Staying off the alcohol but now i'm eating too much!?

Question

So, I'm trying to give up drinking alcohol because I feel it's becoming a problem (have been drinking a bottle of wine up to 4 nights per week).

I was doing the drinking in the evenings and now,for about a month,more often than not,I'm no longer drinking anything at all (although I'll admit to the odd slip but it's early days)

However,when i'm not drinking,I've started eating loads of food that I don't need. I just feel really hungry. This didn't happen when I was drinking at night.

I have always eaten a balanced diet of three meals plus snacks daily even when I was drinking but now I'm eating more,I can even cook another meal for myself or order in pizza when I've already eaten dinner! If I don't do that I'll be snacking on bread or chocolate or anything I can get my hands on basically!

I don't want to gain loads of weight whilst I'm giving up alcohol.

What's going on?

Answer 1

ditch the pizza and eat a bowl or cereal or two. Seriously it is so much lower in fat and will fill u up healthier than pizza. I used to eat pizza all the time a few years ago and I was always over weight. Its just really bad for you. Since I have cut take away out and eat healthier bread carbs i have kept the weight off. But u need to eat bread, so try cereal or rice crackers because even a whole box of rice crackers is only 400 calories, 3 g of fat. Pizza is atleast 700 calories and dont even wanna know how much fat with all that oil. Giving up alcohol must have put ur body into shock wanting to eat something, so eat, just dont get pizza

Answer 2

Your body got used to a ton of empty and sugary calories every night you had that wine. IT's craving the sugar, hence the chocolate, and it's craving the empty carbs, hence the breads.

It's easy to substitute one addiction for another. Learning why you want that alcohol at night is as important as stopping. What made you want to drink in the first place, that's whats making you want to eat.

Try eating the right kinds of foods at night first. A big snack of fresh veggies and fruits. The fruits will give you the natural sugar which will work in your body much better than refined sugars. The veggies will give you the carbs, but in a much healthier form as well. You can eat as much of them as you'd like, and the calories won't be too bad.

That bottle of wine had huge calories to it, so you can probably eat quit a bit without gaining weight. But the types of foods you are eating aren't helpful.

Go back and really work out what made you want to drink in the first place. Was it a way to relax? In what good ways can you learn to relax instead of using something? Food, especially those types that you are eating, do tend to give you a feel good high, much like the alcohol did. It also numbs you emotionally like the alcohol did. What do you need to numb or what do you need to work on to get past needing a fix in any form? That's your key to fixing this.

Start writing a journal (not typing either, it's not the same thing, you let out more emotions with writing than yo udo typing) and really find what you are trying to run from inside. Exercise is a great way to get numb and relieve tention for the day. Take a nice half hour walk, doesn't have to be super fast or anything, just a nice pace that you are comfortable with. Biking, yoga, exercise dvd. Whatever it takes and whatever you like enough to do again. Mix it up and do all of these things on different days.

good luck and congrats on seeing the problem before it becomes too much and for having the courage to do something about it all!

Answer 3

First, congratulations on cutting down on the alcohol. You really should give yourself a solid pat on the back for a difficult task you've accomplished.

As for the eating...whenever you feel the urge to snack, try sipping some water instead. You can also try going for a walk or other type of physical activity just to get your mind off of food.

You're doing great!

Answer 4

alcohol is very high in calories. You are eating as usual, it's just that before you were drinking your calories, and know you are eating them.

Buy yourself appetite suppressants. They will work for about 3-4 weeks, then you will get used to them. During this time eat less, train yourself not to snack, and eat a lof of vegetables and fruit. You need to shrink your stomach. Then it will be easier for you. Start every meal with a HUGE salad, and when you feel like eating, eat an apple, or a pear, or a carrot.