Potential TW: Hoping to build up my alcohol tolerance for the Christmas party

[Pigeotto]

Has anyone done this successfully? I know I could not drink but let’s be honest that’s not going to happen and not how real life works. Blah blah blah. It’s London, at Christmas time.

My plan was to gradually get up to three glasses of wine. It’s just an evening meal so not too bad but I have to parent the next day and I can’t do it hungover again. Does anyone relate or am I just being weird? Don’t really drink usually and the last work party I went way too hard.

Sipsmith and toic is our frend. Just like a g and t but no alcohol.

Tastes amazing.

If you don’t have very good self control then I just wouldn’t drink at all, perhaps drive instead.

If you want to join in then perhaps have a glass of wine with food and then soft drinks.

Wine is deadly for me as it goes straight to my head.
So I’d look at what other drinks they do and how much alcohol is in them and then I’d alternate them with a soft drink.
Perhaps a cocktail?

I would be honest though and say you’re not drinking much as you have an early start the next day.

My work colleagues love to bring out the shots and do I have to be firm from the start lol.

You can try and build your tolerance up but that’s a lot of extra expense/calories (I’m on a diet) and is it going to make you want to drink more.

It’s good to have something to aim and prepare for. For some, it’s training for a marathon, for OP it’s getting alcohol fit for a boozy party. 😂

If you have to drink (which you don't really) then perhaps a white wine spritzer?

I used to work with a lovely lady and that was her fave

Stop it, you're making me laugh 😆

Is it worth it though? You’d need to drink every day to build resistance, easy to create a habit. Maybe switch to something lighter so you can have few glasses, eat and drink water too.

You and @Manadou are giving me the giggles

This may be one of the daftest things I’ve ever read in 15 years on MN.

Get completely rat-arsed the night before, so you'll be terribly hungover on the day and unable to face alcohol.

Ha I know what you mean but if you don’t normally drink it’s not really worth it.

Though quite often I find if you have a few the night before my tolerance the next night goes up. So you could try that? Or you’ll feel hungover and less likely to drink.

I genuinely think speed of drinking has the biggest impact on drunkenness and hangovers. Have a glass of water on the go at all times and keep drinking that. Drink the wine very slowly. Take an hour off in the middle and have a soft drink. Book a taxi for a reasonable time.

Get some dioralyte. Have this with a pint of water when ii get home and some ibruprofen.

Why choose to do something that will make you feel bad when you want to feel good?

Perhaps OP wants to relax and join in?

One of my friends is a strict Muslim, we'd have fantastic nights out dancing, she'd have Coca-Cola and I'd moderate my alcohol intake.

But yes alcohol isn't de rigeur.

Building up your tolerance, per se, is not going to make you 'not hungover' the next day or make you more capable of parenting. It will make you hungover on lots of other days when you need to not be hungover and need to parent though.

I say this as someone who had an alcohol problem (but is very happy to not drink now), I was drinking an enormous amount when I finally stopped drinking (and doing it every day), and that tolerance didn't make me not feel awful the next day or make me better able to manage parenting.

If you do want to go all out for the Christmas party - which I think is totally fine - just accept you are going to feel rubbish and potentially do some silly stuff, and build that into your plans for the day. Book an uber at a given time to take you home so you have a cut off. Draft in partner/parent/friend to get up with the kids the next day. Or if that isn't possible, you might just have to accept you will feel rubbish and figure out a safe way to get your kids to school/activities if you can't drive. Or do your best to not drink so much - which is easier said than done though, as alcohol isn't designed for moderation. If you drink a bit, your brain tells you that you need to drink more. It's how it works. Which is fine, but you need to do your best to do it safely and sensibly.

I’d much prefer to train for a party, than a marathon 🤣

Great idea!

Why not have 3 spritzers instead?

It's a VERY bad idea to deliberately build up your tolerance to a harmful and addictive drug.

Follow one or more of the more sensible alternatives already mentioned on the thread.

I wouldn't be going out for a work do with the intention of drinking more than I can handle ever, it's unprofessional and can lead to a great deal of awkwardness in the workplace. Personally I go for 2x Southern comfort and lemonade, to get the warm and fuzzy feeling and then switch to soft drink or alcohol free bulmers

By all means enjoy your red wine at home, or if you really want to go out and get sloshed as you haven't been out since having the baby then do so at a social event away from work. But to try and up your tolerance level for a work event seems like a recipe for a disaster

She has plans with her baby the following morning. And it's "de rigueur".

there’s a lot in the prep!

Be very hydrated before the booze
a very good feed before the booze to include carbs
say no to the welcome fizz or at least don’t finish it
drink water alongside wine
no top ups, finish your glass then pause before you pour the next
if you’re on spirits, make them singles and have something watery as a mixer - soda, tonic etc
stick to beer? It’s weaker
on the pre order, go for the stodge options not necessarily what you like the most - ignore calories
get more food on the way home with a water
water when you get home and bed

our socials are all day and a proper marathon, the above is learned over quite a few years

@Tighginn I haven't typed that in ages 😆

Thanks for correction.

The older I get, the worse my hangover and the less I want to drink. It wrecks my sleep, it makes me feel ill - I had one glass of wine last night and a headache all day today. I used to go out and drink loads in my twenties but it's never coming back. Oh god, the hangxiety too is the worst - it's not worth it. I think if you try and build up over six weeks by drinking more, you will just spend six weeks hungover and miserable? Culminating in one big miserable hangover after the party! If you have big plans the following day, stop after one glass - plenty of people don't drink, or only drink a little so you won't be the odd one out or a party pooper especially at a work thing.

I also like my wine but for work parties which can easily get out of hand I found the best trick was to drink G&T / vodka soda. Then when I wanted a break or didn’t want to drink too much I would order myself a plain tonic or lime and soda. Stops people topping up your wine glass and losing track of how many you’ve had!

omg some of these comments made me laugh SO much. I think I maybe got stuck in my own head and didn’t realise how objectively dumb an idea it actually was. Also just saw this 😬

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12720545/Wine-oclock-UK-women-biggest-boozers-world.html