alphaomega

Not giving medical advice, this is my experience only and I wanted to share.

Last year I began a low carb/higher fat diet, in the hopes that I could abate some of this middle age spread.

I was still drinking at the time. So weight loss was slow. I mean SLLLLLOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW.

But what I noticed over the weeks and months as I got further into my studies of the diet and its purported health benefits, was that I began to have a modicum of, dare I say it..... SELF CONTROL ????

Me, the fat kid who dieted basically her entire life, now found pushing away my kryptonite, french fries, pretty darn easy.
I found food cravings in general, kinda just went away.

And I thought, humph, thats kinda weird...

So I began googling "Keto and alcohol" and for the most part, all I could find on the internet was ways to CONTINUE drinking while on this way of eating.

And my being an active alcoholic at the time, was in hog heaven as it played to the addictive part of my brain that is ALWAYS seeking out ways to continue doing addictive things in order to feed what I thought would be a life time of ZERO self control.

As more time passed, and I restricted carbs and sugar even further and I found passing up bread, pasta, sweets easier and easier (still drinking though) I started to feel like I might actually have some tiny ability, to once and for freaking all, get this weight off of my bones.

The weight came off slowly, but my brain felt like it wasn't so broken anymore.

Feeding it fat, (all the fat it wanted to satiety), my body started to feel like it was partnering with my brain, and deciding that maybe they could lay down their collective gauntlet in the War Against AO once and for all.

With a new found ability to not have to constantly swamp my dopamine receptors with sugar and carbs, I started dabbling in getting sober. Again.

Almost too afraid to fail, I sabotaged my efforts at sobriety by allowing alcohol as my "keto treat".

Everywhere you look on the net Keto and Alcohol is all about fitting booze into your diet.

Except a sub Reddit that talked about people experiencing their alcoholism "Cured" when they went Keto...

So I thought, what the hell. Since I finally feel able to control my addictive behavior with food, might as well give NOT drinking the old college try.

The first few days, I felt unwell. Thats to be expected and par for the alcoholic course.

But then a week into not drinking, I thought "Wait a second, is it possible that I could not even WANT a drink ?

I mean, I had gone off the wine (tequila, gin) in the past when I was ill, or hungover, or too sick to drink, I knew that old chestnut.

But all of a sudden, I was making conscious choices to NOT DRINK.

This has been a true game changer for me. I honestly always thought I would have a constant voice in my head SCREAMING for alcohol. I pretty much summed up that it would most likely be what eventually "took me".

Life felt simply too hard without it.

It was awful with it, but my addiction screamed to be fed. And I never felt empowered enough to fight back. At all. Anymore.

I am still in the Trial and Error period and cant quite believe that I now have the self control to refuse alcohol.

I am treading lightly as I move through my sober days and sober nights.

Because I'm a veteran at starting and stopping booze.
And know, full well, not to let my guard down with this enemy.

Feeling self control.
That is a whole new perspective for this neophyte.

XO AO

Hawkeye13

I find Keto also incredibly helpful at curving cravings. Maybe because alcohol processes as carbs / sugar?

If I am off Keto eating, I am much more likely to relapse. That's been my experience so far anyway. . .

Looking good in my Levis is added incentive

Callas

This is very interesting. I started Keto about two years ago and reached my goal weight fairly quickly. Keto is now a way of life. I have been sober 4 months now and so far it is going well beyond expectations. Never thought that the two may be connected.

Zombie79

I would like to start going low carb, but I love carbs....I don't know how I could actually do it...

MyLittleHorsie

I went keto last August after an allergen elimination diet for early onset arthritis. Totally credit it with helping me quit smoking too.
I feel fitter mentally also. No migraines, no joint pain, well significantly improved. Plus I didn't gain a single pound when I quit smoking.

Edited to add, I pretty much was able to come off my anxiety meds, only need one asthma inhaler, once a day.

Newbeginning421

While I am not complete keto I have eliminated a huge amount of my carbs and do Intermittent fasting and feel a hell of a lot better and less cravings. I feel diet is a huge part of recovery if you are feeling great and as you said not swamping your dopamine receptors you are much less likely to return to drinking. I think the whole treat yourself to candy or chocolate cake which is often said to people in early recovery is a mistake. Glad to hear you are doing so well!

ReadyAtLast

I love carbs too, the more I eat the more I want. but when I do keto it's painful for 3-4 days but after that I feel fantastic and don't want carbs at all. Feel full of energy, less pain, no headaches, just so muhc better all round

entropy1964

My experience has been over the years that addicts often replace their DOC with sugar. Not just alcoholics. I believe this is due to dopamine, period. Not the common belief that alcoholics are just replacing the sugar from their alcohol use. We are looking for that 'rush' of dopamine and sugar readily supplies that. Thus continuing the unhealthy 'hijacking' of our dopamine receptors....and delaying our ability to regulate our dopamine without the use of substances. So its really just switching addictions. And yeah, it keeps that neuropathway alive and kicking, making it quite easy to move right back to alcohol, or whatever other drug, when the sugar stops providing that release. Or we get so fat and depressed we go back to drinking.

Keto is a great way to kick sugar. And it has worked for me in the past. But for whatever reason, it is no longer sustainable for me at my age. I need more protein than is really allowed...which in proper keto will convert to sugar through gluconegenesis. So, doesn't work. I find a more paleo approach to be effective.

I do love my sugar tho. And it is always a challenge for me. Yeah, its better than drinking no doubt. But like you've said, it can waken the beast. Too much sugar, for me, is a bit like playing Russian roulette. I don't think ALL alcoholics are like me, but many seem to be.

Keto does seem to be a great eating program for addicts.

Zombie79

How would I go about starting going low carb. I'll admit I am eating a lot of chocolate past week or so, was thinking of not eating chocolate at all and if I need a sugar fix, just eating a piece of fruit. Is that a good way to start??

entropy1964

There are a ton of websites for keto. The keto subreddit is great. You can also join myfitnesspal to figure out your macros. Track your food while you adjust. There is also a keto forum on myfitnesspal.

Keto is different than just straight up low carb. The protein intake is important to understand as well as the fat...and what kinds of fat are really the best. Although some people just eat whatever fat they want...saturated or not. I'm not sure I'm a believer in that but its just up to the individual. On keto fruit is pretty much out in the beginning. After some time, depending on your own body chemistry, you should be able to add low glycemic fruits like berries.

But yeah, in general fruit is gonna be better than chocolate! Unless its 9pm and I'm binging Netflix. Than chocolate is better than fruit. Or chocolate dipped fruit. Perfect. Ha!

Zombie79

Yeah, you see I also have PCOS which can be difficult. I do know going low carb is advised but even my Dr said it's not always easy to sustain.
i know there's sugar in fruit but it's natural sugar so at least if I start with that to cut down the sugar cravings would be better. I have lost weight before and I ate lots of fruit, even pasta! So I know I can lose weight, I think though lately my sweet tooth and tendency to snack a lot has got the better of me!

Newbeginning421

I drastically changed my diet over the past 2 months. Think the best way to do it is baby steps. I went from cheese steak, burger and pizza diet to eating clean. 1-2 weeks sober ate anything i wanted but chips soda or junk. 3-4 got rid of mayo cut back big on bread and started to eat a lot more fruits and veggies. 5-6 started cutting back on red meat and basically only have low carb tortillas for bread now and don't eat them every meal like I used to. 7-8 been cutting back on my cheese consumption. Key I feel is baby steps as i forget the exact quote the longest journey starts with a single step. Don't try to do everything at once. Now that I am eating healthy I crave things like nuts,fruits,avocado and chicken breast instead of pizza and cheese steaks.

MyLittleHorsie

Switching to low carb, is like quitting anything else. Some people just do a cold Turkey approach, some look to artificial sweeteners, some taper off carbs.
I bought the ketogenic diet for beginners. Great book, think it was on sale too! There are lots of books, Dr Berry and Dr Berg, my husband swears by on YouTube. My husband went from a 40 inch waist to a really fit 32. He's gained 10 back, for a while he was too thin. He is 6'5" and really broad. I lost 30.

dcg

I don't subscribe to keto myself, but I think if you do, Thomas DeLauer's youtube channel is among the best. He also does intermittent fasting.

Newbeginning421

One thing I will add about intermittent fasting is probably not the best idea to do in early sobriety. While I did it and was fine HALT. Hungry Angry Lonely Tired. Intermittent fasting can cause 3 of these when adjusting to new eating cycle.

Zombie79

Thanks for all the advice. I think baby steps is the answer so for me, baby steps number 1 is stop eating chocolate everyday. I'm not on about just a small bar here and there, I can easily eat a lot more than that so replacing junk with fruit is my first step. Plus no bread. I tend not to buy it in because I live alone so one loaf is far too much so that'll be this week's goal!:-)

alphaomega

Funny, I feel like it helped me get off Xanax and cigarettes as well.

There is a literal laundry list of maladies that it remedies. From putting diabetes into remission, to helping arthritics,to halting malignant tumor growth, this is a true healing way of eating.


My journey looked like this :


The first few months I just quit eating sugar and bread, pasta and potatoes and focused on all sorts of protein (both lean and fatty like ribeye), cheeses, nuts, avocado, pork rinds, butter, olives, olive oil and the like. No refined oils like canola or safflower.


But I was still drinking.


The next few months I tried to dial down the carbs even further and focus more on meat and low glycemic veg. And to not snack. (everything we put on our mouths illicits a insulin response and insulin is the master hormone that drives fat into cells. So I tried to just eat 3 meals a day, no snack.


But I was still drinking.

The last few months, I dropped all the alcohol, and still focused on meat mainly, with a little veg. And I began playing around with 16/8 or 20/4 intermittent fasting.

It absolutely BLEW MY MIND that I could go 20 hours with nothing but coffee and water. Me ???? Not EAT for 20 hours ????

WTH is going on here ?

Now, I'm mostly carnivore as that where I seem to feel my best. I focus mainly on fatty meats, when Im truly hungry. And I can put away a 1/2 lb of bacon and 3 eggs without blinking an eye.

It was this natural progression that when I allowed myself to eat intuitively, the weight just started to fall off.

I used to need .25/Xanax 2 -3 times a day. For YEARS.

Havent even thought of taking on for weeks.


Oh, also - I haven't been able to exercise because I pulled a hip muscle while dance walking to the car at a Steve Miller concert lolol


Its just such a bizarre concept to me, that I might actually be in control of myself.

MyLittleHorsie

That is awesome!

I do like fasting and have done 48 hour ones. I am thinking I am probably going to do 24 hours tomorrow, we did hay today, which for anyone not from an agriculture background consists of throwing, stacking, lifting, sometimes over ones head, 45lb bales of hay. For about 8 hours. My back just started spasming. We have a week to go, every night after work. Fasting, water electrolytes, that is how I will get through. My girls are too young (slow) and my stepson got a real job, so that leaves a lot to dh and I. I will say, my best year in a long time, at one point I was throwing off the wagon, up over my head, not high enough for the elevator at that point.

Dee74

My usual words of caution

I recommend folks check with their Dr before starting a pretty massive diet change like Keto.

I'm for whatever works - as long as its geared to abstinence and not notions of self control/moderation

best wishes with it AO

D

lessgravity

Along with a progressive, committed and hardcore weightlifting program, keto and intermittent fasting have been integral to my sobriety.