How many alcoholic drinks do you have a week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Idk.

30? 40? 50?

Surprisingly, my ALT and AST are still always in the normal range.

IN A WEEK?!?

[Anonymous]

Far too much. At least 21 units a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20-30 generally. I'll usually drink 2-3 nights a week and drink 8-10 drinks on a drinking night. I'm in an interesting limbo where I would definitely drink every night if I could, but have enough self-control to be able to not drink any night I choose. Definitely mentally dependent on alcohol to socialize and have fun but so far have been able to avoid physical dependence.

It's fascinating to see how many nondrinkers there are out there. A while back the Washington Post had an infographic that showed that the top 20% of drinkers consume like 80% of all alcohol, and that fully 50% of people either never drink or drink extremely rarely. It seemed unbelievable at first since everyone I know drinks regularly but I guess that's because we've self-selected ourselves into our groups based on our consumption habits.

I'm really interested to know, what do all you nondrinkers do when you socialize? I basically have zero frame of reference for social interactions that aren't at a bar or a party.

Sorry, I am fascinated by this. Can you describe what a drinking night looks like? You start at 5 pm and go to bed at midnight so you have a new drink every 45-60 minutes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20-30 generally. I'll usually drink 2-3 nights a week and drink 8-10 drinks on a drinking night. I'm in an interesting limbo where I would definitely drink every night if I could, but have enough self-control to be able to not drink any night I choose. Definitely mentally dependent on alcohol to socialize and have fun but so far have been able to avoid physical dependence.

It's fascinating to see how many nondrinkers there are out there. A while back the Washington Post had an infographic that showed that the top 20% of drinkers consume like 80% of all alcohol, and that fully 50% of people either never drink or drink extremely rarely. It seemed unbelievable at first since everyone I know drinks regularly but I guess that's because we've self-selected ourselves into our groups based on our consumption habits.

I'm really interested to know, what do all you nondrinkers do when you socialize? I basically have zero frame of reference for social interactions that aren't at a bar or a party.

Drink water or a soda or nothing. I find it annoying being around drunk people if I'm completely sober but I only have one friend who drinks really hard so generally everyone else is totally sober or only slightly drunk. You must hang out with people with similar drinking habits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20-30 generally. I'll usually drink 2-3 nights a week and drink 8-10 drinks on a drinking night. I'm in an interesting limbo where I would definitely drink every night if I could, but have enough self-control to be able to not drink any night I choose. Definitely mentally dependent on alcohol to socialize and have fun but so far have been able to avoid physical dependence.

It's fascinating to see how many nondrinkers there are out there. A while back the Washington Post had an infographic that showed that the top 20% of drinkers consume like 80% of all alcohol, and that fully 50% of people either never drink or drink extremely rarely. It seemed unbelievable at first since everyone I know drinks regularly but I guess that's because we've self-selected ourselves into our groups based on our consumption habits.

I'm really interested to know, what do all you nondrinkers do when you socialize? I basically have zero frame of reference for social interactions that aren't at a bar or a party.

Sorry, I am fascinated by this. Can you describe what a drinking night looks like? You start at 5 pm and go to bed at midnight so you have a new drink every 45-60 minutes?

not the prior poster, but you just drink way higher concentrations not actual "drinks"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still, no one has addressed the issue of drinking a glass of wine with a meal. Do most of you (essentially) non-drinkers rarely have a glass of wine (or beer) with a meal - even when dining out with others? Do you just drink water?

There are many other cultures that see wine as part of the meal experience. They do not drink for drinking's sake but to enhance their dining.

I'm thinking this must be a one-off DCUM thing since very few adults I know only have a couple of drinks per year...

Wine doesn't make me feel great. I can definitely enjoy a meal without alcohol or I may have a cocktail if something sounds good. Occasionally I'll have wine but I don't seem to process it the same anymore and I don't like feeling sick. (I'm mid-40's)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20-30 generally. I'll usually drink 2-3 nights a week and drink 8-10 drinks on a drinking night. I'm in an interesting limbo where I would definitely drink every night if I could, but have enough self-control to be able to not drink any night I choose. Definitely mentally dependent on alcohol to socialize and have fun but so far have been able to avoid physical dependence.

It's fascinating to see how many nondrinkers there are out there. A while back the Washington Post had an infographic that showed that the top 20% of drinkers consume like 80% of all alcohol, and that fully 50% of people either never drink or drink extremely rarely. It seemed unbelievable at first since everyone I know drinks regularly but I guess that's because we've self-selected ourselves into our groups based on our consumption habits.

I'm really interested to know, what do all you nondrinkers do when you socialize? I basically have zero frame of reference for social interactions that aren't at a bar or a party.

Sounds like you and your friends are really boring then.

You really can't comprehend hanging out with friends without alcohol? That sounds incredibly sad.

I agree. Sometimes I drink with my friends. Sometimes I don't. Both situations are fun (and generally dictated by what we're doing, where we are, what time of day it is, what I have the next day, etc.).

PP who drinks that much, do you never hang out with people during the day? Or do you drink at every breakfast/brunch/lunch outing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a PP who usually has 0 drinks in a week, but who has an occasionally glass of wine, about 1 every month or 2. To answer the questions above:

When I eat, no matter where I am, I almost always drink plain (still) water.

Like most people (?), I socialize at my home or the homes of others, at restaurants, and occasionally at a bar. At these times, I usually club soda or sparkling water. I feel zero (0) weirdness about drinking non-alcoholic drinks while others are imbibing. Doesn't bother me in the least.

Do you tip extra? I wonder if waiters hate when people don’t order alcohol. When our family goes out, DH and I probably order $40-$50 in drinks if we don’t get a bottle of wine. So food only at a casual restaurant is probably under $100 but with alcohol it would add $10 to the tip.

I was a waitress in college and yes, the drinking tables had bigger tabs, but they also tended to be cheaper (i.e. they spent their money on alcohol) or sloppier (i.e. they didn't correctly calculate the tip) than the sober tables. Also, tables that drink tend to stay longer, so I could flip two sober tables in the time I could flip one drunk table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20-30 generally. I'll usually drink 2-3 nights a week and drink 8-10 drinks on a drinking night. I'm in an interesting limbo where I would definitely drink every night if I could, but have enough self-control to be able to not drink any night I choose. Definitely mentally dependent on alcohol to socialize and have fun but so far have been able to avoid physical dependence.

It's fascinating to see how many nondrinkers there are out there. A while back the Washington Post had an infographic that showed that the top 20% of drinkers consume like 80% of all alcohol, and that fully 50% of people either never drink or drink extremely rarely. It seemed unbelievable at first since everyone I know drinks regularly but I guess that's because we've self-selected ourselves into our groups based on our consumption habits.

I'm really interested to know, what do all you nondrinkers do when you socialize? I basically have zero frame of reference for social interactions that aren't at a bar or a party.

I go to bars and parties and don't drink. It's truly not that difficult.

This. Occasionally I do have a drink but mostly I drink water or,if available, a non-alcoholic cocktail. Sometimes I have a coke for the caffeine.

I have never struggled to socialize while sober, if anything drinking makes it harder for me to make conversation with people I don't know well.

I don't drink much but this I don't really get. Maybe I've just never had a good one? To me it's a lot of money and sugar for something that might not taste very good. I'd have water or a Coke if I weren't drinking.

[Anonymous]

How do all the drinkers reconcile the carcinogens in alcohol? I’m fairly confident the bulk of the older women I know who died from breast cancer developed the disease after years of regularly drinking wine.

Most of my peers who don’t drink (or very rarely drink) lost loved ones to breast cancer or simply recognize the well documented risk associated with wine, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still, no one has addressed the issue of drinking a glass of wine with a meal. Do most of you (essentially) non-drinkers rarely have a glass of wine (or beer) with a meal - even when dining out with others? Do you just drink water?

There are many other cultures that see wine as part of the meal experience. They do not drink for drinking's sake but to enhance their dining.

I'm thinking this must be a one-off DCUM thing since very few adults I know only have a couple of drinks per year...

Depends on the restaurant. We went out for Mexican last night -- DH had two beers and I had a coke. Very occasionally I'll have margarita at a place like that but not always. This was a casual restaurant with lots of families. I don't think not drinking made me an outlier at all.

If we go out for a nice meal with friends I will generally have wine or a beer with dinner. If the group want to order a bottle or two if wine, I will partake (small pours) and split the cost equally.

I have several friends who, like me, drink rarely, as well as a couple who don't drink at all. So it is not uncommon to be at a meal where half the people are drinking and half are not. I might be in either group depending on the situation.

I'm honestly baffled that you are so baffled by this. Do you really have a social circle where EVERYONE drinks, and about the same amount? I know more so we people as I get older, but even in my 20s I had at least one sober friend and that has continued to increase as I age. Now in my 40s I know so many people who no longer drink, often just for health reasons and having nothing to do with a dependency. One of my best friends and I often joke that around 42 we had to choose between sleeping well and drinking and chose sleep.

I don't drink much and neither does my husband. (We never drink at home alone but will drink home when hosting, out, or at someone else's house when we aren't driving, i.e. a neighborhood event). Of our group of 15 couples, one wife is definitely an alcoholic, one husband has gotten better but used to be really bad, one husband is still bad, one wife smokes pot and also drinks but generally comes across as more high than drunk, one wife rarely drinks, one couple rarely drinks, and the rest of us will have probably two drinks every other week or so at an event. No one in the group is entirely sober (I probably come the closest), but if they were, I don't think it would be a big deal at all, given that most of us don't get drunk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20-30 generally. I'll usually drink 2-3 nights a week and drink 8-10 drinks on a drinking night. I'm in an interesting limbo where I would definitely drink every night if I could, but have enough self-control to be able to not drink any night I choose. Definitely mentally dependent on alcohol to socialize and have fun but so far have been able to avoid physical dependence.

It's fascinating to see how many nondrinkers there are out there. A while back the Washington Post had an infographic that showed that the top 20% of drinkers consume like 80% of all alcohol, and that fully 50% of people either never drink or drink extremely rarely. It seemed unbelievable at first since everyone I know drinks regularly but I guess that's because we've self-selected ourselves into our groups based on our consumption habits.

I'm really interested to know, what do all you nondrinkers do when you socialize? I basically have zero frame of reference for social interactions that aren't at a bar or a party.

Sorry, I am fascinated by this. Can you describe what a drinking night looks like? You start at 5 pm and go to bed at midnight so you have a new drink every 45-60 minutes?

not the prior poster, but you just drink way higher concentrations not actual "drinks"

and 45-60 mins is laughable for a "drink" at that level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you drink?

I rarely drink but I'll say when I do it's because (1) it's fun to feel a little buzzed (not a lot, I hate the feeling of losing control/being sick) and/or (2) it tastes good with the specific food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero. Alcohol is poison so I don't drink any. I don't smoke or use edibles. I also highly limit my sugar intake. I very rarely if ever eat anything really sweet like cookies, cakes or ic cream.

You sound like a peach.

I wonder if the PP even eats peaches. Fructose and all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most weeks 0. some weeks 2. rarely 6-8.

I can't even imagine having 6-8 drinks in a week.

Between the 9 days of December 27 through January 4 I had 5 social events I attended and I had a total of 4 drinks over those 9 days.

I'm not saying I'm better than anyone, for the record, I was just a little shocked when I saw 6-8 and it seemed like a huge number to me.

What if I told you 6-8 is just getting started for the day for some people (me in the past). AUD and tolerance is real.

How do you drink 6-8 drinks during the day? Do you not work? Do you not drive anywhere? If I had 6-8 drinks on any given day I'd be useless.