I am currently participating in a Bodenvy program. I’v done my initial round of CoolSculpting and now I’m doing a round of CoolToning. All the while on a strict KETO diet. I fast from 7:30pm until 1pm with a plant based protein shake at 11am. I eat mostly salads, steak and chicken. I have discovered a low carb pizza crust that I use yo make pizza every once in a while. In 4 weeks I have gone from 207 pounds to 194. During the last 2 weeks or so I have acquired a treadmill of which I walk 2.5 mph on incline number one for 25 minutes 4-5 days per week. My Ketones I measure daily are between 1.9 to 2.8. I have been alcoholic my whole life and I’ve been drinking straight vodka about 8 ounces per day for the last 10 years or so. I have recently cut that back to 6 ounces. I am beginning to understand that alcohol is not my friend. My nutritionalist from Bodenvy points out that I am not losing weight from my visceral fat area (behind my abdominal wall and around my organs). I have lost some at the beginning (like almost 2 liters), but I have become stuck. My fat around my belly has diminished but I want more…
Keto stuckness
Okay. First, if visceral fat is a problem, lose the alcohol entirely. That will help clear up the visceral fat in a couple of weeks. Don’t eat any sugar, either, especially anything with fructose in it. Glucose is bad enough, because of the insulin response, but the fructose (whether in table sugar or found on its own in food) has to be handled by the same liver pathway that handles alcohol. That pathway is easily overwhelmed, and when that happens, fat starts to build up in the liver and other organs.
So if you can manage to do without alcohol and sugar, you are likely to see good progress. I find that with certain things, total abstinence can actually be easier than trying to consume them in moderation, and programmes such as A.A. have evolved techniques for getting through the day by postponing the next drink (or other addictive substance) to the following day. I use that to handle my sugar and carb addiction: when my sister makes cornbread or pasta, I just tell myself I can have all I want–tomorrow, just not today.
This: “total abstinence can actually be easier than trying to consume them in moderation.” @PaulL is right on.
My only concern, and that of my doctor, is sudden halt may result in withdrawal that could be dangerous. I’ve been drinking every night for many many years.
Many former addicts/alcoholics here (myself included) who did indeed quit cold turkey… after many years.
A little bit of your alcohol may actually keep you addicted and eventually lead to more consumption… at least this was my experience.
I wish you luck, however you get there.
You’ll be so much happier and healthier in the long run.
You got this!
@PaulL and @robintemplin have shared wise words above.
Clearly, your commitment to pursuing keto is outstanding. But to be candid, I sense that a commitment to ridding yourself of alcohol will be much more important to your future health and well-being than even restricting carbs.
Whatever is motivating you to improve your health situation (your own future, being there for others you love, …) might be the best focus to apply to eliminating the alcohol. Keto is also highly recommended, but I’d put that as #2 on the list if you had to choose.
Of course, you don’t really have to choose - as you are capable of doing both and they will reinforce each other if done diligently.
Best wishes 
I’m sensing a paradigm shift in me since a seed was planted by my nutricianalist. I for some reason have been under the motivation of doing both. Whatever I could do to be more healthy AND keep drinking. I’m beginning to realize that alcohol is NOT my friend. I if I let it, it may very well steal my future health gains. It would suck if I were to become fat free with a healthy heart and die of liver failure… Alcohol actually is in my way, certainly not my ally.
Whatever you do, never stop your efforts in this WOE, and never stop fighting to get healthy and stop alcohol consumption. You’re here, as are we, for a reason. Encouragement, advice, support and caring. And it’s a game changer.
FWIW:
My only sibling died with a staff infection, but also had stage 4 cirrohsis at 51.( Had the liver been healthier, he’d have had a fighting chance.) Left behind his own young family, and huge extended family and friends. He gave up trying to get healthy, and could not stop drinking.
Fight the good fight, friend.
My brother quit drinking suddenly, and it did mess him up; he was found lying unconscious at the side of the road. I think he drank a lot more than 8 drinks a day. However, I do believe that at 8 drinks a day there is a risk. Don’t take my word for it; you can read up on alcohol withdrawal syndrome if you like.
If you are able to cut back gradually on your own, good for you. Otherwise, you could check out AA and/or detox.
I would get some help with the alcohol. Support groups are very useful. Whatever one needs to fix about oneself, it always helps to know that one is not all alone in the endeavor. Start reaching out and find a group that you feel comfortable with. If you need baby steps, find an online group first and see what they have to say about their own journey. Addictions suck, they suck you in and then they suck the life out of you.
As usual, there are as many personal opinions as there are diverse experiences. But your last statement felt very true to me. You coming to terms with your own truth and the need to change.
Powerful stuff.
I did not join a group or have a plan. I just stopped. But that’s the type of addict I am… all or nothing.
I totally agree with Robin, while some defo benefit from support groups I personally get a powerful feeling from going alone.
Smoking, drinking and Pot. I just stopped doing it. (Separately)
Totally agree!!! If I have a bottle of whatever alcohol, once I started it, I would not stop until I see the bottom of the bottle. I have pour all my alcohol in my house into the toilet. Now, I have alcohol around 1 or 2 times a month at most.
I know such a person myself… It’s totally a thing, surely having some alcohol that may alter our thinking (it never did to me. I go to sleep before my thinking changes but it’s very different for so many people, apparently) may very much interfere with our previous thoughts about stopping after a few…
There is a joke about it (even if it’s very serious and tragic). “I only have ONE drink. But then I become another person. And that person needs another drink…”
Even with food (of coffee in my case), abstinence is the only way not to go overboard. But alcohol has an easy way to be more dangerous, it changes so many things and alcohol IS a toxin.
Even if giving up alcohol isn’t a way and one doesn’t have a REALLY serious problem with the amount (I mean, there are people who drink themselves into a life threatening state every time, they MUST stop) just drink a lot all the time and that is clearly very unhealthy, occasional drinking may be better than just giving up all hope. I personally would lower the amount too and if it is hard, I would consider it a sign of a Big Problem and would try to quit immediately but it’s me who has no idea how to drink much or often. I am merely a health-conscious hedonist who has a very good friend with a somewhat drinking problem (it’s mixed. Very Serious Problem so quitting was necessary or else death has a too big chance but the near death experience was scary enough for years long abstinence. I am a bit worried now as some drinking happened again, the available amount was smaller but if someone is obsessed with drinking more, it’s no big deal to go out and buy some more… they NEVER should drink IMO - but I am very sure I am right. the OP has a very different situation but this regular big drinking still should stop, maybe minimizing it has a chance, I still would try some no booze times but it’s my way to train myself, going super strict to get rid of the habit, I do it with other things but it works for me with very different things).
Pjam I too experience that powerful feeling. I smoked cigarettes my whole life (I’m now 62) and in January 2013 I had my last one. Something was telling my body that i’ve had enough. It reached a point where each inhale I felt like I had a hangover. That seed was planted in my being and it grew. With alcohol… I’m planting another seed.
You can do it Pal. Keep weaning it down if that is easier. No judgement, just one day at a time. Keep calm.
I gave up smoking and booze at the same time because they were a package deal for me. One demanded the other. Since I never believed I could give up either (had tried so many times)… I looked at each day of abstinence as a chance I might never get back.
One of the issues with getting advice from others is that many were not actual addicts. They were habituated users, and there is a HUGE difference. Personally, I drank all the time when I was plagued by chronic, undiagnosed Lyme disease. It blunted the pain and allowed me to walk. I drank all day for years. When I finally got treatment and the pain stopped, I stopped drinking except for the occasional small night cap.
I drank like crazy, but I was not an addict. Addictions are different, and it’s not even possible to stop them cold on your own. The withdrawal alone is often deadly.
Yes, giving up habituation can also be very hard and require several attempts.
Knowing whether you suffer from habituation or addiction can be crucial. Stopping an addiction cold WILL make you very, very sick. You need help with that part, even if you are strong enough to totally dominate your body with your mind. Habituation is a manifestation of the mind, while addictions are physical.
Once we quit like that you feel you can achieve anything.
And velvet is right I think. Many of us were convinced it’s hard to quit, so it became a bigger issue than it actually was!
AGREE! It’s like we fall completely into agreement that it’s “too hard” and then it is.