katebear

Hello everyone,
I am at day nine and I have a problem. I CANNOT stop eating!! Not just sugary foods - I am so hungry, ALL THE TIME!!

When I was drinking I was pretty good at eating. I had a healthy(ish) diet. I tell you, right now it's like having the hangover munchies 24/7. I am a woman possessed. Last night I had to split my 'yums' shopping between two 7/11s in order not to cause panic about the amount of chocolate I was buying!
(a bit like when I used to buy alcohol lol).

When does this hunger dissipate?
Will I get my energy back soon?

Thanks!

Ghostly

You seem to have plenty of energy!

Your body is craving things it misses. Most people will tell you to just chill, and give your body some food for a few weeks. Think the first couple weeks it is pretty common to crave these sugary foods. Enjoy for now. Sobriety needs to be #1 for you. After a few weeks you might wanna reign it in a bit.

Congrats on 9 days.

katebear

Thank you for you response, Ghostly.

Last time I quit I got the sugar cravings but not this generalised desire to eat everything in sight!! Haha.
Yes, I don't care too much, I'm more concerned about staying sober, but in all honesty I don't want to end up the size of a house! (albeit, a sober house..)

coffeenut

I do hear what you're saying. But, I agree with Ghostly. Right now, focus on sobriety. The rest will come.

Welcome!

Stevie1

Yay on the 9 days, Kate! I'm coming up on 3 weeks and it's getting a little better but I am still eating like a horse...I've always been fairly skinny and don't much care for this little squishieness thing that's going on around my midsection right now.

Tonight after dinner with friends we stopped at an Indian grocery store and I bought a bunch of good things like lentils, mung beans, mangos, spices, paneer and other goodies to make healthful, spicy vegetable and legume meals with...figure if I am going to be stuffing my face every two hours, it might as well be good food instead of danishes, peanut butter passion icecream and Snickers bars...

Also as soon as it quits being zero freaking degrees every morning and dark when I get home, I am going to resume daily walks/runs with my dogs. Which is also much more pleasant without a nasty hangover.

I say be kind to yourself for now, but maybe try to replace some unhealhful habits with slightly better ones, going forward.

xuse

munch on its better than drinking

Dee74

Sometimes when I quit I remember I really craved food - like good food.
I figure I needed some good food

Things do level out - at least in my experience, katebear

D

MsCooterBrown

hmmm...I think part of it for me was when actively drinking I never ate until way late after a night of drinking. And I would have to find surprizes in the microwave..or look at dishes to figure out what I had. Sometimes..I would pass out while warming up leftovers..Fast forward to now...I eat! I enjoy coming up with new recipes..eating more ice cream than I used to..but I am 35 lbs down from when I drank. So I am taking delight in my new found appreciation of food!! I think it will level out for you once you get some sober time built up. And it beats the heck out of drinking!!!

newby1961

I would say at least for now just concentrate on being sober. I do understand your fear because when I came into the program over 6 years ago almost 7 I was very underweight almost sickly, well now I am probably50 lbs overweight but due to my caotic eating. I am now a diabetic so it really does matter, but you are just so brand new you have time to work all that other stuff out. I now excercise by walking I would like to say every day but I would be lying although that is my goal to do it daily. So and try to be good to yourself God knows we have abused ourselves enough. Keep the Faith

dubbguy

I quit smoking at the same time too so I told myself I could eat whatever the hell I wanted for the first 3 weeks but then had to establish what my new eating habits would be after that.
It worked quite good, the tough times and cravings were eased by going to taco bell with a blank check. I am glad though I set a specific time and didn't just let it go by itself. Pizza taste so good there is no way that oatmeal and chicken can compare if you don't exert some self control.

SparklingSeven

I put on quite a few pounds when I first stopped as I was forever feeding my face - it did ease off after 3 or 4 weeks though and I have since lost it again.

The most important thing for me was not to drink and if food could fill a little hole I thought it was a price worth paying - no question.

Congrats on your 9 days!

Stu.

MyGraySkies

I'm 9 months sober and clearly remember having food AND sugar cravings the first month or two. I gained a good bit of weight from the alcoholism and even more when I first got sober. Over the last 5 months, however, I was able to get a grip on it and begin working out & eating smarter. 43 lbs down with more to go, but it'll happen. I let myself eat the bag of jelly beans, bag of chips, cheese and crackers, candy bars... in that first couple months. A bit of extra weight right now while you're early into your sobriety is worth it in the long run, and it'll come back off when YOU are at the point in recovery that you're ready to make changes to your eating habits.

LexieCat

I gained 20 pounds the first several months of sobriety, and I've taken almost all of them off again.

I wouldn't stress over it TOO much. Better to indulge a bit in the food than to dwell on the drink.

Danae

Just ate too much ice cream. Was feeling guilty about it then thought----wait, this is so much better than drinking too much!

Relatively it is small stuff, and at only 3 months I'm going to cut myself some slack (then head to the gym).

oakleaf82

Well I've been quite ravenous myself lately but not for sweets. I thought it was a combination of work stress and FREEZING weather which is giving me a bit of cabin fever. Excercise usually makes my appetite decreased (as does coffee lol) so of you can work in some physical activity that my help as well as get your mind off drinking.

Off topic, but I see you are in Thailand. I was there a few years back and it was an amazing experience. So beautiful. Hoping to get back there soon (the plane ticket is not cheap!) I have in laws there.

katebear

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses!
Day 11!
I was they type of person who woould skip dinner then drink my calories then get hungry later on and cook a meal - finding dirty dishes the next morning and thinking wtf?
How I didn't burn the house down, I have no idea.

I think you are all correct in saying to just focus on recovery.

This site rocks! It has definitely helped me in these first few days, and I wish everyone the best in their recovery. We can all do it!!