Cheli

Ugh I'm on day 10 and I ate before when I drank and now it seems like that is all I'm doing. But I'm also exercising daily except for today. But I've always been pretty active. Just that now all I'm thinking about is what can I eat now. I don't want to add anymore weight that I've already packed on from drinking and binging. So now what? Does anyone have any tips. I can sure use them.

AlcoholFree66

Eat healthily - perhaps try and avoid sugar and processed foods? - I use rice malt syrup to replace sugar in cooking (low GI). Eat plenty of healthy snacks. I think I was a bit hypoglycaemic when I got sober (less than 3 months ago) so eating small amounts regularly is important for me. Snack on raw almonds - eat raw vegetables and hummus. I agree exercise is so important. I have been exercising daily (not always possible) and it has helped me enormously.

Cheli

Thanks Alcoholfree66! I will start on that tomorrow. I'll be honest. I've been eating more junk than I normally do. Time to turn that around.

MelindaFlowers

Hey Cheli,

I can relate so much to your post. In the past seven years I went from a slender and healthy weight to a bloated and obese drunk. I'll admit that one of my biggest motivators to stop drinking was to lose weight. This came right after wanting to stop feeling like I was dying everyday from hangovers and obsessing over drinking every day, all day. I was sure that if I could stop drinking the weight would just fall right off. How could it not after cutting roughly 2000 calories a day in alcohol calories?

Well, after over a month I am still not brave enough to step on the scale but I would guess that I've lost about 7-10 lbs. My pants are fitting more loosely but I really thought I'd be tremendously thinner at this point. I guess it's true that we're always wanting the instant "gratification" that drinking gave us. I think we need to be patient in early sobriety. The weight will come off for both of us! One thing I know for sure (and experimented with for about seven years...) is that the weight would have never come off if I was still drinking. In fact, the weight kept going up and up and up.

I will say though that for the first month there were moments where it felt like I was dangling by a string. I found tremendous relief in eating a large bowl of cookie dough ice cream, garlic bread, cinnamon toast crunch, chips and salsa, York peppermint patties, and the occasional milkshake from In-n_Out. I decided to allow myself any and all pleasures of food as long as I did not drink alcohol. Not one drop. On day 35 I am now thinking of trying to cut the fattening foods to get back to a healthy weight.

You can do this. The weight will come off.

junk33

i find any time i quit drinking the weight just falls off without trying ,i can eat anything and not gain weight but i tried some fast food todayand found it disgusting after one bite ,my dogs didnt think so however ..i think its different for all people but eventually the weight will start dropping for you as well..

AlcoholFree66

Hi Cheli - it was suggested to me that 'adding in lots of good stuff (healthy food, exercise etc) means there is less room/ inclination for the bad stuff (alcohol)' - it's worked really well for me!

myhollowhell

Ugh I can relate so much. And I despise that I can haha

I have been craving such junk food and then once I eat and am so full I feel sick I crave my drug because I feel so ****** about myself.

What's helped for me was what I was doing through out my day. Like if I got dressed even if I wasn't going somewhere and forced myself to look in the mirror. Or made myself do activities I didn't really want to do. Stepping out of my comfort Zone.
At first food almost felt like a replacement of my drinking and drugging because I needed comfort. So I found comfort in other things... Which has slowed my cravings down a lot.
Also drinking tons and tons of water. Anytime I want to go eat junk food, I grab a water bottle drink the entire thing first and then ask myself do I really want that entire bag of potato chips now?

I had to keep my mind busy and give myself reality checks consistently. I've gained a lot of weight , and I already feel crappy about myself.. I don't need to add to the shame spiral my mind falls in sometimes.

phoebe64

I have the same issue when I quit drinking. For me, I tend to binge, either on drink or food, or both. I sometimes think I am not exactly alcoholic, but have an eating disorder and in includes alcohol. Just the need to put something in my mouth. Filling up some emptiness or void.

It is definitely easier if you add in good habits, like regular exercise, and if you can do something when you have a craving to eat. Like taking a walk or jumping on a piece of exercise equipment. I do better with losing weight and with cravings if I get rid of refined carbs/wheat/sugary foods as well.

Tugend

Also try very cold water and very cold sparkling water (no ice, drink it by the bottle, as if chugging beer). I stock my fridge with carafes and bottles of flat and sparkling water. It helps me at least.

trachemys

Well, my mother hates me and you might, too. As she puts it, I can open a bag of hershey's kisses and eat just one. Wish I had that control with booze.

ICCC = Ice Cream Cures Cravings

That's what I've been relying on. Some other posters here tell me that sugar free popsicles work just as well.

Don't worry. You'll get control over that appetite just like you now have over your alcohol appetite.

girlsearching

I found that relaxing in a hot bath during the first few weeks of recovery was essential for me to have balance. When I got anxious I just drew a bath and relaxed. Maybe next time you are heading for the kitchen, pour a bath, light candles, play some relaxing music and see if this helps. Good luck.

27cougar

I am doing the same thing right now. I look a lot less bloated but I am certainly making up my alcohol calories with goodies! I am going to try to eat more high protien/low carb and see if that helps. I've been told protien makes you feel full longer. And yes lots and lots of cold water. Keep up the good work!

PurpleKnight

Day 10 is still early days, whatever keeps you Sober is the plan, so don't beat yourself up too much!!

Cheli

Thanks everyone for the great tips and advice! It's nice it know I'm not alone and most of you can truly relate!

Jade1224

I know what you're going through. I work out hard in the morning and I eat a good healthy breakfast otherwise, if I start my day off terrible then I will eat all day long.

But I feel like if I have a piece of cheesecake for dinner it's not the end of the world - at least its not wine

Alcoholism is a pretty big addiction to overcome. If cookies are going to help me stay sober then I will eat the whole bag.

JDUBSEA

When you think you want to eat something, try drinking some water instead.

soberjuly

I used to avoid sweets and etc like the plaque when I was drinking. For some reason, sugar was horrible but drinking a bottle (or 2) of wine a day was OK. Well, I'm not drinking all that booze now and if I want a little sweet, I'll have it.

For example, I take my kids often to this yogurt place, the kind with the toppings. I never get any. I wouldn't want to cut into my alcohol consumption calories!

Well, now that I quit, my husband took my daughter to the yogurt place yesterday and I asked if he could bring me back a frozen yogurt with white chocolate. Well, he got confused and thought I wanted white chocolate yogurt so I didn't get any toppings...no biggie!

My point is...I think one frozen yogurt is better than all the booze I used to drink.

10 days is early, give your body time to adapt to the changes. Abusing the liver is horrible because it wrecks the fat burning liver does. Let it recover and if you want a little sweet here and there, I think it's okay.

Also, I replaced Diet Pepsi with Zevia soda because it doesn't contain NutraSweet (aspartame). Aspartame has a nasty way of making your body feel it's not full and so you continue eating (or so they say). I don't know if you drink diet soda or other drinks with aspartame but if you do, you could look into that.

myhollowhell

Jade1224 - needed to read that tonight. I just downed an entire box of cookies.

I'm still sober though, so eff it.

johnnybsober

On day 19 here. First 2 weeks I ate everything I could. Last few days haven't been as bad.

I would still rather be fat n sober than drunk any day!

Jade1224

lol! I ate a whole box of mint oreos AND I was drunk. Can you imagine the shame I felt with that one? not one of my better moments but I find It comical now.

I never want to go back to that place again.