Quitting Drinking

I have never told this to anyone before but I have been drinking a bottle of red wine every night for the past 10 years and last Tuesday, I just gave it up.  Cold Turkey.  While its only been 3 days, I just am not craving it like I thought I would have and one of the reasons that I did quit drinking was due to the fact that I have really let myself go and no matter how many calories I seem to take in, nothing is budging.

So now I've Googled Quitting Drinking, Stop Drinking Alcohol... and I keep arriving at forums that talk about people Gaining Weight after quitting.  Not Losing!  This boggles my mind and I am wondering if any of you have had an experience like this to share. 

To note:  Since quitting I have been trying to up my caloric intake to make up for loss of calories--I'm coming in at approx 1200 - 1400 per day.  My current weight is 152, I am 5'5" and am 41 years old.

I find doing yoga is always relaxing.  At frist it might feel awkard but once you get use to it you will feel like a million bucks.  after a 20-30 minute yoga session, my body feels like I just had a messaage

Hold the phone ...... 20 - 30 minutes of yoga makes my body feel like it has had a massage and no one has told me this before.  This may just get into me into yoga. 

Seriously though I am afraid to try.  I have had two back surgeries with my lower back being fused.  There are so many things that can inflame by back I must be careful.  Maybe I will check out a beginners program and see how it goes. 

dbderby, congratulations and hugs to you! My husband and I are taking the month of January off from wine-drinking. I didn't realize how much I was drinking until I started recording my intake with a measuring cup, thanks to Calorie-Count. 3.5 ounces seemed like such a puny amount when I started. What I thought was two glasses a night was really four. If all goes well, this month might mean a life change. Going to the gym is helping me take the edge off, plus organizing everything like a maniac. I feel like I'm quitting smoking again. Good luck!

I was really afraid of that Unwinding factor too but it doesn't really exist in the end.  Drinking or not drinking, I'm still all wound up.  I think it has something to do with how we deal with our stress and we have chosen to squash it with some vino instead of dealing with it head on.  It's a hard one though...  really hard.  I'm trying to take on that tredmill to start with the unwind.

Sometimes unwinding is a state of mind.  You are constantly thinking of all you need to do so you won't forget anything.  At the end of your day try making of list of what you want to accomplish the next day.  Once it is written down is out of your mind for the evening.  This does work once you commit to make a list.  Sometimes the list will take a while to write, other times you keep adding to it throughout the night.   It does not need to be detailed - just bullet points are fine. 

I told you we would be here for you all the way.  I mean it!

Alone time is my relaxing time ;)

no phone, no tv, just me and a magiazine, a cup of coffee or tea.

Ray LaMontagne is to die for right now... Dancing in the kitchen while (ahem) cleaning it...

dbderby, how are you doing now that it's been a few days?

My bf quit drinking about 2 and half years ago.  He used to wear a size 36/32 pants and they were kinda snug

Now he wears a 32/32 and they're loose.  He weighs 165 now. (not sure what he weighed then)

In his case, he used to eat a lot after he'd been drinking.  I still think he eats a lot of junk and candy, but obviously he's getting less calories now than he used to.

You'll only gain if you start eating more.  Doesn't sound like you will to me.

Every time I have quit drinking, the weight has just fallen off.

My routine was basically to slam anywhere from 5 to 10 beers in the evening, with most of them before eating. 

I have quit twice, for a month at each time, in the last five years.  Each time, I lost more than 20 pounds, without making any other signficant changes.

Even more than the calories, drinking alcohol disrupts your liver's ability to burn fat.  You burn the alcohol for energy.  If you do like I was, and eating fatty foods right after drinking, you might as well apply the food fat directly to your stomach.

In November I quit drinking my coolers. I loved my Woody's Grapefruit Vodka cooler.  280 calories per bottle.  When I quit I lost 20 lbs in about 4 1/2 weeks. and have managed to keep it off.  I also watched what and when I ate and started to exercise.  Over the Holidays I didn't cheat too much but the last couple of weeks I have cheated and bought a couple of coolers.  I find if I want a drink once in a while I have either gin or vodka with fresca or some other diet pop, or club soda.

Wow!  I am so impressed with your determination to quit drinking.  I just quit myself and yesterday was day 1.  I feel great today, but I'm not kidding myself that it will stay this easy.  I am inspired by your testimonies and I hope to be a success in this endeavor.  I have been drinking on an almost daily basis for about 3 years, and I drank heavily the two years prior to that.  I have gained about 50 pounds in those 5 years.  My goal at the moment is to drop 20 lbs. in 3 months, and then I hope to start on the next 20!  Hearing about your success and the success of others like you makes me see that this goal is a very realistic one.  I am so glad to have been able to join this network!  Keep up the fantastic work! :)

I just quit drinking as well. Wasn't getting hammered every night, but did a lot and probably had at least one beer or something each day. It's now been about three weeks, and one thing I'm noticing is that my energy level is super low. Could this have something to do with the carb crashing you mentioned? If so, how do I offset that? I feel more mentally aware, but I'm super fatigued.

 

Hello,  I read your post and see that a few years have gone by.   Did you eventually lose the weight?   I'm going through menopause and quit drinking ten days ago, gaining five pounds.  I'm taking in limited calories too and quit so I could lose weight.  I've been drinking daily for five years and it is very difficult to quit.  I thought I'd lose this amount of weight by now....very discouraging as I have twenty-five pounds to lose (now thirty).  HELP!

Wow, this is a really cool site.  I use to too much wine and quit cold turkey a few weeks ago.

 Yes, it's true. I craved allot of sugar - in coffee & chocolate.  I quit drinking so that I could continue to quit smoking.  Saving allot of money.

I am definitely going to take the detox cranberry advice.

My metabolism has surely changed.  Without getting too graphic, each and every morning before quitting, I had no problems with a #2.

Now, I have to drink & drink & drink WATER in order to go.  And even then, I seem to not be completely devoid of waste.  So if a drink a cup of coffee or take a bite of anything, I have the potential to cut a mean one.

All in all, it's all good.  Feeling better & probably need to detox