yep, goodbye bloat.

Bad enough crossing 40 and getting some grey, but then to get downright disgusting, well its enough to make a man quit drinking!

GG733

Goodbye sucked up tweeker cheeks, goodbye "terra cotta" (love that one) skin, goodbye loose teeth, goodbye swollen liver, goodbye waking up face first in my vomit, goodbye strange cuts and bruises of unknown origin...goodbye, and good riddance!

TracyAgain

Good-bye loose teeth means different things, I guess. I have pretty significant bone loss for a middle-ager and had two non-injury fractures before the age of 40. My mom (who is built like me) has the most serious form of osteoporisis that exists. For me, loose teeth meant paying tens of thousands of dollars for bone transplants & implants, or good-bye perfect (not a cavity to be had) teeth.

I'm not rich, so . . . dentures suck, in case anyone is wondering. They look fabulous but food isn't of interest anymore because eating is no fun. Asthetically it doesn't bother me because they *look* perfect to anyone on the outside. My husband of 26 years has them too, so I'm very comfortable being toothless at home and even in the romantic sense. Kinky sh*t that he is, my husband swears that certain sexual acts are vastly improved when sharp teeth are not longer a concern, lol.

I've thought about being refitted but a friend who is in dentistry said that a denture is a prosthetic, like a false leg. It's better than no teeth at all, but it will never work like the real McCoy. That's an accurate statement, IME.

I do miss having a passion for food though. A lot of times going hungry is more appealing than the discomfort of eating. I was at a meeting yesterday and people were joking around about how they *wish* they could forget to eat.

It wasn't funny to me. The smell of food cooking is very appealing and it looks delicious, but eating it is like taking out the trash. It's a chore. Which is not helpful with the whole H.A.L.T. thing.

Tracy

GG733

By loose teeth, I was refering to my meth using days...it's one of the long term side affects(if not losing them all together).

ihelpkids

You will probably keep losing weight for about a month. Your liver prioritizes removing the alcohol from your system first. Fat and cholesteral become a lot less important to the liver when it is trying desperately to get rid of a toxin like alcohol. Your cholesteral level will probably also drop.

Once I was sober for about a month (I lost 20 pounds in the first month), I was able to see look at the newcomers and realize how bad we all look from the drinking.

Ashes - go to meetings!

GettingSober

Faraway, CO - Thats a bummer. Sorry for your loss. The flipside of course is that you have lived long enough to have that problem. I am fighting another rotator cuff tear but the good doc says its not good enough for surgery this time.

Cuff problem is an over 40 thing ( and in my case falling straight down drunk with arm outstretched ), unless your a pro athlete. I think I can bring it around.

But its funny how making it this far does not seem to make it more bearable. Dad used to say when I was small that nature takes enough things from you so that you no longer care to live.

But tonight I realized I suffer from a bigger problem, not enjoying life like I used to when I was young. I'm still in good shape, its the desk job all day, supporting the family and having a career that is beginning to feel more and more like a sinking ship - while not doing the fun things, largely its 1) be more freaking active 2) Keep your eyes open for intresting things to do an maybe a career that is more interesting.

If I am to enjoy Life Part II then I need to make some changes. The booze was probably shutting down those feelings.

I have much to sort out.

As for the meth comment from GoldenGutters, I read some terrible things about kids caught in that mess, if you know people using try to watch out for their kids, hell turn them in if it helps.

Just had a funny thought. When I left the office today I was pooped. I checked my wallet to see if there was enough booze money. I put the wallet and the thought away, made a mental note to swing by here later.

But the funny thing is, when I flew freight all nite, so tired cops would pull me over driving home from the airport - I never once thought about stopping and getting alchohol. My career is killing me. How to switch when you have a 5k a month burn rate? Now thats a neat trick.

TracyAgain

I'm a bit young for it actually (44), but it's okay. After watching friends and family struggle with MS, cancer, etc., it seems like a small cross to bear.

OUCH!!! Cuff stuff is very painful and a bugger to heal. I hurt mine several years ago (snapping a towel at hubby) and it still bothers me at night.

I don't think I believe your dad. A couple people close to me have died and I stayed with them until the end. Neither had much to live for, terrible pain that would never go away, etc., but both would have chosen to live had that been an option.

I'm right with you on the "sinking ship" part. I have been thinking a lot about what I'd rather be doing for a career and with spare time. I would like to return to school, but I've been down that road and know there would be little time and no money for play. For now it feels more important for to learn how to play again. I'd love to go parasailing in the Carribean, and will someday, but right now my sights are set on more modest fun.

Me too.

It would be difficult to replace that kind of income and I understand how draining it is to be sendentary for much of the day. You'd think that physical work would be more tiring, but it's not, IME. I hope you can figure a way to get what you want out of life while keeping what you need.



Tracy

GettingSober

What got me to notice it was my 4 year old daughter. My god she is happy all the time and jumping skipping singing giggling. I said wow I am really flocked up!

The level of enthusiasm about learning, wow wish I could have that back. I may have gotten some of it at work. I am in IT and implemented a cool debugger for our programs. Its something to make it cool and get the computer to work as hard as me. Buddy is running financials at Kraft, mainframes, staring down the barrel of being outsourced to India and his wife does not work, has 2 kids and no other skills.

Things could be worse for me, need to stop thinking so far in advance, thats nothing but a projection of my fears...

One day at a a time.

:hugs:

lovescoffee

for anyone who has the same question- "YES!!!". I have always been very slender. I gained a bit of weight after drinking everyday for about 6 months. But if you judged by my face, you'd have thought I gained 30 lbs. My face was so bloated and fat I did not look well at all, and I did not look like "me" anymore. I stopped drinking completely about a month ago and I noticed within 3 days that the fat face I had was slimming and then on day 8- GONE! And I had not lost any weight at all (according to my bathroom scale) Now, I did not stop drinking due to vanity...but it is such a joy to have this immediate benefit that it keeps me from drinking.

obikenobi

I definately noticed that I lost weight in my face. I have been free from alcohol now for almost 3 months. I have had more people that I know come up to me and ask me if I have lost weight and what I am doing to cause it. I just tell them I am on a healthy diet and excersize. But its great. I play in a band and you can see the pics that we have on our website from a year ago to now that my face and body look much better. Now if I can just get passed this anxiety I will be all set.

strangeblessing

Well put! I am a fairly thin guy, so losing wight was not at the top of my list in changes I wanted to see. But my face had become pretty ruddy, and those telling circles under my eyes made it pretty obvious what was going on. I have noticed in the last month and a half that my face has a better color, especially my nose and cheeks, and the whites of my eyes are clearer.

Anyone know if the little veins on the bridge of the nose fade over time?
All the best!

Tazman53

Well I looked like hell for a lot of years due to my drinking, I always told folks my eyes were bloodshot all the time because of allergies! LOL God was I lying to myself or what.

At about 3 months sober all the puffiness in my face was gone, the bloodshot eyes were gone, my skin looked better and was far healthier, I had people asking me if I lost weight, I hadn't, my liver wasn't swollen anymore! My BMs were firm, no more sharts!!!!

I quit smoking Sept. 18th, I look healthier yet, but I have put on 10 pounds!!!!! Funny thing, I don't care, I feel better yet.

In less then a month sober folks were telling me there was something different about me for the better but they could not say exactly what.

geelouise

H

MysteriousGrl

Yes, the bloated face (and broken blood vessels) went away only days after I stopped drinking. The pounds shed off too.

I remember not being able to suck in my cheeks through my teeth because my face was so bloated, and the red complexion was so ugly looking. I was too drunk to notice or give a sh*t at the time. Its nice to look in the mirror now with fresh eyes and see a clear face