Will ditching the drink be enough to lose weight?

[StrongTeaHotShower]

I'm looming on the cusp of overweight at 5,3 and 10st and having just made a pact to give up alcohol as it's become apparent I have a bigger drinking problem than I thought. (Joining AA type drinking problem).

As well as all the obvious benefits, not failing my dd, saving my liver, self respect etc I'd also love to believe it'll help me magically drop some weight. The problem is I'm a lazy moo who also loves cooking and eating and I just know my alternative to drinking on my own till I fall asleep of an evening will be cooking whatever I fancy and then inevitably eating it. . My Dp works unbelievably long hours so I tend to have home cooked meals ready for him which means I'm cooking huge portions that often get left as he'll eat crap on shift and hoovered up by me plus I rarely get to eat with him so I binge in front of the tv.

On top of wondering if sobriety will bring a drop in dress size I'd love to hear any non diet suggestions for changing eating habits.
I'm just not strong enough to start dieting on top of this right now.

Of course I need to exercise too

[Wait4nothing]

A great change your making already!

Could you do high fat low carb? Would that satisfy you? Nice steak, creamy sauce, mushrooms and onions, green veg on the side type meals.

[Motherfuckers]

Hmm, I could have written your post. I certainly hope so.

[Archduke]

Hi StrongTea

Not drinking will def help. On the one hand you wont consume all those empty boozy calories, also you won't feel like stuffing yourself with KFC when you have a hangover.

I know Mumsnet has excellent support threads but this webite is excellent for supporting you whilst you give up the booze.

Good luck.

[StrongTeaHotShower]

Wow, quick replies!

wait4 that's worked really well for me in the past so I'd love to 'get back on it' carbs are my cuddles (hmm that may be my next screen name)!

Really motherfucker? I hope this Even down to being a shortarse? I'm really 5,2 1/2 . I hope this thread helps you too.

Good to hear archduke Recently I've been drunkenly forgetting what I've eaten and just seen the leftovers the next day and accused (very slim) Dp of eating all the ice cream etc .

[TheNumberfaker]

I gave up drinking wine during the week about 10 years ago and lost about half a stone in 6 weeks!

[StrongTeaHotShower]

Now that's what I want to hear!

[GreatPointIAgreeWithYouTotally]

When you ditch the drink you will feel so much better generally. Then eating well and exercising will not seem so hard, just something you do to take care of yourself.

You'll have more cash, too!

[gettingtherequickly]

Huge amounts of empty calories in wine, I just kicked it into touch as well, I have about a stone to lose and hopping it will just drop off.
I'm trying not to eat badly as a replacement, and having some non food treats (painting my nails, shopping trip), but quite frankly most things trigger a nice glass of wine accompaniment.

Anyway, here's to us, a bottle of wine is about 700 calories, so that's plenty to cut out on!

[BeautyGoesToBenidorm]

You should lose weight. I'm the same height and roughly the same weight as you, and when I first quit drinking I lost over a stone in a couple of months. I wasn't eating particularly healthily either, but I was a BIG drinker and that cut my calorie intake massively.

Just be aware that when you first quit, your body will be craving sugar as an alcohol replacement - don't worry if you need to drink full fat Coke or eat sweets to get through that phase, it doesn't last long and you can always lose the weight. Just do what you have to do to ride the cravings out (except open a bottle that contains an alcohol percentage!).

[ChampagneTastes]

If this is turning into a support thread, can I join in? I drink too much (more habitual than addiction I think but I can see how it could go that way) and I'm 2st over weight. I need to stop drinking and get my weight down for the sake of my (crap) fertility. Not really going to be able to start exercising until school starts again but could start making positive changes now.

I have quit drinking for prolonged periods before and have found that interesting teas and any sort of drinks with ice cubes in will fill the void quite nicely. Haven't lost tonnes of weight when I've done it before but I've probably been substituting alcohol with pie and chocolate.

In terms of loving cooking and eating, I got given the Wagamama cookbook a while ago and have found that ramen is pleasingly foodie but also very very healthy and filling. Worth a shot? Plus, get yourself a spiraliser - they are so much fun (it's just possible I need to get out more).

[StrongTeaHotShower]

I'm definitely feeling those sweet cravings beauty. Also, hunger is possibly one of my biggest triggers to drink as I used to make sure I was ravenous before my first drink of the day to increase its potency. So Now if i feel at all hungry I'm eating as it makes the alcohol cravings subside.

champagne I'm sorry to hear you're having fertility issues. I've been there and it can be soul destroying I'm on for buying a spiriliser and getting my courgettey on!

[BeautyGoesToBenidorm]

Remember to drink lots of water before you eat anything - it's a good weight loss trick anyway, but you'll still be surprisingly dehydrated even if it's days since your last alcoholic drink.

Try sparkling water with ice and a slice, to make it a bit more of a 'treat', and if that stops the sweet cravings for long enough for you to avoid snacking, you're golden

[gettingtherequickly]

How are you getting on strong tea?

[StrongTeaHotShower]

Weightloss wise, probably awful! I'm not moderating my eating at all and as beauty predicted I'm craving sugar hugely.
Booze wise, I had a blip a couple of nights back and drank with my family. Back on track now though.

How about you?

[gettingtherequickly]

Weight is irritatingly not coming off, but I've stayed off the booze (DH is also dry so that's really helping).

Off out for a family meal tonight, so will drink a couple of glasses and then stop, (hopefully). It's a big test for me, if I can't do this then I need to go teetotal.

One very positive outcome is that I'm sleeping really well, straight 8-9 hours a night and not waking until the alarm goes off. I used get between 4-5 hours.

I must admit I was hoping for 4-5lbs off, but as my DH points out, I've rehydrated, so that will be a few pounds of water back on.

Are you finding any other benefits?

[cherrytreeblossom]

Did you manage just a couple of glasses GettingThere?

I am candidate for this thread too - too fat, drink too much

Wine is a terrible vice of mine

[gettingtherequickly]

Nope, bad day at work so caned the drink. Felt dreadful this morning, so back on it today, need to seriously consider going totally dry.

[Shizzlestix]

My bil stopped drinking for a month and dropped a stone. He ate fairly healthily during the month, but says it was mostly giving up the booze that helped. When I dropped a serious amount, I had one glass of watered down wine once a week, boo, but I think it really helped.

[toadgirl]

Only if you don't replace the booze calories with something else!

I stopped boozing and put on 4 stone!!!!

But then, I do have an addictive personality.

Hopefully you'll have better results :)

[toadgirl]

Dammit! I seem to have killed this thread with my negativity!

I now need to give up my endless coffees with full-fat milk and two sugars to lose weight :)

[StrongTeaHotShower]

Haha, you haven't killed it! Although I don't think I've lost any weight the bloating round my middle has definitely gone down.

gettingthere I hope you feel better now. Just one big binge makes me feel so bloated and fat. Come and join us in dey14 if you're still on for sobriety.

[QuimReaper]

Tonic water is your friend!

I've cut the wine Mon-Thurs, and find it pretty easy when I'm in the house but all bets are off if I'm out. As a result I basically don't socialise during the week. No bad thing, perhaps.

What amazed me was how quickly the "pour a glass of wine" habit became a "pour a tonic water" habit. We had a meeting a few weeks ago with our architect, and I got in some beer for him and DH, and drank tonic water myself. It wasn't until about an hour in that it dawned on me that I'd had carte blanche to hit the wine and hadn't even thought of it

[FrankiesKnuckle]

I could've written this - I stepped on the scales on Sunday and was horrified to see double figures admonishing me. 10st1lb.
I'm 5ft2.
I'm heavier now than 6 months post pregnancy.

I know I've been drinking too much, pretty much every night I'll open a bottle of wine aside from the 2 nightshifts I do per week.
Often 1 bottle isn't enough between 2....

I feel huge and bloated. And quite down. I've started the change though, no wine bought and I'm ramping up the exercise.
I'm even considering joining slimming world.

I'm quite impatient though, so if I don't see results within a week or 2 I know I'll lose heart.

[StrongTeaHotShower]

Oh Frankies the woes of being petite Even just a few pounds shows doesn't it. I hate the bloating and ditching the drink has really helped with that. Carbs are not my friend in that area either. I'd love to be 8 1/2 st or more realistically 9st that's my happy achievable weight.

[FrankiesKnuckle]

9st is now my goal.
Pre baby I was 8.5st (which crept up to nearer 9 if I'm honest!)
My lowest since my child was born was 9.4.
She's 3

I'm craving a drink too, had a rubbish day with a too tired and hot 3 year old, this is normally when I reach for the bottle.
I've already been down the gym for an hour so might just treat myself to a little bit of leftover chocolate cake... Baby steps!