Weight Loss

I was an alcoholic for approx. ten years--up to a fifth a day toward to end of my addiction.  I have been clean and sober for just under 20 months, but I am battling the weird things that drinking has done long term to my body.  Namely, I used to be bottom-heavy, as are most of the women in my family.  However (according to my doctor this is common), I am now top-heavy, with relatively slender legs, but a huge amount of weight concentrated on my arms, stomach and back--ew!!! Any suggestions on how to "even out" my body?

First and foremost, CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishment of beating your addiction. YOu have doen an amazing thing for yourself and the people who love you.

Most people will tell you that you can't "spot reduce." All you can do is make sure your intake is lower than your expenditure and know that weight loss will follow. Workout and do some strength training and be patient.

Hi HETHR!  I too am an alcoholic who finally quit drinking (AA)!  I've been sober for about 16 months, and in that time I've gained 30 pounds.  I just didn't worry about it for a while -- my priorities were on staying sober and getting my life in some kind of order.  But I'm now at a point where I just can't stand the weight any longer.  I also need to get into shape since years of sitting on your a** and drinking just really deteriorate you physically.

I'm not nearly as ambitious as some on this site.  I'll settle for a slow, gradual weight loss and mild improvements to my fitness condition.  I think perhaps just trying to deal with it on a daily basis is a good way to start.  Hopefully baby steps will result in enough progress to inspire more.

I don't know why you would go from bottom heavy to top heavy, but I know I have just gotten heavier all over.  BUT....we're both a lot healthier and happier and that's what's really important!!

Amen on the healthier and DEFINITELY happier--and congrats on 16 months!!  Most people have no idea how long those 16 months can be.  My success was through a faith-based Christian program, but AA I know is an awsomely successful program.  I too gained a lot of weight (40 lbs.) as soon as I quit drinking.  That came as a schock to me b/c I was expecting to lose weight from just cutting out the empty, essentially sugar calories that come from alcohol.  But, I think my body was just so thrilled to have some nutrients coming into it, it hung on to each food calorie for dear life!!

Good luck with your weight loss and living one day at a time.  You have a great attitude and thank you for sharing.  God bless.

Hethr and Debbie,

Just want to congratulate you both. I'm sure it's been a long, arduous 16-20 months. Don't really have any advice to offer, just kudos.

Original Post by hethr:

I was an alcoholic for approx. ten years--up to a fifth a day toward to end of my addiction.  I have been clean and sober for just under 20 months, but I am battling the weird things that drinking has done long term to my body.  Namely, I used to be bottom-heavy, as are most of the women in my family.  However (according to my doctor this is common), I am now top-heavy, with relatively slender legs, but a huge amount of weight concentrated on my arms, stomach and back--ew!!! Any suggestions on how to "even out" my body?

First I want to say congratulations, it is an awesome thing that you are able to maintain sobriety.  But I must say (and I know I may get slammed for this) I have to comment on your word usage here.  If you really are ready to move on you must accept that you "are" an alcoholic not that you "were" an alcoholic.  That is a very important distinction that I believe should be made.  You will always be in recovery, someone that struggles with alcoholism is never recovered, there will always be strides you are taking to better themselves (as everyone should pertaining to most things in their lives).  Good luck with everything, and after battling addiction loosing a few extra pounds should be a minor challenge.

It's alcohol-ISm, not alcohol-WASm.

IMO, the best explanation of, and guidelines on dealing with, the physical part of this three-level disease is in a book called _Seven Weeks to Sobriety_ by Joan Larson.  It can be found in libraries here: http://www.worldcat.org/ and there are at least thirty copies offered on various commercial websites, starting at one cent.

The author and her regimen are not affiliated with any anonymous fellowship; this will become blatantly apparent when reading the book.  However, I and some friends find it very useful.

In my experience, other character defects assert or reassert themselves in sobriety.  Many people find that, without the booze, it is tempting and easy to displace our reliance on food.  Even if that doesn't happen, alcohol has caused a lot of physical damage, which can be at least partially repaired.

I appreciate the comment; however, having achieved and maintained sobriety through a faith-based, rather than a 12-step program, I disagree.  In addition, I am in college to be an lcdc (licensed chemical dependency counselor), and, therefore, I fully understand the widely-accepted theory that addiction in all cases is a disease.  It's really not a matter of splitting hairs on semantics or treatment approaches.  What works for each individual should be taken into consideration.  For me, God is and remains to be the only answer.  I did not post my question to open a whole can of worms, but rather, just to get some ideas and possible medical explanations as to why alcohol so radically changed my metablism and altered my appearance.  Thank you all! 

Thanks--I will check the book out!!

Well with the way it seems like you (intentionally) phrased it, it almost seems like you were looking for a reaction.  Your approach isn't "splitting hairs", it's not accepting that addiction is a lifelong issue and it is clearly a whole different ballgame.  It also seems pretty clear from what you have written that your addiction has progressed into one with food (please read your last line again as a reference- alcohol doesn't radically change your metabolism, if anything alcohol in your system encourages overeating, not the other way around).  You don't just wake up one day cured.  I wish you good luck with everything and hope that path will work for you-but from the facts of the programs and the facts that you have mentioned about yourself, being cautious and alert is a necessity.