Warning: Vanity Post!
It’s been 45 days since I’ve had a drink. I was drinking an average of a bottle of red wine a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes I threw some beer in there for shits and giggles.
I have gained about 15 pounds in the last year and a half. In 2014, I hired a trainer, got a grip on my alcohol consumption, lost 12 pounds, and was THRILLED with my appearance (for a mid-40s woman, that in and of itself is pretty amazing). Then, I got off track and started drinking more and more (again). So now I’m up to my highest weight ever, mostly thanks to my love of red wine. I am really hate the additional weight.
I’m not going to lie; one of the reasons I gave up drinking was because I knew it was making me gain weight. I was trying to lose weight, but really, how was that even possible with the wine? If I was drinking an average of a bottle a day, that’s 600 calories a day in wine, 4,200 calories a week! That’s more than a pound of fat in a week, assuming a pound is 3,500 calories!
So LOGICALLY, once I gave up the wine…once I gave up 600 calories a DAY, 4,200 calories a WEEK, I should be able to lose some weight, RIGHT?!?! The laws of thermodynamics and all that still apply, RIGHT?!?!
ONE MEASLY POUND in 45 days!!! How can this possibly be? I’m eating the same as I was when I was drinking, so I should be losing weight!
I know, this is vain, but I admit it, sometimes I’m vain. This not drinking thing is really hard, so it sure would be great if I could at least lose some damned weight!
I'm bummed...
Hi DobieGirl! Don't panic. It'll happen. It takes a while for your metabolism to readjust, but soon you'll find yourself losing about half a pound a week, which quickly adds up! I've lost 18 pounds in nine months - without trying. Amazing! Xx
ReplyDeleteI sure hope so! That would be AMAZING!!
DeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteExcess weight could be easily more of a health issue than a point of vanity when you've gained it from alcohol. I don't think it's vain at all. In the 16 days since I've quit, I've lost a good amount of the blub I'd accumulated from years of white-wine overindulgence, and yeah, I feel great in my skinny jeans, but more importantly it feels like I'm doing my body a huge favor. Most of us in our 40's find at a certain point that we can't lose weight as quickly as we could in our 20's and 30's, but it will happen. You'll get there again! Congrats on 45 days. -kari
Thanks! I've definitely noticed that it's harder to lose weight, especially now in my late (gasp!) 40s. Trying to be patient!
DeleteThe two never went together for me. I was a ripped, lean starving 40 ish woman when I quit drinking.
ReplyDeleteNow I am a fit, healthy almost 44 year old who loves her body and threw away her scale.
Focus on feeling good. The rest will follow.
I'm so glad to hear you love your body now!
DeleteI share your frustration. When I did my last 100 day challenge I barely lost a thing. It was so depressing. I don't think it's vanity. I am just not comfortable in my skin when I am this big. Hopefully SM is right and it will start to fall off soon. The most important thing is not putting that awful poison into our bodies. Well done on 45 days by the way! A x
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's exactly it...I'm not comfortable in my own skin. I'm trying to be patient and accept it all for what it is, but I'm not great at patience!
DeleteI recognized myself in this post. Besides feeling shitty, I also gained a lot of weight in the past year. About ten pounds. I would love to lose these pounds. But most importantly I would love to stop feeling shitty. Just like Ann said - let's focuson staying sober and feeling well. :)
ReplyDeleteMost of the time now, I'm not feeling shitty! That's a HUGE benefit of not drinking, for sure! I had kind of forgotten what it feels like to not feel some level of shitty all the time...
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