How do I know if alcohol is why I gained weight?
 

I am new here and relate to many of you on many of the reasons why I needed to stop drinking. I was a daily drinker. Not to the black out point but because I wanted to be in a better mood and feel relaxed after work. Although I HATE the forgetting things and guilt, the biggest thing that has happened to me over the last 2 years is weight gain. I almost didn't notice it happening until seasons would change my summer clothes come back out and short that were once loose and too tight to even try to put on!? I know it is not diet. In fact I think booze was the only thing I wasn't willing to give up to lose weight. I gave up everything else I could attribute it to.

So it only makes sense it is the alcohol. I am one week sober and I have actually gained 3 more lbs!!! This is so discouraging. I use to hope it was anything BUT alcohol that was putting weight on, then I wouldn't have to stop but finally I said I NEED to quit drinking and then and only then will I really know if this is why.

To anyone else with this issue, how long until you can really see if that is why? In my sober week I have not used sweets or food to get me through, only club soda and lime. Does this take a few weeks to kick in? I thought for sure after ditching all the excess alcohol cals I would be dropping like crazy! Any advice is very much appreciated.

Skooter

I have lost 15 lbs since Jan. Your three pounds could be water retention or any number of things. Please give it more time.

Welcome to the Forum Skooter!! :wave:

Initially I too put on weight, probably water retention as I was dehydrated, but then as eating habits improved since my drinking days and I started to go on more walks and be more active at weekends, the pounds fell off.

The body can't heal years of drinking in week, it's going to take time!!

Hang in there!! :)

I gained about 10 lbs initially but now I'm at about 15 lbs less weight then when I started. Do you exercise? It's simple math calories in, vs calories out. Have patience and good luck.

Hello & Welcome Skooter

It's only been one week and your body is transitioning to normal, which takes time.

If you are that concerned, be totally honest with your doctor and see what they have to say!

Welcome to SR!

I know this doesn't sound encouraging (bear with me), but I gained 20 pounds in the past 2 years of sobriety because I ate like a pig. Actually, I ate like a 10 year old girl was put in charge of the grocery shopping (nothing wrong with Lucky Charms cereal, though... just not a mixing bowl portion for a snack).

It really does take time for your body to find it's "baseline", so to speak and it doesn't help that it is different for everyone. At the end, I was drunk daily, so I imagined the fantastic weight loss I would have due to the lack of alcohol calories. Unfortunately, the alcohol was replaced with much higher calorie foods! I have only recently started to take the reins again and eat healthily.

Welcome Scooter.
I feel your pain and frustration. I too am over weight and full blown alcoholic.

In 2011 I was able to stay sober for 6 months. The first 21 days I dropped 12 pounds and not even trying. Over the next 5 1/2 months I lost 51 pounds and didny really try that hard. I was just more careful about what I ate and how much. When I began to see the weight "falling" off me, I got more interested in excercise and that helped as well.

The human body needs fuel to run on. You need to burn about 2500 calories a day just to live. If you just set in a chair all day you would still need the 2500 calories to survive.

The body prefers alcohol as a fuel over any other form of fuel (Carbohydrates, fats, protien, and starches). Unfortunately Alcohol calories are "empty calories". They contain no nutrients what so ever. When we drink our bodies burns alcohol calories first and formost and the "Food" calories are stored away as fat. In addition, once ingested, alcohol is converted into sugar and partially used for fuel by the body. The rest is stored.

This why it is extremely difficult to lose weight, if at all, while drinking.

I would also add...at about my 6 month point, I made a classic "Early Sobriety" mistake and "Drank at Somebody" ! Four months later I had gained ALL my weight back PLUS another 15 pounds! Sixty-Six pounds total.

This is not medical advise I'am offering. This has been my own experience about alcohol and weight loss. For the benefit of others I share my experience freely with the hope that it helps.

DD