Do you drink too much / little?

[A911DOM]

Ive been thinking recently about my daily alcohol intake, then dismiss the subject as getting old and ghey grey.

So, whats the popular consensus on acceptable daily intake - it doesnt really change from one day to the next for me, not even Friday / Saturday night.

Gulp - Heres my usual daily total:

1 x Beer - of the Belgian variety so usually between 6 - 12% abv
1 x Bottle of Wine - shared with SWMBO
1 x Large whisky (I guess it would be approx 4 - 6 pub measures!)

To be honest this is quite a lot less than a couple of years ago , but even so...
Is it too much? Am I normal? Should I join the AA for an inevitable liver breakdown?

Be interesting to see what others class as 'normal'

[Ciaran]

I generally never drink during the week, hate feeling crap the next day while at work.

Last weekend I didn't drink at all, the weekend before that I had two bottles of red. This weekend I'm heading out with some mates to watch the football then on for something to eat.

At a guess tomorrow will be 3 or 4 pints during football. Dinner, probably half a bottle of wine and 2 beers. To end off I'll probably have 6 or 7 pints in the pub.

I'll probably not drink next weekend.

[Don]

A911DOM said:

Ive been thinking recently about my daily alcohol intake, then dismiss the subject as getting old and ghey grey.

So, whats the popular consensus on acceptable daily intake - it doesnt really change from one day to the next for me, not even Friday / Saturday night.

Gulp - Heres my usual daily total:

1 x Beer - of the Belgian variety so usually between 6 - 12% abv
1 x Bottle of Wine - shared with SWMBO
1 x Large whisky (I guess it would be approx 4 - 6 pub measures!)

To be honest this is quite a lot less than a couple of years ago , but even so...
Is it too much? Am I normal? Should I join the AA for an inevitable liver breakdown?

Be interesting to see what others class as 'normal'

I'm probably not far off that...although I might delete the beer and add a whisky or forego the wine or whatever.

I asked the Doc about it.

He gave me a stern look and said the wine was OK but the rest was a no-no.

C'est la vie.

For a good while the wife and I instigated a "no booze until Thursday" policy.

Going to have to go back to that, I think...

[Papoo]

I wasn't drinking quite as much as the OP, but a steady few bottles of lager a night, maybe 4 on average. That said, my intake did change at the weekend, much for the worse.

My wife and I had nno issues cutting out midweek alcohol, and feel worlds better for it.

[shirt]

i've been drinking too little for a while now. my liver must be getting withdrawal symptoms and crying for drink as am down 3bottles of whisky this mth.

[Pixel-Snapper]

Tuesday - 2 cans with the footy

Wedsnesday - bottle of red with dinner

Last night - 4 pints of watered down fosters in the pub

Tonight - a gig so anywhere between 4-8 pints

Tomorrow night - dinner party anywhere between x amount beers and wine.

I wouldnt worry

might lay off it next week haha

[lazyitus]

Well, the last I heard on Radio 2 yesterday morning was that they now reckon the more alcohol you drink, the better it is for your heart, although it could still be doing damage to other organs.

With so many different opinions and 'professional' studies each month, I'm not surprised there are drink issues in this country.

To the OP - if you don't think it affects your life in a negative way then enjoy what you're doing. You're intake is too much IMO but hey, enjoy life etc...

Perhaps knock the whisky on the head ?

[bint]

The fact that you can remember what you drank, discuss it with fellow drinkers connoisseurs and possibly have partaken of slightly better than Liebfraumilch, Teachers or Stella, means you're not doing anything bad. IMHO of course

[Lancs Jag Boy]

A911DOM said:

Ive been thinking recently about my daily alcohol intake, then dismiss the subject as getting old and ghey grey.

So, whats the popular consensus on acceptable daily intake - it doesnt really change from one day to the next for me, not even Friday / Saturday night.

Gulp - Heres my usual daily total:

1 x Beer - of the Belgian variety so usually between 6 - 12% abv
1 x Bottle of Wine - shared with SWMBO
1 x Large whisky (I guess it would be approx 4 - 6 pub measures!)

To be honest this is quite a lot less than a couple of years ago , but even so...
Is it too much? Am I normal? Should I join the AA for an inevitable liver breakdown?

Be interesting to see what others class as 'normal'

Thank fk for that...as that's about my intake as well. I don't know whether it is good or bad, but if there is two of us I feel better. Cheers.

[Romanymagic]

This may be a cat among pigeons moment then...

No excuse but my career dictates that you have to have a high tolerance to alcohol, I am a recruitment consultant working within the financial services industry, specifically a niche sector who all love to drink (managers, contractors and HR), I have worked in this industry for 12 years and prior to that, earlier in life lived in a family pub so, I guess from what follows that I am alcohol dependent.

Typically if I am entertaining clients through the day and it's a long lunch I will get through two bottles of wine, same in the evening (warned you about that high tolerance).

To give you an example of my bodies adjustment to years of alcohol, I was involved in a mild RTA two years ago, a chap ran out in front of me during the morning rush hour, happily I was doing 25 mph, braked hard and the pedestrian clipped the side of my car, smashing the wing mirror to merry hell but otherwise could have been worse. I had drunk two bottles of wine the night before (but felt fine), I was breathalysed as standard (for the rta) and came up clear, my last glass of wine had been 7 hours before the accident. Naturally I was nervous given my hedonistic approach to drinking, but the cop checked the breathalyser twice and said it was still clear.

I would like to cut back, I did notice an increased tolerance to alcohol once I gave up smoking some three years ago. All my friends are heavy drinkers, as are work mates, bosses, family and its very hard to break the chain.

[condor]

Romanymagic said:

This may be a cat among pigeons moment then...

No excuse but my career dictates that you have to have a high tolerance to alcohol, I am a recruitment consultant working within the financial services industry, specifically a niche sector who all love to drink (managers, contractors and HR), I have worked in this industry for 12 years and prior to that, earlier in life lived in a family pub so, I guess from what follows that I am alcohol dependent.

Typically if I am entertaining clients through the day and it's a long lunch I will get through two bottles of wine, same in the evening (warned you about that high tolerance).

To give you an example of my bodies adjustment to years of alcohol, I was involved in a mild RTA two years ago, a chap ran out in front of me during the morning rush hour, happily I was doing 25 mph, braked hard and the pedestrian clipped the side of my car, smashing the wing mirror to merry hell but otherwise could have been worse. I had drunk two bottles of wine the night before (but felt fine), I was breathalysed as standard (for the rta) and came up clear, my last glass of wine had been 7 hours before the accident. Naturally I was nervous given my hedonistic approach to drinking, but the cop checked the breathalyser twice and said it was still clear.

I would like to cut back, I did notice an increased tolerance to alcohol once I gave up smoking some three years ago. All my friends are heavy drinkers, as are work mates, bosses, family and its very hard to break the chain.

No, not a cat amongst the pigeons post
I'm another heavy drinker, have been in the wine trade for the last 15 years, so also have a high tolerance with easy access to it. I stopped smoking 4 years ago and also started drinking more then (was a replacement stimulus type thing). I found out today that I'll be made redundant in approx 3 weeks time - so I'm sure that less money in my pocket will mean a return to a more sensible drinking level

[Plotloss]

Can go weeks without a drink but when I'm drinking, I'm drinking.

Last Friday, me and a mate, litre of scotch in 90 minutes or so then off down the pub for a couple.

Binge drinking, its the scourge of modern Britain, apparently.

[Lefty Two Drams]

Jesus dom, I thought I drank a lot!



Monday to Thursday I'll have a drink 3 nights out of the 4 and it'll be a whisky (probably a souble measure.)

Friday and saturday maybe 2 or 3 beers and as many as 8 or 12 standard measures of whisky per night. Sunday a bit less, maybe a glass or two of red wine and a couple of drams.

Mind you, before I was married I used to live in the centre of aberdeen and was out drinking maybe 5 nights out of 7. 3 or 4 of those nights I would be pissed, the others just 3 or 4 beers and a whisky or 4...

[road_rager]

Last night I had 4 pints of beer & a bottle of White wine, prob have the same today & tomorrow. Weekdays me & wife will share a bottle of White a night. I know I drink too much!

[bazking69]

I vary wildly. Some weeks I can go without a drink, even at the weekend and not even be remotely bothered.

Other nights I really fancy a couple of bottles of strong Belgian beer, or even a few cans of Carlsberg in the summer.

Some nights I'll open a bottle of red and hardly finish a glass, other nights I'll nail the bottle in no time and easily get deep into a second bottle. Same with the pub, some nights I'll have a couple of pints and not be fussed, other nights I'll sink 7-8 pints and leave quite drunk.

And of course, on rare occasions I'll drink a weeks allowed intake in the space of an evening and spend Sunday moping around and feeling rough.

I strictly stick to no more than a couple of drinks on school nights though.

[pugwash4x4]

i drinnk twice a year- on my birthday and at Christmas- drannk far too much in my youth and decided to give up a few years ago just in case!

[Colonial]

Cut down in a big way. From a bottle to a glass basically.

[escargot]

During the week anything from 1 to 2 pints. Weekends I'll double that and do a bottle or two of wine fairly easily.

That's without going to the pub (which I can't do much anymore).

[Pferdestarke]

Up until recently I was drinking 3 or 4 nights in the week and on a Friday and Saturday. Never on a Sunday as I can't bare Mondays as it is let alone with a hangover! If I'm honest this was to combat the anxiety of my new boss starting who has turned out to be better than we first thought!

Generally it would be a half bottle of red but occasionally more, maybe with a double Southern Comfort or Drambuie if I felt like it.

I gained about half a stone over a 10 week period and generally felt pretty crap.

So I knocked it on the head and now just have a steady few on a Friday or Saturday but not both. My tolerance level has reduced and I can honestly feel a bit fuzzy on one bottle of beer. If I drank three pints in the pub I'd be on my way!

In a morning I feel so much better. My motivation at work has increased and I've lost all my excess blubber from my stomach and my 'moobs'!

I did however, end up going out last night which consisted of me going to a friends for a few beers first, then in to town from 9pm until 11pm. In total I probably had 5 beers and four vodkas. I still have a headache now and feel pretty dehydrated.

I've drawn the conclusion that booze just doesn't suit me!

Snacking was also an issue when drinking. My self control would go out the window and I could quite easliy be guilty of ordering a chinese at 10pm, eating it and then going straight to bed - a disaster for the waistline!

It's such a hard habit to kick, especially if you are part of a big group who sit in pubs to socialise. Thankfully my lot don't and my job doesn't require me to do lots of boozy entertaining.

Good luck in reducing your intake, if you need to that is!

[A911DOM]

Lefty Two Drams said:

Jesus dom, I thought I drank a lot!

Im afraid this is the 'cut-down' version.

I had a couple of years where having taken redundancy from a long term job, split with a partner and got some house money, then had some more house money from another previous partner I was kind of 'Life of Riley' and did it to excess.

My normal day would consist of:

Get up around 10-11am - put Devin Townsend album on the stereo.
Go out with my housemate / lodger and buy some rolls etc for lunch.
Sit and watch some tele, or maybe play a round of Pitch and Putt if the weather was nice, followed by a quick drink in the pub.
There was the slim possibility of a 'van' job on any given day too - but we'd stopped advertising and the business winding down.
Get ready for the evening with a few straight vodkas at home.
Go to a favourite pub and have some more double vodka redbulls.
Have snack / meal in pub and have a bottle of wine with it.
(Depending on the mood maybe share another bottle of wine) - otherwise, back on to double vodkas (either neat or with orange / redbull)
Then wander into town, have more vodka (or wine if havent had wine already)
Eventually move on to late bar / club - drink vodka / alcopops etc.
Leave club/pub and get kebab / pizza / chinese - whatever we hadnt had the previous night...

I did this solidly for a year or more - 7 days a week, and then probably did similar for another year when I got together with SWMBO (I wasnt working at this time - but relocated).

I guess my tolerance grew and I never woke with a hangover - I may well have still been drunk I guess, but as long as I kept it up it never hurt...

I knew at the time it was hugely excessive, but hey, I was having fun, spending time with my pals, and had no commitments as such at the time - It is however a damned expensive hobby!!!

Not sure why I blurted all that out, but Im having a s time with work etc at the mo... Need a change.