To ask if you drink alcohol everyday?

[knockknockw]

I’m having a break from alcohol as I’ve drank far too much recently. I’m about 10 days alcohol free atm.

Been thinking about my drinking a lot recently, and I’ve realised whenever I try to keep 3-5 days alcohol free, it inevitably creeps up again until im drinking everyday again. Not a lot mind, one or two a day and always with dinner, (more on weekends)

does anyone else drink daily with dinner?

And if you don’t drink, how’s life without alcohol?

I enjoy a drink but hate being drunk or hungover. I'll have one or 2 drinks (wine or lager) with dinner about twice a week, and then about once a fortnight I'll go oit and have maybe 4 drinks.

I binge drink but only on social occasions with friends. I see them every couple of weeks. I'll drink a bottle of wine to myself or thereabouts. Maybe more if I get swept up in the mood, but I don't need a lot to be drunk.

I don't enjoy being badly hungover. Neither do I enjoy feeling completely out of control drunk, room swirling, feeling sick, and so on. So I don't tend to be any more than very merry.

I never drink alone and I live alone. I'm really not fussed about alcohol unless someone else wants to drink with me. I even go out completely sober if I have my car. It doesn't bother me.

In my observation, whatever that thing is that makes people want to drink and drink and never stop, I just don't experience. It does make me believe alcoholism is genetic because I don't have particularly strong willpower with other things.

I used to drink more but I found it started to affect my anxiety the next day or two. So I cut right back and now I drink mostly alcohol free. Maybe have actual alcohol twice a year in small amounts. I feel good for it- don't miss it and I'm still fun without it. I always tried to use the rule of thumb that alcohol is good for celebrating but not commiserating/destressing.

I was drinking most evenings but my partner did dry January and then ended up just continuing it and so I’ve just not been buying any wine for home. I don’t now drink unless I’m out (which is not much) and feel much better in the mornings! Just got a bit fed up of feeling groggy

I gave up drinking 4 years ago. Feeling alot better and happier without it. Won't go back now.

No. Doesn't agree with me. I was never a drinker and my social life was never about going to the pub, so I don't miss it. I now drink every 3 months maybe?

I don’t really drink. I’ve been on and off - didn’t drink at all in my 20s, then social drinker, maybe 6 months ago I’d drink a few days a week, and now I might drink champagne or a cocktail at the odd occasion but nothing beyond that. I do like the ritual of sitting with a glass of wine but tbh it can be replaced with any other drink.

it’s nice to be sober and that’s why I stopped. You feel fresh and alert all the time, much better health, energy levels etc. You can still be social - there are fantastic mocktails out there

I’ve found myself drinking whenever I’ve dated a regular drinker and watching a regular drinker as a non-drinker raises so many questions: why do they feel like they need a drink after work? Why are we drinking while watching tv? Who buys wine at the cinema? Why do you need to buy a drink, nevermind an alcoholic one, during the interval? Don’t you feel out of control being drunk?

I’ve got a nice guy trying to date me now and I don’t think I’d consider him seriously as drink plays a big part in his life and I don’t see how this habit could play a positive role in mine.

Then again drinkers probably have the same questions in reverse about non-drinkers. I have family history of alcoholism so I’m also biased.

I've never drunk in the week, only at weekends. Over the last few years I've stopped drinking at home at all. I only drink if I go out, which isn't very often! I enjoy a drink but it's something for socialising not something I do at home.

I don't drink much now, as don't have the time or money for it, and am trying to lose weight.

Life is duller without it tbh, but not unenjoyable. I hear a lot of people say they feel amazing when they don't drink - they look 10 years younger, have perfect skin, loads of energy... Good for them, but I still usually feel and look like living death. May just be because I have two very small children though lol. I don't miss hangxiety, so I suppose that is a benefit that's come from it. Certainly no magic bullet though.

I love to drink wine - I didn't really drink before I was in my 40s and had kids. My husband and I would share a bottle of wine a few nights a week, mostly weekends. When he passed it was very easy to drink the whole bottle myself. So I regularly stop for several weeks. I've had a half bottle in the last two months, for example. It's better for my health and waistline!
I don't feel any different though.
I find MN unusually abstemious; most of my friends drink several nights a week.

I have one drink maybe once a week or fortnight even once a month not something I look for sure sometimes I like to have for to relax but I find other ways to do that and I don't know about you ladies but the price or alcohol here has gone up so much so it's not like we could afford it half the time especially when it's a thong we don't need it

(Here if we go branded stuff not things from aldi it's bout $80aud or £41) .

I could quite happily go 6 months or more without one and without thinking of a drink.

Yes, most days, but only one small glass before dinner - 125ml or less. I love that glass in the early evening. But not bothered about drinking wine wiht dinner and after dinner I just want a cup of tea, so it's not too bad.

Used to drink a lot daily

Now nearly 3 years sober

Life is much better without it

I listened to a doctor last week describing his own drink issues, and he said he realised he had a problem when he needed to have a drink to feel normal (not just to get a buzz)

No I never drink at home unless we have friends round or at Christmas. Life is just normal without alcohol, not sure how else to answer that question!

@mondaytosunday "I find MN unusually abstemious; most of my friends drink several nights a week."

I was just thinking, MN is probably not a very good sample. When I did used to go out every other day, I certainly wouldn't have been on Mumsnet this time of an evening, I would have been at a bar or gig!! Plus, I can only imagine lots of people on MN are mums or people with caring responsibilities, who are less likely to drink as they have to get up early / do a night feed / deal with Peppa Pig in a few hours.

OP, the people who abstain are likely to be over-represented here.

No, I don’t drink in the house, only socially, which is usually once a fortnight. I don’t drink at social events where I’ll just have one or two at most; I just don’t see the point. If it’s a night out, I will drink more, which I accept is binge drinking; however, I drink less on those nights out, and start / finish earlier than I used to.

I used to drink far more in my 20s and 30s, before DD, but have never been a drinker at home, it was always outside the house, socially with friends.

Mine looked like shite. I definitely had a drinkers face. No thanks!

I'm vegan and I drink pretty much every night - and the majority of times it isn't to moderation. I once read a comment from a medical journal saying something like a high protein diet, especially from animal protein, can cause fatty liver. I joke to myself that I'm probably only still alive because I'm vegan 🤣. (No one needs to come at me about this, because I don't know enough to debate back, and I know nutritional advice is constantly changing).

Funnily enough, I think I drink too much because I'm trying to block the pain I feel when I think about the vulnerable, and the horrific things they have to go through. Non-human animals and humans alike.

I'm a functioning alcoholic. I know it. I know that whilst I can still make my commitments on a daily basis, albeit sometimes feeling rubbish, I do need to address this. I just can't at the moment, and the thought of never drinking again terrified me.

Bottle of wine a night about 4 times a week here.

I’m a social drinker, and I’m not very social for the most part. I’m a twat for fizzy drinks though.

I only drink very occasionally. I just don’t see it as an everyday thing. I wouldn’t want to be in a position where I couldn’t drive someone to hospital for example because I’d had a drink.

Reasons not to drink…interrupts my sleep, calories, so so expensive in restaurants and even at home now, have early mornings and demanding job, DH tends to think my drinking license for him to drink and he drinks more and harder stuff, my skin, it makes me want to eat
reasons to drink…love a cold delicious glass of wine or champagne it feels celebratory, a cocktail is a fun treat I don’t attempt at home, it does take my edge off sometimes and I can relax in some social situations, I never been a big drinker even at a party uni and never will be
so I limit it to 2 night max on the weekend 1 to 3 drinks total but it’s not uncommon for me to have to say…no lavender you are not buying a bottle of wine on a random Monday because you will
be sipping it all week

Oooh. Get you 🙄

No. I used to drink every day but I cut down massively as part of a weight loss regime & felt much better for it, so I now only drink occasionally. I still love a pint of cask ale or a glass of red, though.

I was never a ‘problem drinker’, in the sense of alcohol dependency. But the sheer quantity of empty calories I was consuming in the form of booze contributed significantly to me being clinically obese.