Lose Weight By Giving Up Alcohol

• After committing to eating healthier and working out regularly, he completed a dramatic 60-pound weight loss transformation in just 16 weeks.

When Tamas Haiman was at his heaviest, he felt like he was living in someone else's body. He'd get out of breath walking up hills—the same hills that he used to sprint up while wearing a 20-kilogram jacket. I stopped weighing myself when I hit 230 pounds, but I think I peaked above that, he says. I was 45 years old.

Haiman, now 46, who works as a banker in London, says that for many years, he was highly active—running marathons, cycling, regularly going to the gym—but eventually, his travel schedule started to get in the way.

Things That Happen To Your Body When You Stop Drinking

I stopped exercising altogether, he says. Things went downhill very fast. I really ballooned in six months. Haiman, however, points to his diet—not necessarily the drop in activity—as the biggest contributor.

On the nutrition front, he started with the most obvious culprits: alcohol, processed carbs, and processed sugars. Immediately, he cut them all out.

Then I focused on the macros for each meal rather than the total calories. I bought a scale to measure high-calorie items such as nuts, and tried to eat organic, non-processed foods as much as possible. (Haiman recalls his housekeeper panicking when he arrived home with two massive bags of celery, kale, broccoli, spinach, and mentioning that it was for the next three days.) Overall I ate more than before, but better, he says.

The 7 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Give Up Booze

As for his workout, he started with a combination of resistance and weight training, as well as a few strongman sessions at UP, while working with his trainer, Eddie. Saying that he is an exceptional trainer is a huge understatement. I tried other people, but nobody compared in terms of focus, quality of the workouts, and the intensity. Haiman kept busy on his rest days, too, working in the occasional hike, bike ride, or long walk. The biggest challenge, he says, was avoiding injury: With the kind of weights we ended up working with, it's really important to have someone watching and correcting your every move.

That said, there were inevitable challenges: At some point, everyone plateaus, and Haiman was no different. In the end there's nothing to do but push through it and be patient, he says. You try to make small changes and see what works—such as increasing your daily steps, or cutting out certain types of food. Once Haiman had his nutrition and fitness plan dialed in, the weight dropped quickly—between 2 and 3 pounds per week. After about 16 weeks, he says, he'd burned close to 60 pounds of fat.

As a result, Haiman says, he felt incredibly fit—having pushed through his personal bests on his squat, bench press, and nearly his 10K. I never thought I would be able to do a farmers walk with almost 500 pounds, he says. My wife kept saying to her friends that she'd upgraded her husband. Haiman now says he's focusing on the cardio side of things—he'd like to finally crack that 10K PR, for starters, as well as in the half-marathon. More importantly, he wants to prove to himself that he can keep his weight stable, and possibly even improve a bit: I'm keen to get my bodyfat down to 10 percent, which I came close to doing twice, but life got in the way both times and I had to cut the transformation short.

Here's What I Learned When I Gave Up Drinking For Nine Months

For people who aren't, say, just a few gym sessions away from 10 percent body fat, Haiman says the important thing is to get started right away—a short run, a light workout, whatever it takes. The earlier you start, the less you have to make up for. Staying active builds up a calorie deficit, naturally, which is the primary key to weight loss. Finally, he advises people to get a good night's rest. The one thing people overlook is sleep, he says. You'll need more than usual after a training day, so try to allocate for that.

Mike Darling is an executive editor at Men’s Health where he assigns and edits coverage around the brand’s core subject areas, including fitness, style and grooming, sex and relationships, and technology and gear. He was previously a senior editor on the magazine, and also spent two years as the managing editor of Vice Media’s health vertical.

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P. Diddy's Marathon Run Helped Black Men Get Fit How Rapper Freeway Helped Hip-Hop Embrace Aging Hip-Hop Helped Me Survive the '70s Vic Mensa Is Hip-Hop's Vulnerable SuperheroI struggled with my weight throughout my twenties. I tried pretty much every fitness program out there, but each time, I struggled to stay motivated. At my heaviest, I weighed about 180 pounds. I would always tell myself that I needed to do something about it, but continued to find excuses to keep waiting, whether there was a holiday on the horizon, upcoming trip, or the infamous diet starts on Monday mentality.

Since diabetes runs in my family, deciding to start taking care of my physical health was a priority for me. While I am not diabetic, I have seen the effects it takes on one's body, so I've been doing everything I can to prevent it – including starting to take care of myself physically, quit smoking, and limiting alcohol intake.

What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Drinking Alcohol

In February 2020, I gave F45 Fitness a try, at a location near me in West Hollywood, and really began to enjoy the class format. Then bam, COVID hit a week or so later. I was so bummed, because I had just found my motivation to get healthy. A real wake-up moment for me came in the middle of quarantine, where I looked back and realized three months had already passed and I had done nothing to stay physically or mentally healthy. I remember thinking if I had committed myself three months prior to that moment, I would have already been in a different place than I was in. That is when I decided to begin my journey.

I was thrilled to get back into my workouts when gyms reopened in June 2020, but just two weeks later, it was back to square one with gyms closing down again. This time, however, I decided that I was going to keep up my momentum, with no excuses. I restarted my F45 journey by participating in the virtual classes and soon enough, my location had created an outdoor facility so it was back to in-person classes. I was going about five times a week, and found a community there like I never experienced anywhere else I had ever tried. The trainers at my location are incredible, and motivate and coach me in a unique and personal way that makes me feel so valued.

On August 14th, I participated in my first F45 Challenge. I worked out six times a week for 45 days, cut out alcohol, and changed my diet, which led to me losing 18.5 pounds.

What Happens After 2 Weeks No Alcohol?

Giving up alcohol to partake in the 45-day challenge at first felt like it would definitely be difficult as I love to unwind with a glass of wine or spend time with friends over drinks. But I began to realize after a few weeks of being alcohol-free that I was sleeping much deeper, focusing on my work without feeling sluggish, and overall enjoying activities that I wouldn’t normally have the energy to engage in. Since I was getting better sleep, I was waking up early with a ton of energy which helped me to keep focused to my commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

My biggest vice was eating fast food, so I completely cut out any and all fast food. I avoided unhealthy carbs and bread, and tried to stick as close to the Keto diet as I could. I never had the most success with a strict diet, so I really made an effort to make conscious decisions in everything I was eating with a focus on vegetables and proteins as priority. During the 45-day challenge, I had one cheat meal – but after the challenge, I gave myself more freedom and wasn’t as strict. Understanding my relationship with food and eating was the most important thing to come out of this experience.

As of today, in total I have lost 21.1 pounds and 5.5 percent body fat. I feel so much more confident in all aspects of my life; physically, mentally, and emotionally! Most importantly, I proved to myself that I could reach my goals by making a promise to myself and staying true to it, and to me, that is what makes me feel the most confident. It also feels great that my pants and sweaters finally fit me.

What Happens When You Stop Drinking Alcohol? A Lot Of Good

While I