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 really honestly don't drink now. We used to share one bottle of wine every weekend, so one glass each Fri and Sat. Stopped a few months ago and don't miss it at all, it's saved us a few quid too.
It just gave me hot flushes and ruined my sleep, even one glass.

Generally 2 drinks on a Friday and a Saturday evening. Probably not this weekend as I’m going away with DS(11).

These threads always bring out the people that don’t drink. The ones that do simply won’t write on it.

it’s like the salary threads, the ones on six figures are far more vocal than people on £30k. In real life most of my friends drink.

This is what I'm beginning to think....

Annually, I drink: x2 weekends away with friends (vodka/wine shots), a glass on Christmas Day, the odd glass for toasting at events. Really a non-drinker until I pull it out of the bag (which i realise is not healthy either).

I've recently cut down from probably 4-5 bottles of wine a week, plus several G&TS/cognacs to only at weekends and even then only a couple of glasses an evening, plus a G&T or two when at home. Mid 40s and have been finding I just feel rough when I never used to, even when often drinking far more. I also want to drop a few pounds so I'm back in my size 12 clothes rather than in snug fitting 14...
Getting up early is so much easier and I'm sleeping really well.
ETA All our friends and family drink huge amounts, compared to people on MN. All professionals leading very successful lives. Parents and friends in their 80s still having very merry, boozy parties, like in the old days.

Barely drink at home, even on weekends. I have only recently finished a bottle of pink gin that was bought for me last christmas. I get the occasional bottle of wine in, but it will last 2-3 nights if I am drinking it. I would genuinely be pissed if I drank a full bottle to myself . I like a mulled wine and baileys around Christmas.

I am a social drinker and enjoy a few drinks when I go out though, or I will buy drinks in if having people around, but this isnt a weekly thing. I would say overall my consumption is low, but i go over the limit on a night out

Also it is always interesting to me that these threads tend to lean quite heavily towards non-drinkers. Like OP, most people I know like a drink – my workmates, my friends, all DD's friends' mums, all DP's workmates and old friends etc etc. I have one friend who doesn't drink and she's definitely in the minority.

I drink the same as you, OP. I do only drink wine, though (as if that makes it all fine!) I don’t ever drink spirits or beer.

With me it depends entirely on where I am and what I'm doing.

I don't normally drink during the working week (sun-thurs) at all, unless I'm on holiday. If I'm at home over the weekend I sometimes drink but mostly don't.

But, most weekends I do a lot of gigs and festivals and it depends what mood I'm in. I used to be a massive binge drinker but I have less tolerance and worse hangovers now so I'm a bit more sensible! If I'm "out out" I'll probably start drinking early in the day but I'll also have water or diet coke between drinks to spread it out more.

My drink of choice is rum & coke, I can drink up to 6 or 8 doubles in a single session but it's usually 2 or 3 nowadays. When out with the girls we will share a bottle of prosecco between 2 or 3 of us and often do shots too, hence the occasional water! If I'm drinking at home I like a cream liqueur but I have to go easy as the dairy/alcohol combo can trigger my IBS.

Calculating an average would be quite hard for me. I'm probably over the recommended limit, but because I take it or leave it there can be gaps of weeks where I don't drink at all then if we're away for a week I'll have something every day.

One bottle between us split across Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays (so a very small glass each, less than 125mls on those days).

We are both on medications where alcohol may potentially exacerbate effectiveness resulting in postural hypotension. As one of us has significant balance and mobility problems we never have more than a small glass.

Thank you for your concern but as I said in my OP, I (nor anyone else on here) is after advice or help. It's purely a thread to discuss how much you drink, honestly and without criticism.

All those who don't drink may well be obese and eat 5 bars of chocolate a night or a McDonalds every day. Or they could be gambling on online Bingo. Or smoking / taking drugs.

Since I realised I was starting to lean on alcohol way too heavily and as both parents are/were alcoholics of one flavour or another (and later on down the line, it killed my Mother), I pretty much stopped drinking at around 19/20 - 25 years ago!

I might have something I like the taste of at Christmas perhaps, but I stop the second I start to feel it, which is generally before the end of the first drink, I really hate the feeling now! Can't recall the last time I drank an entire glass of anything - the memories of puking so hard I wished I was dead from excessive consumption of spirits is still pretty strong though!

It wasn't hard to just stop, I don't make a big deal about it, I stopped before I got to the point of being an alcoholic but I do strongly believe if I had carried on, I would be.

About once or twice a month.

I had to go through counselling as part of an OH package a few years back and was honest that I drank 2 bottles of wine over a week, with a couple of days of no drinking. Counsellor (who was a doctor) was absolutely unconcerned.

Over pandemic my drinking got to the 30 units a week stage, because frankly everything was shite. I've cut it by a third and am happy bobbing along at the 20-ish units a week level. Liver function fine, liver ultrasound for an unrelated issue also fine.

I like to drink, hate to be drunk and like to go to bed sober sometimes. I'm mid 50s.

Usually, zero. Maybe once every few months I will have a small gin or wine.

From time to time (had 2 glasses of champagne 2 weeks ago, but nothing since).

I did drink more in the past, but I felt increasingly like it wasn't adding that much extra to my life (and was costing me in terms of health, money, mental wellbeing, ability to do things I wanted to do with my free time). I read the Jason Vale book 'Kick the Drink Easily' and read the statement that ethanol is a poison and toxic which did make me think differently about drinking, so I stopped for a bit. I am out of the habit completely now and don't miss it whatsoever, but am not teetotal. If I drink it feels like a choice and because I like the taste or I want to join in and not on autopilot.

I haven't had a drink for 3 years now :)
Before that, I rarely drank. So I decided, why bother? Like I almost felt I should drink when amongst friends who were having a wine with dinner etc, I never really enjoyed it. So yeh, none for me.

Not T-Total, but can go weeks without an alcoholic drink, only tend to have one out socially now.

DP & I would usually share a bottle of wine over a weekend, but after watching a dear friend in the depths of alcoholism we cut down massively. It is the most horrendous of illnesses- it's caused them to loose so so much.

I agree with a PP who says about food addiction- I do have a constant 'food noise' that I genuinely have to battle- but never think about alcohol.

Please anyone struggling ask for help. here is a list of help and support lines.

I've heard that doctors double or treble the volumes "said" by patients when asked about weekly consumption!

I cannot drink alcohol anymore as I have heart arrythmia. I have to say I missed it a bit at first but now - never. Similar to many it was a few bottles of wine over the weekend mostly, but occasionally during the week also.

If I didn't have Atrial Fibrillation I'd probably be ill anyway from something else, maybe alcohol related who knows. The Afib wasn't alcohol related, but it triggers it, so best avoided for me. So far so good.

Unfortunately OP any thread regarding alcohol will eventually end up with dependency/addiction/alcoholism comments. We all know alcohol is addictive and not especially good for you but people can moderate and enjoy it without it ruining their lives. I know I drink too much but I also am able to take it or leave it when I need to. I have seen genuine alcoholism within my family and it really does ruin lives and relationships. To me it’s something enjoyable not dissimilar from having a takeaway or a big bar of chocolate.

Yes, I can get the alcohol flush reaction after just a small glass, especially if drunk quickly or if eating spicy food at the same time.

I can take it or leave it, but am not totally teetotal I enjoy a few glasses of wine if we go for a nice meal, I drink probably more alcohols than I should when I'm out which is a few times a year I'm too busy for hangovers lol 😆 but when I was younger I used to be an absolute party animal and be out 2 or 3 times a week go home shower and work, I absolutely wouldn't and couldn't do that now, what anyone drinks is their business but I think if it impacts day to day life, work, relationships and finances then there are issues x

Sober for almost a decade. Tough for the first few months, but overall the best thing I ever did for myself. I cannot imagine parenting or even just existing with any trace of hangover. I know loads of people who don't drink these days - both younger people who can see it's not helpful and middle aged people who have realised it's not doing anything for them and knocked it on the head. Depends on your personality, but fully abstaining is much easier for me than having to weigh up which occasions I'd drink on / how much / feeling bad if I broke whatever rules I'd set for myself around it.

My husband drinks very infrequently and can easily stop after one glass - which I find insane. Who wants to stop after one glass?! Certainly not me. Which is why I just don't drink...!

A couple of glasses of wine twice a week. More if I go out but always aim for no more than twice a week.

I wish I could give up drinking completely, I don’t love the fact that I look forward to my wine nights. Something is holding me back, I would miss it for sure. I would feel so much healthier though.

I also see the problems with alcohol daily in my work and I think it’s all too easy to slip into bad habits.