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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how much you drink?

142 replies

JerryLeadbetter · 17/10/2012 20:55

Just that really. Bit worried that I might drink a bit too much. I was always a party animal Pre-children, and now I have two small DCs I don't drink anywhere near as much as I did, but still have at least one weekend night out with friends/ DP where I get quite, erm, merry, plus a glass of wine or two most nights.

I find it hard to judge what is the norm as most of my friends don't have children yet and go out a lot, but most of the mum friends I have met at toddler groups (who are fab) really drink very little on a regular basis, maybe the odd big night out, so I'm not really sure where I fit in!

Just been thinking about it a bit lately and reckon I'd feel healthier and a lot less sluggish if I laid off it a bit...

OP posts:
ethelb · 17/10/2012 21:26

I drink 1 or 2 small glasses of wine a night, but iwll polish off half a bottl eon a friday night.

Howeve,r I never binge drink. Peopl etalking about having a @heavy night@ chich tbf I hardly ever, ever have. Which i how I justify daily drinking! Though I do find it hard not to drink after a hard day sometimes, and I wonder how normal that is.

myalias · 17/10/2012 21:27

I have a small 25cl bottle which is roughly 2 small glasses of wine mid week and every Saturday evening a bottle of wine which will be finished off on the Sunday.

hmc · 17/10/2012 21:28

A glass of wine or two a night can be as much as 6 units - people use big wine glasses these days not pub measures.

Until recently I was drinking around 30 units per week (perhaps more) - but have come to the realisation that alcohol is not my friend because (a) it makes me gain weight (totally loaded with calories) and (b) - it lowers my mood. I often have a bit of a downer after consuming alcohol. I suffer from SAD at this time a year and the effects are magnified by alcohol. It is a depressant

I haven't given up alcohol, but I am down to under 10 units per week and without being a party pooper, I do think people (my former self included) drink far more than is good for them - out of habit rather than dependence

treadonthecracks · 17/10/2012 21:28

Might have a night out once or twice a month and have a bit more than a bottle of wine. Very occasionally, perhaps twice a year, will have a big night out and drink quite a lot more, mix drinks and be a bit silly.

Almost never drink at home. DH is pretty much Tee Total, otherwise I think I'd drink quite a bit more.

nilbyname · 17/10/2012 21:30

I dont drink Mon-Thur and then on a Fri I would have a couple of beers, and then a couple of glasses of wine, Sat the same, maybe a G&T rather than beer, Sunday, maybe just one glass of wine.

DH drinks more than me, I sometimes competitively under drink with him.

It is rare I tie one on. Small kids.

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 17/10/2012 21:30

I go through phases of being quite restrained and being really rather unrestrained. For instance, last night I met a few folk in the pub - it was supposed to be an informal meeting rather than a night out - and I had three glasses of wine and a half a lager. I think that's too much to be drinking regularly. And I know I should stop because I need to cut down for fertility treatment.

This thread has made me think that I should cut down a lot. It seems a lot of you don't drink much at all.

panicnotanymore · 17/10/2012 21:32

I don't drink. It just doesn't appeal to me. I dislike being around drunk or 'merry' people, so perhaps that is part of it. They think they are so funny and erudite when actually they are just an embarrassing mess.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 17/10/2012 21:34

Very little, it's weeks since I've had any. A binge for me would be a bottle of wine, I only drink that much maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I might have a glass or two of wine each night on holiday, but at home it's maybe one drink in a month and on other nights out, which are say once a month it might be 2 glasses of wine. I know a lot of my friends routinely drink wine with their evening meal but I never have, definitely a special occasion thing for me.

freddiefrog · 17/10/2012 21:34

I don't actually like wine or beer unless it's really watered down with lemonade, so half an inch or beer to half a pint of lemonade is my usual drink

When I go out I drink spirits

WestYorkshirePudding · 17/10/2012 21:35

We went through a phase of drinking Thurs-Sun which was far too much as we were drinking more than just a glass or two a night. Now we generally have two nights a week where OH will have a good few beers and I'll polish off a bottle of wine.

I think this is fine but I know my mum (who drinks very little) would have a fit if she knew I could finish off a bottle of wine in one evening.

RubyFakeNails · 17/10/2012 21:37

I think its more about how you feel going without.

I typically have 1 or 2 nights out a week. One of these is normally a Saturday and I normally drink a lot. I have the constitution of an elephant and can out drink most people so I don't get drunk but I will drink a lot.

Most fridays I'll have a bottle of wine or some beers with DH or by myself if he's out.

I normally have drinks at lunch once a week and a glass of sparkling wine at the end of work on wednesdays.

Other than that I don't tend to drink in the evenings, unless I have a real craving, because while I love the taste, as I said it doesn't really do much for me so I'm just giving myself unnecessary calories.

hmc · 17/10/2012 21:41

Lots of light drinkers on this thread - whilst very good, I don't think this is the norm? My perception is that the average person drinks quite a lot these days

Pavlovthecat · 17/10/2012 21:42

I drink much much less than I did a few months ago. As I am on painkillers that mean I can't drink more than the odd glass of wine, and even then I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, does not taste the same, I wonder if it is because I know I can't have more than one or two at the very max. So, at the moment I have perhaps one glass twice a week. Maybe two on one of those occasions. Not more, not beer, no spirits at all.

Prior to this, I would have 1-2 glasses 3-4 nights a week, and one of those nights maybe 4 glasses. Every so often, perhaps every two weeks or so I would have 5 glasses of wine with friends. Varies depending on what we are eating, sometimes white, normally to relax with, sometimes red, normally to complement food, sometimes a bottle of beer (for some reason it has to be from a bottle?). No spirits on a regular basis, on the summer maybe a couple of manhattans or similar twice a week, before a glass of wine.

So, usually within guidelines, with the recommended 48 hours or so without any alcohol, not on purpose just how it goes. Sometimes slightly over the guidelines. Often way below.

HenriettaChicken · 17/10/2012 21:43

To be fair I have a 6 month old. Before I was pregnant I'd drink half a bottle most nights. Which is too much. :(

Wolfiefan · 17/10/2012 21:43

A glass or two if wine once or twice a week. I don't binge but may be tempted to overindulge once every few months when visiting family. I would not want to drink every night and don't see consuming lots of alcohol in one go at all healthy.

doorbellringer · 17/10/2012 21:43

Goonatic where do you get a liver test? I thought only alcoholics could get them from their GP?

Bimblepops · 17/10/2012 21:44

I try to have 3 or 4 nights each week with no alcohol. The other nights, I'll have perhaps one or two glasses of wine or a couple of bottles of beer and probably one night where DH and I share a bottle and a half of wine.
On the rare occasions I go out, am a SAHM, I have been known to get a bit overexcited and drink quite a lot.

HenriettaChicken · 17/10/2012 21:44

"with the recommended 48 hours or so without any alcohol"

Didn't know that - recommended by whom?

CrunchyFrog · 17/10/2012 21:44

Most nights, one or two home measures of JD or whiskey.

Nights out, 2 or 3 a week, maybe 4 pub measures, I don't get drunk.

Pavlovthecat · 17/10/2012 21:46

oh and I rarely rarely get drunk any more. on 5 glasses of wine, I am perhaps tipsy but no more than that. I fall asleep before I get drunk these days. And if I go out of the house with friends, I often drive. And if I don't I can't bear being around horrendously drunk people anymore either, and get really Shock at spending the same money on a glass of wine as on a whole bottle so don't get drunk mostly as I am too tight to part with the cash!

VerySmallSqueak · 17/10/2012 21:46

hmc I am actually quite shocked to think that my 1 or 2 glasses of wine ,3 nights a week on average could amount to 18 units Shock

I had myself down as a very light drinker,and although I am more likely to drink 1 rather than two glasses,I shall be keeping a closer eye on that.

I'm hardly likely to develop a dependency imo on what I drink,but it's maybe not little enough for optimum health,so you've given me,for one,food for thought.Thank you.

hmc · 17/10/2012 21:46

here

hmc · 17/10/2012 21:47

Sorry - link below is about recommendation of 48 hours a week without drinking

halloweeneyqueeney · 17/10/2012 21:47

maybe 3 or 4 drinks a month, every few months I might go on a bit of a binge, by that I mean maybe 4 drinks in one night

littlebluechair · 17/10/2012 21:48

I used to drink a lot, but I have also had long periods (up to a year at a time) where I hardly drank at all.

Since having a baby I have drunk on average only about 3 or 4 drinks per month for the last three years.

I think there is a widespread culture of drinkng more than is healthy, people minimise it all the time. I know I used to!

I would say it is likely you would feel healthier if you drank less - it is medically proven to be unhealthy to drink at the levels you describe.

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