Anyone else struggle with binge eating while quitting alcohol or drugs? I’m an alcoholic & I’ve been working on trying to lose weight, I’ve been walking everyday which is definitely helping with my sobriety. But I keep finding myself binge eating. Even after I tell myself to stop and I know I’m full, I find myself back in the cupboard out of boredom. And also I think it’s helping with my cravings. But it’s not gonna work for me! Any tips from any of you guys. I’m A WHOLE WEEK SOBER TODAY. 
15 Likes
Congratulation to your one week of sobriety 
that is awesome 
I was graving sweets like crazy after quitting drinking – think thats because of the missing carbs/sugar …not the Same like binge eating but I can understand a bit …
6 Likes
Congratulations Snailer! I’m 5 days tomorrow. I know exactly what you mean about food, I try not to have bread in the house bc that sets me off. I find myself wondering to the fridge more than I used to, for sure.
5 Likes
Me too Vreni with the sweets, sugar free humbugs are my new drug of choice. lol
4 Likes
It’s pretty normal to overeat when first giving up alcohol. For the first 6-7 months I prioritised getting sober over everything and anything. That meant using snaks, chocolate, and ice cream to help curb the cravings. Last summer I started cutting down on snacking. And now, my eating is pretty normal/healthy, I’m steadily losing a couple of pounds per week and I work out 4-5 times per week. If I wasn’t sober, I couldn’t stick to my current healthy eating and exercise regime because hangovers don’t mesh well with long-term lifestyle changes.
6 Likes
Huge congratulations on ur 2 weeks of sobriety!!
And yes… i can also really relate to the binge eating issue after getting clean. I have put on weight bcuz of it and it bothers me immensly. I do believe that i have replaced one addiction for another. I used drugs to cope and then when drugs were removed, i ended up turning to food to cope instead. Its gotten better but i have my days 
so ur definitly not alone in experiencing this.
I found exercise to really help with my binge eating as well as tracking my food intake (so im aware of how much I am eating in a day). Preparing healthy snacks beforehand so that when i feel like binging i can eat something healthier. Its tough. I think alot of us go thru this in recovery. Youre not alone 
2 Likes
Thank you all so much! I’ve done a bit better today. I just need to work on myself and feeling better instead of replacing it with something else such as food. It’s SOO hard. I’m going to focus on some spring cleaning this evening, I really hope this helps. I’m trying to give myself some grace for now.
Perfect idea! I think sometimes we expect too much of ourselves all at once. Eyes on the prize, and that prize is sobriety. You’ll figure out the rest later! 
2 Likes
I feel like jolly ranchers are a really big help to have for a quick little treat that doesn’t fill you up more than needed. Hope that helps 🫶🏻
2 Likes