to ask how much alcohol is 'normal'?

We drink a bottle of wine (between 2) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, most weeks. Occasionally we might have a G&T on a Saturday night in addition.

I infrequently drink the rest of the week - maybe twice a month drinking another half bottle of wine or 2/3 pints - at work functions, mainly.

DW drinks much more in the week - probably a bottle of wine a night. She does have a problem with alcohol - particularly spirits - both in not being able to stop once she's started and through the alcohol-driven munchies. Recognise I cannot fix it!

Absolutely. Without fail on all these threads someone always tips up to say: “On Mumsnet if you drink a thimbleful of sherry at Christmas you are an alcoholic.” Every single thread. It’s such a tedious cliche it makes me cringe.

And it is almost always people who are uncomfprtable with their own drinking habits and feel threatened by the existence of people whose alcohol consumption is more moderate.

I stopped drinking in my 30s as the hangovers became ridiculous, I can't even have one drink without feeling ill the next day.

Wine was the worst for this.

What I can’t understand is how people continue to drink heavily into menopause. I used to have fairly high tolerance: have never been a problem drinker but at some points in my life I have been able to drink fairly steadily without any real issues.

Now in my early 50s my tolerance is shot: I drink maybe 4 units a week and almost never during the work week but if I have just one unit of alcohol I find the following day my performance is impacted: I feel tired, unfocused and anxious.

I have cut down anyway for health reasons but I think I would have had it forced on me anyway because my body just can’t handle it anymore. Genuinely interested: are there menopausal women on here who have kept up their pre menopause alcohol intake?

It's only acceptable to brag about how much you do drink, so non/low drinkers keep quiet to avoid being labelled judgemental and boring

How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking? Only I don’t find this at all. Maybe 5-10 years ago that might have been the case, but now (and this is a good thing) it seems to have reversed. It would be really weird in my circles to brag about how much you drink, most people seem to brag about how health conscious they are and how much exercise they do nowadays!

I drink maybe 10 units at christmas/new year then not at all the rest of the year.
Alcohol always feels like a Christmas thing to me.....like chocolate orange or nuts in their shells!

Used to probably drink two or three bottles of wine over the course of a week, we'd drink often but in moderation.

Didn't drink at all when I was pregnant. Baby is now 6 months and we won't both drink at home. My husband will happily have 3 or 4 drinks at home a few nights a week, but drinking at home alone doesn't appeal to me at all so 99% of the time I don't drink.

What that does mean though is the 3 occasions she's stayed with grandparents overnight so far I've gone totally overboard and drank like a teenager!

It's only acceptable to brag about how much you do drink, so non/low drinkers keep quiet to avoid being labelled judgemental and boring

This attitude is at least 5 years out of date imo. Probably more. I think it's the exact opposite now: heavy drinkers are the ones being judged and no/lo drinkers are the new normal. That sector of the drinks market has exploded in recent years.

Me and DH used to drink a fair bit of wine. DH went teetotal for three years and now drinks the occasional glass. I've cut down hugely and usually stick to Champagne and wine at the weekend these days. It's not a rule as such - I'll still have the odd glass during the week if I fancy it.

On mumsnet you either have a sherry at Christmas or a bottle of wine every night

I’ve completely stopped drinking Sunday to wednesday and prob have a bottle of wine over Thursday Friday and Saturday. Can’t manage more than that anymore without feeling dreadful the next day

I don't drink at all, DH will have a few Friday-Sunday, can't really say how much because I don't pay attention.

It always amuses me that these threads are always full of people poking fun at/ moaning about non-drinkers 'judging' them.

I always find these reflect real life in that drinkers dominate all social situations and are very uncomfortable/paranoid around people that don't drink. It's only acceptable to brag about how much you do drink, so non/low drinkers keep quiet to avoid being labelled judgemental and boring.

Normal for me is 1 small glass a night most nights, 2-3 glasses at weekends or if we have guests, so over the course of a week, I probably drink 1.5 bottles of wine. DH probably drinks 2-3 bottles a week. I would prefer to cut down . Normal doesn't mean I think it's fine. I'd rather have a few nights off each week.

Me and DH generally only drink when socialising. Occasionally at the weekend we might have a glass of wine with a meal. We certainly would drink a bottle of wine each a night. I'm not being smug. I used to be a binge drinker but getting drunk has completely lost it's appeal.

I only drink weekends. Friday and Saturday night. Sometimes a Sunday if it's a Bank Holiday. I avoid drinking on work nights cos I don't like getting up early in the morning feeling groggy.

Bottle of wine a night, every night. Yes, I know . . .

Do people manage to exercise after drinking so often? I train 5 to 6 time a week and find it isn't compatible now in my 40s.

We drink 1-2 bottles of wine at home most weekends between us and go to the pub once or twice to see music

2 to 3 bottles of wine a week if I’m being honest. I think it’s too much but it’s become such a habit. I go a few nights a week without but can’t seem to get past Thursday without wine 🙄

How much we drink varies massively. I’ll have a couple of weeks where I don’t have any alcohol, a couple where we have a glass of wine with friends one evening and a g&t another. If I travel with work I drink more regularly as wine is always ordered with dinner and when it’s there I’ll happily have a glass or two. My OH will have a couple of beers one night most weeks and some weeks he might have a couple 2/3 nights. I’m pretty sure when I’m away with work I’m well over the 14 unit a week limit as I must get through a couple of bottles of wine. Most weeks though I have 0-4 units.

No alcohol is "normal" for your body.
Even being a pirate 🦜
😂
Sorry.

I drink rarely. I work my way through a bottle of Baileys in the month of December (it just isn't the same at any other time!). I might have a wine spritzer or a larger shandy on a couple of boiling days in summer when we throw a BBQ. And I'll have a few Gin & Lemonade's at 'big events' - weddings, big work do's etc.

It's not unusual for me to go several months at a time being teetotal though, I'm just not really bothered about alcohol.

Dh is the polar opposite. He enjoys red and white wine, beers and larger and has a collection of expensive single malts. He probably drinks every other day - either a glass of wine or two, a couple of single malts before bed, or two or three beers in the garden on a nice evening.

If we go for a nice meal I'm more than happy with soft drinks (I cant drink alcohol with a meal anyway, I need to properly wash it down!) - but not having a nice bottle of wine to go with it would really dampen dh's enjoyment.

I am clearly a different drinking picture altogether. I don't drink every night, but when I do it's typically 2 large glasses, often the third too. I rarely go over that, but occasionally, if I'm out out, I may have a something before and if there's cheese, always a port after. Yes, I know it's not recommended, no I don't really care.

I don't drink often. I discovered two cans of out of date lager in my house recently. I have drunk one and will probably have the other this weekend. I have a bottle of gin that I've had for probably six years, maybe seven, still unopened, and a bottle of wine that was given to me just before COVID.

On average in total I maybe have a lager every three or four weeks or so. Everything else less often. At home, maybe once every couple of months.

Me and partner never drink in the house. Pre-kids we would occasionally have a beer with tea at the weekend but very rarely. Now we only drink socially. I think we are probably odd ones out in our friendship group. A lot of friends will have a beer/wine most nights and more at the weekends. We just don't see the point.

I drink a bottle of white wine, sometimes 2, every weekend (Friday-Sunday nights).

I cut out weeknight drinking a few months ago.

Most of my friends don’t drink at all anymore.