10 Days Sober: Will quitting alcohol make me gain or lose weight?

Drinking has made me fat.

That’s no secret.

My size has grown along with my alcohol abuse. Beer belly is the right name. Over the last 2 years of increasing drinking, I’ve added 35 pounds. Obviously alcohol weight gain.

Now I’m committed and moving forward in my recovery, should I expect to lose weight?

Some say yes – other say no.

Just from a calorie standpoint this should be obvious. My two bottles of wine were nearly 1300 calories. Even 10 bottles of light beer could be 1200. Eliminating that should be a real step in the right direction.

I also had a bad habit of drunk eating. As my drinking would wind down, I liked to have a late night snack. That could be half a pizza or a couple sandwiches.

One other upside is my renewed interest in exercise. My first 10 days sober wouldn’t have happened without the jogging and other physical activity. I’m even considering a return to CrossFit once I buy bigger gym clothes.

The real negative was my first few days of sobriety. I was so crazy and stressed that I ate anything in front of me. It was a food disaster marathon.

I’ll update this post later, but 10 days in I’m only down about a pound.  I’m feeling very healthy overall – even a few minutes this morning when I liked myself.

I didn’t quit drinking to lose weight -and I’ll fight to stay sober even if I gain weight.

But it would be nice to wake up sober and a little closer to skinny.