Tinkerbeau

Hi does anyone have any tips on getting rid of alcohol and belly bloat. Also on losing weight after quitting. Ive put so much weight on I'm so self conscious and have low self esteem. I think my bipolar meds have contributed to the gain too. But any tips or advice would be helpful?

Cityboy

I needed to get rid of my beer gut before, and then put on some more weight from eating a lot the first few weeks after quitting alcohol. Have had some modest success the last 2 to 4 weeks. Other than the obvious, I find that drinking a lot of water helps. I'm also finding that if I have a subway 6" sandwich for lunch, the bread/gluten makes me crave carbs the rest of the day.

C0ntr0ls

"anyone have any tips on getting rid of alcohol and belly bloat."

1. Don't drink.
2. Time.
3. Exercise/physical activity.
4. Repeat.

BeckoningCat

During one of my 30 days of sobriety I naturally lost a decent amount of weight pretty quickly from a combination of not drinking, walking or riding a bike every day (not like marathon stuff, just moderate enjoyable exercise), and eating a vegan diet.

If you can research how to do it properly (and PLEASE research it properly before you do it, because alcohol abuse can cause nutrient loss) you will lose weight just by going vegan if you're not. Yes, there are chubby vegans but we drink alcohol or eat too much vegan junk food or are actually vegetarians who cheat by scarfing down cheese pizzas to make up for an alcohol binge.

Drink lots of water, take a multi-vitamin, and drink tea or coffee instead of sodas. You can get omega 3s (good for your brain!) from taking algal oil supplements, eating walnuts and flax seeds, or if you are not vegetarian by eating fish.

Dee74

Personally my body had been through enough by the time I quit, Tink.

You also don't want to be craving food and have your body interpret ht as a craving for alcohol.

But...if its important to you in motivational way, and you want to lose weight nothing beats a sensible diet and regular exercise IMO

D

Wastinglife

I am mainly a beer drinker and I drink a lot of it. Beer is full of calories so I also gain weight and look bloated. A month long sober streak will see me lose 10 pounds without even exercising or dieting. Drink lots of water, eliminate sugar, take a 30 min walk daily and watch the bloat disappear.

bexxed

I was going to say something but then I saw this response and frankly it’s exactly what I was going to say but more concise.

The thing about time is so true, too. And good for us. One of the things about addiction is the NOW NOW NOW instant gratification thinking.

Be patient.

Congrats on stopping. If this is what you’re concerned about right now then it means you’re doing that right. Keep doing that (not drinking) keep working your plan and it will come. Slower than you’d like, but it will.

Reid82

Yep, pretty much that's it! I would add eat healthy, less processed foods/sugars too and drink a lot of water too.

anxiousrock

The only thing that really helped me was following a specific macro based "diet" from a nutritionist.

entropy1964

Bipolar meds are notorious for weight gain. I take seroquel for sleep which is also a med that makes folks gain weight. Not sure if its actually a metabolism slow down or it just makes me crave more bad carbs.

I tend to beat myself up, which only leads me back to drinking. Be easy on yourself. With time your body will start to respond. Since I'm not going to the gym right now I'm using this app called downdog. Yoga, pilates and HIIT. I love it and the yoga is so good for my state of mind. Right now it is free for anyone I think until April. Maybe longer. Download it and give it a whirl. Its fun.

The obvious is to cut out all processed and sugary food.....but not to the point of deprivation. Drink tons and tons of water....more than you think you need. That is a huge one for getting rid of bloat.

prettiekittie

Tinkerbeau

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice, and yesi do needto be patient and try lose gradually and healthily or i do run risk of drinking.
going to get walking and plenty water and try to cut out sugar.
got a dr appt tomorrow so will see if anything can be done about my meds to help with the weight gain.

2 and half years ago i was nearly this weight, not on meds though. I stopped drinking for almost 3 months and lost 2 stone. Sadly my dad had a stroke and the drinking and weight crept back on. Coping in all the wrong ways.

Ive just got no self confidence left and would just be nice to like myself again.

Tinkerbeau

Hi yes thats the medication i take too, i got dr appt tomorrow so will ask if any change i can make to it.

Thanks for tip on the apps, I'm downloading them now

Anna

I think regular exercise is so important.

freedomfries

Use an online TDEE calculator to calculate the number of daily calories your body needs to maintain your weight

Subtract 500 and eat that much.

You'll lose an average of 1lb a week

boreas

I always drank on an empty stomach, so it was important to me to avoid a hungry feeling since I associated that with a drink. But my low self esteem and extra weight was another trigger. To solve this, I ate a healthy diet but allowed myself all of the fruit I wanted. I kept it prepped in the fridge and ready to go. It was my go-to instead of sugary stuff which I can’t leave alone once I start.

I stuck to whole fruit to avoid the trap of the high fructose content of juices. It had the benefit of upping my water and nutrient intake as well.

What Dee says was certainly true for me...it was important early on that I not take drastic steps or be too hard on myself as that was a way back to the bottle.

I’ll add another vote for yoga. Good stuff. There are also great resources on youtube.
-bora