RP4595

I'm on the wagon here and hopefully staying on it long term and getting away from this regular binge drinking. I'm on day 3 for the 3rd time in a month and everything i get to day 2,3,4 etc i just get hungrier and hungrier. I run every morning and hit the gym 5 days a week int he afternoon for weights but usually my appetite is not something i think about. I want to eat CONSTANTLY now and i usually dont eat carbs and now i am craving them. Is this normal????

doggonecarl

No, you've been drinking them.

Komplex

I’m on day 20 and I find myself starving all the time. It is starting to get better these last few days. I think it’s the shock to my system of cutting about 1200 cal/day by not drinking.

Keep going, and have a snack!

time2

I am 19 days and had been starving and eating a lot also until up about a day or two ago, like Komplex said. Then I noticed that my mind is starting to step in and say, "hey, your full, it's ok to stop eating now."

I do eat rather than go for a drink that is for sure, but I also have been eating healthy choices and healthy carbs and that is making me feel better.

Stick with it, it seems to settle down from what I have read and also feeling myself.

NerfThis

I was the same last month. Didn't drink all through January and I was just constantly hungry. I had upped my fitness a lot, but seriously this was way more hungry than gym hungry. And now I'm recovering from four days of heavy drinking and have barely eaten a thing during those days.

Stronger2017

I was pretty hungry too. I tried to not go completely over the top with my eating, but I didn’t worry about it too much. I have five months now and I’m back to normal. Better than normal really because I no longer make drunken food choices🙂

Forward12

Completely normal. When drinking, it's common to undereat, or barely eat at all. On top of it, alcohol pretty much destroys your digestive tract so whatever does go down, doesn't get absorbed properly.
Alcohol is processed as a simple carb, so sugar and carb cravings can be huge for a little while. I know I was eating pretty much everything in sight for the first week or two until things settled down.

RP4595

Good to know. I eat pretty clean and i've killed off about 1500 calories a day of booze so i guess adding 1k a day of actual food is probably a fair trade. Was hoping i could just use it to have a huge calorie deficit

tekink

Hungry all the time, eating a lot and still losing weight. I only ate one or two meals a day when I was drinking now I have to eat three and tend to snack in between. I was eating a lot of sweets for the first few months but that's settled down with some conscience effort.

Dee74

Sometimes I felt ravenous, sometimes I couldn't eat a thing...but either way, yes its normal

D

scccooter

For me the hunger was a blessing after not being to eat during my withdrawal. For the first week I had to force food into me. I have been through this before so I know that things will normalize in a few weeks. So...I don't think it is abnormal or worrisome.

duane1

Your body has to completely change how it is working. It got so conditioned to living off alcohol that it isn’t properly utilizing the nutrition that it is now getting. It takes about a month for this process of reconditioning to change to better adapt to your new diet.

JackD89

For the first two weeks i craved sugar and anything and everything that was high in calories. I find myself getting less and less hungry all the time. 21 days now. Hang in there!

Grimes

Gonna give it another go myself tomorrow. But ya like everyone else said, my fridge was straight out of the movie fight club. "how embarrassing a fridge full of condiments, and no food". When I quit drinking my fridge and freezer were full. I remember going to the grocery store and buying piles of healthy food cause I was just sooo hungry.

sophiac3

Okay for some reason, in the past when I’ve taken 2 - 3 week breaks from drinking, (this time it’s gonna be permanent), I can’t stop drinking tomato and V8 juice. I’ve actually gained weight when I’ve tried to quit as a result which has been immensely discouraging!

That said, I’m allowing myself some low sodium V8 for a bit... but am hoping the cravings will die down! I’m already 20 lbs. overweight.

Sigh.

Anyone else crave things like pickles and V8 when detoxing?!?

MLD51

Totally normal. I craved sweets, especially. I still do, after over 3 years, but that's mostly out of habit, now. But I could not get enough sugar right at the beginning. It gradually got better. It was a relief to be able to eat and know that the nutrition was actually being absorbed. I noticed a huge improvement in my digestion almost immediately. I had thought I was lactose intolerant, but it was just the booze messing things up. I happily eat ice cream now, with no issues.

August252015

Yep, same here.

I was underweight and undernourished (by farrrr) when I quit and it was very hard to eat at first. I had gotten to the point that I could only take small bites without gagging, and early sober days were tough to "stomach" in a lot of ways.

Then, maybe 6 wks in, the hunger came on - sometimes in big surges and definitely with the carbs and sweets. Classic ice cream alcoholic here!

My body was so damaged and my situation so dire that my dr gave me a year, 18 mo to live when I quit (I will have 2 years on 2/21) - it has taken me a long time to heal. While now I eat a pretty darn healthy diet, I still like sweets a lot more than I ever did before my alcoholism took over my life; while I now do hot yoga 5-6 x a week and just did a 15K on Sun, and am in one of the best shapes of my life, I still need a LOT of sleep.....my life and body are completely different from before I quit and as Dee said, it's all good.

Best to you- keep going and discovering what living sober is like!

sophiac3

Thanks you guys!

August - what was so damaged that they gave you a year to live?!? Liver? Pancreas? Kidney? All of the above?

I know I have damage. I can feel it. Heading to the doc soon. Just curious what other’s experiences were specifically.

Thanks alll!!!

RP4595

Glad to hear its not just me (We all like to think we are special don't we LOL)

I've been enjoying food all week without counting calories, not gaining any weight and i'm stronger at the gym when listing i noticed and my pulse is about 10 bpm slower on my runs. Winding down day 4 here. feeling good

ScottT

Yea , I've been sucking on little Hershey chocolates.They melt in your mouth. No booze for + 30 days. Funny,having mostly positive dreams too. Dreaming of getting things done, solving problems etc. I am building confidence daily. Advise to all...... Drink lots of water...... Especially when you wake up on an empty stomach. I do 2, 16.9oz bottles at room temp. Hydration.