To think I don't have a drink problem?

[SilverMoo]

I drink a large glass of 11% wine with dinner and have one day off a week. I get through 2 bottles a week, never more.

I can do without but I enjoy it and wouldn't really want to. I feel the same about chocolate, I could go without but like it so would rather have some, I don't think that makes me addicted to it.

Apparently I may have a drink problem, I don't think I do, I also don't think I'm in denial,

AIBU?

[FlouncingMintyy]

I think you wouldn't have to give it another thought if you just took two consecutive nights off per week, instead of one. This is the advice I keep hearing from the liver experts on the news/radio.

I think there's more than 9 units in a bottle of wine?

[Lifeisontheup]

The higher end of moderate drinking is 14.9g of alcohol per day. This equates to 145ml of 13% wine. It doesn't sound like you're drinking more than that baring in mind your wine is only 11%.

I not really that sad but I've just done an exam where that was one of the questions. I could work out how many ml that would be of 11% wine but my brain hurts.

[FlouncingMintyy]

Sorry, missed your update, definitely 8.9 units in a bottle? That's good news for me at least. I drink about 2 bottles of wine a week, but I have 4 nights off. I hope that's ok as I really do like it.

[Yfronts]

Your glasses must be huge!

2 bottles of wine is 18 units of alcohol a week. The recommended amount for a woman is 14 units of alcohol per week.

[mrsjay]

I was at a family thing last week my aunt broke out the wine I had 2 small glasses and was plastered I discovered it was 14% i never buy over 11 as im such a light weight,

[jennifer86]

You're doing well if you can find wine which is only 11%, though, OP. Most is around 13% ABV. At 11%, you're drinking 16.5 units per week (11x1.5litres) but at 13 it would be 19.5 units. Both are over the recommended limits (of 14 units a week). It's also recommended to have 2 days off per week.

YANBU, I do not think this represents a "problem", but you are drinking more than the guidelines suggest is good for you. Guidelines are there for a reason but they are also based on averages. So if you wanted to change you could only drink 5 days a week (still 250ml each time) and then would be under the recommended amount. But in the end it's up to you!

[mrsjay]

there is loads that is 11%

[Yfronts]

Can you aim to put a little less in your glass but savor it? Aim to drink a bottle and a half a week instead?

[dreamingbohemian]

Smaller glasses are very helpful

I started drinking way less when we moved to France, where all the wine glasses are teeny-tiny

[WhichIsBest]

Someone must have said they think you have a problem. Why?

[jennifer86]

Sorry, just re-read my post and realise it sounds a bit lecturey - Should have read it through before posting
What I meant to say was, if you have 2 days off a week instead of 1, I presume you would find this fairly easy and then you wouldn't have to put up with people (?who - government or a friend??) saying this is a "problem" and could feel smug

[Sugarice]

I know I drink too much wine, more than you OP but I refuse to be pressured by all of the propaganda that is plastered daily in the media.

I only drink 11.5% or 12% at the most, never above that, it's way too strong for me.

[extremepie]

I had this recently - signed up to a new GP and got told I should cut down my alcohol consumption.
I drink 1 or 2 'spirit and mixers' a night (don't like wine or beer). Some nights I go without totally but sometimes I have more on the weekends. I don't think I have a problem.
For some reason I got quite irritated at the implication that I am a borderline alcoholic - drinking is pretty much the only thing I do for fun, it's not illegal, I don't drink to the point of hurting myself or others so I kind of resent someone telling me I should stop!
I did recently stop drinking during the week but have been under a lot of stress lately and I have started again - I feel like it helps me unwind and relax once the DC's are in bed!

[Lovelygoldboots]

I think wine varies a lot in its strength. I have recently stopped drinking completely. I have lasted about three months. I could easily drink two bottles a week of red wine which could contain 13 units of alcohol a bottle. I have lost a stone and a half just doing that and swimming once a week. You just have to feel you are in control and not the supermarket. I don't like to alcohol stacked up at the entrance in Tesco.

[InMySpareTime]

TSC you do know someone who drinks less than the guidelines - Me! I drink two small (125ml) glasses of wine a week, and a bottle (occasionally 2 in a week) of ~4%abv ale. That is all.

[shesariver]

There are definitely loads that are 11% still, I'm most disappointed when the one I pick up to look at is only this!

[katiecubs]

Mmmmm wine - lovely lovely wine (currently pregnant!)

Don't think you have a problem OP sounds fairly average to me and better than bingeing.

[HousewifeFromHeaven]

It's when that one glass of wine fails to achieve the desired effect that the problems start.

It can creep up on you over many years.

[funnypeculiar]

Doesn't sound excessive - but like others I'd think about having 1/2+ days a week where you give your body a rest. Like a couple of others on here, I did dry Jan & found I surprisingly quickly got into the habit of wanting another drink rather than the lovely wine I bought nice non alcoholic options & made the effort to make them feel like a treat (good Morrocan mint tea, bitter lemon with ice etc) & am now really enjoying the alternatives.

I DO realise that sounds santimonious, but honestly, I am feeling much better for it.

[axure]

I thought that you were recommended to have 2-3 consecutive dry days every week. I'm not sure that alcohol has beneficial stress reducing effects, even though it feels as if it does at the time. I always feel rotten the following morning after only a couple of glasses of wine. Exercise is the best stress buster, and the last thing you feel like doing after a session is poisoning your body with alcohol.

[FellatioNels0n]

YANBU. I often drink two large glasses of wine (more if we have friends around or it's the weekend) and I (used to) rarely have a day off (although I have started to try to limit it to weekends only for my weight and my skin more than anything else. Most days I manage it, some days I fancy a glass on a weekday. It doesn't mean I have an alcohol 'problem'. It just means I am not a terribly self disciplined person.

[TroublesomeEx]

Having a drink problem isn't about the amount that you drink, it's about the habit that forms.

Obviously, if you drink excessively then that is a problem, but it's more that you can drink relatively little but it's the behaviour that accompanies it that is the real problem.

If you can choose to not have a drink, then that isn't an issue. It's a problem if you have to have a drink.