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 can have a drink 2-3 times in a week, and then nothing for a few weeks, it is very variable. Sometimes I will have a full bottle of wine but it will be over several hours in the evening.

I don’t actively try to “not drink” or think I’ve had too much one week ,I just have it whenever I feel like some and it is more for the taste than the effect.

I drunk every single night for over 20 years. Sometimes in the day too.
I've been teetotal for a year and a half and I still miss it, but it was ruining my life

I'm proud of myself!! Sober since 2/1/23

I don't drink at all and life is fine!

Well done. That is something to be proud of.

I haven't had a drink of alcohol for three years and I feel fantastic, better than I ever did when I was drinking every evening. It took about three weeks to feel better and about six month to feel amazing.

@ILoveToCleanSaidNooneEver Thank you ☺️ x

I rarely drink at all now. Special occasions only, like wine with a meal when on holiday.

My DD's graduation from Cambridge is coming up this month and I will drink a couple of glasses of prosecco or whatever is on offer then, but nothing more.

At home, which is most of the time these days, I almost never drink now. It would never occur to me to buy a bottle with the shopping except for the occasional bottle of alcohol free stuff.

I have some medical issues which make drinking inadvisable including Fatty Liver Disease. So I almost never drink now and if I am honest I really don't miss it at all.

Yes, I do. We have three very young kids, for specific reasons at the moment, limited childcare and work long hours. Carrying a glass of wine through with a plate of food after the children have FINALLY all gone to sleep is a shortcut that makes it very slightly less miserable to go straight back to work and catch up on a few more hours before the cycle begins again.

I have a lifelong dislike of sweet things and particularly drinks, so expect it is the sugar as much as anything. But something that I have found really helps me is to brew my own kombucha. It costs pretty much nothing and has a complex slightly dry flavour that holds up really well against wine or alternatives. I make 2l every few days at the moment, but am about to double up, because it is a really great grown-up drink.

I drink quite rarely now. Probably every day during a holiday and a bit more during periods like Christmas but, for example, I haven't had a drink since around April now and try to avoid it being a weekly thing. I love the taste of red wine and find it so relaxing but now I'm older I feel so awful the next day, even after 1 glass, it's not worth it really for me. I also enjoy it more when it's a rare treat.

I massively cut down two months ago. I was having a glass or two at least four days a week. Now realise it was trashing my sleep, mood and peace. I've had maybe six drinks in the past two months and feel so much calmer. It was quite scary at first which made me realise I had always leaned on booze for social events. But I got over the hump with fake gins and beers - they're lovely and I still feel like I'm participating!

I sometimes have a half a sherry at Easter and on leap years I'll have a Bailey's on Christmas Day.

I'm too busy washing sheets and towels hourly to drink TBH

No. Never during the week unless I am socialising. Usually have a couple of glasses of wine either Friday or Saturday nights.

I grew up with daily drinking: my dad was a high functioning alcoholic and my mum went along with it to keep the peace. It was very normal for me so I repeated this into my 20s and early 30s.

When I got to my 40s I had a kind of epiphany about how much alcohol holds you back. It’s not only the health issues (though that’s a big factor). The worst things for me are:

• It’s a demotivater: massively diminishes my ability to get things done because it effects my brainpower and confidence so I will always take the path of least resistance when I am hungover or have been drinking
• Hugely affects sleep: I just can’t get enough sleep after drinking
• It stops me exercising
• It makes me feel depressed

Increasingly on a cost/benefit analysis it just is rarely worth it.

I still have the capacity to drink a fair bit when I am with friends and will happily drink “purposefully” but I never do it now “just because”. I avoid the “wine o’clock” tendency like the plague.

Generally the less I drink the happier I am.

I used to call a friend and chat daily/every other day - would often have wine or cider and a couple of cigs as well and it was my social time. Friend and I fell out at the start of the year and I've had 1 cocktail when out for a gig and 2 cigs since. I don't miss the alcohol at all actually and certainly don't miss the waking up the next morning or expense. I do think I'm a massive light weight now but I don't go out anyway so not like anyone will see me drunk. It is odd how as a society we imagine how weird it is NOT to drink. For me it is easy because as a single mum I don't go out.

I like a glass of wine while I’m cooking dinner or a gin and tonic on a Friday night, but I can easily do without it / don’t bother when I have an early start / only ever have 1-2 drinks at home. I drank more when I was on holiday, but I’m not going to stress about one week a year.
That said, if you feel that your drinking habits are a problem, then well done for cutting down. I took a long break from alcohol about ten years ago, and it absolutely was the right thing at the time.

I go out at least 3 times a week and I have no childcare responsibilities. I just don't go to bars and pubs.

I find those boring and overpriced in London.

I don't drink every day but I do drink on Friday and Saturday nights.

No - I don't know anyone who does, either, except maybe my dad who will pop to the pub on the way home from work for a pint. Maybe it's a generational thing but I can't imagine anyone I know drinking every day unless they had an alcohol problem (I realise that sounds like I'm being po-faced but I'm really not, I just genuinely don't know anyone who makes alcohol a regular part of their routine like that! I have plenty of friends who drink in other unhealthy ways - when we do go out I'm sure it would be classed as binge drinking due to the amount - but I don't know anyone who has a glass of wine or whatever every evening)

Thing is though, at a week of 2 small glasses per night, that's 21 units, which is way over the recommended allowance for women. You might not be visibly affecting your life - or being a 'mad alcoholic' - but you're potentially regularly drinking 50% more than the recommended amount a week, which has an impact on your health. I'm not saying it's 'dysfunctional', but it's still bad for you.

No, I've found that as I've got older I have drunk less and less. Was never a daily drinker, but the drink drive rules now in Scotland mean you can't even have one drink and then drive, and there was a phase a few years ago where the kids seemed to be needing ferried places every evening, so a glass of wine with dinner was out of the question. DH also has a job where he on call about 25% of the time which means he cannot drink as he has to be able to drop everything and go straight to work (rarely happens, but still). Then menopause hit and I just didn't like drinking any more. My parents are also nightly drinkers and that is not a pattern I want to fall into.

I don’t drink daily, or even weekly. Every once in a while, I buy a bottle of wine and might drink a glass with dinner until it’s finished (typically a week, although it can last longer if we’re busy!).

It’s a) not worth the calories for me - I’d rather have pudding, b) not part of my routine and c) gets in the way of sport/exercise.

I don’t think other people who do drink more are making bad choices or anything. I just think once something becomes habit, it’s much harder to undo.

I drink a couple of glasses of wine maybe twice a month. I used to be a binge drinker and. It's just lost its appeal. I still enjoy getting tipsy if I go out with friends but absolutely hate the next day.

I think people who drink problematically always try and justify why their own habits aren’t that bad and other people are worse. I know I did. At least I don’t drink spirits, at least I don’t drink in the morning, at least I don’t smoke or take drugs…etc.

PP may have a point about animal fats and liver damage but I’ve not heard or read much about things like cirrhosis being caused by eating meat.

Times when I have done haven't in retrospect been that good times for me. I'm trying to find other ways of dealing with stress and very rarely drink in the week now (unless there's a good reason). I've lost weight, sleep better (still not great) and my skin looks better.

Down I don't feel I need to 'justify' why I drink daily ... I mean we all could live totally healthy lives if we wanted to ... no alcohol, sensible diet, no (or very few) treats, plenty of exercise etc but I feel life is for living and if a glass or two of wine, bar of chocolate, bacon sandwich etc makes life more pleasant then why not?

No I don’t. Often I go a week or two without a drink at all, and then usually it’s just one drink. The sulphites in wine give me a headache even on just one glass, so I rarely bother.