No benefits when stopping alcohol

[Gem2J]

Hi Everyone
I hope you are all well.
For 5 years now i have drunk 4 pints of beer a night. I really don't want to do this and would prefer to stop drinking all together.
I am not as addicted as I thought I was, because my new years resolution was to slowly cut down. I have my four pints once every other day:) and I find it easy.
But now I have decided to go back to my 4 pints a night, because for me the benefits of drinking alcohol every night far outweigh the negatives.
And please don't read this if you are suffering from alcohol dependence, cause i do not want to encourage anyone, because alcohol is bad.
I am just writing this cause just want to make sense of it all, and get your thoughts?
I am very weight conscious. and work hard for my slim figure, and i am not willing to put on weight, no matter what the cost to my health. I have been overweight before and it ruined my life and self esteem.
So anyway you might think that if i cut down alcohol i will lose weight, but i have gained weight! And i am not eating pizzas and chocolate, on my days of not drinking alcohol i eat chicken, lots of veg and for desert I have an orange. But I eat until I am satisfied.
On my beer days i have 4 pints and a potato.
So really i can't cope with the weight gain and have decided to go back on the beer.
Also to buy all this healthy meals like chicken, veg and fruit it costs me double! and i am already on the verge of food bank and so it is cheaper to buy 4 pints of beer and a potato from Morrisons, and i would rather have that extra money to feed my kids.
I am never violent when I drink and it does not affect my day to day life, I work full time. But now after being made redundant I have found a new job that requires me to be awake at 5am for a 6am start. I suffer from insomnia and if i wasn't on the booze I don't go to sleep till 8am. And even if i take sleeping pills and drink no alcohol I still feel rough the next day.
Also i am a very LAZY person by nature. not working but at home. I have always been like this and on the days when I didn't drink alcohol well the house would be trash, alcohol enables me to keep on top of housework and pursue my online business dreams. If I stopped then i would be in bed 24/7 and a fat lazy slob
But I don't know how this is right, surely i should stop alcohol for my health? but I honestly don't see any benefits

Beer makes you feel full - so then you don’t eat.

What kind of role model are you to the kids … 4 pints and a potato 🥔 isn’t setting a good example!?

What will your future health be like on daily 4 pints and a potato? A shorter life with poor health.

Aim to exercise daily even if it’s just an hours walking.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBhRD_kPKXu/?igsh=MXFnamw3azdwMnI1Ng==]]

made me thinks of this

How many calories are there in 4 pints of beer or lager?

i thank every one for there advice even though most of you were taking the piss! lol i don't mind.
i know most of you think i am making excuses, because i want to drink. but the fact is, i don't even like the taste of alcohol, and yeah the buzz is ok, but i could do without, it's not that great. And i don't get shakes or crave alcohol in the slightest.
I would rather have food than alcohol any day! and i just wish i could eat without fearing weight gain!
but i have got myself into this situation, and if anyone could just read this post carefully. i really don't see how stopping alcohol can personally benefit me. yeah it will probably save me 10 years of my life, but was about now? i need to get up for work in the morning and i need to not be morbidly obese and i need my house clean and if you could just be me for even a second you will know that it is impossible to be able to get up out of bed on a Saturday to even wash a single plate!
and i don't know if that is depression, i mean i am taking citalopram! but i know i will never change no matter how hard i try. I have taken motivation courses, i have wrote myself lists, but nothing works to be able to clean the house. Only alcohol. i am ashamed to admit but on my days off I hold my piss in cause i can't be arsed to go toilet! let alone do anything!
and i have insomnia so i don't go to sleep till 8 in the morning if not drinking alcohol! but i need to work!! and i take pride in myself that i hold a full time job! if i can't use alcohol to sleep, how would i sleep? I would just have to go on benefits, cause there is no way i am turning up for a job when my body decides it will sleep at 8am. and i have tried sleeping pills instead of alcohol, but my body is so used to sleeping pills that they don't work anymore!

yeah i also don't drive so i have to walk an hour each way to get to work, so i get plenty of exercise,
and i am a good role model for my kids! thanks for asking chipsnbrownsauce!
I have done a lot for my kids. They are 18 and 19 years old. and unlike me when i was there age i smoked and drank. but look at my kids, they won't touch a cig or drink! and i am proud
I was emotionally and physically abused all through my childhood by my parents. and i wouldn't dream of doing that to them.
They have been brought up by me, and I have encouraged them, never hit them and tell them i love them every day. I take them on holidays and support them in every way i can. and i work full time and i gave up my 20k inheritance for them. 10k each so they could buy a car or get a mortgage.
You know nothing so get off your high horse

Just a question if you think what you are doing right why are you posting?

you have missed 4 nights at the most and now found yourself a bullshit set of reasons to justify drinking every day .

On the remote chance that this is a serious thread (if so I feel very sorry for you!!!) you should probably move this to the eating disorders area as this seems by far the biggest concern

How much weight have you put on in the 8 days that you have cut down your drinking?

yeah you are right! I justify it, because i believe my reasons for drinking alcohol is right and I can't see the benefit in stopping. But I have also been conditioned in life to believe that alcohol is wrong, and i know in my heart that drinking is wrong. So why is everything working against me?

Lets just start with one thing at a time

So i am asking someone, why can't i just frecking eat my chicken and veg with no alcohol and for desert i can have a tangerine. why does my body put on weight? yet i have 4 pints and a potato and i lose weight. Baring in mind that i will do anything to maintain my weight, and i would say I do have an eating disorder and i can absolutely not accept putting on weight! so if i do put on weight i will go straight back to alcohol!

why do i deserve to put on weight? I don't eat pizza, chocolate or any shit like that!

Why does my body have to punish me for not drinking beer! I don't understand

So you are right. I do justify it because no one has said why i have put on weight with chicken and veg, and lose weight with beer and a potato!

No you’re an alcoholic and your kids will have been irreparably damaged by you and your choices. They won’t tell you but this is the sort of shit they will talk about in therapy, with their friends or on forums in the future. Just like literally every other child of an alcoholic parent - you’d be a miracle not to have fucked them up because I’ve never in my life met anyone with an alcoholic parent who doesn’t say it affected them really negatively. Of course they don’t drink ffs - they’ve seen what it’s doing to you.

And why do you put on weight? Because you are probably currently very underweight and your body is trying to get back to a healthy weight. What is your BMI?

You might be putting on weight eating healthily ( and no booze) but surely you would still look better, I can’t imagine you would look great if you are only being nourished with four pints and a potato.
It also sounds like you have quite bad anxiety which you should see a doctor about, if you got on top of that it might help with your sleeping and anxiety around weight gain
Also incorporate exercise ( walking maybe) into your day to burn off the extra calories you are consuming

Sorry but I am hardly an alcoholic just drinking 4 beers a night. My dad drunk 4 beers a night but I never batted an eye. So what? He had 4 pints?
I am hardly black out drunk. It just gives me a little buzz.
You want to talk about irreparable damage, well let my father (who was sober) before he went to work, cause he was also a workaholic, lay into you, and your mother emotionally abusing you. That's irreparable damage.
You have probably be brought up in a lovely family environment. good for you.
And anyway, yes they don't smoke cause i was in hospital with tubes up my nose cause I couldn't breath
and they don't drink either. Because what you said, that they don't drink/smoke cause of me? then lesson learnt right?
I have lots of friends, who drink more than me, with kids that are my sons age and they drink and are on the piss at 18. So good that i have done my kids a favour. They don't drink and they are happy. They don't have to worry about coming home from school/collage that they will get beaten up, like I had to.

No parent is perfect and i would rather my kid go to a counsellor and say mummy drinks but she says she loves me every day, she takes me on holiday and she give me 10k in savings, she supports and encourages me, rather than what i had to go through or my dad had to go through with his parents beating the shit out of him every day!

OP you obviously come from a difficult background and your situation is complex.

If your diet mostly consists of beer and spuds, you'll be suffering from malnutrition.

I would see your GP as a matter of urgency and get some blood tests and a check up. Make sure you get checked for vitamin D as deficiency can cause weight gain.

Alcoholics also tend to be low in B vitamins so I would order some supplements: multivitamin, magnesium glycinate, fish oil, pro biotics, B complex and vitamin D.

Your GP should know what resources there are locally but there are two avenues to go down for alcoholism; SMART Recovery and AA.

Also speak to your GP about your eating disorder. Beat is an eating disorder charity that has a good helpline.

You may not have any energy because of depression but it could also be because of a vitamin deficiency as well as other physical reasons. Discuss your lack of motivation and mood with your Dr. You might have to book a double appointment.

Therapy would be beneficial. You could try BACP for therapists.

You need to start eating properly.

Thank you, this is the support i need

I find it sad that you would rather die young living this way than risk weight gain from a more healthy lifestyle. Have you thought about the impact that might have on your children? How do you think they will process the fact their mother chose ‘vanity’ over a full and happy life with them? Because you know, that would fuck them up and leave them with a lifetime of issues to deal with. You have an eating disorder, there is no doubt about it. It has taken a firm hard grip on you and my only advice is to talk to your GP and ask for help because you cannot do this by yourself. I am genuinely sorry for you OP, I truly am. As the child of an alcoholic with mental health needs watching them disintegrate in front of my eyes over time was truly heartbreaking. There was no reasoning with them their logic was that skewed by their addiction. They died when they were 50 and I was only in my 20s. Nearly 30 years later I still feel the tragedy of their life and loss and it haunts me.

Sorry OP but I find it remarkably sad that you’d rather be slim and die younger than you should than change your lifestyle so your children can have adequate time with you.
That’s one of the most selfish things I’ve ever read on here to date.

It’s also sad how you argue fact about things you clearly have no idea about and use it as a reason to justify your behaviour. It’s simply not fair on your children to watch you do this to yourself. You obviously have a lot of issues stemming from childhood abuse and I think it’s distorting your logic and reasoning. I say that as no insult but a genuine concern. As PP have said, with your diet you will be malnourished. There is absolutely no way on this earth that you have gained 2lb of body fat in eight days by eating veg, chicken and oranges. It takes an excess of 3000 calories per week to gain a pound. Bearing in mind your BMR will sit typically above 1200-1300 calories per day if you did absolutely nothing but breathe and sit around all day, not move a muscle or burn off anything excess due to exercise. You said you get plenty of exercise so you’d need more calories naturally anyway.

You’ve spent years with the best part of your diet being alcohol, the weight gain you will be experiencing will be water retention whilst your body tries to work out basically what’s going on because you’ve drastically changed your diet. Your body will be working in fight or flight mode because it’s not used to getting any proper nourishment or knowing where it will get its next meal from. It will temporarily hold onto what it can because you’ve trained your body to starve essentially. If you ate sensibly for a few weeks you would see it even out again. The worst you will do is not put any body fat on but allow your body the chance to function properly and gain much needed muscle.

Weight fluctuates normally throughout the day for various reasons so it’s helpful to only weigh yourself once a week in the morning on the same day to get an accurate reading. 8 days is nowhere near long enough to get an accurate picture of what your weight will look like. You can have a healthy diet, eat the right amount of calories and still be slim. The body needs foods from all different food groups for good reason. You need to educate yourself on how the body uses and metabolises calories because your thought process and facts are all wrong, sorry to say.

Most of all you need to focus on your mental state rather than physical at the moment because your disordered thoughts around eating will be a continuous harm to your body and the amount you’re drinking long term will likely have huge effects later on down the line if it’s not already. I say this with no hint of flippancy but carry on as you are and you will be as slim as you like because you will be dead. Surely your life and the happiness of your children is worth more than your own skin deep appearance regardless.

Your dcs love you and they want you around for a really long time to come. You also sound really anxious about your past and your future, which is making you stuck in the present, not able to change when in reality you’d like to change. I get it. Changing your habits is scary.

I do hope you take the advice to talk to your GP and explain about your sleep patterns and fear of weight gain and potential eating disorder. At the very least, your eating is disordered by the sound of it.

You may actually be better to reduce your intake rather than reduce it to every other day so drink 3 pints for the first little while then drop again. Or perhaps the GP can prescribe something. Idk. But these are all things to discuss with a doctor.

You are an alcoholic very firmly in denial.

You have children. Are you not in the least bit concerned? Or consider them in all this?

this sounds like a troll post because 2 pints of larger and a packet of crisps is not it.

You full of excuses to hang on to the drinking. Of course your sleep will be worse at first. You didn't even give it a chance, you couldn't stay off it, you are an alcoholic. Your children won't thank you for dying young. My dad drank, he wasn't violent or angry, he still functioned and did all the things, and it still effected us. Thankfully he did end up quitting eventually and so is still with us, unlike his dad who was also an alcoholic and died young. My brother is an alcoholic and drug addict, my sister has very serious mental health issues. You're deep in delusions and addiction, this is absolutely not what's best for you kids. I hope for their sake one day you can see that.

You need to make an appointment with your GP. You have warped views around what is healthy both physically and emotionally. You aren't doing your dc any favours no matter how much you convince yourself you are.

OP how often are you weighing yourself? Your body weight can fluctuate daily which is why you should not weigh yourself more than once a week. When you weigh yourself is it the same time and routine? I.e I tend to weigh myself every few weeks early in the morning before breakfast. I had a very serious eating disorder when I was younger so so understand some of what you are saying.

However I also had an alcoholic father who died when I was in my early 20s due to alcoholism. He didn't just die but put me in a position of having to withdraw the machines that were keeping him alive. I have to live with that burden for the rest of my life.

You maybe here for a good time not a long time but you are a mother and your children will need you for the rest of there lives.. Please don't deprive them of that so you can maintain your figure and drink alcohol. You cannot even begin to imagine how much it hurts knowing my dad should be here but isn't because he put alcohol before me. He wasn't there for my wedding, he never met my husband and never saw his grandchildren. There is a huge dad shaped whole missing in my life and has been since I was very young. He wasn't and never will be replaceable. You are not either.

Have you tried melatonin? I have a child that is prescribed it as he cannot sleep without it. His mind doesn't switch off (nuerodivergent) . It's an absolute game changer for him. His siblings sleep with no issues but he just needs help to do so. He can't function without sleep so it's a double edge sword.

Four pints and a potato diet 😂😂