EdinburghMP

On 8th October 2017 I decided to stop drinking. There was nothing special about that date. I'd been high functioning. Holding down a good job. Good marriage therefore good husband. Good Father. Never drove drunk. Always at work. Just had a thirst. Mainly due to boredom and a little to do with feeling sad. Booze jettisoned those thoughts. However... being Scottish I totalled up how much I was spending. I was well off so the total didn't matter, except I was Scottish. £140 per week. Seven nights a week. £20 or so. That was just my spending for drinking at home. Didn't include the wife's booze. She drank less than me, everyone did. I had - as I used to say, "an Olympic standard of drinking". False pride. The comedy of stupidity. Anyhow, not drunk one drop of booze since that date. I gave it up - money aside - since I realised that was nearly 200 units a week. Therefore asking for health troubles sooner or later. I thought I might be an alcoholic so thought, "better find out, give up the drink to see if I can". Since 8th October 2017 not drunk one drop of booze. 99% of what I drink is fizzy water. Or plain water. Coffee once a day. So I wasn't an alcoholic. Now... food... that's my addiction. I cannot eat properly. I do for a while. Low carb, never cheat. Lose maybe 5 stone in six months and then BANG! Overeating again. Chip shops. Sandwiches on cheese, chips, ham or anything. That's my addiction. Too fat of course. Diabetes type 2. However lungs, heart, liver and kidneys all functioning well. Sometimes I think, "if I get a horrible disease I might die thin". Gallows humour but its food that's got me by the dangly bits.

doggonecarl

Congrats on the sober time.

It's not unusual to replace one addiction with another...or more than one. If you recognize that you have an eating disorder (an addiction, if you will) then address it.

Is there an Overeater's Anonymous meeting near you?

MrsLecter

Congratulations!

I can't offer much advice in terms of the food. I am at the opposite end of the spectrum - when i feel freaked out i stop eating so I've had to learn how to have a more healthy relationship with food.

I just wanted to drop by and say well done on your sobriety!

Dee74

Welcome EdinburghMP
An unhealthy relationship with food is a problem many of our members deal with. I know you'll find help here

Congrats on giving up the booze

D

BreezyFe

yup-I've replaced the sugar in alcohol with cravings of candy, cookies, ice cream, popsicles. And the boredom- cravings of hand to mouth salty snacks.

Congrats on 10 months!

Stayingsassy

Hi edinburgh, oh how I struggle with food.

It occurred to me that I have spent my adult life either binging on food, or binging on alcohol. The latter kept me thin And high so you can guess how hard it is to stop.

right now I'm 15 days into lowcarb, which is basically "food sobriety.". So the alcohol thoughts have crept back.

I'm trying to remind myself that if I haven't quit both then I haven't really gotten sober: so I am 15 days in to a true sobriety in my book.

Exchanging one damaging behavior for another isn't wellness for me. I can relate...just keep trying. The weight gain keeps piling on otherwise and then there's another really big problem to deal with.