Eating my feelings
 

I thought I'd lose weight after I quit drinking, but no. I have replaced alcohol with food especially sugary stuff. I had a wicked bad craving for alcohol this evening and shoveled down the cookies and cream ice cream. Craving is gone but my stomach hurts!

That's okay, it's better to eat than drink alcohol. I ate a lot of carbs in the first few months, too. It leveled out on its own in time.

Ice cream cures cravings. <<~~ True fact. :)

I wouldn't give it a second thought. Eat as you please, as long as you do not drink.

Again, it is a matter of not drinking. Being sober is premium to recovery.

Later you might want to consider that you are indeed eating your feelings in the sense that you are suppressing, and expressing, cravings and therefore multiplying them rather than taking the middle path of equanimously acknowledging and observing the cravings which releases them from their source and they pass away.

For now, be happy that you are not drinking.

Hey Jasper,

Well done for not drinking. Try to make sure you're getting some healthy (real) food, and not just treat food. Like others say, if this is what you need to get you through the first stages, so be it, but as you know, it isn't much of a long term solution if you want to be able to get out of the front door in another few years lol.

Have you thought about a recovery plan yet? It's when we work on our recovery that we can learn to actually deal with those feelings through our inner resources, rather than reaching for external stuff for quick relief. Many people end up just addiction switching between all sorts of instant gratification: alcohol, drugs (prescription as well as illegal), sex, porn, gambling, excessive exercise ie so it becomes physically damaging, food, adrenaline from acting out in dangerous ways.

If you haven't had a chance to consider making a plan as yet, a good place to start is Dee's thread. Their are loads of useful links on there... http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...y-plans-1.html

Sugar fixes are common.

Alcohol has a ton of sugar in it in general, so most of us craved sweets to some degree and for some amount of time once we quit drinking. I sure did - ice cream was my biggie. I needed to gain weight when I quit and I just mostly focused on getting healthy - here at just after a year, I am a little heavier than I'd like, run a 5K every month, eat well and finally quit the ice cream.

Take care of yourself and that does include cutting yourself some slack at the beginning. As you go through recovery, you can look at why you eat or do anything else- just keep not drinking!

If it didn't move, I ate it.......

Very early my toughest decision was rocky road or black walnut! Alcohol is loaded with sugar and our bodies crave it when we quit. I started taking a good multi vitamin as well, with B1 to make up for Thiamine deficiency common in alcoholics.

All who don't drink today are winners!

At right at 7 weeks, I'm pretty much eating whatever I want, including ice cream sandwiches. I figure as long as I stay sober, my appetite will level off. I have the rest of my life to work on my sexy dadbod.

this happened to me too, but I thought it wasn't a vice I was as worried about. My bf didn't appreciate the extra weight gained though, so had to curb it and find a love in celery haha

I had huge sugar cravings for the first months after quitting and I put on a good ten pounds or so. Part of that was just eating real food again, instead of drinking my meals. I wouldn't worry much about it at this point. Being sober is job one now.

Hola Jasper13! Yep, same here. The way I saw it, first priority is staying sober. I could always lose the weight later. Do what you have to do to get in recovery. Best wishes!

Completely agree.

People will sometimes say it's ok to eat a lot of sweets in the early days if that's what helps you get through it, which is fair enough, but it's not a 'solution' at all - all it does is replace one addiction with another. Sugar is addictive and increases dopamine levels just like alcohol does. See a connection there?

Jasper, it's good to focus on not drinking and to eat comfort food in the early days. You might want to come up with a plan to begin eating healthier food as the days go by. Another good idea is to find an exercise program that works for you. I walk a lot and it helps me in so many ways.

Be careful. I'm an addict so I went from alcohol to sweets to replace the sugar my body craved when I quit drinking. Went overboard and became Type II diabetic because of it. Just a word to the wise. Don't let the sweets become another addiction.

I am totally right there with ya! 8 months later and I gained about 8 lbs but I'll take it over drinking any day!! Although I am now aware of it and can start focusing on better nutrition and excersise. Sobriety is first though!!

Agreed. It's not something to be taken lightly. Doing this long-term is probably just as bad for you as drinking.

Yep.
I gained 40lbs in the first 9 months of my sobriety. Do you have any idea how much you have to eat to do that?! Being an all or nothing type of gal, I accomplished this feat lol.

I honestly did NOT even look at the scale. I was focused on not drinking no matter what. At 18 months sober I decided to do something about the weight and I joined Weight Watchers and have lost 30 of the 45lbs fairly easily.

I'd also add that as alcoholics/addicts...we put our bodies through a LOT. I did not eat at the end of my drinking. I'm sure that my nervous system was shattered by my drinking, and my metabolism and digestion were trashed as well. So, I think my body "freaked" and held onto every last calorie I put in my system once I stopped drinking. It's ok. Give yourself some grace. You can lose the weight later. It's WAYYYYYYYYY better than drinking or using!

I think we all turn to sugar and food in general for compensation.
My go to is always frozen fruit and dark chocolate candy bars. Makes me feel less guilty for trading one addiction for another.
Take Care!!