Dry January and not losing weight

[concernedalot]

Is anyone else in the same situation? I'm doing DJ this year for the first time ever, and i've not had a drink for 11 days now. I was hoping that at least a pound would have dropped off considering the amount of wine I WAS drinking. I feel really disheartened. I've been eating less in general and have cut out the crisps and nibbles I would have normally had. This is the first time in 15 years i've managed to go 11 days without a drink and I was hoping for at least a bit of a reward on the scales for all my hard work. I'm feeling really disheartened and it's not doing anything to spur me on with the rest of DJ. Is anyone else in the same position? For context i'm 46 possibly perimenopausal and have 4 stones to lose

Me! I haven't had a takeaway for a couple of months or a drink in weeks and no change on the scales since.

You need to address what you’re eating, but just cut out alcohol. Are you drinking at least 2ltrs of water a day?

@concernedalot same here! I did dry Jan and Feb last year without losing any weight and it's the same this year. I think my metabolism is messed up from yoyo dieting. However, my skin looks a lot fresher and I am sleeping really well...so embracing the other positives.

I put last dry January as I replaced booze with snacks. If you really want to lose weight I’d try the fast 800 for 3 weeks (until the end of jan).

I read Why We Eat (Too Much) by Andrew Jenkinson and there was a section about why alcohol isn't strongly linked to weight even though wine is quite calorific. I can't quite remember the details (as I'm not much of a drinker so it wasn't particularly relevant to me - I was reading it for the info about food choices), but I think it was to do with how your body works to get rid of alcohol quickly rather than retaining the calories?

@SmallElephant this must be true because when they say a large glass of wine is nearly as many calories as a burger I'm thinking really!? I used to drink a bottle a night so how am I not a complete porker? I wonder if it's lack of saturated fat!

OP I am also the same, not losing the belly fat at all so far, I wonder if they'll be a small change by the 31st!? Doesn't help with the motivation much does it?

But still... keep going everyone we can do this! X

I'm in a similar boat. As the saying goes, you lose weight in the kitchen. If you can combine dry Jan with a couple of weeks of (ideally) sustainable improvements to diet, you ought to start to see a difference.

Easier said than done though, and even if I don't I'll settle for sleeping and looking a bit better by the end of Jan.

@SmallElephant

I read Why We Eat (Too Much) by Andrew Jenkinson and there was a section about why alcohol isn't strongly linked to weight even though wine is quite calorific. I can't quite remember the details (as I'm not much of a drinker so it wasn't particularly relevant to me - I was reading it for the info about food choices), but I think it was to do with how your body works to get rid of alcohol quickly rather than retaining the calories?

Interesting. The problem for me with alcohol is not just the calories in the wine, but also the way it makes me crave stodgy food or just bad food and I make awful food choices when I've had a few drinks.

Maybe try and log what you are eating on an app like My Fitness Pal, then you’ll see if you’re overeating without realising.
If you aren’t losing weight, try and think of the other benefits of Dry January, like giving your liver a break, saving money. You’ve done well so far, if you can get to the end of the month, it’s still an achievement, whether you lose a few pounds or not.

Weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. In all likely hood, if all you have done is cut out alcohol, unless you have a superclean and low calorie diet, you aren't going to see wonders happen

Yes @Gwenhwyfar he says that too!

@MissNothing1991

Weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. In all likely hood, if all you have done is cut out alcohol, unless you have a superclean and low calorie diet, you aren't going to see wonders happen

Plenty of people even argue you shouldn't necessarily exercise when trying to lose weight and that it's more important when maintaining.

I gave up alcohol just over 3 years ago and found that I actually put on weight and felt quite cheated! Can't remember where now but I heard that sometimes when you give up alcohol you still crave the sugars which can lead to over eating sweet things and carby stuff. Also I realised I was allowing myself more treats because I was 'missing out' on the drinkies.

I certainly wouldn't expect a miracle loss of weight purely from cutting out alcohol. I had a drinking problem once upon a time and I certainly didn't suddenly lose weight once I stopped drinking. If anything I put it on from eating more junk to make up for it.

At times in my life when I've drunk more, I've been thinner, and vice versa. Wine calories seem to be handled differently to food calories, by my body at least. I don't eat when I drink alcohol, so I wouldn't nibble in the evening if on wine, so that explains being thinner if you only count the food calories. It's like the wine calories aren't counted by my body at all! Works for me 😁 Sure everyone is different though.

It's still a great thing to do OP, even if you don't lose weight. You should have better sleep, which helps with weight loss long term, and you should have more energy so you could increase exercise if you wanted to. Good on you for doing it anyway!