NewJourneyStart

I'm only on day 4 of my journey to sobriety as I mentioned this morning, but in these past few days I'm finding myself hungry all the time. I eat reasonably healthy and did even when I was drinking, but now I've quit drinking my appetite has increased significantly.

Is this normal?

Is it to do with the fact I'm at home all day due to losing my job?

Could this be giving me more time to realize I'm hungry and want more food?

I just don't understand it...

Daniel

JD4010

It has happened to me! But I'm only a sample of one.

There are a lot of calories in booze.

IronPhoenix

I found that my metabolism seemed to kick in more and I was making way better eating decisions. i.e. not getting blasted and getting the wings, nachos, and cheese fries

endlesspatience

It's still really early days, Daniel, so don't worry too much about food. What about thinking how you are going to get over a craving for another drink? Some people find eating sweet food helps with that. What else would help you, do you think?

Hawkeye13

My ice cream craving really went into overdrive.

I wouldn't worry much about this--get solid in your sobriety
and increase your exercise / start a program if you have time on your hands.
I joined a crossfit and lost 40 pounds when I stopped drinking.
Did wonders for my self-esteem and showed me I could change my life.

Jecrois2016

Yes! I'm on day 4 and endlessly hungry!! I think our bodies are used to the extra empty calories.

Ruby2

I drank most of my calories so when I stopped drinking I was hungry most of the time. Gradually that passed. I wouldn't worry about it for now. Eat well.

SoberinSyracuse

HAHAHAHAHA, LOL, OMG. Yes.

When I was in detox in March, I'd been drinking heavily and not eating. The first day, I refused food. The second day, I refused food. On the third day they told me, "In order to leave your room, you must eat and drink." I did, a little.

And then the floodgates opened. We on the 6th floor had a special privilege with the hospital dining services. We could order as much food as we wanted, any time of the day (but only one caffeinated drink per day). We ate nonstop. We ate everything. And nobody tried to stop us or lecture us about healthy portions. We just ate and ate and ate.

People's brains rebounded fast once they started to gorge. They'd come in like corpses except for the shaking. Then once they were a day or two sober and took that first bite...Holy crap, they were like sharks in a fishtank. And after 24 hours of gorging, their eyes were brightened and they would converse.

Then they got bored and to alleviate the boredom, everyone invented little jobs for themselves. Lloyd manned the hall phone. Cheryl delivered food trays, room-service style. Laura collected trays and returned them to the truck. Chuck monitored water consumption, keeping bottles full and making sure everyone was hydrating.

That's the power of food in recovery. Embrace it. Eat, eat, eat!

Komplex

Daniel,
I too am starving all the time. Today is day seven for me so I'm very early in, like you. I did not have much appetite the first couple days but have found myself physically hungry every two to three hours since the end of day three. I hope it passes soon, as I was hoping to lose weight not gain lol. I figure whatever I'm eating can't be as bad as the 600-1000 calories a day I was drinking though. I've decided to give myself a break and trust my body. I'm eating whenever I want, but trying to make decent choices.
Great job on four days, btw!

Soberwolf

Heck yeah !! when I stopped drinking & the body operating without alcohol my hunger was immense I hardly eat underweight etc

My best advice is have plenty of vegetables in your diet have fruit & have a balanced diet

illi1111

Yes!!!
Day 10 and it's getting a lot better.
I think that it's a way of healing for our bodies.
I recently did 30 days. I ate like a horse and still lost 10lbs.
I also feel less likely to slip up if I have eaten and am hydrated.

PurpleKnight

The body needs to adjust from all the carbs/sugar it was getting from drinking, but it will in time, no harm in being good to yourself early on, the plan is to be Sober!!

OnTheWagon2

I'm 3-4 days sober and have been eating non-stop. Mostly eating healthy foods, but my belly is pretty bloated right now. Also have been taking vitamins. So glad to know that other people are eating a lot too and that this is typical for the process.

Dee74

welcome onthewagon2

I consumed a lot of empty calories drinking so it makes sense I ate ravenously for a while

glad to have you join us

anxiousrock

VinnyMcM

I’m 37 days in and literally all I think about is food. I have a small stomach apparently so I’m not able to over indulge on food. And I can almost guarantee your bloated belly will go down just from cutting the booze. At the end of my drinking, I couldn’t even see my feet over by bloated gut. It went back to relatively flat over a month.

FeelingGreat

I substituted sugar for alcohol. Still do up to a point, but hey it got me past the worst of the cravings.

MLD51

I was actually happy to have an increased appetite for food when I quit. It was a sign to me that my body was healing. I was not eating regularly when I drank. I was still bloated and "fat" (not really, just felt that way) when I drank, because of all of the booze calories. I didn't lose weight when I quit like some people do, but the bloat went away pretty quickly. I ate a lot in the beginning - not all of it very healthy (lots of sweets and ice cream) but I gave myself a pass because I wasn't drinking and I figured I'd address the eating later. I'm a little over 5 years sober now. I eat a pretty nutritious diet now. I have cut out a lot of carbs and almost all sugar. I'm 56 and feel about as good as I did in my 20's. So - if you are new to sobriety and eating a lot, or stuff you don't think is all that good for you, don't be too hard on yourself. You can get that under control later. Unless, of course, it's really affecting your health negatively, then you might need to deal with it sooner.

Sober45

Me too! I'm on day 22 and apatite is enormous. As long as I focus on eating lots of whole foods it's all good. I'm also replacing alcohol with sugar in the form of dark chocolate every night. I think for me enjoying good food is going to be a big part of my sobriety.

MLD51

I know it's a big part of sobriety for me. Before I drank too much I was really into cooking and baking. It's been fun to get back into that, and learn more about how to eat in a way that really benefits my life, instead of just eating to survive.