By quitting drinking alcohol
Literally the only thing I changed about my life at that time and I went from 185 lbs to 165 lbs in 3 months
I was drinking a fifth per night of alcohol that was at least 100 proof, so I was a bit of an alcoholic at the time
I quit cold turkey and within just a few weeks I started feeling a lot better overall and by about 4 months after I quit the cravings stopped every time I smelt alcohol
I’ve been sober now for about 5 and a half years and the weight has stayed off the whole time. I’ve basically been 160±5 lbs since
Thank you
It wasn’t my first attempt but my 4th to get sober. Getting sober wasn’t easy, and I think is a topic more people should talk about. You never seem to here people talking about how many attempts it took to achieve something like that, you only ever here that they did it.
And honestly this is the longest I’ve been sober since I was 12 years old
I wouldn’t give it up for the world, the quality of life improvements have been amazing and not just my physical health but my mental health as well. It’s amazing how much easier PTSD is to deal with while sober vs not.
Congratulations that’s awesome, I’m sober myself (just over 18 months) and it took me a lot of tries and many years to stop drinking so I can relate to that.
The one thing I would really caution people about is quitting cold turkey - alcohol withdrawal can be fatal. It’s also miserable even when done with medical help, I’ve done medical detox in the hospital and at rehab more times than I care to remember and each time serves as a huge reminder of what awaits me if I start drinking again. So please if anyone is considering stopping drinking and is drinking a lot, talk to a doctor about it and be honest. Seizures and strokes and DTs are not fun and can kill you.
That all said I also struggle with weight, and a few times after I stopped drinking I ate more and gained weight and it contributed to going back to drinking. This time I’ve been very conscious about calories in vs calories out because that has been something that works for me. Food scale and honesty tracking everything I eat and all my exercise.
And again, awesome job on 5 years, I love coming across sobriety out in the wild.
- Water. No drinks other than water or black coffee/ tea.
- Understanding nutritional value better and counting calories (for a while). Intuitive eating has been sven better for me after that.
- OMAD. One meal a day. Suited my hunger pattern for a long time and allowed me to feel full after a meal which I like while feeling light most of the day which I also like.
- Home cooked meals 99% of the time. Literally. Maybe eat out once a month most months.
- Enjoying feeling healthy, so liking eating the things I ate and working out etc.
Things I didnt need but do recommend:
- Improved fiber intake.
- Cutting all caloric drinks.
- Know how much fat youre adding to your food, that tsp you just added are actually 2 tbsps.
- Choose better carbs. Thats mostly about fiber content again. So whole wheat instead of white.
- Dont mean to sound like that guy but good for gut foods. Yogurt, pickles and other fermented products.
- The mental side. Know that a bad meal, day, week doesnt ruin anything. You don’t need to be perfect, just improve in the long term.
I could go on forever but I’ll stop here.
Understanding nutritional value better and counting calories (for a while).
Amazing comment, but I just want to throw some support behind this concept in particular.
The goal of calorie counting doesn’t necessarily need to be to commit yourself to it for life. It’s okay if you do! But many people will “catch” issues they had within a few months, and generally be able to navigate things successfully from there just by eyeballing it in.
Another way I like to think of it is meal-by-meal. Instead of logging the full day, it’s easier to just quickly check the labels and make sure that meal is within your normal range
I see a lot of exercise reccomended ITT, but just remember that it takes an hour to “burn” 300 calories walking, but under a minute to eat a donut. Dieting is your battle. Also, doing a little exercise (5 min walk) everyday that you can keep yourself doing consistently is WAYY more important than the 2 hour gym sesh you hit twice then get demotivated and never do again
(This is coming from someone with no experience losing weight, so take it with a grain of salt)
I agree with you overall. One benefit of exercise, is it increases your muscle mass. Which generally increases your overall metabolic rate. Which means throughout the day to maintain that muscle mass you are burning more calories at rest then if you hadn’t developed that muscle mass. So there is benefit to generating muscles for the sake of generating muscles
No magic tricks or diet fads.
Eat less, move more.
Eat more vegetables and salad, cut down bread and meat.
Stop drinking sodas and juices with extra sugar in them and learn to quench your thirst with water.
Limit eating candy or cookies to one day per a week, if you can’t let them go entirely.
Got a divorce and lost my job. Spent six months eating 1500 calories a day, 600 of which were liquor, and walking five to seven miles a day. Hours of walking by the Sound in the rain every day. Felt like the only thing I could control was what I ate and how much I walked. Lost thirty pounds. I got a few compliments on how much thinner I looked. Didn’t tell anyone that every pound was burned with hate.
I’m doing better now.
