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!

Rarely mon- Thursday unless out somewhere, then only a half an ale or cider, Fridays we often have a g&t to start then share a bottle if we are at home. Saturdays we go to the pub usually so 3 pints perhaps and Sundays vary between nothing, nipping to the pub for one or 2 or sharing wine

My DP is tea-total following a horrible relationship breakup with an alcoholic ex 10years ago. I use wine in cooking but the only alcoholic drink I really enjoy is a cocktail and I don’t make them at home (can’t be bothered). If we go out for dinner and there are cocktails and I’m not driving then I’ll order one or maybe two. I think I’ve averaged 1 cocktail per month this year. On holiday in the summer I drank one small bottle of beer (or most of one). Other than that I don’t drink, not out of virtue - I’m just not bothered!

@crackofdoomIm menopausal, 56. Since menopause I don't get hangovers. Not that I'm ever really drunk. Occasionally when I'm at my wealthy, fine wine loving friends for dinner and do over indulgence, I feel fine the next day.

I'm pretty much exactly the same as you!

I very rarely drank at home. Perhaps on a Friday or Saturday, but not during the week. I would have a drink if I went out, but never more than 3-4 drinks. Over the last 18 months, I had some health issues so stopped drinking. I haven’t missed it. Once I’m fully recovered I’m sure I’ll drink again but it’s been interesting to see how much I really don’t think about it.

I usually buy a bottle of wine a week and thats my lot. With the COL I can't afford more lol.
Last weekend we had a family poker night and I drank for too much- 3x cocktails a glass of wine and a baileys and I struggled not to be sick. I simply can't take it any more.

Luckily for me I don't enjoy drinking alcohol mostly.Sometimes I manage with food about a glass of wine.I hate feeling dizzy and getting a headache , so barely at all. Also has got worse with age.It seems to run in my family people who find it hard to drink
I am addicted to sugar though doing better now, had to be very strong, to cut down.So sympathies for those who like a drink.

Honestly the only time I drink is to make other people who DO enjoy drinking feel more comfortable. That’s actually mad when I type it out.
I used to drink more when I was younger/ going out more but even then I didn’t really enjoy it.
Now I quite like the odd glass of red wine but could honestly take or leave alcohol. When it’s just me and DH we don’t bother.
Most of our friends drink more than us and assume that we drink like they do because we will open a bottle when they come over to be sociable.
But honestly I think a number of them have got a bit of an unacknowledged alcohol problem.
Growing up my mum was checked out drinking wine in front of the TV most nights, she wasn’t awful or abusive and if I really need her she’d have tried to be there for me, but that is my enduring memory of her from that time. We are not close now. I don’t want that for my kids.

I hardly ever drink - just the occasional one when out for a meal. But that’s mostly because I am one of those people who have histamine issues with alcohol and get really hot and flushed from even half a glass of wine, so it’s not a fun experience.

I have a different issue - I drink several Red Bulls most days (no sugar version), because I love the caffeine hit. I know they are supposed to be really bad for health, but I can’t seem to stop. 🤦‍♀️

No I have friends that are going through menopause and drinking doesnt effect them for me its really bad hangovers to the point I can not function.
Interestingly my feiends who are super fit like really fit seem to be the ones who can drink more. I think their bodies are processing the alcohol more efficiently.

I drink very little now, probably only a glass or two a month. I used to drink much more frequently, although not a lot at once, but when I turned 50 I suddenly stopped fancying it.

I don’t. Maybe every 3 or so months I might have a small glass of something. I haven’t had a drink since July. At Christmas I’ll have a baileys maybe a few times over the festive period.
I just don’t really see the fascination of drinking.

I fully admit that I could and did easily consume a bottle of wine a night in my youth/30s.

But as you can see on this thread, as you get older it's shocking how things change and your body cant handle it any more. I am now mid 40s and had to give up drinking completely because it just makes me feel so awful, its like a switch flipped and whereas alcohol used to make me feel energised, bubbly and happy, it started to make me feel exhausted, emotional, and super anxious to the point of panic attacks.

My mental health is so much better since I gave it up.

OP - I’m mid 40s and drink exactly the same as you. Around 3 bottles of wine in total at the weekend. With food and pints of water over the course of a few hours so get tipsy but not drunk.

There's no "fascination". It's purely habit (possibly addiction?). Same as people who eat chocolate every night or smoke.

Am afraid am boring, I don't drink at all, not done in years. My job stopped me, getting up at 4.30am isn't doable when had a few the night before, nor probably legal to get behind the wheel. From being a right lush in my 20's, I actually dislike the feeling now on the rare occasion I'll try and drink a drink that I don't bother at all now. Cuppa trumps every time!

I was just thinking this. I drink a LOT of water. Pretty much all day every day and even between glasses of wine. Maybe that's the key to no hangovers?! Because they say hangovers are just dehydration but I guess I'm never really dehydrated?!

Same, actually.

I drank half a glass of champagne at a celebration lunch about 6 months ago. The time before that would have been New Year’s Eve 2023 I think. I like the taste of some drinks, but I’d always rather have the calories as food. I live rurally, I have teenagers and an elderly mother, so I know I’ve always got to be fit to drive.

In a previous post I mentioned that health survey data accounts for 60% of the alcohol purchased, so unless people are buying booze and pouring it away, we can assume that over the population, people under-report by 40%.

Having said that, people who drink very little probably don't under-report so it's probably skewed such that the heavy drinkers under-report by more than that!

The calculation is: units = volume (cl) x strength (%)/ 1000
Yes wine is quite a bit stronger generally than it was years ago, 13.5% used to be a strong red now it's more average, a light white might be 6 units. Having the calculation is useful as wine and beer can both have a huge range of alcohol %. The strength of some beers and the fact it is often drunk in pints really adds up. The 'just had a few beers' can be very misleading in units.

It'll go straight to your head now, after a break! Cheaper now at least, lol.

I meant that I don’t get enough out of it to warrant it becoming a habit (if that makes sense). I have to kind of enjoy something a lot to want to keep repeating it and I don’t seem to get the enjoyment out of drink that others do. That’s all I meant.

I agree with all of this. Some people say food is addictive (unsurprising with all the salt and sugar) and that’s why so many people are overweight, because the food is addictive. I hear phrases like food noise and that they can’t help it.

I knew an alcoholic who was skin and bone (assuming he barely ate) so he wasn’t addicted to food but was susceptible to alcohol. Given that over half the population are overweight, I wonder if that’s addiction in the same way as alcohol.

@preparingforthepileon. This is also a reply to your post.

None, it doesn’t interest me any more really