daveglass1

Hi all.
Two weeks sober but I have found myself eating too much chocolate!. I have also increased foods with Vit B to get that all boosted so Im not being a complete slouch. However - I could do with losing a few pounds. What are your thoughts - if any - on when to limit calorie intake so as to lose some weight? Or would I be taking on too much too early?
Regards
Dave 🤠

Rar

Congratulations on two weeks! YAY! I personally don't think it's too early to watch your calorie intake and to exercise more. I use an online calorie program called My Fitness Pal, but I think any one of them will do, though. Also exercise will certainly benefit you. A safe weight loss of 1/2 to 1 lb a week would be good without restricting your calories too much. For me, it's motivating to not have those alcohol calories.

Jotick

Hey Dave I’m on Day 6 and need to lose a bit so attempting the juice master 3 day detox tomorrow I’ve done it before and lost 5 pounds. Plus it’s great for getting nutrients quickly 👍 good luck with whatever you try

Nonsensical

Is that really a thing?



I've done my share of food-soothing. I can't think of a down-side to taking better care of yourself. If it starts stressing, maybe throttle back a bit. Otherwise, I say go for it!

entropy1964

I find that eating a diet that is higher in fat (ketogenic) helps to eliminate sugar. I have to focus less on limiting calories and more on the kind of calories I'm eating. That is what helps me. But I here you, its hard. I'm leaving for vacation and when I get back, its Keto all the way.

ChloeRose63

I make a detox soup. It is vegetarian(but you can use bone broth). I add cabbage and beets to the basic carrot, onion, celert and garlic base. I eat it cold or hot for a week. I also eliminate breads, sugar, and dairy. Oatmeal in the morning with blueberries, coconut manna and omega flax seeds. High proteins for lunch and dinner. Lots of water and green tea. I also exercise on my eliptical every morning.

PalmerSage

This is just my opinion, but be VERY careful about trying to address weight loss at the same time as sobriety. In the past, I've been derailed by the feeling of deprivation that compounds alcohol withdrawal (physical and emotional). This time around, I waited until 90 days to really focus on weight loss, and even that is a stretch. Don't be too hard on yourself with the chocolate, enjoy it...the sugar cravings will lessen in time. Your sobriety is the most important thing.

Stride34

No, it's not too early to watch your diet. If you're eating too much chocolate for comfort now, I'd imagine just more sober time alone would not make that craving go away.

sobersolstice

I agree with Palmer. I'm 2 weeks sober as well, and I need those calories to curb the cravings. I'm definitely trying to eat healthier, and dried fruit, etc instead of chocolate, but kitkats get to me. Drank 3 sodas yesterday, but it was a rough work day.

Eventually, I will work into a healthier diet, but my problem is more being underweight than overweight. The thing about sugars is that it creates insulin spikes akin to alcohol; alcohol is essentially fermented sugar/carbs. This can be helpful with physical cravings early, and I use sugar, but in my opinion, it's good to cut it out before your body swings back into an insulin roller-coaster similar to when you're drinking.

biminiblue

I agree that the first few months should be only about being sober from alcohol and that sugar/chocolate cravings are common and not alarming in and of themselves.

I got sober after I had overcome a food-as-comfort issue, so I was already many years into recovery from that and had been logging food and my own body weight for a very long time; so my sugar craving was expected and I just rolled with it (with a little angst, but it wasn't major and I didn't gain any weight.)

After about four months I made a concerted effort to slowly cut back my sugar and carbs and it was a little bit of a struggle but nothing compared to quitting alcohol. Now at four years I've been at a stable body weight at 22 BMI for three of that. At first I thought, "Well this is a lot of sugar," but it's common and it did die down on its own.

I'd say if you get to something like six months and it hasn't been naturally mitigated then you may need to keep closer tabs. I wouldn't make a big deal of it this early on unless you have a weight issue that is affecting your health.

daredevil

I see long-term sober, overweight people all the time at meetings. I don't think there's ever a 'good' time to get fit except the present time. Keeping fit helps elevate my mood, and that in turn, keeps the bottle at bay.

But I eat (dark) chocolate too. The Hershey's kind--not cakes and the like.

MyLittleHorsie

I had a horrible sweet tooth at first and it didn't affect weight, but it sure did make me feel crap some days. It evened out around the 3-4 month mark.

Spring is here, so back to salads, I find if I have a bit of canned corn, (blech I know, but I love it) on my salad, I don't crave anything sweet. I started the gallon a day water challenge when I quit drinking, still do it - huge help. We go to the gym as a family, that helps.

I would love to try the Keto diet - everyone raves about it, but sadly I have no gallbladder, so protein and fat are not my friends. My gf came over the other day, she was like, look I lost 25lbs on keto! I was really happy for her, I mean I still told her that was great, but maybe she get something done with her hair, with just the right amount of side eye, to which she replied she wasn't sure when she came in if it was the 70s with me rocking my Farrah Hair

Get secure in your quit - diet will come.

REM700

Congrats on 2 weeks!! I'm right behind you!

If you're only concern is chocolate at this point, I wouldn't overthink it. Nibbling on some chocolate throughout the day isn't going to keep you from dropping a few pounds as long as the rest of your diet is reasonable.

I find myself craving bizarre things and when I get a sugar craving, I usually go to fruit. Two days ago I ate an entire watermelon by myself. At night, I'll usually mix fresh blueberries with some nonfat greek yogurt. That always seems to do the trick. A lot of protein, healthy sugars and probiotics for the gut. I'm down about 10lbs since I quit 11 days ago. I was consuming about 1400 booze calories per day.

J50

Your diet is very important for your long term health.

I've read that non-alcoholic fatty liver is on the rise. Untreated or managed, it can lead to cirrhosis (how about them apples?). It is caused by a diet high in processed foods.

There are a lot of diets and info out there, but the common things I read center around a diet that has:
Lean meats
Healthy fats
Grains
Vegetables
Fruit

Of course, everything should be eaten within moderation.

There is a book called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto which is excellent.

Also, common themes for overall health are getting enough sleep, limiting stress, and walking at least 30 minutes a day.

icewater1961

Dark chocolate 🍫 is supposed to be good for you but I find it hard to moderate, just as I can't handle just one drink, I will drink the whole bottle, similarly I will eat the whole chocolate bar.

I just read about a serious study that found out that drinking sugary drinks is the worst thing to do, soda and fruit juices. According to the research our bodies digest sugary drinks differently from sugary foods, the foods are not so bad but sugary drinks double the death rate (heart problems, diabetes).

The detox soup mentioned above sounds great, I will definitely make it.

Pretty much any diet is healthier than drinking a lot of alcohol, never mind what is said about the benefits of red wine. Some of us can't deal with any.

Zombie79

I'm on 10days and I've noticed my chocolate consumption is up a bit. I do however have a weight problem and have done since I was a child. My heart rate has gone down 20bpm since going sober but no weight loss. Planning to start eating better at the two week mark (also because that's payday so I can afford to eat better!)

icewater1961

There are so many diets that it is unreal. Most fads don't work. You get the weight right back.

I always lost weight when I stopped drinking. Just treated myself to an avocado and a cinnamon bun. I eat avocados but I never eat sweets, other than at sit down dinner parties where it would be rude to refuse, or dark chocolate! But I did it.

Whatever you do is better for your system than drinking yourself to death.

The keto diet sounds like the Atkins diet. He actually died of a heart attack and was not so old.

Paleo? There are no fat people in Italy and they eat carbs. Not processed or tons of sugar but they do. Hunt and gather? I went to a health food store and found Paleo bread. Uh, there was no agriculture then. What a scam.

MindfulMan

I was strongly advised by several addiction counsellors not to worry about dieting and weight in early sobriety. Trying to do everything at once can lead to failure at one goal, and this can easily lead to the case of the f*kits where you might as well drink or use, since you failed at your (diet, nicotine quitting, insert other goal here).

I firmly do NOT believe that it is a good idea, especially if you still are having physical withdrawal symptoms.

60-90 days isn't going to make a huge difference in your weight. It's OK not to eat a mountain of chocolate cake every day, but if you're even SLIGHTLY rational about what you eat you're not going to put on that much weight.

You can diet off fat, you can't diet off an addiction, and look how far you've come and how hard it was to get there. Is not gaining a few pounds really worth putting this at risk?

Mac4711

Sugar cravings in early recovery are caused by no longer drinking alcohol and these cravings absolutely go away with time. In the first months of my recovery I raided the fridge every evening and gorged on ice cream; now, at eight months, the sugar cravings are gone and my diet is much, much healthier and I can SUSTAIN it.

Advising anybody to cut out sugar in early recovery is potentially exposing them to again crave alcohol. Only exception is folks with anorexia/eating disorder, where it gets really complicated.

Dropsie

I felt great with Whole 30, check out the site, but its quite strict.

Most important thing is to keep the quit going, rest will come.