stayingpositive

The good news is I am on day 12! Bad news is I can't fit in to my pants now. This happens every time I quit drinking. It is really discouraging. It doesn't make sense. I may be eating slightly more but not equal to the 500+ al calories I just cut out.

Anyone have any ideas on why I am gaining weight? Does it balance out at some point?

Anna

Are you exercising? That could be helpful as you continue your recovery.

Congratulations on Day 12.

Soberwolf

Drinking suppresses our appetite i was quite underweight when i got sober

i put on weight too if its bothering you ...you can always diet i dieted around month 8/9 i enjoyed my food for a bit and needed to gain weight but everybody is diffrent

mns1

What types of food are you eating?

It's possible a good amount of it could be water weight. Alcohol dehydrates you so once you come off it and start eating and drinking other liquids your body is going to expand somewhat.

stayingpositive

I started exercising a little. Going to have to really work at it. It is very frustrating. My husband even makes comments about how I gain weight everytime I try to quit. It has played a part in my going back to drinking in the past. I know that sounds really stupid, but it's true. Well if my options are skinny and drunk, or sober and a little chubby I guess I will take the second option.

stayingpositive

Thanks mns1. I hope it's just water weight. How long does it take for the water weight to go down?

luvmygirls

I can definitely relate to this post. I wish I had some answers, but I'm struggling too because one of the major "benefits" I was anticipating was weight loss. Weight gain has been extremely difficult for me because I was overweight to begin with.

Hevyn

Many congrats on your 12 days stayingpositive.

Yes, it happened to me too. I was consuming loads of empty calories by drinking every day, but somehow I was thinner then. I was sure the lbs. would melt off me once I stopped, but I guess I hadn't been eating much real food when drinking. Then I started with the sweets in early recovery. I agree, it's frustrating - but you've done a wonderful thing for your health by stopping.

mns1

If it is mostly water weight, then that is actually a good thing. You mentioned "balancing out" in your original post. Well that is exactly what your body is doing in these early days of recovery.

If you want to lose weight, a combination of exercise and good eating habits (and sobriety) is a recipe for success!

Densol

I felt very very bloated when I stopped on day 3 - even my nose and cheeks looked puffy ! I started drinking loads and loads of water and took some water retention reducing tablets for 4 days. I ate really healthy and did 500 calories of exercise each day. I've lost 12 pounds now ( since 1st Jan ) . Weight has stayed the same for last 4 days ( as I eased off the water tablets ) so now it's just me. I'm hoping it's going to start losing again as I keep up the low carbohydrate diet and exercise.

Stick with it - I think the body goes through shock when we stop and its water changes not fat causes the changes - but they are just temporary !

JadedGirl

I wonder about the water weight too. I have noticed that although I've put on weight gradually over the years that after a night of particularly heavy drinking I weigh a bit less next morning (have wondered if this is due to dehydration).
Do you drink plenty of water? You will store water but if drink lots it'll start flushing through and shouldn't carry so much. Are you eating more salty food too now given up? Don't know just ideas thinking of. Can understand not wanting to put in weight, I'm very weight conscious but you can always diet later. Going to be hard to diet and give up drink same time so try not to pressure yourself to do both x
Btw well done on 12 days ��

stayingpositive

Thanks for all the advice. I've never really had to worry about my weight much before. I always just ate and drank whatever I wanted and stayed about the same size. Now I quit drinking and I have been trying to eat healthy foods. I have not been counting calories just trying to eat things that have more vitamins like fruits and vegtables to help my body adjust to sobriety. Maybe it's just water. I do feel "puffy".

Ruby2

I drank a lot and didn't eat much of anything. I weighed under 120 and never had to worry about my weight. When I quit drinking I started gaining weight because I was finally eating. I've started leveling out but I'm about fifteen pounds heavier than I was. In some ways I think my body was just readjusting to actual nutrition. Keep doing what you're doing.

happyandfree

I've gained weight too. But I know it's because I'm eating more. I love to cook...and cooking has been such a pleasure since I stopped drinking. Now I'm trying to cut down on sugar and starches. I'll get a grip on the food intake, but not drinking has been my main focus.I don't mind that I gained a few lbs....and I'm not about to give up my ice cream. ...just cut back a bit.

DuhDave

At 12 days you're still very early in your sobriety/recovery adventure. At first you will rehydrate and be drinking a lot of water weather you realize it or not and can expect to gain a few #'s from water weight.

However...later when you start excercising and dieting, you should continue to drink plenty of water. Water helps flush fat and toxins (by-products of burning fat) out of your body. Water also is crucial to your liver/pancreas repairing itself from the damage alcohol caused. Just as alcohol was a toxin in every cell of you body in the drinking days...water is extremly important in detox and repairing the damage of every cell in your body in your sobriety.

You might want to start easy...walk a little each day and when you feel up to it, walk a little further. Work up to abt 30 mins a day at a good clip and you will be pleased with your progress.

Of course (here it comes...wait for it)...Chk with your doc to be sure your good to go.

Dont be trying to run any marathon's your first month.

Hope this helps
DD

ShenzyT

Same here SP,
I was on 1 - 2 bottles of red every night - accompanied by cheese & crackers / crisps / dips / toast etc ... you name it - I ate it. Then the following day, it was hangover food (big fry up for breakfast etc...), then the whole thing started again in the evening. I was already 40lbs over weight. I really thought when I stopped drinking I would start to lose weight.......but I'm gaining instead ....
Do you have sugar cravings ? Mine are terrible ..... I've been to the Dr & had all my bloods done and they are fine.....I'm hoping the cravings will settle soon and I'll start to lose.....
xxx

alexc1991

ShenzyT, it is very normal to have sugar cravings after quitting drinking. Even I went through it. I suddenly began craving bags of Sour Patch Kids. I always thought they were delicious to begin with, but not to the point where I was buying them as often as when I quit drinking. Our bodies miss the sugar it got from the alcohol.

ubntubnt

hi staying positive, there are only a few parameters here so we should be able to work it out....
1) are you more or less physically active now compared to when you were drinking? Has anything much changed in terms of exercise etc?
2) you said you are eating healthier now. Are you consuming more or less than before? Same number of meals and snacks each day? For example I never had breakfast when I drank but since I stopped I do. Thats a healthy change but its additional calories that I have had to cut elsewhere
3) are you consuming any new foods that you didn't have before and how much?
4) are you experiencing cravings for sweet or fatty things?

I think once you can clear outs question about diet and exercise it will help you understand whether its water or not