BillyPilgrim

I know that alcohol acts as an appetite suppressant, however since I gave up drink, my appetite has gone through the roof. I eat a big breakfast, a largeish lunch, and still want to have something when I come home, I have even developed a sweet tooth, something I have never ever had.

I dont think I am putting on weight - I exercise regularly in the gym and hike.

Has anyone else experienced the same?

Birchgreen

Yes, I'm the same. I never had a sweet tooth - but now.... I am having to be really careful about controlling it as I have given up smoking too, so my metabolism is at a virtual stand-still. I am sure the increased appetite is due to the body "missing" all the extra calories in the alcohol. I worked out that on an average day I was drinking nearly 1000 extra calories - disgusting!

BillyPilgrim

Thanks for that. It makes a lot of sense

Elisabeth888

Yes! I think my body screamed for vitamins and nutrition after all of that poison I put in it. Now I love a big salad with all kinds of veggies and a nice piece of grilled salmon.

Of course, I also eat a lot of chocolate now also.

Sapling

Yeah...BP....I went from eating absolutely nothing to eating like a normal person too....Incuding the sweet tooth....I think I always liked chocolate...I was just too drunk to know it.

laurie6781

(((((BP)))))

Yep, fairly normal. When we drink our bodies turn the alcohol into sugar. When we get sober, we find ourselves craving a drink. A lot of times, sucking on a hard candy, like a peppermint or butterscotch will stop that craving.

Also the carbs, like pasta, potatoes, bread, etc turn into sugar quickly.

Your eating will settle down. Just be sure to eat healthy now and you should be alright. You will also again start to appreciate the different 'tastes' of different foods. IT is a wonderful journey.

Congrats on joining us on this journey. You are in for a bunch of surprises!!!

Love and hugs,

sugarbear1

Like Elisabeth stated, our bodies need vitamins!

Alcohol doesn't allow vitamins to be absorbed, our bodies have been "malnutritioned."

My sweet-tooth subsided at about 6-8 months. I still indulge, but I watch what I consume.

You're healing!! Keep staying stopped!

desertsong

You all are making me wonder about myself. When I was drinking, I ate way more than I do now. In the 60+ days since I quit (other than my slip a couple of weeks ago), I have lost nearly 20 pounds without hardly trying, and I have very little appetite. When I do eat though, I've found that I want healthy stuff instead of junk ... probably because of what was said earlier about the body wanting to counteract all the poison I had put into it. And I've had the occasional craving for something sweet too. Thankfully, I can no longer handle straight sugar (gives me heart palpitations) so I eat a lot of fruit and Twizzlers have become my best friend!

Fandy

Twizzlers became my DOC 2 years ago (the sweet and sour filled ones, they take longer to eat).

you can starting substituting some good fresh fruit for candy too.

MycoolFitz

Funny I haven't had an appetite did when I first quit now can barely eat bit I could afford theweight loss

nel68

I am alot like desertsong I would eat so heavy when I drank or ate to cure my hangovers/blood sugar. Now I have been eating so healthy...salads, bake fish,chicken and fruit! I to have lost about 16 pounds. When I do crave the sweets in the evenings I have my Weight Watcher ice cream or sugar free candy and I gotta have my 94% fat free popcorn. I use the Pam butter spray and spray it on my popcorn with a dash of Molly Mcbutter its good and calorie free the Pam butter spray(old diet trick of mine)...seems to hit the spot with out a ton of calories.

BillyPilgrim

A lot of very useful info here, it describes what I have been going thru to a T. I will concentrate on thehealthy stuff andcut out the sweets. I do like an indian curry, and lunch on those once or twice a week.
Funnily enough my gf said the main attraction she had to me, was I didnt have a sweet tooth, and would always avoid chocolate leaving more for her!!

mwstylee

I've been reading a lot lately about alcoholics being malnourished. I'm also like you - when I drink, I don't eat. That goes on for days. Then I wake up wondering why I feel so weak and wobbly! "You haven't eaten in days, you idiot...all you've consumed is soft drinks and vodka!" is what I'm telling myself now.

That's why I get confused when others talk about losing weight when they quit. When I quit, my weight goes up. I'm also one of those guys that doesn't even like sweet stuff. I always turned down dessert. But I wind up craving that stuff when I quit drinking. I'm on day 3 myself and had a blast at the grocery store just a little while ago. Fridge is stocked, I'm sober and happy.

Sharzy

I can't eat at all at the moment, my appetite is terrible. I am already skinny and feel so ill. I wish my appetite was like yours. Only 15 days sober though so early days I suppose.

nonblondechef

Great info here. Since I quit drinking, my appetite has become significant. I'm thin so I'm not worried about packing on bunches of pounds, but when I was drinking I ate little. Kind of grazed thru the day then drank and drank and drank at night Always been a carb, salt, fats kind of girl. Still am but now ice cream and is particularly delicious as are handfuls of Frosted Mini Wheats and Life cereal. I'm voting for the vitamin theory, here

IndaMiricale

I always eat good food being a chef in fine dinning for 20 years. But I just love really enjoying it now.

After all that poison I can live with a couple extra pounds of happiness.

straykatz

Agree with all of the above, especially Birch....... Think about the # of drinks you had during a week and then factor in what you were mixing them with. I would drink probably a pint oif vodka a day with diet soda but thats what, like 1600 calories a day/ 11,200 per week/45,000 per month with NO nutritional value..........!

So take that away and its only natural that your body will have some sort of reaction. Ive always been thin and athletic and Ive lost six lbs. I have a pretty healthy diet but have found for me one of the nice benefits of not drinking has been being able to indulge a bit more with food and not really look at calories like I used to when I drank. Plus the added energy has addded to more frequent exercise so the engine is crankin more efficiently than ever I hope. Got to be more consistent though with my vitimins though!