JamesfrmEngland

You know the biggest consequence of me drinking is immense weight gain my ideal weight is 11st and I'm up to 18 stone as a result of my drinking. I wish I was an alcoholic who drank then never ate all day but I'm not I'll drink and then order pizza, kebabs, ice cream. Now I'm living with the consequences I have stretch marks, a big overhang on my belly, I hate the way I look. I won't start drinking again but I am very depressed.

Mummyto2

Exercise is great for depression and you will lose weight, I would like to lose some weight as well good luck

rainyengland

That weight will drop off now the booze has stopped :-)

Junk food was my choice while drinking , I'm down over 8kg in 4 months with some exercise thrown in

You can do it !

incognition

I had the same problem with drinking and then overeating on top of it. Since quitting I've lost about 10 pounds. It'll get better with time, trust me.

JimiC

THIS!

Stay in it for the long haul and you'll be so happy with the changes. I weigh myself every Monday morning and write the number down on my calendar at work. I went from 223 to 172 and feel great. Hang in there

bexxed

One year sober and I'm down 25 pounds.

JamesfrmEngland

I was suicidal looking at myself last night in the mirror, and that's not being dramatic. I'm gonna start the gym today

Dee74

Little things like watching what you eat, with portion control and some regular exercise can do wonders James

best of luck

D

Andagain

Hey James, looks like we're in pretty much the same situation.

I'm also about 18 stone, all thanks to drinking/hungover eating/takeaways.

The thing is, all of this is within your power to reverse, so there's no need to get down about it.

If you aim for a pound a week, with anything else as a bonus, you'll have reached your goal in two years. Which I know sounds like a lot, but if you think it took you years to put that weight on, its not actually that bad.

Working at that level it's actually pretty enjoyable, what I do is a put my maximum calorie intake at 2200 calories. So every day I eat the same lunch and breakfast, coming to 1000, then I have 1200 calories spare for my tea.

Honestly mate, if you have realistic goals and a solid plan. It's easy. Exercise wise I go for a walk every day and do a half an hour routine 3 times a week.

You might need to adjust a little bit because we all have different metabolisms and burned calories, but why don't you start off there for a month, enough to lose some waterweight ,and then adjust based on your results?

Make eating well and exercising something you love, keep in mind that not only will losing weight slowly be better for you in terms of willpower, but will always be better for you physically.

Andagain

The actual reality of my diet is I love going walking and my short exercise routines and I've never felt better because I'm actually getting all the nutrients I need for the first time in about a decade. I have fruit, milk, eggs and then whatever I want, yesterday I had a curry, tonight fresh pasta with tomato sauce and cheese.

I think the biggest mistake people make it going too hard too fast, so they're starving, they miss all the food they like and they fear going back to the gym. Not only does it not have to be like that, it's actually worse for you long term because you'll only end up losing muscle mass which is far harder to put on than it is to take weight off.

Some days I have a really light tea then a dessert, dieting right really can be something you look forward to.

rainyengland

You will be amazed with a little bit of hard work how things change in terms of appearance - 4 months and I look so much better !

I have a friend who although not a alcoholic does binge eat - he's 18 stone but in 4 weeks lost 3kg just watching what he eats

Have you tried MyFitnessPal app - it's really useful and makes you think about what you eat

Good luck :-)

Mummyto2

Good for you James, sorry my last post was so blunt and to the point after reading it back it didn't come across very nice, so I apologise, I lost 4 stone after I had my daughter, someone showed me a picture of myself at a wedding eating omg I couldn't believe it was me, the day after I started walking and I cut out all bread potatoes and sauces, I continued to walk further each day and the weight started coming off, you can do this just stick with it & well done let us know how you get on

AlericB

I started doing a local 5K park run when I stopped drinking - see parkrun UK for details.

It's free and for all abilities. Some people even run with a dog or a baby buggy. It can help you start and maintain a more healthy lifestyle and is good fun too. I've lost over a stone over the last 4 months.

hpdw

Up until 2 weeks ago my tipple for months was cans of draught Guinness and I piled 2 stone on ( 28 lbs ) . I have lost 7 lb in 2 weeks . Understand 100 percent what your saying James as I was also partial to a high carb take away after the guinness . Like you I am not keen to look in the mirror and clothes shopping is a nightmare always reaching to the back of the rail for the xxxxxxxxxxxxx,S . Lets keep sober and look after ourselfs better , we can do it

Andagain

I'm training up to do this =)

Should be ready for 5k in about a month.

AlericB

Good for you. I'm sure you'll love it!

But I would just dive in and go along though. I hadn't run for years the first time I did it and didn't know what to expect. I ended up doing a combination of walking and running the first three or four times but that was OK because others were doing the same! But then I got fitter I guess and learned to slow down a bit and I now run all the way round which makes it even more enjoyable.