How much alcohol do you drink in a week

[TwickenhamCyclist]

I've been a heavy drinker all my adult life. My trouble is if I have one drink I keep drinking until I'm sloshed. Until a couple of weeks ago I'd think nothing of knocking back 3/4s of a bottle of Whisky in an evening. 46 years old and 30 years of hard drinking. I've consumed enough now. I don't consider myself an alchy (I can go for days without but those days without have sometimes been few and far between) but I've clearly consumed enough for several lifetimes. I don't miss it if I don't have it in the house so it's easier simply to avoid the first one.

Depends how you define an alchy…
Again, no offence, but being able to either have no drinks, or drink till you’re sloshed is IMHO a problem.

I was told by a friend (who is also a GP) that if you enjoy alcohol you should be able to go out and consume 2 of your usual drinks (be that 2 glasses of wine, 2 pints of bitter etc) and then be able to stop. 2 drinks, no more and no less. And not just stop because you are driving/run out of money/the bar shuts… or do a WC Fields and get a glass that holds a bottle of sherry and claim that’s one drink.

BTW – I find that pretty difficult to do myself – haven’t had alcohol for around 3 weeks and don’t miss it at all, but if I went to the pub tomorrow night I’d have to have at least 3 or 4 pints minimum and would also find it difficult to resist the cold lager in the fridge when I got home…

 

[Flying_Monkey]

On an average week, none at all - but on weeks when I'm away at conferences etc. I tend to drink a bit too much despite my intentions not to. I'm the kind of person who would drink a lot more if I was alone - however luckily I am not, and my wife doesn't drink at all.

 

[ChrisKH]

None really. My average is about 1-2 units a month, which is usually a beer with a meal if we go out or a glass of wine to be social, but that's it. I don't have the physical disposition to drink and neither did my father. I'm happy with that. Socially though we (wife and I) don' match with too many people as they tend to think a good time is to get plastered. I have a fully stocked drinks cabinet but it's rarely visited. Cocktail at Xmas and that's about it.

 

[dubman]

Between 0 and 40 pints per week of 5% + bitter some weeks i can be good others bad , ive got issues with drink which im working on , im loads better than 10 years ago , im going in the right direction and im drug free now for a good few years.

 

[dan_bo]

Probably a couple of bottles of wine and a few beers over the course of the weekend

not much if at all during the week

 

[col]

None at all normally,but sometimes have a few pints if i go somewhere,but thats rare now,Its not someing iv done much of at all.

 

[GrahamG]

Anything more than 5 beers over the course of a week is very unusual for me (I tend never to have more than 3 or 4 in one night if I'm out at the weekend). Might have a few bong hits and a cup of tea on a quiet Friday in though.

 

[Stan]

Way too much.

 

[Greedo]

Good stuff. need to see if I can get it higher this week

I totted it all up for you Greedo.
Recommended maximum consumption for men is 21-28 units a week.
Last week you had about 50.
:?:

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Depends. It's rare I have more than a night completely off the booze, I like a beer after work and perhaps a glass of wine or two with dinner. And if I'm out on the weekend I'll drink quite heavily, sometimes. As long as I'm drinking because I enjoy it and not as a substitute or a crutch, I'm not really bothered.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Mine varies quite a bit but in the last week it's been

Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Bottle of Rose minus one glass that my wife had
Thursday - 3/4 of a bottle of Burgundy
Friday - 8 pints in the pub from 5pm till 10pm and the remainder of the bottle of Burgundy when I got home
Saturday - Pint of Guinness in the afternoon and 3/4 of a bottle of Chablis at night
Sunday - Glasss of Red wine with lunch and 2 bottles of Tyskie lager in the evening
Tonight - nothing

I don't think thats too much but some do!

I calculate that to be a little over 40 units of alcohol. I believe the recommended limit for per per week is 28 and the daily recommended limit for men is 4.

Over half of your alcoholic consumption was on Friday night (25-26 units).

 

[Bodhbh]

Used to be alot, not so different from mickle. I enjoyed it, no regrets, but it just made me very fat in the end - so just cut it right down. Allow myself to go mad on hols and Christmas, but otherwise don't bother. Probably for the best weight limits the drinking - cirrosis is a very very unpleasant way to go.

Can't understand how some heavy boozers keep slim while washing it down - think Ronnie Wood - if you're drinking alot, the booze alone will take you over your daily calories. They must drink wine or shorts and eat almost nothing.

 

[swee'pea99]

I say again, 'the recommended limit' is totally spurious, and based on nothing. Quite literally.

It came up in the Guardian's 'Notes & Queries' columns a year or two back. Someone queried - 'what's the basis for the govt's recommended limits?' A response came back from a Dr so & so who said basically: 'I was on the panel which was asked by the Govt to devise a set of limits, given that broadly speaking there was perceived to be an increasing problem with excessive drinking.

We looked into it and decided that in truth it was impossible to come up with anything scientific, not least because different people's physical characteristics vary so widely, so we sat around basically going: What do you reckon? What do you reckon? And we all came up with a figure. Then we averaged, then we erred on the low side, because people tend to underestimate what they actually consume, then we cut the figure a bit more because we knew that's what ministers wanted. And that's how we arrived at the figures in use today. Medically, scientifically, they're totally groundless.'

Having said which, I think if you're on 3/4 bottle of spirits a day, you don't need govt figures to tell you you're caning it rather...

 

[Plax]

I don't really drink. In my younger days I'd be out every weekend (Fri & Sat, occassionally a Sunday). Then I migrated to staying in with a film and a bottle or 2 of wine with friends. Now this is a rare occurence (I mean how dare they get married and have kids!) .
Now I'll go out with friends for a meal every now and then and might have a drink if Mr Plax agrees to be a taxi for the evening, Otherwise I have to drive myself and don't bother.
At one stage I didn't drink at all and lasted nearly 2 years without touching a drop (the subsidised bar at the work's Christmas party was just too much to resist........).

So I'm somewhat of an irregular drinker now. I go months without a drink, however I confess to having a few bottles of that Carling with lime in it hiding at the back of the fridge. Don't tell Mr Plax though, he has given up smoking on the basis that I stop drinking. Ahem.

 

[Greedo]

I doubt Ronnie Wood eats anything! and he smokes like a chimney so that will surpress his appetite.

Used to be alot, not so different from mickle. I enjoyed it, no regrets, but it just made me very fat in the end - so just cut it right down. Allow myself to go mad on hols and Christmas, but otherwise don't bother. Probably for the best weight limits the drinking - cirrosis is a very very unpleasant way to go.

Can't understand how some heavy boozers keep slim while washing it down - think Ronnie Wood - if you're drinking alot, the booze alone will take you over your daily calories. They must drink wine or shorts and eat almost nothing.