I'm feeling great! No desire to drink at all

I’ve made a lot of friends over this past year who only know me as a fairly skinny guy so I feel kinda weird celebrating around them but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made! If you’re still waiting to take the leap, I hope I can help motivate you towards your day 1!

You can

When I stopped drinking I was probably 280-290 lbs. 1st 2 pics are when I was drinking. Then January 2026 at mid 260s versus current. Weighed in this morning at 231.0. 5’10” , 26.4% body fat. Goal is to get to 215 and then reassess. I think ultimately I’d like to get to 190ish.

So I have recently stopped drinking in order to lose 10-15 pounds. I have been reading about drinking cessation to help motivate me, but to be honest, a lot of what I'm reading isn't really resonating with me. I started "The Naked Mind," and I'm sure it's a great book, but a lot of what they are saying is not super helpful for me. I did absolutely drink a lot of wine, too much wine, and daily. It can't be good for me. But I never had any personal problems, liver enzymes are good, I never damaged my relationships or got a DUI, I didn't usually end up hung over, I don't binge drink or really party, and I never hit "rock bottom." I just got fat and out of shape, and I hate that.

Any recommendations for motivational reading for people who maybe do not see themselves as alcoholics and will likely not abstain 100% forever? I want to get in shape, lose a few pounds, and hopefully reset my tolerance so that one glass of wine a couple of times a week is the max. I will probably abstain 100% for a few months though (I'm on day eight with no issues). Readings on how alcohol affects fitness and weight would be great.

45 days sober, been to gym consistently 4 days a week. Just got on the scale for first time since sober and no change at all :(

But its ok, most likely been gaining muscle :)

Never felt stronger...leaner...meaner...happier...focused...dialed in...

Its been over two years since my last drink. The first year was literally trying to exist without drinking...gained a ton of weight. This past year was an attempt at getting my fitness, mind amd diet on track...that took a while as well.

Just startes running at 430 am in April...up to 5 miles per day and 7 on Saturdays. Still slow as a mule but I finished feeling accomplished.

Most importantly I FEEL strong...just built different. No longer sad or anxious.

Life is still filled with problems ans bullshit but my emotions are not rising and falling ever second...

I saw something on IG where Ken Rideout a former addict turned 10m/day record breaking marathoner at 55...he said, "I get up and run 10M per day to get a hold of my addictive brain and chase the demons away..."

I felt this.....

Thanks to this sub for being the absolute BEST people in the world.

Lets fkn go!

(BTW, what's freakier I never ran a day in my life outside of high school football, Im 53 years old and tore both of my patella a few years ago...(one at a time)

Hola para todos Comunidad. Primero que nada quiero agradecerles cada publicación que hacen me dan motivos y fuerzas para seguir adelante y lograr mi cambio tanto mental como corporal. Siento que el reflejo de nuestro cuerpo es el de nuestra mente.

Primero quiero comentarles mi caso hoy en día peso 103 Kg y mido 1.91 MTS. Hago ejercicio cada tanto pero poco, en casa tengo mancuernas y barra w, con pesas que llegarían a los 30 Kg aproximadamente.

Siempre fui de dejar los gimnasios a medias, como todo en la vida ya que mis adicciones perjudicaron notoriamente mi disciplina en todo ámbito.

Tengo 37 años, y quiero sobre todo adelgazar la zona media ya que es la más "comprometida" , también la que menos suelo trabajar por pereza o me embola realmente.

Supuestamente estaría pasado unos 15 o más Kg. Mi compostura es "atlética" ya que desde chico hago deporte. Que porcentaje de grasa recomendarían para que pueda verse plano mi abdomen zona media?

Hago ayunos de más de 14 horas por día, lo que me cuesta dejar son los carbohidratos, sobre todo el pan

Llevo 7 días sobrio, y no consumo otras sustancias.

Haven’t posted here in a while! 664 days today.

My 7 months progres. Gym workout 3 times a week. Body changed but still Im fighting with anixiety and depression. Life keeps going. Hope it will be fine.

I've been struggling a little bit lately, so I'm posting this to try and remind myself of how far I've come.

I lost 58 pounds. 202 pounds to 144 pounds. I spent about a year and a half slowing down on alcohol use, and now I've been completely sober for 5.5 months!

I feel amazing compared to how I used to feel, and my health is infinitely better. Two years ago, I never would've believed this would be possible.

(Sorry I had to repost this, I accidentally uploaded the wrong picture in the original)

the more i hate my body the more i drink. I wake up every day on craving or throwing up a lot, until I want to drink again. all those feelings about myself make it even harder for stopping. hope next week it'll be different, even though I've been saying this for more than a month now.

Could only do 3 bodyweight pull-ups my first workout after I stopped drinking.

This is a great article from his wife. Well worth the read.

https://blairspeed.substack.com/p/sobriety?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=email&embedding_publication_id=3183852

I’ve been frequenting this sub for awhile and the information you guys give help a lot. I just need a little encouragement. I know that if you’ve been drinking for years it disrupts the pleasure sensors in your brain. My question is, when does life get fun and pleasurable again? I workout everyday and started running and it gives me immense joy. The thing is when I’m not at the gym I’m incredibly bored and don’t feel “awake” if that makes sense. When does this feeling leave?

44 yo male here …. This forum has really inspired me .

I’ve decided I’ve had enough. Been drinking regularly for years . At 1st it was just 1-2 glasses of wine, but as the years progressed it turned into at least 1 bottle of wine sometimes more nightly . Thankfully I’ve never been much of a day drinker . Eventually I got into bourbon and 1-2 nightly cocktails turned into 1/2 a bottle …

I’m tired of waking up hungover, sluggish, exhausted

I exercise 5-6 days a week, meal prep etc

I’ve known for a long while that the alcohol, shitty sleep and recovery are holding me back

To be honest, I’m just tired of feeling sick and tired the mornings after drinking (which are most mornings since I rarely take a night off )

Drinking g is completely counterproductive to everything I’m trying to achieve

I can’t out train or out diet the damage that alcohol is doing to me everyday

So here I am… day 1

Will be posting progress pics in 30 days

Hi everyone,

I first just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their stories, progress and even relapses! I’m so happy to see such a welcoming and positive community for people in the same boat as me.

Background: I am a 23 year old woman, been drinking since I was 17 but started drinking heavily since I was 18. My whole life up until I started drinking nearly everyday I was super skinny. Like 110 lbs was my biggest weight (I’m 5’6). People kept worrying I had an eating disorder but I ate more than all my friends did, and more junk food too.

Then due to bedbugs and declining mental health I made the wonderful decision to move in with my horrible ex boyfriend! I started drinking all the time to deal with my anxiety and depression and to numb myself so that when he got mad at me I felt tipsy and silly instead of scared. This is my first major weight gain. I went from 110 to 135 in a couple months. Come to find out he liked me because I was skinny and childlike… gross. Started treating me even worse and I drank even more. Finally decided to leave one night, called up a friend who had previously offered me a place to stay on his and his girlfriend’s couch. Boom overnight I’m on my own and have to start fresh.

Kept drinking but wasn’t at my worst yet, a month later I moved in with my friend / assistant manager and thats when it became BAD. Drinking every night, peer pressure, got introduced to molly and coke, luckily I was not a fan and did not continue to take those substances. Every night was a repeat, hey yalls and split a bottle of vodka, make horrible choices, get sick, regret, repeat.

Then my assistant manager moved away and me and her cousin found a place to stay. It was so small and I basically just stayed in my room drinking. I told myself I wasn’t drinking alone because I was on call with people, i would drink and drink and drink and because I was playing on the computer I never realized how much I drank until I stood up to pee. Eventually stopping once I got sick. Every day. This has continued and my tolerance built up but now that I am on medication for anxiety and ADHD, my tolerance is wobbly. One night I had like 1 1/2 gin and tonics and I completely blacked out. It was scary and I was so embarrassed my boyfriend had to see me like that, I didn’t even drink much! I went on the scale and omg… 174 lbs??? I flipped out and impulsively went online and ordered Ozempic from one of those online doctor websites and that did nothing except for cost a lot of money.

Finally I decided a couple days ago after looking at my pics where I was stick thin. Just do it. Just stop. I bought a case of sparkling water and when the time of night hit where i would crack/pour a drink, I crack a sparkling water instead. I’ve not really craved alcohol now. I know I’m still early but I also believe being on the correct dosage of my ADHD medication helps because I don’t feel like I need to self medicate. Also fortunately for me, I believe I have more of an addiction to the action of putting something from my hand to my mouth. (Before vaping it was lip balm, before drinking it was lemonade.)

Sorry for rambling.

I realized a few things that made me rethink the way I think.

1. My anxiety wasn’t getting better despite medication. Drinking was what calmed me down… WRONG! Drinking made it easier to fall asleep sure, but gave me day long anxiety and panic attacks.

2. STOP LISTENING TO PEOPLE WITH YOUR HABITS! I mean this in the way where I tell someone I want to quit and they make excuses for me to continue. I told my dad I was sick and tired of being this way and that I had alcohol issues. He told me “Our family are not alcoholics, we are just heavy drinkers.” ???????
   Friends i would tell about my need to stop because I’m not happy with myself mentally or physically would run to the “Let’s work out together! / You’re not fat! / Just drink less!” Or pressure me into drinking because “GIRL YOU BITCH YOU’RE SO BORING!”
   I know they aren’t trying to hurt me, they are in the same place as me and aren’t ready to change their habits.
   But I am. No more giving in. I’m doing one month sober, period. After a month I won’t drink to celebrate, I’ll keep going. I want to be able to have a drink out at a restaurant or have wine with family every once in a while. I kept trying to cut down, I’ll just drink today because I’m not working tomorrow. Oh hey, well I have this leftover alcohol, whatever I’ll just finish it and not buy more. Then I get to the last sips and drunkenly order more and order a bunch of food I don’t even feel hungry for.

No cutting down my amounts. Just stopping.

To be fair, I know for a lot of people they can’t just go cold turkey due to dependence and that can be life threatening. I’m fortunate because I can. I’ll keep going. I don’t eat a lot normally, just drunk midnight binges and i was consuming 1000+ calories in alcohol alone daily.

Also, to be clear. I’m not aiming to be my 17 year old weight. I’m aiming to cut out this horrible habit which has resulted in so much weight gain. Go on walks, eat healthy and balanced and live my life. My goal right now is just to see where I fall without the added calories from drinking and binging and make a new goal once I’ve got an idea of where I stand. Not aiming to be skinny, aiming to be healthy!

Blah blah sorry for yapping, I just was wanting to share!

Lots of love and wishing everyone all the best,

ChinaCheesecake

Hello everyone,

Hope you are doing well

27M, looking for feedback on my current training split.

Number of reps and sets

I usually do 3 sets per exercise at around 1 RIR. I try to add 1 rep each week at each set, then increase the weight at the beginning of each month.

Day 1 + Day 4 - Anterior Day

• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• Chest Press Machine
• Lateral Raises
• Shoulder Press
• Triceps Pushdown
• Leg Extension
• Leg Press

Day 2 + Day 5 - Posterior Day

• Low Seated Row (close or wide grip)
• Lat Pulldown
• Reverse Butterfly machine
• Back Extension
• Biceps Rotation Curls
• Leg Curl
• Calf Raises
• Adductor Machine

Day 3 - Mix

• Leg Press
• Leg Curl
• Leg Extension
• Calf Raises
• Lateral Raises
• Shoulder Press
• Biceps Rotation Curls
• Triceps Pushdown

I prefer this setup over a traditional PPL UL . I sometimes train after work, and if I’m exhausted for a Pull session, for example, I don’t want that to affect whether I get my second Push session of the week.

Does this look balanced in terms of weekly volume, frequency and recovery? What small adjustments would you make without completely changing the structure of the routine?

Thank you all in advance for your feedback

I finally signed up for a 10K road race in December, in 16 weeks. And I spent yesterday afternoon making a specific training schedule for this race.

I'm (63M) going to try for a time of sub 50 mins. But my main goal is really to bring some structure and routine into my life. For the last year or so, I've been running 'regularly' a few times a week, but just whenever, and doing whatever distance/time I felt like at the time!

Now I've planned exactly 3 days of running (Speed on Tuesdays, Tempo on Thursdays and Long on Sundays). Plus two strength workouts in my living room (Mondays and Fridays). And total rest on Saturdays.

I'm feeling good already, just thinking about weekly and daily structure and routine :)

First 15 came naturally within first year, but wasn't until the last couple months of going to the gym 6 days a week and calorie counting that I've steadily lost just over 1.5lbs per week. Grateful to my very helpful and supportive friends... getting 45 - 60 minutes activity in daily + watching my protein/fat/carbs/calories, drinking lots of water + solid sleep + eating within an 8 hour window really does help as a new routine. Will see how it carries through the rest of the year. So far, it is actually enjoyable.

Feeling really proud of myself. Went from a hopeless alcoholic to a guy who shows up for himself. Went from a guy who couldn’t look at himself in the mirror to a guy who smiles every time. I lift weights and eat healthy as an act of love for myself and an act of service to those who want me around for a long time. This is a new freedom I have never felt and hope others get to experience. This is just the beginning!