How often do you drink

[Robins]

Up until about 12 months ago I very rarely drank (alcohol) at home, I'd probably go out once or twice a month and have a good session with the lads on the beer.
However I was sat thinkin the other day that I seem to have got into the habit of having a drink most nights! Nothing serious usually just a beer or 2 while watching TV. I happened to mention it to a colleague the other day who declared I was a p**s head! I was taken aback a bit but it did make me wonder why I've got into the habit?

Just genuinely curious how much/often folk drink? I just find it chills me out a bit. No judgement here just wanting to know if I'm in the minority

[Dave+63]

There are no doubt many of us who are there or have been there.
Many years ago I owned a convenience store and would bring home a bottle of wine to share with the wife each evening after I locked up. One bottle became a bottle and a half which became two bottles until the day the wife said “that’s enough!”

We still have a drink occasionally but more often than not prefer a cup of tea.

I’ve a friend who’s been an alcoholic for the past forty years; he gave up drinking about four months ago for no apparent reason. What he had and has lost had to be seen to be believed!

[kevkojak]

Almost never at home, I save all mine for the pub. There is always a 4-pack of Stella or Carling in the fridge and sometimes after a stressful day I'll knock a couple back, but it's rare. Wife will occasionally do a fancy Gin and Tonic and I might join her with one, but if that's twice a month then we're doing well.

I go out for a good session with the lads at least once a month, but it's so expensive these days (usually a £200 day out) that we've even started cutting back on those.
If I'm on the train home from work (about once a week) then I stop in the pub opposite the station and have a bottle of Budweiser.

Those all-dayers might be 12-16 drinks, which is very very excessive I know, but the rest of the month I would estimate that I get through 8-10 units a week (recommended maximum is close to 30).

I don't see anything wrong in a beer after work as long as you're not waking up feeling rough. Everything in moderation.

[Scepticalist]

Glass of wine with the evening meal. Maybe a beer at the weekend. Otherwise only when we go out or host a dinner/party

[sprite1275]

I have 2 or 3 cans/bottles of beer Fri/Sat/Sun. I do generally feel a bit crappier at the weekend though. Not sure if that's the beer or takeaway.

[steptoe]

I never ever drink at home. I'm what's called a social drinker, only when out with friends.

Mind you i do work behind the bar in a soho members club on a friday and saturday. But can't really call it work :D

[hafle]

Whenever I feel like. Never out of the house though, waste of money. Could buy a sirloin and bottle of hobgoblin for the price of a pint at the pub.

[Mick P]

I am 69 so I take the view I could croak it anytime and want to enjoy what time I have got left. My wife agrees with this policy as we have collectively lost six friends since Jan 1st 2016. We could be the next to have our wire cut.

I drink every day but it is measured in the sense that I don't ever feel tipsy or drunk.

Gin and tonics are quaffed on a regular basis as is malt whisky. The wife and I always share a bottle of wine every day.

When in Spain, I probably average about 10 small bottles of beer a week.

We did a dry July in 2016. It was a bloody dull period, I felt that I lived like a peasant and neither my wife nor I perceived any health benefits. We also bickered a lot due to grumpiness and we would have been well loved as two moaning and miserable sods in the Bear Pit as we found fault in everything and everybody. The moment we went back on the booze (we stuck it out for 31 days) we became much happier.

[chrisparker]

2 bottles of lager with dinner on a Friday night - that's at the parents house, I rarely have beer at home and don't drink wine.

Then drink quite a lot when out with friends, probably once a month.

[Robins]

Cheers for the replies, I guess by putting this up I know that I need to cut back really.

I kind of started by buying a 4 pack on a Friday night after work, having 2 of them, then having the other 2 on Sat night. Then Sunday I'd probably have some Red wine with my tea, whatever I didn't drink I'd finish on the Monday night. Tuesday I'd have hockey training and come in freezing cold/wet so sometimes have a whiskey to 'warm' me up and then before you know it your drinking most nights!!

I'll definitely be making a conscious effort to cut back

[Rod]

Occasional small bottle of Hobgoblin Gold I share with Liz with our evening meal. On a Thursday when I'm out with my mate only a pint of beer. Never really been a drinker. I don't do spirits either.

[gbn13]

Typically my wife and I will share a bottle of wine on each of Friday and Saturday, plus maybe a G&T on Saturday. If we go out to lunch will generally share the equivalent of 2 bottles of wine.

Other than that we would tend to share a bottle every evening on holiday.

If I go out with friends or former work colleagues, then all bets are off, as I would generally end up drinking a large amount.

Prior to retirement I tended to also drink on Thursday and Sunday evening. Fortunately I never used alcohol as a stress relief when working, as I always thought it would be far too easy to fall into a habit of having a drink every evening.

[Devonian]

I once went to a Rotary evening with my dad and the guest speaker was a Doctor who was on the National Board of Alcohol/ics (or something like that) - basically they were the governments advisers.

He told us that in simple terms if they stereotype people, they define two types of alcoholics:

1. The 'rugby player' binge drinkers that work all week and train and don't drink, then go out and binge drink over the weekend doing a lot of damage in a small period of time.

2. The 'older home drinker' that doesn't get drunk very often, or ever, but has 3,4 or 5 glasses of wine (or beer) a day and because they aren't drunk they don't think they have a problem. Most of the Rotarians who were in their 50's, 60's and 70's laughed at this and thought it applied to them!

That was around 15 years and no doubt thinking is different now, but that's what he said.

I mentioned this recently to a friend of mine who is a Doctor and he told me he knew him . . . . . . and that he had died a few years a go . . . . . a that the irony was, he was an alcoholic!

[Brian]

I once went to a Rotary evening with my dad and the guest speaker was a Doctor who was on the National Board of Alcohol/ics (or something like that) - basically they were the governments advisers.

He told us that in simple terms if they stereotype people, they define two types of alcoholics:

1. The 'rugby player' binge drinkers that work all week and train and don't drink, then go out and binge drink over the weekend doing a lot of damage in a small period of time.

2. The 'older home drinker' that doesn't get drunk very often, or ever, but has 3,4 or 5 glasses of wine (or beer) a day and because they aren't drunk they don't think they have a problem. Most of the Rotarians who were in their 50's, 60's and 70's laughed at this and thought it applied to them!

That was around 15 years and no doubt thinking is different now, but that's what he said.

I mentioned this recently to a friend of mine who is a Doctor and he told me he knew him . . . . . . and that he had died a few years a go . . . . . a that the irony was, he was an alcoholic!

A few of the doctors that I know quote "there are a lot more old drunks than there are old doctors" and grin.

The gas men are mostly piss heads and the dentists.....don't seem to do it a lot but when they do ..........binge

Sweeping generalisations of course :-)

I always have a couple of days clear per week and if I do drink it is always softened with soda or spring water and in the evening only with food - I never drink beer or spirits.
B

[Maysie]

I have a couple of beers most nights after work, at home. I work from home, so when I am finished for the day I cook our dinner while sipping a beer as it is my way of mentally switching between work and home life. I do enjoy a beer when I am out for a meal too, but that doesn't happen very often nowadays, maybe once or twice a month.

I do try to have two successive days off per week where I don't drink, but often don't manage that though.

Maybe I have a drink problem. Maybe not. I am 100% sure I should drink less though and am now trying to cut down.

[nunya]

Not often enough

[mowflow]

I have a pretty strict rule of not drinking on school nights. Friday and Saturday i'll have 1 or 2 beers followed by 1 or 2 G+Ts. It's rare that I go out these days so maybe only have 1 night out every couple of months where I well usually get absolutely megatroned.

I like to think that I can take or leave my little treat at the weekend but it just doesn't feel like the weekend without a wee treat.

[Xantiagib]

don't go out drinking with the lads anymore so drink more at home -
usually a bottle of wine shared with the mrs over two days once in the week and then at weekends + occasional beer or cider which is usually only one with food

so don't think I am a pi$$head but tend to drink more on mondays and fridays

[CriticalMass]

A few of the doctors that I know quote "there are a lot more old drunks than there are old doctors" and grin.

The gas men are mostly piss heads and the dentists.....don't seem to do it a lot but when they do ..........binge

Sweeping generalisations of course :-)

B

Many years ago an old medical friend told me that the definition of drinking too much was drinking more than your doctor.

I told my GP that recently- she gave me a very old fashioned look.

[Passenger]

Almost daily, been that way since my late teens I'd say. Considerably less now than in my 20's and these days no ahem other recreational stimulants.

[noTAGlove]

Cheers for the replies, I guess by putting this up I know that I need to cut back really.

I kind of started by buying a 4 pack on a Friday night after work, having 2 of them, then having the other 2 on Sat night. Then Sunday I'd probably have some Red wine with my tea, whatever I didn't drink I'd finish on the Monday night. Tuesday I'd have hockey training and come in freezing cold/wet so sometimes have a whiskey to 'warm' me up and then before you know it your drinking most nights!!

I'll definitely be making a conscious effort to cut back

You could contribute to this thread and let us know how you get on.

http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...read&p=4630153

[CalicoJack]

Almost never at home, I save all mine for the pub. There is always a 4-pack of Stella or Carling in the fridge and sometimes after a stressful day I'll knock a couple back, but it's rare. Wife will occasionally do a fancy Gin and Tonic and I might join her with one, but if that's twice a month then we're doing well.

I go out for a good session with the lads at least once a month, but it's so expensive these days (usually a £200 day out) that we've even started cutting back on those.
If I'm on the train home from work (about once a week) then I stop in the pub opposite the station and have a bottle of Budweiser.

Those all-dayers might be 12-16 drinks, which is very very excessive I know, but the rest of the month I would estimate that I get through 8-10 units a week (recommended maximum is close to 30).

I don't see anything wrong in a beer after work as long as you're not waking up feeling rough. Everything in moderation.

While I quite agree with you on moderation (if one can actually maintain that, which judging by many of the folks I know, is questionable), I believe the current recommendation is now 14 units a week for men and women.

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol...it-guidelines/

[Peck]

I usually have a couple of beers on Mondays and Fridays (post squash matches - I feel I deserve it) and then out most Saturdays for beers / food. Booze free Tues - Thurs and Sunday.

[Thewatchbloke]

Almost never at home and rarely when I'm out, however on holiday I may have one or two beers. In my twenties and thirties, as with most men of that age I suppose, I drank a fair old bit. Over the years I've just fallen out of the habit and to be honest have never really enjoyed the feeling of being drunk. My biological father was a high functioning alcoholic who drank two bottles of Bells whisky daily, if he went off on a bender he wouldn't be seen for days and lord knows how much he consumed. As a youth he was told by his doctor after he ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning that he wouldn't live to 30 if he didn't change his drinking habits, in the end he made it to the grand old age of 52 before cirrhosis of the liver finished him off. I suppose that subconsciously his behaviour could have some bearing on my drinking habits (or lack of) but I honestly don't think it does, it does feel odd when you pass the age your parents died at though.

[Gee252]

I got into the habit of having a drink every night, only a couple in the week but quite a few Fri, Sat and Sun even if I stopped in!
Think it starts in the summer months then just becomes an habit.
Since New Year I have limited myself to just Saturday night and then not alot.
Feel 100% better, also sleeping alot better.
May creep back in a bit in the summer but we shall see.

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[Gyp]

Looking at the great examples of restraint I've just read I think I'll declare myself a raging alcoholic and go make myself a Horlicks

[Ashtennisguru]

I last had an alcoholic drink when I was about 20 as my parents both decided to give up smoking so I decided to stop drinking in mutual support whilst they quit - they haven't smoked since and I haven't had a drink since!

Physically I feel way better and my bank manager is also much happier - don't miss it one bit.

[Gyp]

PJs, Seiko & Horlicks.



The missus is on rosé

[Toddy]

I work 12hr shifts, 2 days, 2 nights then off for 6. Don't drink for 5 days then normally have a few (read that as 6) cans on my nights off apart from the night before i go back to work. Up at 07:00 with the kids, then to the gym, running or mountain biking but don't feel any worse for it. Know I drink too much but it's a habit I enjoy. Don't smoke, no drugs and eat healthy, doesn't make may alcohol consumption ok though.

[zanderpants]

No drinking during the week but I usually have a bottle or 2 of wine on a Friday. Sometimes I will go out for a meal but more often than not had a busy/stressful week and love nothing more than to relax with my wife and a bottle or 2 of wine at the end of the week.

Mick P - I fully intend to follow your lead if I make it to your age. I figure its a pretty good age/time of life to take up serious drinking as a hobby!!

[robcat]

This is a bit of a parallel thread to the other recent booze/liver ones, but again it’s horses-for-courses. If you’re drinking large amounts every night, you’re almost certainly harming yourself; if you abstain completely, then fair-play, but that’s not for me; somewhere in-between is a perfectly valid position IMO, whether it’s days on/off, a few drinks each night etc. It’s more a question of moderation. I like a drink, and don’t want to be a health-martyr.

I try to have 3 nights non-drinking, and relatively sensible drinking the others. Holidays/Xmas this goes out of the window, but I’ll then often do a dry month after.

Incidentally, I don’t get any of the “feeling miles better” vibe that some get whilst off the booze (other than a slightly clearer head first thing). Perhaps I don’t drink that much normally, and maybe it’s because I’m not a particularly great sleeper anyway. I do tend to lose quite a bit of weight though (which is undoubtedly a major health benefit).

[Xantiagib]

as my gran used to say - "everything in moderation, including moderation!"

I gave up milk 20 years ago - does that count?

[andy tims]

I'm usually out once or twice a week on work related entertainment.

That aside, I usually only drink Friday & Saturday evenings - typically a bottle of wine each night or a little less. If there is a glass or 2 left, it gets finished off Sunday evening.

[Shane]

I hardly ever drink while I'm out - maybe the odd Peroni. What I do enjoy is to sometimes relax sipping a neat El Dorado or Diplomatico Reserva rum. Again, not that often...maybe once a week or just when I feel like it.

I'm more of a foodie than a drinker.

[anton863]

I only drink socially, so never in the house. Usually out say 3 times a month, where I'll have a fair few more than sensible with the boys. Would push me over the 'weekly recommended' 14 units easily enough on those nights out. But I can happily go multiple weeks without bothering.

Do enjoy a more relaxed pace of a few with/after dinner with the Mrs. while on holiday etc. but wouldn't fancy adding that to the already heavy nights!

[snowman]

I often drink something 4 or 5 nights out of 7, but I don't tend too drink much when I go out, as I'm usually driving (The days of a binge with the mates are long, long gone).

I might have a half or a pint with dinner and/or a spirit or maybe half a bottle of wine one Sunday in three, but I've been monitoring what I actually drink over the year and (11 months down), I drink about 1.75 Units a day, with only a very small number of binges (mostly work events, oddly!) over that time.

It's more than I expected actually, but seemingly well within the 'low risk' guidelines...

I could give up, but I could give up all sorts of things - You need a couple of vices!

M

[Man of Kent]

I used to drink every night, at home normally. Couple of pints or 2 or 3 large ports then the occasional binge night out. Since last April I've been on about 1 pint per week due to being on arthritis medication that also happens to be a liver toxin. I miss the booze, and don't feel any of the much reported benefits; no sharper mentally, no loss of weight etc. My arthritis is better though so that's a fair trade.

[Der Amf]

My arthritis is better though so that's a fair trade.

I've been waiting to hear this bit of the story, fantastic

[village]

I work a 10'day shift cycle so I am booze free probably 5 days in every 10. Otherwise I drink when I feel like it.

[GIB984]

I've seriously drank every day without a break since my teens or probably earlier as I was nanny reared down the pub on Bank's mild.

I don't like getting hammered and even on all inclusive holidays, all day weddings, etc I still tend to stick to my normal daily amount which is equivalent to a couple of pints and a glass of red and this does help take the edge of my anxiety which unfortunately I've also endured for the same length of time.

Not ideal I know but it's a small relief and does help.

With the increased profile of 'drink awareness' I'm trying (last two weeks) to have at least two or three dry nights and are managing it but not really enjoying it as every day is a struggle.

I'll see how I get on...

[RobDad]

Funny one this - I used to drink every weekday when I was working in advertising in Soho (no surprise there!) - but never drank at home - in fact in over 20 years of marriage my wife and I have never shared a bottle of wine at home, I’m totally ambivalent to it and she barely drinks so we literally have never bothered. I now drink so little I’m almost teetotal, but I’ve realised I actually associate alcohol more with work than relaxation. Since drifting to my current ‘almost alcohol free’ state, I feel no health benefits whatsoever and have actually put on a little weight - drinking alcohol has never really been something I particularly enjoyed, and giving it up was incredibly easy. Maybe I don’t have an ‘addictive personality’ - but I think a lot of my friends and acquaintances would really struggle to give up the daily bottle of wine over dinner, and that would worry me tbh


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[Redwolf]

Recently I’ve made a vow to myself to not drink. Had a rough weekend a while back and decided I’ve got an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I don’t get anything from it and often wake up feeling like shite.
Before that I never really drank much anyway.


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[demonloop]

We've a 7 month old, and another on the way, so nights to the pub just don't exist anymore.

Even when they did, 3-4 pints and a few brandies was my happy spot.

Was never interested in getting hammered, once in a blue moon maybe.

These days I'll have a Guinness or 3 every night over the weekend. Maybe a brandy if my eyes stay open long enough.

I don't drink to reduce stress, or to get pissed, I just love the taste of Guinness & brandy.

[Slamdoor]

The mrs. doesn’t drink so we don’t go to pubs. I may have a bottle of wine every few weeks but it’ll last 3 days as it’s usually just me drinking it. The occasional whisky or gin during the week but only a little taster to wet the whistle.

[Robins]

Cheers for all the replies chaps, I had a bottle of Tsingtao Monday night and haven't bothered since. I wouldn't say I was addicted as such, just more that I'd got into a habit and didn't realise I was doing it.

[mart broad]

I have a few beers every night and a glass or two of red wine maybe once a week no spirits ever and always at home do not do the pub thing far to expensive I figure at 71 yrs old I can enjoy a beer in the evening always after five pm as I do not like the taste of water,soft drinks and I have drunk to much coffee during the day.
I have zero interest in getting drunk I like to be or feel I am in control.

[jammie*dodger]

I drink so rarely these days that I feel awful the next day, even if I only have a couple. I should stop completely I reckon but I never do seem to. ;)

[thefatboy]

We head out to the pub for a meal and a drink most Saturday nights but I've recently been diagnosed as diabetic so I've started driving there, though I do have a splash of something with some kind of diet mixer when we get back!

If we're away for the weekend then we pretty much drink from lunchtime onward, this probably won't change but I'll just have to adjust what I'm drinking, no more cocktails in the Cosy Club! :O))

[Andy 264]

Once you hit 40 the day after is no longer an enjoyable one.
So limited to once a week.

- - - Updated - - -

Once you hit 40 the day after is no longer an enjoyable one.
So limited to once a week.

[Phil Lee]

I hardly ever drink. I reckon I have one or two glasses of Rioja a year. I went nearly 10 years alcohol free during my 20s. I have also never been drunk or had a hangover. I just don’t enjoy the taste of any alcohol (except good Rioja).