Water weight or real gain?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 2
Water weight or real gain?
Hi everyone,
I have been a heavy drinker now for 2+ years, and I decided that I really want to cut back (not quit), as of this past Monday.
That first night was absolute H**L, and I admit, I took several swigs straight from the bottle and even picked a fight with my husband (we almost never fight). Over the week, it's gotten MUCH MUCH easier to the point where I'm really not even feeling the desire to drink during the evening when my husband and I usually have 4-5 drinks each on top of dinner.
But there are two things I have been noticing, and I was hoping someone might be able to relate or confirm what I'm suspecting.
1) Since last weekend, I've put on about 5-6lbs, which is NOT normal for me. I usually stay in a +/- 2lb range.
2) I've been having depressive symptoms all week, i.e. not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings, low motivation, low energy, etc.
Have any of you had these symptoms during the first week of cutting down/quitting? Is this just water retention and withdrawal?
Thanks.
P.S. I had routine bloodwork done in January, and my liver and kidney functions are fine, BP is normal, cholesterol is perfect, and I have no health problems other than being overweight (likely from the booze and lack of exercise) - I started drinking around 22, and have gained 75Lb in the last 11 years, most of it in the last 6 since I started practicing law and ramped up the drinking and, then, another 20lb in the last 2 years because I kicked a nasty eating disorder and for the most part, stopped exercising.
My goals are to cut back to Friday and Saturday nights having 1-2 glasses of wine or mixed drinks, but NO drinking during the week, and lose all this extra weight I've put on. I got back on my hamster wheel yesterday and I am going to do one hour 5 days per week. My diet is very healthy, but portion control has become a problem for me.
Any thoughts on that as well? Sorry if I am rambling...
I have been a heavy drinker now for 2+ years, and I decided that I really want to cut back (not quit), as of this past Monday.
That first night was absolute H**L, and I admit, I took several swigs straight from the bottle and even picked a fight with my husband (we almost never fight). Over the week, it's gotten MUCH MUCH easier to the point where I'm really not even feeling the desire to drink during the evening when my husband and I usually have 4-5 drinks each on top of dinner.
But there are two things I have been noticing, and I was hoping someone might be able to relate or confirm what I'm suspecting.
1) Since last weekend, I've put on about 5-6lbs, which is NOT normal for me. I usually stay in a +/- 2lb range.
2) I've been having depressive symptoms all week, i.e. not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings, low motivation, low energy, etc.
Have any of you had these symptoms during the first week of cutting down/quitting? Is this just water retention and withdrawal?
Thanks.
P.S. I had routine bloodwork done in January, and my liver and kidney functions are fine, BP is normal, cholesterol is perfect, and I have no health problems other than being overweight (likely from the booze and lack of exercise) - I started drinking around 22, and have gained 75Lb in the last 11 years, most of it in the last 6 since I started practicing law and ramped up the drinking and, then, another 20lb in the last 2 years because I kicked a nasty eating disorder and for the most part, stopped exercising.
My goals are to cut back to Friday and Saturday nights having 1-2 glasses of wine or mixed drinks, but NO drinking during the week, and lose all this extra weight I've put on. I got back on my hamster wheel yesterday and I am going to do one hour 5 days per week. My diet is very healthy, but portion control has become a problem for me.
Any thoughts on that as well? Sorry if I am rambling...
Thriving sober since 12/18/08
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 3,115
Portion control is huge (no pun intended!), no idea if it's related to your reduction in drinking. I know when I quit, I gained some.. I wasn't eating very much when I was drinking a lot and when I stopped drinking I actually started eating a lot more! Learning more about nutrition and portion control really helped slim me down to where I wanted to be.. and not drinking certainly helps in terms of my food choices too! When I got sober, it was just one piece of an overall healthy lifestyle for me, the nutrition and exercise (and other things) fell into place pretty quickly after that, quitting drinking didn't 'fix' everything! 
Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 303
It is more than likely water retention. I think the body goes into shock when we quit and it takes a little bit of time for bodies to normalize with the metabolism and daily functions. Give it a couple more weeks, stay away from the sugar and alcohol and you should see the scale start moving down.
Guest
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 7,097
When I've stopped my stomach reduced,prob water retention/alcohol bloat. whenever I started again though the weight just went back on and more. I'm 3 months sober now and my stomach is much flatter and I'm down at least 1 dress size,nearly 2. I know of I ever pick up again it would just go back on
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