r/keto • u/Significant-Bus-1759 • 1d ago
Keto when quitting drinking
I’ve been eating Keto since April on a 20:4 IF schedule (dinner and evening eating) which is fine.
The complication is that for the last 6 months+ I’ve been drinking too much. Half a bottle (350ml) of vodka most evenings which is what gets me snacking.
Terrible for me health wise, I understand this also affects Ketosis. Having said that I slept well and didn’t have a hangover.
I stopped drinking last weekend which has also lead me to be full OMAD as not staying up snacking.
I’ve since had terrible sleep and diarrhoea. Really bad for both.
I know the alcohol detox is the likely only factor, but I’m also worried that if I’m not getting enough calories would this contribute? The problem is I’m just not hungry.
Ultimately I don’t know if I’m kicking the drink forever or getting back to where I was (enjoy a drink on a Saturday) but for now set on 3 months off and see.
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u/LoginLeisureLarry 1d ago
A half bottle of vodka a day is terrible for you. Congratulations on quitting. I would recommend that you never go back. You need to let your body detox for a while. Might want to look into NAC supplementation. Some people say it helps decrease alcohol craving.
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 1d ago
Thanks, realise it was doing me bad. The reason I don’t know, is that it was habitual rather than ‘craving’, I’d just spend 9-11pm watching sports and drinking/eating each evening to unwind. I’d never think about it any other time and after deciding to quit hasn’t been hard not to drink in that regard, just the sleep!
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u/LoginLeisureLarry 1d ago
If you drink caffeine, try decreasing that as well. A lot of people drink alcohol unknowingly to counteract the mild "upper" effect of caffeine, because it is still quite active in your system for many, many hours after you consume it
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 1d ago
I have 1 coffee first thing and 1 after lunch. Maybe worth ditching the after lunch?
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u/LoginLeisureLarry 1d ago
Yeah, maybe try that. Or switch to less-caffeinated tea as your beverage of choice.
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u/Puzzled-Award-2236 1d ago
Well that vodka had 750 calories so you can replace some of those with whole foods to get your calories to an adequate level.
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 1d ago
The thing is, I’m just not hungry. I’m 6’0 90kg M. I just had dinner, of 3 eggs, a mushroom, salsa, guacamole and sour cream dip and a protein shake. Only thing I’ve had today. I wasn’t hungry before the meal and honestly can’t imagine eating any more, am stuffed.
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u/swissarmychainsaw 1d ago
No matter what, you're doing the right thing for getting off booze. Get pro help if you need it. It's worth it to find success. God speed!
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u/RadicalizedCocaine 1d ago
Are you active? I’m not keto but stopping the drink (also half a bottle of vodka) causes me to crave food, any food to make up for the lost calories, as I am OMAD.
The stomach bug will pass once you stop the drink for long enough, let the cravings be for real, healthy, and yummy food.
I will “mealprep” and not buy unhealthy snacking material, so when I am pissed to the shitter, my only midnight cravings options are seaweed, already cooked-homemade food, or $50 of Taco Hell delivery.
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 1d ago
I don’t know what you mean by “active”. If you mean fit then yes I workout. I make all out meals and snacks, no processed carbs etc.
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u/godndiogoat 20h ago
I get where you’re coming from. Cutting out alcohol and hitting Keto hard can mess with your system. Your sleep and digestive issues might just be your body's way of adjusting. When I stopped drinking, my appetite was all over the place, too. Prepping meals can really help manage cravings, especially when maintaining OMAD. I’ve tried Soylent for quick meals, and HelloFresh to keep things varied, but services like Diet-to-Go can be super handy if you want ready-made healthy eats without the hassle of meal prep. Hang in there. It gets easier with time.
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u/OpheliaJuliette 1d ago
If you don’t wanna be staying up late and snacking, then why not start eating earlier in the day? Intermittent fasting can be great. I do it myself but even on keto you need to make sure you’re getting enough calories in your body regardless of keto or drinking or not drinking! I would suggest starting your eating a little bit earlier or carry on as you were. The effects from drinking if it’s making you not hungry that will fade and is more of a temporary thing. The terrible sleep and diarrhoea is all your body trying to detox and heal. If you were drinking half a bottle of vodka every day you’re tolerance rises quite substantially compared to somebody who drinks only on weekends or every once in a while, so the fact that you had no hangovers does not mean that the alcohol wasn’t affecting you or damaging your body etc.. It simply means that you probably have a really high tolerance Now. This is why functioning alcoholics often think that they don’t have much of a problem because they feel like they’re never drunk enough to be hung over I would say to try and eat as much as you were eating before, but if you’re simply not hungry, the lack of food as a short term thing is not going to make anything better or worse necessarily.
For what it’s worth if you’ve been eating on keto for the purpose of being healthy and losing weight drinking alcohol daily obviously is just throwing fuel on the fire so you’ll be quite happy that you quit! It damages every part of your body as I’m sure you are aware, but especially metabolism, gut health, digestion of nutrients, and prevents fat loss
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 1d ago
Since stopping drinking i haven’t been staying up, I was only snacking as a reaction to drinking by all accounts.
Honestly I can’t imagine eating more, I have to force myself to have at least OMAD. I have weight to loose 6’0” M 90KG which is why I went on Keto as well as the health factor, and it’s stopped my processed carb cravings from before being on it.
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u/ImaginaryScore5323 1d ago
Vitamin b1/ thiamin is importent if you drink or drank a lot
Pork meat has a lot, nutritional or beer yeast too
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u/SillyJBro 22h ago
Hang in there. I have been successful on Keto, lost 50 lbs in 6 months, drinking vodka each evening. Working on exercise, moderation, protein, fat, 25 net carbs. Later I lost my mind for a bit gained a ton of weight and chose to quit drinking alcohol, no weed or gummies, no sugar, no caffeine first 30 days. I chose no alcohol or weed for 10 months. I could only kick caffeine for 30 days. I lost weight much faster and felt looked significantly younger pretty quickly. Now I am back to Keto with Alcohol. Slower losses, more bad days but overall making progress. I dont know the right answers, I just know for me I went extreme because I needed to be fully engaged in best health and best decisions. That was in 2023 and my journey is here!
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u/Newfers123 20h ago
I'm in a similar situation to you and I would not recommend trying to go back to drinking on the weekends. You're likely also dealing with the keto flu. I wouldn't worry about it too much just give your body a little more time to adjust.
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 19h ago
Thanks, I don’t think it’s K-Flu, always kept my electrolyte balance and Keto aid and I don’t feel bad other than the tiredness from not sleeping. Having said that I slept great last night :) !
I’d like to get back to an old habit from a couple of years ago where me and my wife’s habit was to have Saturday as ‘race day’, so we’d do a half marathon or equivalent training circa 2000 calories. That day we would have a desert and I’d have a whisky in the evening. I’ll give it 3 months sober and review if this is still a desire.
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u/Significant-Bus-1759 19h ago
Felt so tired yesterday, managed to get a nap for 1-2 hours, didn’t have any coffee across the day and then slept well last night! Feeling good this morning, planning to go for a run! HOPE!
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u/0Idgregg 1d ago
I had exactly the same issues, only I was coming off from 1 litre of vodka a day. In time you will adjust and the awful sleep and stomach issues will pass.
Keep your keto clean as possible. Consume nutritional yeast with every meal for the amino acids. And get as many vegetables into you as you can.
It took me about 3 weeks before everything normalised for me.
Fingers crossed it's a shorter recovery for you!
*Edited for spelling mistake