I completely cut out alcohol - Dramatic weight loss

[mindlessobserver]

Probably filed under shit people already know but it's still surprising. I cut out all alcohol from my diet before the new year. Which was sort of a life goal in general as I had been hitting the sauce way too hard. But even I am surprised at how dramatic the weight drop has been. I was a good 40 pounds above what is considered a healthy weight for my height. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 16 of those pounds. With no real change in my routine. Just no booze. And it's still dropping at about 1 pound every day. Really surprising, and def motivating to not drink anymore...even though I really want too...

 

[The Fool]

Drink, and grow fat!

 

[JULAY]

When I quit drinking, I lost weight at about the same rate. Ended up dropping 45 lbs in 4 months. Granted, I also started walking about 10-15 miles a day just to fill up some hours that I previously spent drunk, but most of the weight loss was just from not drinking 3000+ calories a day.

Went back to drinking pretty hard for 6 weeks, gained about 15 lbs of it back. Seeing that was enough of a motivator for me to swear it off for good.

 

[Eryngium]

Just quit eating, drink instead.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Good work, buddy.
PS: I rated you both drink because I'm an asshole.

 

[It's HK-47]

Alcohol is one of the more calorie-dense things that you can ingest. Speaking from a strictly caloric intake, a can of beer is functionally not that dissimilar than a can of soda. A single shot of vodka can easily be 100-150 calories, so if you drink with any sort of regularity you're packing on a ton of calories that you genuinely don't need to take on.

If you drank just 4-6 beers every day (~600-900 kcal.), you're essentially eating an extra, moderately-sized meal.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Alcohol is one of the more calorie-dense things that you can ingest. Speaking from a strictly caloric intake, a can of beer is functionally not that dissimilar than a can of soda. A single shot of vodka can easily be 100-150 calories, so if you drink with any sort of regularity you're packing on a ton of calories that you genuinely don't need to take on.

If you drank just 4-6 beers every day (~600-900 kcal.), you're essentially eating an extra, moderately-sized meal.

Really is amazing how something so bad for you is so good. Stopping it entirely has been a real bitch too. The withdrawal was very unpleasant. Didnt get the shakes thank God. That is when you know you are really fucked.

 

[JULAY]

Really is amazing how something so bad for you is so good. Stopping it entirely has been a real bitch too. The withdrawal was very unpleasant. Didnt get the shakes thank God. That is when you know you are really fucked.

Unless you drink liquor all day every day getting full blown DTs is pretty rare. I was up to about a case of 6% beer a day or four bottles of fortified wine and even though I didn't sleep at all for about five days after I first quit, I didn't get the shakes or hallucinations or any of that other fun shit that can happen when daily boozers give up the sauce. I've had friends who drank pretty much the same way who didn't get DTs when they quit either. As long as you aren't drunk literally all day your body can adapt to the sudden absence of alcohol... usually. What fucking blows is how long it takes for your brain to learn how to fall asleep without passing out drunk. It took me three months before that happened.

 

[B. F. Bugleberry]

Aww shit, I'm not actually supposed to drink every night? Guess finishing this bottle of Canadian crest in less than a week isn't good.

Yeah but thanks for helping me realize I'm drinking to much. Sneaks up, it does. Helps that the next month of work I'm going to be 40 miles from any sort of civilization to buy alcohol.

 

[chunkygoth]

I'm proud of all you kiwis who are cutting back on their drinking and making good choices.

 

[Mein Garten]

Really is amazing how something so bad for you is so good. Stopping it entirely has been a real bitch too. The withdrawal was very unpleasant. Didnt get the shakes thank God. That is when you know you are really fucked.

Cold turkey is the worst but one of the most effective ways to quit. Mood swings are common if you've been drinking regularly for some time. Even worse if you are coming off regular drug use at the same time.

 

[Twolegstillmidnight]

I gained between 40 and 50 lbs in three months when I started drinking vodka. I didn’t know I was getting fat until my family started commenting on it. That was a couple years ago, I can’t drink now for health reasons and boy I sure wish I could, weight gain be damned. Sometimes life is cruel and forces you to be healthy even when you don’t care.

 

[JULAY]

Cold turkey is the worst but one of the most effective ways to quit. Mood swings are common if you've been drinking regularly for some time. Even worse if you are coming off regular drug use at the same time.

Agreed. Medical interventions like benzos can really take the edge off, but you're just substituting one problem for another. Plus benzo addiction can make detoxing from booze look like a walk in the park. And as far as staying off of booze, quitting cold turkey gives you the confidence to make it happen, if that's the way you decide to go.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Agreed. Medical interventions like benzos can really take the edge off, but you're just substituting one problem for another. Plus benzo addiction can make detoxing from booze look like a walk in the park. And as far as staying off of booze, quitting cold turkey gives you the confidence to make it happen, if that's the way you decide to go.

It wasn't really cold turkey for me. I got worried enough about it that I actually went to a doctor. We tried a bunch of stuff but in the end something called Acampersate did the trick. It takes the edge off but you still get that urge on occasion. I think I was up to either a 6 pack a night or on my days off a full pint of liquor. It led to some bad decisions.

Aww shit, I'm not actually supposed to drink every night? Guess finishing this bottle of Canadian crest in less than a week isn't good.

Yeah but thanks for helping me realize I'm drinking to much. Sneaks up, it does. Helps that the next month of work I'm going to be 40 miles from any sort of civilization to buy alcohol.

Its funny, the docs say the maximum healthy amount is 5 standard drinks in a WEEK. Not even an entire six pack. They prefer 3 drinks a week though. If you blaze a 750 of liquor over a weekend though, that is 17 standard drinks. And as @It's HK-47 pointed out, that is a stupid amount of calories alone. With my poison of choice, bourbon, that was 1,700 calories.

 

[JULAY]

It wasn't really cold turkey for me. I got worried enough about it that I actually went to a doctor. We tried a bunch of stuff but in the end something called Acampersate did the trick. It takes the edge off but you still get that urge on occasion. I think I was up to either a 6 pack a night or on my days off a full pint of liquor. It led to some bad decisions.



Its funny, the docs say the maximum healthy amount is 5 standard drinks in a WEEK. Not even an entire six pack. They prefer 3 drinks a week though. If you blaze a 750 of liquor over a weekend though, that is 17 standard drinks. And as @It's HK-47 pointed out, that is a stupid amount of calories alone. With my poison of choice, bourbon, that was 1,700 calories.

Glad to hear you managed to lay off the booze before you got to where I was. I started drinking on weekends in high school, was up to about 6 beers a day in college, and over the years you build up quite a tolerance. Took me nearly twenty years before I finally decided that enough was enough. Luckily, my liver has healed up pretty much completely, and my blood pressure and cholesterol are finally in a healthy range. I'm in better shape now at nearly 40 than I was at 20.

 

[Slimy Time]

Keep on it. I dropped alcohol about a year ago and lost size. Still have a drink for special occasions or once in a while (month). My tolerance has gone down the toilet and I get a gnawing pain in my jaw if I do (spirits seem to be the exception). It's just not as enjoyable as it once was. Have substituted coffee and the odd hot chocolate for alcohol, so there is that.

 

[Orion Balls]

I gained weight when I stopped drinking. Possibly because I started consuming actual food, again.

 

[General Disarray]

I wish my room/mate would stop. Drinks easily a pint of vodka a night plus beer. Hides the bottles in the garage because he doesn't like when I drink. I finally quit - he hates fun and music and that's how I roll when I drink. I stopped to save from arguments and the cold shoulder all week because I dared to listen to Rush for an hour or two on my laptop. I know, I know, I'm just a terror!!

It's getting so bad he thinks people are videotaping him on their phones at work. He's a fucking mechanic, not a CIA agent for God's sake! He'll never go to the doctor because he knows what they will say; plus, he thinks HR or the insurance company will snoop on his records.

I commend and encourage my fellow Kiwi's who are taking steps to curb or cut their drinking.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Sounds like your roommate has AIPD (Alcohol induced psychotic disorder).

 

[LavenderLiquor]

I lost about 20 pounds when I stopped drinking and I'm under 5ft and have never been more than 130 pounds. I also stopped smoking weed so I was just barely eating because my appetite was completely gone.
It was pretty nuts. I ended up stopping cold turkey and had a seizure. It was absolutely terrifying.
So the next time I stopped, I ended up getting medical attention to prevent that from happening and ended up going to rehab.
It took about 5 months for my hands to stop shaking. I was drinking a stupid amount though, like half a gallon a day.

Good for you for stopping. It's incredibly difficult but after a bit of time, you feel so much better about it.