clight

So it has been a week and 1 day since I stopped the drinking. I already said in my post that I been feeling great besides the cold I caught but...... Is it normal to lose 8 pounds in a week without consuming alcohol a diet cola on a daily basis? I have been eating normal and of course not like a pig like I would after drinking and passing out till the next day. But to me I don't think it is healthy to lose this much weight in a week. I am over weight you can't really notice because I am 6'4 but I was 268.9 pounds and now I am 260.2 pounds. I have not been on a diet just eating better and of course less since there's no drinking and parking my chair in front of the fridge while I am drunk eating what ever there is and more. Please, all comments are welcome!

Sapling

I think eating better and not taking all those calories from alcohol and parking on a couch is great...I'd go with it!

TheTinMan

You need to consult a doctor.

If I hadn't changed anything in my diet or life and lost 8 pounds in a week I would be worried. If I had made a drastic change like not consuming alcohol and eating better I don't think I would worry.

Anna

I had lost some weight before I stopped drinking, so I gained back about 10 pounds (which I needed) in the month or so after I stopped drinking. I think it's always a good idea to talk to a dr about something like that.

Liz45

Clight, Eight pounds is a big loss. But, I wouldn't worry just yet. See how things go in the next week or two. Weight fluctuations can be coming anywhere from water weight to "bathroom" visits. Sorry for that, but true. There are a lot of different things that can cause our weight to spike or drop. Just give it a little more time and see what happens. If you continue losing huge amounts in the next couple of weeks, then I would see a doctor.

Fandy

It also might have been water retention.
if you lose another 8lbs this week you should have a checkup

clight

Hi Tin! Yes I was drinking 1 and 1/2 to 2 pints of cheap vodka with a 2 liter bottle of diet cola a day and eating like a pig when I was drunk and then passing out. I am not on a diet but am eating better foods and going for a brisk walk. But I thought it was healthy to lose 2 to 3 pounds per week? Maybe that is for someone who did not drink? Wow, I know I gained a lot of weight from drinking and eating garbage but... If that is how many more calories I was consuming in a day then I am guessing that is a lot of calories. I need to do some research on how many calories I should consume a day and how many I was with the alcohol and soda. I wish I could remember all the junk I ate when I was drunk but I can't.

Fandy

Larger people can lose larger amounts of wt quickly.
When i was drinking i consumed about 14,000wine calories a week

Southerner

As others have said, if you are concerned then a physician would be able to tell you. However, as long as you are eating well enough, then at least half of that is probably water loss. I am not quite as big as you (6'1", 190 lbs), and I can actually gain or lose 3 - 4 pounds during a regular cycling ride. Now, that is due to intense exercise, but remember, your body is in the midst of serious repair. It is really working hard. If this continues for another week, then I would be concerned. If it levels off, then you were just carrying around a lot of water (and perhaps some unneeded stored calories that your body burned off while repairing).

Hope this helps.

SunnyFlower

Could it be the kidneys are no longer under the stress from the alcohol intake and are starting to function better by releasing the fluids are body has stored up?
Alcohol actually dehydrates us, and I can't help but think that our body tries to protect us by storing up whatever fluids it can. I'm definitely no Doctor but during recovery our vital organs are going through detox to remove all the poisons we have put in them.

If your weight loss continues at this rate and you are still concerned, talking to a doctor could ease your mind... otherwise it sounds normal to me.

Some of us have the opposite affect...I'm gaining weight because I'm now eating again.

Hang in there and congrats on 8 days!

Fandy

I would be thrilled if i stepped on the scale to see 8# gone!

Dejvice

I find that my bathroom visits for No 1 have increased plus after 3 weeks no alcohol I have lost about 8 to 9 lbs but I have been watching my diet and not snacking between meals drinking lots of herbal tea water etc and rarely eating after 7pm and when I do it is fruit or veg. With the amount of beer I was drinking I guess my empty calorie count was as high as 6000 per week plus all the junk food.

Notmyrealname

You probably lost a bunch of water weight. Don't worry about it. And don't go racking a co-pay because someone else in thread wants to diagnose you with unknown wasting disease.

That would be stupid.

Sugarfix

It's fine!

Enjoy it

IndaMiricale

I am just saying Congrats on putting down the alcohol..

I personaly gained weight after quitting.

DrunkTx

I agree with southerner. I ride and run daily and can fluctuate 3-5 lbs in water weight. Generally every 3500 calories eliminated, you lose a lbs (assuming it is not replaced). If you are accurate in your description about pints of vodka and binging, I'd expect that weight loss and more.

Sel

From what I know the more overweight you are the quicker you tend to lose weight in numbers. Depends in your body mass index or BMI. People when they consume less calories than before tend to lose 10% of their total weight quickly then it slows down. This is why losing those last 5 kilos or 10 lbs is always harder as you reach your ideal weight.
what you are seeing is loss of water not fat so keep yourself hydrated.

Amazon

It's probably mostly water weight and alcohol bloating that you lost. I had the same thing happen. Will happen the first week too on a regular diet like Weight Watchers.

So that's probably about six pounds of it, and the other two are the thousands of calories you are NOT consuming of alcohol. After a while the body gets used to getting its calories for booze. You might think you are eating a lot, but I bet if you actually count calories you will find you are ingesting less than the maintenance 2000/day and will still keep losing weight, just more slowly.