How much do you drink? Honestly!

[Starlight1984]

And yes, yes I know there is an "alcohol support" section of MN but this isn't for help or advice or anything other than curiosity!

Just been reading on another thread about what people do and don't do which others would find unusual and a LOT of the posts include people saying they don't drink alcohol which I find insane as pretty much everyone I know drinks to some degree!

Anyway I'll start, I don't (or try not to!) drink from Mon - Thurs but on average will have a bottle of wine on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. So 3 x bottles of wine a week. I know it's above the guidelines of "normal" drinking and know I need to cut down but it's something I genuinely enjoy. DH is the same. We never get drunk. We just slowly drink 3-4 glasses over the course of the evening (from about 6pm to 11ish) whilst making dinner, sitting down to eat, watching a film / reading a book... It's just something that helps us to unwind after a busy week!

So for AIBU

YABU - No thanks, would rather have a cup of tea.
YANBU - Pour me a large one!

I buy 12 small mixers a week, only on the weekend though (fri, sat, sun) so about 3 to 4 a night (but its not unusual to have a couple left over for next week or get tired and go to bed without finish an open one) over about 4-5 hours.

I'm not really a big drinker though anymore, I'm far too old, no longer spring back from anything and haven't drunk to get drunk in so long that a hangover would probably finish me.

I love to have a drink when socialising, how much I drink is really variable depending on what I’m doing, who with and where (I’m often driving). I’m going out with friends on Saturday and will probably have plenty, I had a gin last weekend but other times I might have a few beers or glasses of wine across the week.
My adult children (early 20s) and most of their friends drink similarly (although probably significantly less than I did when I was their age) so I am never convinced by the young people don’t drink argument.

I used to drink probably daily when in my early 20’s (uni etc) I would say I was drunk on average over 50% of the week and it’s slowly just faded out. I’m now 38 and barely touch it. If I average over the year I’d probably get through 6 bottles of wine and a handful of pints! I’d say on average I’d drink once a month if you averaged it out but I can go months without. For example the last few weeks I’ve had a bottle of wine over Friday/Saturday with some of the wine being poured away.

That's not the reason for my lot not drinking. DS1(28) loves an expensive red wine in a restaurant but that will be less than once a month. DS2 will have a pint if he goes to a pub quiz but that's all. They don't seem to drink at home and their partners are the same. All very health and fitness conscious. Put me to shame compared to me at that age.

That said I know I'm dependent on alcohol because if I contemplate the idea of not drinking this (or any) weekend, I feel like I'd be missing out and wouldn't enjoy the weekend as much.

I think that is definitely the key and it's good you can recognise it.

The problem comes when drinking takes up any headspace. I guess similar to 'food noise'. It was a revelation to me when I gave up alcohol (was completely teetotal for a few years before my current position of 3 ish times a year) - that it's actually normal to not think about drinking/whether you're going to drink that night or week/how much you're going to drink/what food are you going to have to go with the wine/what TV or film are you going to watch with the wine, etc.

I probably drink 5x a year on average and never get drunk. I'm just not that into it.

(I'm mid-40's)

Actually, I think stats show that younger people nowadays don't drink as much as older generations used to?

1-2 glasses of wine per week and if I go out for dinner I will have a glass of wine or a cider. I actually enjoy a drink more now I’m in my 40s .

Nothing Monday - Thursday. Friday usually half a bottle of wine and a nice big G&t, Couple of glasses of wine on a Saturday and occasionally I glass of wine on a Sunday. I am very disciplined and never go over that. I never ever touch anything in the daytime even at a wedding etc.

Pretty boring but I don't drink at all. It has never agreed with me even when I was younger and drinking at parties etc. Sometimes I would have 1 or 2 drinks and would start to feel sick. Maybe I am alcohol intolerant, who knows? But I haven't drank at all for many years now since my early 20s and I don't miss it.

I drink a glass or two of wine every night and probably 2-3 bottles (total) over the duration of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I know it’s too much but I have a stressful job, young kids and am active social life. I have just done dry September so I know I can stop but at the moment I enjoy a nice glass of wine and I enjoy my life!

That’s not luck. The worst thing your body can do when drinking is not give you a hangover. It gives you a very false sense of security.

See i don’t like wine of any kind Red ,white or Rose , a few people have said your not buying the right kind off wine but it all tastes like vinegar to me and husband someone else said your not buying need to buy a bottle of the dear stuff

Your not boring at all

Same with me. I literally start feeling woozy after just one mouthful of wine. A glass would have me snoring, even when I was younger. I’ve always said it acts like an anaesthetic on me, one glass and I’m out cold before I can count to three. And just a small amount gives me a headache.

In the last 2 years I had few gin and tonics on a work night out, one of those small bottles of white wine, most of a bottle of Baileys (over about 4 months) and one very weak cocktail last week.

I remember because

• going on a work night out is rare.
• I felt like I'd died the morning after the wine.
• I've realised I dont really like Baileys.
• the cocktail was weak but I felt a bit loud after it and had that thing where you cant sleep if you are drunk.

So Id say I dont drink really. Im never drinking wine again!

It crept up to most days in the summer and about four bottles total a week. I cut right back. It's usually two bottles a week now, which I still think is too much. I try to have at least two days without any

A couple of drinks a week doesn’t mean you’re dependant on alcohol! Just like a round of toast with butter a couple of times a week mean you!re a dairy fiend or a pudding a couple of times a week mean you’re a sugar addict. I look forward to my homemade apple crumble in exactly the same way as I look forward to my glass of wine. Yet one is judged, the other isn’t.

I doubt I have the equivalent of a bottle of wine a year, I can’t remember the last time I drank alcohol.
I I have no need to drink, I am an incredibly lightweight drinker anyway, I hate the feeling that I get from drinking alcohol. I have never been drunk in my life.

This sums me up too!

Pretty much the same as you OP, a bottle of Chardonnay over the course of the evening on a Friday and Saturday and maybe half a bottle of red with Sunday lunch. I don’t drink spirits and am healthy and fit in my diet and exercise so I don’t worry about it. Most of my social circle is the same. We are mid to late fifties.

None. I stopped drinking around 3 years ago.

Oh come on- if people said that they found your alcohol consumption per week to be "insane" - I am sure you would find that somewhat judgy so dont pretend your comments were not judgy.

So what if your friends drink?- is it really incomprehensible to you that there are people out there who dont drink? I'd say this thread is pretty well balanced between those who dont drink and those who do. So all this finding people who make different life choices to be "insane" is a little bit silly.

So you're not drinking 3 bottles of wine a week, you are sharing a bottle of wine with DH x3 days a week. so you're drinking 1.5 bottles, so about 15 units, when the recommendation is 14.

It's not that problematic if that's the case.

I don't know why everyone gets so defensive over how much they drink versus the recommendation – it's not a moral judgement, it's the statistical point at which someone is at higher risk. If someone wants to drink more than that, then go for it, but it is what it is.

I also see no value in judging alcohol use by 'getting drunk' or not. That's not a measurable factor.

ETA: And I like a drink as much as the next person, but it's a bit sporadic. Some weeks I'll exceed, then I won't have anything for a week or two.

I'm early 40s, definitely slowing down (have been for a while though). I don't drink Sun-Thur as a general rule, but do have 2-3 glasses of wine on average on a thur-fri night with DH or a friend. I've started cutting out alcohol on Saturdays so that is TBD on my no booze days list as I enjoy feeling fresh and more energetic Sundays to give me a day to handle the kids. Saturdays they are in activities all day, so Friday affects me less if I have a glass or two and watch some bake off. My younger days were a free for all. No judgement to anyone here.