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 don’t drink but I think I would need my stomach pumped after a bottle 😂. I’ve never been good with alcohol. I once did a DNA fit test and the results showed my body doesn’t process alcohol properly.

Before we had DC (up to mid30s) would quite often have a G&T while making dinner and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner every night and maybe once or twice a week would be out with friends and drink more.

It’s reduced a lot post DC - aside from the pregnancy and breastfeeding years when drinking less was imposed on me, these days (mid 40s) I just don’t feel I want to. Average week maybe 4-5 units?

Though I did end up getting properly messy drunk for the first time in year recently and remembered that actually that uninhibited silly drunk can actually be a lot of fun (the hangover, not so much!)

I would have a bottle of wine a week (at a weekend) sometimes two. I have stopped buying recently for 3 reasons: cost, calories and health (lost my dad to cancer). However, if I am still planning to have a drink on a night out and will probably get a bottle to drink over Christmas. So cut down from it being a regular thing to more of a special occasion. I would snack more with wine so it helps me keep my weight down as well.

Drinking is pointless and if you need to do it then you probably have a problem with it.

I used to drink a lot in my 20's/30's but never needed it. Glad it is becoming less of a social expectation with some younger generations.

So in the spirit of this thread Ive totted up all that I drank last week:

Monday - nothing
Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - two thirds of a bottle of wine and a double gin and tonic - about 8 units in total I think
Thursday - finished off the wine - 3 units
Friday - nothing
Saturday - half a bottle of wine and a gin and tonic - about 7 units
Sunday - the rest of the wine over Sunday lunch - about 5 units

So about 23 units in total. I’m actually shocked as I don’t feel like I drank to excess at all. I certainly wasn’t drunk at any point, just a bit tipsy on Wednesday maybe and I had three days off. It does show how units can creep up quickly even when you don’t think you’re having a lot. I dread to think how much I totted up a week during my university binge drinking days.

Those saying that they don’t know any non drinkers: I’ve already posted saying that I don’t drink at all. I have a couple of friends of many years who don’t realise this, despite me having mentioned it in the past, as we only meet up during the day for meals where they don’t drink. I know they haven’t remembered because I’ve been given alcohol as gifts in the past!