Weight loss
 

Hey everyone. So today I am 17dys sober. I know in my own heart I will never drink alcohol again. I spent five years drinking extremely heavy vodka mainly. And a lot of it. I have been having severe pain in my liver so I decided to stop. I am to nervous to get it checked yet but I am hoping that with no alcohol now and the pain more or less gone what what I was experiencing was fatty liver. I am eating healthy and only drinking water now. My question is how long does it take to start losing weight. I have gained 40pounds. I have lost four pound in 17 days with no exercise. Right now I am just working on my diet. Thanks guys.

Are you logging your food somewhere? That is the most important thing for me when I want to lose weight.

Have you looked at Myfitnesspal? It's a great free resource with forums and a food logging database online.

As far as how long it takes, there's no way to predict. I hope your pain is nothing serious.

Stopping drinking isn't in itself necessarily going to lose us weight. To be honest you are probably much more hydrated than you were when drinking, so I bet a lot of your gain was that. I know we can count up the calories we'd have drunk and say that logically we're having that many less calories, but our bodies probably had to work harder just to survive back then.

You say there is no exercise. Is there a way you could add some in? It's good for our mood to do some exercise as much as our weight. It doesn't necessarily need to be hardcore - maybe some cycling, or dancing like a mad thing to your favourite music as you do the housework, or hula hooping, or brisk walk round the block.

To be honest your body is likely still getting over the shock in your habits. Give it time. One thing at a time.

BB

Thanks for your replies guys. I guess I am just adjusting to life without alcohol and expecting it all to happen straight away. The pain is fine now I don't feel it most times and when I do it is extremely mild. I feel so much better and healthier in myself. The first week sleep was a nightmare but now I am sleeping so well. I got a new job also that is keeping me busy so I do be exhausted at the end of the day and just fall into a deep sleep. I never thought life without alcohol could be this good. I don't miss the hangovers at all. After a night of severe pain in my liver I told myself never again and I know I will stick to it because I was so scared I was going to die or something. I just want to be healthy again. Is there a timescale on how long it takes for your body to start functioning properly again? I am a 29 yeAr old female so I am hoping I have many years of sobriety left ahead of me.

If I'm reading your post correctly, you gained 40 pounds while drinking vodka, and lost 4 pounds in the 17 days since stopping, correct? So, you've already started losing weight.

There are 1640 calories in a 750ml bottle of vodka. That is roughly 1/2 pound worth of calories... if you eliminate a bottle of vodka from your diet and replace it with no further food or beverage intake, then you could conceivably lose a pound every 2-3 days.

I am a nutritionist and nurse. And suffering as well

But you are promoting Ways Of Eating that are not necessary for most people.

Just to be clear, I am also a nutritionist. It's a weekend online course. I am not an expert for you - just saying your Way of Eating is not necessary - and certainly not necessary for weight loss. Do you agree?

I'm not a nurse, but I know some pretty unhealthy over-weight nurses who are alcoholics and smoke. That appeal to authority/credentials doesn't mean much, really.

There is a forum rule about not offering medical advice. :dunno: I don't care what you do for yourself, but gluten-free, dairy-free, take-all-the-supplements is not the holy grail.

Princess, I was just poking around the internet and my state's requirements: looks like there's a lot more education required these days than when I was a, "nutritionist." That's a good thing, there was a lot of bad info in the past. I'm not licensed.

Still, I'm standing by my previous statements. Weight loss is all about calories. That's a pretty simple math equation. I didn't have to give up foods that helped me meet my protein, fat, and carbohydrate requirements. Of course if someone has trouble processing gluten or dairy, that's a medical reason.

The gluten-free mania out there right now is a bunch of bunk. Only about 1% of the population should avoid gluten, even though half the population believe themselves to be sensitive to it. That's marketing for ya.

People are not machines, so there is no "reset" button. I don't think cutting out entire food groups will "reset" the human system like pushing the reset button on your playstation 3.

Despite the billion dollar diet scheme/diet book/suppliment industry, or perhaps in spite of them, most Americans know what they should be eating and avoiding and that everything in moderation is a more sound and reasonable approach to an eating lifestyle than a drastic dietary plan that focuses on only a few food groups or aspects of the diet while eliminating/ignoring other components.

In my experience, "cleansing", "detoxing", or whatever one wants to call it involves a lot of diarrhea and in the end studies show not much has been accomplished. If it makes you feel good, go for it.

Most diets will work if you stick to them, but they are mostly temporary solutions. And for someone who has just stopped drinking, or smoking, or whatever vice they have given up, a strict diet might be biting off more than they can chew.

And then there's the google factor. Basically, any stance one wishes to take on any subject under the sun (ie the world is flat, or Santa Claus is real, or Hiter was a nice man) you can find pages and pages to support the theory. You have to decipher which study or publication is reputable and which are not, and it's hard to do.

Some posts were removed as per our rule regarding medical advice:

10. Medical Advice: No Posts giving medical advice, medication advice, or psychiatric advice. Do not use the forum to give or ask for professional medical or psychiatric advice. If you are a medical professional, please remember the forums and chat are for peer support only and not to be used for distributing professional medical advice and/or using the forum to represent your professional services. Medical and Psychiatric advice includes giving a diagnosis, treatment plan, medication advice and dosage suggestions, over the counter and natural home remedies that should be approved by medical professionals. Detox can be dangerous and life threatening at times. Please consult with your physician.

First off, congrats on 17 days! I'm 7/12 months in and have lost over 20 pounds. I have been eating healthier in general, but a LOT of it was simply not drinking. Give it time and it will happen!!!! You may develop a sweet tooth ( I know I did!) and honestly, chocolate here and there helped pass cravings for me, so don't deprive yourself of that if it'll help. Having fruit in the house also helped me a lot:)
Keep going, you've got this!

Thank you everyone who has replied your advice is brilliant. It's so good to have these forums to come on to. I'm not craving weirdly I'm ok in that sense I think my new job has me so run off my feet I'm not given the chance to which I suppose is a godsend. Right now I can't think of one positive reason to drink. It took too much from me to ever go there again. The weight is just an issue for me. I am going to join my local gym and see how it goes. The quicker I get back to 'normal' what ever that is the better. But one thing is for sure. I will never go back there again. I am going to treat my body with respect now and be the mammy I should have always been to my children.

Your natural weight will level when you are content in your sobriety, along with a balanced diet and exercise at least 3x/wk. Expect your natural weight to occur around the 6 month mark of sobriety. If at that point you want to lose more, or tone up etc... then you will need to create a plan to do so, but dont bother with that just yet. Concentrate on yoyr health and well being in the early days... keep things as easy and stress free as possible.

I lost about 30lbs (from 205 to 175, 6' male) in the first year, and have maintained the same weight now for about a year. That weight loss was basically due to absence of alcohol, b/c my diet has remained the same.

All else being equal you will lose weight for sure, it's inevitable.

Thank you for your reply. I have completely changed my diet before I lived on junk food when I was drunk I would eat complete crap and when hungover. Now I wouldn't put that near my mouth I am eating healthy and making my own homemade soup, smoothies etc . My body must be in complete shock. In 2012 I weighed 8' 3 pounds. Now I am 11'3 pounds gone down from 11' 11pounds a couple of months ago. Towards the end of my drinking I was mixing diet coke with the vodka and lost some weight but now more then ever I am determined to get back to at least 8' 11pounds. Which is ideal for my height I am quite short.