Dustitoffman

Please post your own experiences.

Hi everyone from the UK on a lovely sunny day.

I experienced some weight loss having embraced sobriety.

Bloating increased then abated in the first few weeks.
Weight loss started in month 2 despite having a crazy sweet tooth. Generally healthy eating and NO DIET it just slowly slipped away lost just over a stone in weight apps 16 pounds then the weight started to move back up a little.
I am now at between 4 and 5 months and weight seems to have stabilised at 14 pound weight loss from my non sober weight.
I am a regular gym attender but no superhero, from approximately 3 months I have noticed tone improving which is nice it's like A change was occurring instead of it being all about the work I put in its as though my body is starting to work with me.
All in all a work in progress but one that gives returns on many levels.

I will now start a slight calorie deficit and hopefully shed a further 7 pounds. At that point I would be totally made up!

Anyway off to the gym now and looking forward to a good read when I get back!!

Madnellie

It sort of crept up on me. I was a beer drinker so a lot of empty calories there, and at some point over the past two years I've ended up at least 60 pounds (4 stone) lighter than when I quit. It came off quite gradually, and I don't really recall losing much during the first few months but between 6 and 18 months I lost the bulk of it.
Being honest though I haven't put in any conscious effort to lose it, it just seems to be a very happy side effect of my recovery. Yes, I know how lucky I am

Dustitoffman

Thanks for posting madnellie that is an awesome and inspirational result.

Dee74

When my expending of energy is greater than my calorie intake.
Sounds like a wiseguy answer but it's really not.

I get there at times, but it's the maintenance that gets me

D

Dustitoffman

Haha yes it is a wise guy answer but absolutely correct D. 10 out of 10!

But the big HOWEVER is, I was hoping to hear people's individual and unique stories of what happened regarding weight as a result of giving up the poison. Not necessarily because of being on a diet just simply abstaining from alcohol. The good the bad the surprising or even the amazing 😉

Dee74

Sadly, nothing happened to my weight Dusty - not a milligramme until that aforementioned energy expenditure

D

MantaLady

I am on day 18 today and already seeing results. I have changed my diet but only in the sense that without alcohol I don't make as many bad decisions on what I am going to eat. I always had a fridge full of healthy food whilst drinking, problem was I ate none of it and just rang the take out for rubbish and threw all the good stuff in the bin at the end of each week. If you had looked in my fridge you would have thought a healthy person lived in my house instead of an alcoholic with a carb and beige food fetish lol.

I started to see the bloating go around Day 10 and stay gone so I now don't see my belly sticking out further than my bust! TMI I know but it's true and I am chuffed with that. I have also lost 7lbs and 2 inches off my waistline in the 18 days. So all in all positive for me and just hope it continues as I need to loose another 45lbs to get back to a healthy weight. x

MyLittleHorsie

I lost a lot of water weight at first, then it kinda evened off, then I lost again about 3 months, not doing anything, just a whoosh of 5-7lbs.

However, I no longer retain water with PMS, we have a family gym membership, BUT May and June are awful months for us, dance, hockey and figure skating are ending, ball, swimming, soccer, gymnastics and riding lessons start up... Three kids, thank goodness the oldest can drive himself, because there are nights, like tonight, I am literally home a half hour after work and gone again, enough to eat some subs I have 6 minutes to pick up on the way home, change and hit the road again. So diet sucks, right now and exercise, sure a ton of that! However it is running the soccer pitch (I am a coach), gardening, mowing the lawn, walking the dogs... we have a family gym membership, but I honestly am so busy with the kids, I haven't had time to go. We got home from track and field last night, had 2 hours before heading to the pool and gymnastics and I had a nap. I had to. We have a 100km bike ride in July and I haven't started training yet. The second week in June, we don't have the overlap of winter and summer stuff, so I can focus on working out more then. This week for example, my youngest 2 kids have 6 activities each, plus track. One kid is competitive dance, so she does three classes a week, I try and coordinate everyone so we are in one generalised area each night. Add in working full-time, an eventing company, a barn of horses and a charity we founded, it's a little hectic. Now I have given all the useless excuses everyone else who is a working mom has...

I think - and I know my body well enough to know this, once I start back eating properly, (I had a gorgeous cob salad, fresh fruit and a granola bar on the counter and forgot it this morning) and exercising earnestly, that I will be on track to shed some lbs. Around the three month mark I noticed my nails were getting harder and growing really fast, especially my toe nails, which I maybe had to file once or twice every few months. My hairdresser has commented the last 3 times how healthy my hair is and I am a heat styled daily girl, as processed as you can get, highlights, low-lights, all over colour every 6 weeks and I never get brassy anymore and I require minimum trimming to the layers, just enough to remind them to behave. I seldom get acne. I know now, my body is processing the vitamins and minerals it needs. I drink a gallon of water a day, my urine is healthy. I always had really dry elbows and heels, I don't anymore.

The body takes a long, long time to heal. I am confident that mine is healing, I am not worried about the weight coming off and the toning occurring, it just has to wait a bit If worse comes to worse, I'll take a 4 day weekend and get some fat sucked out LOL

icewater1961

Alcohol has lots of calories. Quitting it has always resulted in a weight loss for me. But then again for some reason I don't eat or crave sweets or junk food. I am more the anchovies and olives type of person. Keep a food journal maybe? Don't be too obsessed however. Give it some time and weight loss will happen when you are able to enjoy good food and find some activities that alcohol took away from all of us.

dcg

4 months and still eating like a horse.

MindfulMan

When I quit drinking I was pretty much not eating. The calories came from wine, and my stomach was so irritated from the alcohol and no food that I had horrible gastritis. I had been eating a ton and not exercising prior to the final binge so I was heavy, about 205 lbs. Towards the end I just wasn't absorbing a lot of calories so I dropped a small amount to around 200. Once I got to rehab, the gastritis went away, my appetite returned and the food was plentiful and hearty (and fattening and carby). I went to the doctor when I got out last June and weighed 209.

I hit a depressive patch for a bit from about 45-90 days. When I get depressed my appetite goes away, and I dropped about 5 pounds.

4 1/2 months in I joined a gym and started a keto diet, mid-September last year. For me I found the obsession I no longer had with drinking translated well to the gym, and I started going 5-6x a week for LONG workouts. It took me about a month to really stick to keto; I've had a few breaks, but mostly on it since then.

I don't weigh myself but rather observe how my clothes fit, and I've had to buy all new clothes. I'm 5-6 inches smaller in the waist. I did get weighed as part of physical therapy yesterday, 158. So I've lost 50 pounds since September.

I'm with Dee on this one. The weight did gradually drop off after drinking, but it wasn't until I got serious about diet and exercise that any dramatic shifts happened. But I will say that diet and exercise is SO much easier for me sober.

catinsocks84

I always gain weight when I don't drink. I consume more calories when I drink, by far, but they just seem to pass right though me.

I have a calorie counter app I've used when not drinking and am well below or on the daily recommended amount. But then I start drinking again and there's no point in keeping up with the app - I end up at least a thousand over each day.

This time around I've decided not to use it. I'm only 11 days in and I'm going to focus on one thing at a time. I used to like how when I felt sick and had no appetite, I'd look thinner. I'm not risking that right now!

joandmelandhan

During the first 5 months I think I gained about 20 pounds. That was literally down to my "as long as it's not booze I'll have it" eat-the-world thing I had going on. Oh and I gave up smoking too so that was good. I knew that I was putting on weight but comfort eating and having very little in the way of energy became my normal for a while.
Over Christmas I was like an eating machine and decided enough was enough. I think it was 9th January that I decided to make changes to my eating habits. I was 11 stone 8 at that time (5 ft 4 female). The idea was to lose a stone and then start to move my body more. The stone (14 pounds) came off in about 10 weeks and then I joined the gym. This was a big step for me. I had gained almost a phobia of "real exercise" after my scary heart palpitations during my last withdrawal. I am beginning to enjoy the gym now and they have some good classes and a big pool too. So far I am now 21 pounds down and would like to lose another 7. It has been sssslllllooooowwww progress but progress nonetheless.
Interesting thread Dustitoffman!

Rar

I was VERY bloated when I quit. I feared ascites and that was one of many reasons in my decision to quit. I initially lost about 9 pounds in about 3 -4 weeks without changing my diet or exercising. Since then, my weight has been creeping up because I'm not active and have begun to really overeat - mostly carbs and sweets.. I'm always hungry and even get up during the night to eat. Anyway, I've gained about 5 -6 of my 9 lbs back in these last couple of months. My belly bloat has decreased quite a bit (about 3 inches). I was hoping I would lose it immediately, but it took about 3 months to lose what I did and it still is sort of big. I believe what is remaining of it is fat. My BMI is normal, but I would like to lose about 10 lbs.

rascalwhiteoak

I drank a lot of beer, though I still managed to exercise regularly. It was maybe two months before I started to notice results, but when the weight came off it really came off. I'm down 35 pounds vs. Feb. 2017. Not constantly feeling terrible means my exercise is now more intense, and I've done some diet stuff too, but cutting out the empty calories has been the largest component.

Dustitoffman

Thank you!

Dee74, MantaLady, MyLittleHorsie, icewater1961, dcg, MindfulMan, catinsocks84, joandmelandhan, Rar and rascalwhiteoak.

Apologies for not posting sooner mental position took a bashing for some reason last night and I had to step away. Feeling ok now👍

I opened this thread because I am totally intrigued with the subject and everyone's own individual experiences.
I have read all posts on this through thoroughly and find it amazing how unique we all are and how our bodies embark upon a process of repair and renewal once the poisoning stops.

We are truly amazing!
I hope that people keep posting their own experiences because I am totally captivated by the responses.

myverysadworld

Congratulations, I'm in the same boat. Looking forward to dropping a few pounds.

wiscsober

6 weeks lost 7lbs but not dieting...eating better and more active...no effort to lose....but feeling good about it.

Numblady

If you’re still looking for individual experiences I will say I didn’t see any difference in weight until about 4 months in, and even then it’s only been very slight. I would get a little sad reading all the posts about weight just falling off other people but mostly I just tried to be glad I wasn’t pouring empty poison calories down my gullet. I haven’t modified diet, and like many people upped my sugar and crap intake. I probably am a little more consistent and able to put in harder efforts on workouts. I have finally started gettting compliments/comments on losing weight so I think I may be leaner. I say “finally” knowing it’s totally vain and silly. But there’s a self absorbed little child in me somewhere wanting someone to tell me I look better off booze. That’s not why I’m doing it obviously but I wouldn’t mind some of those positive side effects .

Dustitoffman

Hi Numblady

I think it's important to take the positives.
You have been getting compliments / comments regarding your weight loss or change in physical appearance since giving up alcohol. I think that's great! Well done you.

I also suffer the sweet tooth demon who constantly demands treats I try to put him on rations but usually give in because it's not my main priority.
Sobriety is priority number 1