How can I be in the top 5% of drinkers at 20 units a week?!

[Pooshy]

I've been tracking how much alcohol I drink since the start of the year in an effort to cut down

It's working and I think I probably drink about half as much as I used to, around 20 units a week on average. Still over the women's recommended limit of 14, but this is better than I was

However the app I'm using says I'm in the top 5% of drinker so that means only 5 people out of 100 drink more than me

Surely that can't be right... how many unit do you drink a week usually?

I go weeks without drinking any alcohol and then have a bottle of wine generally. If I'm on a night out I have been known to drink a lot more but it's been a while! I have a baby and have sleep difficulties I don't think I could cope with a hangover at the same time. I don't do a glass of wine of an evening to relax style drinking very often

I used to drink around 50 units a week, but I’ve also cut down and I now drink a bottle and a half of wine a week, which I believe is around 15-16 units.

I wonder if the posts on here are much of a reflection of the general population. If so the drinks industry must be in big trouble. I take my hat off to the brave souls who have admitted to more

I have a friend who admits to drinking 70 plus units a week.

I probably have about 10 units a week on average. Some weeks none, other weeks, Im out and about so have more. 20 seems a lot if you're having that much every week

I had this at my booking appt on Friday actually! Before I was pregnant I'd easily have 5-6 bottles of wine a week, wine Wednesday with the girls would be 2-3 bottles each then a bottle Friday night & Sunday night. I downplayed it to the midwife and said around 20 units a week and was told she would have had to refer me if this was a normal doctors consultation which I thought was a bit of an excessive reaction. It's very much a lifestyle/stage of life thing I think. I'm under no illusion this will hugely drop once the baby is here and I can drink again but I will definitely be having a wine with a meal/weekend treat!

OP, the stats are going to be skewed. You're not going to get alcos joining the app. Nor are you going to get the 'I have a sherry at Christmas' type. Most people will underestimate how much they're drinking in units, as they don't know how many they're drinking.
For reference, a bottle and a half of wine a week (yes a week) exceeds the WHO recommended consumption for an adult female. So according to WHO, the very healthy Italians, who consume a small glass of wine, lunch and dinner 7 days a week, with 2 nights of maybe having a cognac, are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy over the limit.
It's a load of bollocks.
I'm alive on 30 units a day.

I think the attitude of 'not drinking = boring' as per a PP is quite British. I live in Germany and it's very typical on a social evening to have about half the table having a beer or glass of wine and the other half having a soft drink, and nobody would dream of commenting on the latter. Alcohol is a part of going out - often an integral one - but it's not the purpose, as it seems to be in the UK. There's no real translation of 'going out on the lash'.

Of course the Oktoberfest is the exception And people can and do get very drunk at carnival. But those are exceptional events and not typical.

I often wonder why the Germans love Ireland lol. Maybe they get to see lunatics loose in the asylum lol. Seriously, the amount of German tourists we have is only exceeded by our Americans seeking their ancestral home lol.

Hardly anything at the moment due to non-sleeping babies and no social life!

Pre babies maybe half a bottle of wine plus a few cocktails? Around 10 units a week?

It's the beer, the scenery and they get to show off their English

I don't drink but if i did would probably be a glass of wine at most

And there was me thinking it was our hospitality!

None. I bet I have at most one bottle of wine over a whole year.

I'm sure it's that as well, Litluts

Well we can throw a party!

“I downplayed it to the midwife”

Why? If you don’t think it’s an issue?

"Yes because not drinking alcohol makes your life boring"

It really does.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an alcoholic or a massive drinker. I am a moderate drinker, though. I have half a bottle of wine 3 times a week, on nights when I go out with DH or friends. I consider this a huge pleasure in life, and it's one that I am both unashamed of and unwilling to forego. And yes, life without it would be really dull.

I'm intrigued to know what non-alcoholic pleasures people take that are so interesting by comparison? I go running 3-4 times a week, go walking in the countryside, go to lectures/seminars and reading groups, and pursue a creative hobby. I can confidently say that, while I enjoy all of these tremendously, none of them really takes the place of a great restaurant with great company.

Oh, and there is an ENORMOUS pleasure in a really good bottle of wine, too, not in terms of drunkenness but in terms of the whole taste and experience of it. It's a joy.

Don't be so ridiculous. Life might be dull for you without alcohol but that in no way means that life is boring without it for other people. Also I don't drink and I still go to restaurants.

Pmsl...are you genuinely asking what other pleasures there are apart from drinking?

I can confidently say that, while I enjoy all of these tremendously, none of them really takes the place of a great restaurant with great company.

You realise you can go to a great restaurant with great company without alcohol, right?

And can you not go to a restaurant without alcohol?

Yes, of course I can go to a restaurant without alcohol. But why would I want to do that? My point is that I ENJOY DRINKING REALLY GOOD RED WINE. I enjoy a lot of other things as well (as I made clear above), but I am unashamedly a fan of a glass or two, good food, and good company.