Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many nights a week you drink alcohol?

186 replies

BlondeOnATreadmill · 19/02/2016 20:34

I have cut down, but I'm not sure it's enough? I think my thinking may be skewed?

I was drinking wine every night. For quite some time! And not just a glass either. Generally a bottle, or even more, every night.

For the past few months, I have cut my drinking back to 3 nights a week only.

The other 4 nights a week, I have no alcohol at all. I have lemonade with dinner and a few decaff coffees later on.

Is this ok? Is 3 nights of drinking still too many? Or do you think this seems ok?

I have lost all perspective.

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 20/02/2016 10:07

throughthickandthin the new government guidelines recommend that if you're drinking the full 14 units of alcohol spreading out units as evenly as possible through the week is better than binge drinking.

www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/what-is-alcohol/new-government-alcohol-unit-guidelines

ifyoulikepinacolada · 20/02/2016 10:15

Most weekends I pick up a bottle of wine and get through it over the course of the weekend and during the next week. And most weeks I go for a drink with DP or a friend or go to the theatre/cinema/out for dinner so a couple of beers/g&ts/glasses of wine on top of that. That's all I drink really - I love the taste, but I don't need loads of it!

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 20/02/2016 10:17

Yes they always have I think purple, it's tended to be 14 units across the week with 2 or 3 days off. But this article was specifically about how alcohol affects the liver, and seemed to be very frank and unofficial, which maybe I took to heart as I'm more of a binge drinker than little and often!

StrumpersPlunkett · 20/02/2016 10:21

Mrs jay
A bottle of wine has between 9-15 units of alcohol depending on percentage.
Number if "glasses" is purely depended in the size of your glass.

MrsJayy · 20/02/2016 10:23

Yeah suppose you are right

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 20/02/2016 10:23

My bottles have 9 units. We very rarely drink over 12%. So between 4 and a half units if I'm sharing with dh

PennyDropt · 20/02/2016 10:28

It is addictive. Or it wouldn't be difficult to drink less of it.

Jason Vale's book gives a different perspective. There are other books too.

ProfGrammaticus · 20/02/2016 10:30

I think if you find the idea of NOT having wine those three nights unthinkable, you have some way to go. You have done really well to get where you are. But as a PP said, a dry month would probably help you work out why and when you drink.

Lweji · 20/02/2016 10:31

the liver copes better with a binge than the drip-drip effect of daily drinking when it doesn't have time to recover.

It depends on the amounts. Four bottles in one go certainly better than a bottle a day.
But not necessarily if you drink one glass every day.

Lweji · 20/02/2016 10:33

ThroughThickAndThin01

If you share a bottle, you're certainly not drinking a bottle.

The same for those drinking one bottle over the weekend. It's only a few glasses a day.

LittleLionMansMummy · 20/02/2016 10:34

I think most professionals now agree that binge drinking is in fact the very worse kind of drinking. The lover copes very well with most things in moderation.

LittleLionMansMummy · 20/02/2016 10:34

liver Blush

littlestlily · 20/02/2016 11:10

Maidofstars can I be your friend please?
Your Sunday lunches and fun cupboard sound right up my street!! 😀

littlestlily · 20/02/2016 11:11

Fun cupboard? I meant gin cupboard!! 😄

littlestlily · 20/02/2016 11:12

Fun cupboard sounds like something else entirely Blush

stonecircle · 20/02/2016 11:45

6-7 nights a week here. I just love wine with my evening meal and once I've finished eating have no desire to continue drinking. Not interested in any other types of alcohol.

Fortunately half a bottle or more of wine would make me ill. I drink 1/4 - 1/3 of a bottle a night. Too much I guess.

ihateminecraft · 20/02/2016 12:37

Usually 2 nights a week - 2-3 glasses of wine on a Friday & Saturday night, more if going out but that's not very often. Try not to drink mid week unless a special occasion, am going out or there's a bottle already open (am incapable of leaving opened bottles alone for some reason!). If I'm on holiday or over christmas I will drink most days. I do love a drink, always have, always will, and really look forward to my weekends. I can't actually understand people who don't unless it's for medical/religious reasons or who are perhaps a recovering alcoholic. I actually prefer people who enjoy a drink tbh! Having said all that, it does sound that you're still drinking a bit too much. If you have the self control to cut it down to weekends and special occasions, I think you'll see it as more of a treat to look forward to which is what I do!

SeasonalVag · 20/02/2016 12:47

We both drink a bottle of wine between us, a week. We monitor our intake but just can't help it, children of alcoholics that we are. Plus the usual issues with young kids etc

SoupDragon · 20/02/2016 12:51

None.

I'm not a non drinker, I just don't drink other than on "occasions".

ToomuchChocolatemeansBootcamp · 20/02/2016 13:25

On average I would say less than half a bottle of wine a week. I can easily go 2/3/4 weeks without a drink then maybe pick one up with say a M&S meal deal and DH and I will share it over the weekend.

When I go out with friends (about once every 6-8 weeks or so) I can have up to a whole bottle but I'll feel it the next day and am drinking less as I get older definitely (mid 40s). I'm also more aware of not drinking if I have to drive the next morning (Scotland - limit is lower now)

I think you've done very well toke the changes you have so far OP and if you can keep going at your own pace bringing the total down, you will def feel the difference.

shebird · 20/02/2016 13:33

OP I can recommend a 'dry month' as a way to reset your drinking habits. It is the habit of having that drink as a way to unwind or with food that needs to change. I personally felt so much better and had more energy when I gave up.

Also the Drinkaware website is a real eye opener and great for calculating units, calories and the equivalent in terms of burgers consumed Blush

ProfGrammaticus · 20/02/2016 15:35

I struggle to leave an unopened bottle alone, too. I need to start buying half bottles, I don't even think it works out more expensive now, though it definitely used to.

kawliga · 20/02/2016 16:48

How do people open a bottle of wine and drink it over a week between two of you. Do you just drink little sips every day? And by the end of the week it tastes like vinegar. I have a friend who does this. When I go round to hers she'll offer me a thimble-full of wine from a bottle that's been sat on her countertop since she opened it three weeks ago and tastes vile from oxidation. She prides herself on being a light drinker Hmm If I open a bottle I finish it within two days, three days tops.

Better not to drink at all if you can't enjoy your wine. Enjoying it means, have a top up if you want one Grin

Also don't get people who serve a small glass of wine with dinner and expect you to make that little glass last the entire evening. Just serve water instead, and be done with it.

pointythings · 20/02/2016 16:55

I drink 3 nights a week, but very moderately - within the new guidelines that just came out this year. It wasn't always like that, I used to drink every day for a total of about 45 units a week. Far too much. So I did a dry month last year, loved the results and changed habits. I am now 18 kilos lighter, sleeping better than ever, fitter and happier. And I still really enjoy the drinks I do have, possibly more than I used to.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es · 20/02/2016 16:59

Why would only having one glass mean you can't enjoy it? That's generally all I want, one glass with dinner is more than enough for me. One of the reasons we rarely drink at home is the waste as I agree that keeping it open for more than a couple of days ruins it.