to have a drink every day?

[Newmummytobe79]

Well 6 out of 7.

Say a bottle of lager or a glass of wine?

I've decided to not drink this week until weekend but could murder a glass of wine (there is a bottle chilled in the fridge - left over from Saturday night :) )

Some friends (who drink every day) say it's their reward after a long day at work or with the kids, others save themselves until the weekend and get blotto.

I do drink more on a Friday and Saturday night but not so much that I'm p*ssed ... unless I go out which is rare.

So - should I stay clear tonight and save myself until Friday? Or stop beating myself up and pour a glass?

It's best to have a few alcohol free days a week

It all depends on how much you love your liver....

I'm hoping your username is a relic and not a current one, that's all I'll say...

Are you pregnant, NMtobe? If so, then dont.

Otherwise, a glass is fine every night but if it runs to two then you are over your limit most probably.

The username is a relic! I had 9 months alcohol free :)

It's probably best if you don't as these things have a way of slowly escalating. If you feel you are finding it hard not to have a drink most days then I would take a break and see how controlled you feel about the situation.

Continuous small drinking rather than binge drinking is far better for the liver, so it's better to have one 125ml glass of wine (one unit) every night than it is to be smugly alcohol free 6 nights a week then have 10 on one night.

The best balance is to allow at least 2 alcohol free nights a week, but honestly, if your wine glass is 125ml, you're fine. That's 7 units a week.

Basically what you need to worry about is the size of your glasses. A friend has the pub-style fishbowls (250ml) and she says she only has 2 glasses 4-5 times a week. Well, it actually works out at 2.5 bottles a week, which is about 22 units. It won't kill her (just yet) but that's a lot to drink regularly.

I wouldn't have a drink especially as you are struggling when it's only been one or two days. Have a break for a while and treat yourself to some chocolate

A glass of wine 'as a reward' is a as much a habit thing as anything. If you form the habit not to reward yourself at least 2 nights a week, it'll get into your day-to-day system and you'll barely notice the wine-free nights.

Actually neither binge drinking nor a small drink every day is a good idea.

Obviously binge drinking is a bad idea.
But drinking every night, even a small amount, means that you never hive your liver a break. The liver is an amazing thing but if you make it deal with alcohol every single day you are pushing your luck tbh.

I now only drink routinely at the weekends. I have a couple of glasses of wine when I want to at the weekend although if I have lunch mid week or a special occasion I will have one mid week - I am not fixed about it. Just a couple of days a week alcohol free is the recommended way to protect your liver.

Mmm, I grapple with this myself. I have a small glass of wine most nights. A week ago Dh and I opened a bottle of red and one of white and there's at least 1/4 of each bottle left and I've used both the red and the white for cooking with this week as well. I have seperately been out one evening where I had more - I shared a full bottle with a friend (which is an unusually high consumptionn for me). So I am probably personally drinking about a bottle of wine a week, or slightly over. That doesn't seem excessive to me. But sometimes I wonder at the need to have one most days.

Having said that, I do regularly have a wine-free night. I see my nightly glass as part of my way of unwinding at the end of the day and I enjoy it immensely. It's got to be better than binge drinking and it does help to relax me.

my dad does this - sometimes more than one.
i worry about him a bit as i think if you can't manage without for a day it is a problem

The 'wind down' time thing is interesting.

I stopped drinking during the week as part of getting fitter. I missed the idea of a glass of wine at 8.00.
What I did was get a nice glass and pour myself some sparkling water. The first couple of times I felt deprived. After a short while it became habit and it honestly doesn't occur to me mid week any more.

On the plus side I sleep better, I wake up more refreshed, i have more energy, my skin is better and (along with working out more) I have lost a dress size and about 10lbs in about two months.

I clung to the idea that I needed a glass of wine in the evening for over a decade. Boy,I was wrong. Who knew?

But each to their own and all that.

What Kenobi said.

Isn't there evidence that a glass of wine a day (with a couple of days off a week) is actually healthier than being completely tee-total?

pagwatch I was told by a doc that as it only takes about an hour or so for the body to process a small glass of wine it wasn't a big deal at all, there's 22 other hours you're not drinking. Was he wrong/self-justifying? Also I imagine depends how big you are?

I had the same thing as you and interestingly combated it exactly the same way as you - I now have a San Pellegrino habit

Personally, I think the reward attitude to a drink is actually the worst - you are building a psychological dependancy that you need a glass of wine to relax

Wow Pag, interesting..

One of these days!

Kenobi

I am not sure by what leap my post leads to a self justifying GP.

Do what you like. I don't give a rats arse, in the nicest possible way. I don't mean I wish you ill, I mean it impacts me not a jot.

I was just adding my views to the others on the thread.

My dad died of liver cancer. I have learnt to be cautious. Others can do as they will.

Find Drink Aware web site

YABU to have a drink every night.

FWIW :The NHS website says

The most effective way to prevent alcoholic liver disease is to stop drinking alcohol, or stick to the recommended daily limits and have at least two alcohol-free days a week.

And that broadly has been the basis of most advice I have heard in the last year or so. So it's broadly what I stick to.

But anyone who wishes to do differently is more than welcome. Have one for me

www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-and-you/health/should-you-take-a-break-from-alcohol

Alcohol Unit Calculator.

A small glass (125 ml) of a 12% wine is actually 1.5 units. A lot of wines these days will have a stronger alcohol content than this. A small glass of a 14% wine is 1.8 units.

I realised a couple of weeks ago that I drink every night (just 1 glass of wine) but still every night and I really don't know when I started or for how long I have been doing it...so last week i stopped Mon - Fri drinking.
I did feel better in the mornings but I am missing a glass of wine with dinner, its the only thing i do that makes me feel grown up - I am wanting a glass now because of writing this

I am not sure about what is good for you and what isn't, there has been research in the past which has said that 1 glass of red wine is good for you, but for me it isn't good to drink every day no matter how little as I have a scarily addictive personality and I just can't risk it!

Gosh Kenobi

I am so sorry. My posts sound unbelievably arsy and I really didn't mean them like that. Honestly. Sorry. No idea what happened between my brain and my typing.