Drinking too much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

This is v helpful, ty for sharing.

[Anonymous]

If you cannot go one night without a drink, you've got a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

6 drinks a week is a lot, stop it. Add to this OP is basically a single mother 60% of the time. OP needs to not drink, period. She's recognized she has an issue, the only answer is to go cold turkey and talk to her DH about it so that he can support her as needed.

Show me the expert health organization that would consider six drinks a week (again, not all on one day) heavy drinking. NIAAA? Nope. WHO? Nope.

You know what else the alcohol experts don't recommend? Being so all or nothing about the issue as to insist on abstinence as the sole acceptable outcome. The stepped approach PP took (yay, PP!) is what many actual healthcare professionals recommend to help their patients. Take your shaming elsewhere.

Go ahead and continue to try to justify your own problematic behaviors by trying to normalize it. Also nowhere did I say abstinence was the sole acceptable outcome, you should however understand what alcohol does to your body.

"the only answer is to go cold turkey" - that's your unsolicited advice to someone who bravely described her successful efforts to reduce her drinking.

Trust me, I understand what alcohol does to the body, in a more nuanced way than you, apparently. As a PP noted, there are lots of things that people do that can negatively impact their health. Most of the time, society isn't nearly as punitive and judgmental about, say, not eating enough veggies as it is about people having a glass of wine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you cannot go one night without a drink, you've got a problem.

On the other hand, if you truly limit yourself to just one drink a night, it’s not the end of the world. No amount of alcohol is healthy, but having one drink a night isn’t alcohol abuse. As long as you’re honest with yourself about the risks, if having one glass of wine at night is what gets you through, I can think of worse things. I’ve quit altogether, but I get why that’s not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Just adding here that recovery is hard and ongoing. You are brave and strong!

[Anonymous]

Don't worry about having champagne at a wedding. You won't miss it. There's a crowd, lift your glass, put it down and forget it. Champagne is a horrible hangover and not worth it.

In the first month that I quit drinking, I had to go to a wedding. Wasn't sure how I'd feel or if i could go without drinking. I didn't drink at all. I had such a good time! Talked to people, in control, had fun. It made me realize I could go to parties, social events and even bars without having to drink anything and have. I can't tell you how nice it is to never feel regret over something I've said or done because I was drunk! It is a great feeling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you listened to the Huberman Lab podcast episode on the topic of alcohol (August 2022)? It’s a great overview of what alcohol does to your body and it discusses what levels cross the line into alcohol use disorder. I strongly recommend that anyone who drinks listen to this episode regardless of whether you have (or think you have) a drinking problem. If you’re actually trying to stop but need a little help, the Reframe app is a great resource.

Just listened to this episode and it confirms what I've been saying based on what I've read about alcohol. It is bad for your brain, chemically (reduces neurons) and mental health (increased cortisol) if you drink 6 drinks per week. These are impacts you feel when you're not drinking. Only occasional drinking (e.g., special occassions, once a month) is okay. People don't like to hear this because we've been brainwashed into thinking that moderate drinking is fine and were even told at times that one drink a day it was good for us, which is insane. People seem to be more willing to accept that sugar (which is a source of energy) is bad for us but for some reason alcohol (which is a poison) is okay (why because it makes us fun? not really, if you're honest with yourself). It is part of a lifestyle that we've been indoctrinated into. It is unhealthy and we need to stop deluding ourselves.

[Anonymous]

OP here 4 years later! A few things really helped me cut back

-Reddit's "stop drinking" forum
-A locking box. I only really liked vodka and really what was lacking in my life was willpower. I lock it up and it helps immensely. I've been doing that for about 2 years now. It's not gone (it's better for me if I see it in there, otherwise I will buy more), it's just that I know that I chose ahead of time not to drink. I typically allow it to open a few times a month. I have about 3 drinks max (typically on a holiday like the 4th of July, and that's 3 drinks over the whole day) and then I lock it closed again that night. I've never seen anyone else mention something like this, but it was so helpful to me. There are dozens of wine bottles in my house and I'm just not interested in them. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09SRBY1FD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
-Learning to live through anxiety and actually "feel" things. When I was super stressed and the kids wouldn't stop screaming, I would just have a little drink. Nope, now I work through the problem. It's okay to feel stressed. It's okay to feel anxiety.
-I also got those loop earplugs which take the edge off. I can still easily hear and talk to the kids but them screaming in the bathtub doesn't bother me as much.
-Oh and someone said to have another kid. I did. Stopping drinking while pregnant was HARD. It's actually what made me realize I was an alcoholic. Being sober for 9 months was one of the hardest things I've done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

Even one or 2 drinks per week increases your odds of breast cancer.

Oh my god, you're so tedious. I hope you never eat red meat and three quarters of every plate you consume is composed of vegetables, and you get whatever the perfectly perfect amount of weekly exercise that is recommended now, and you get 9 hours of sleep each night and meditate to avoid stress and have a desk setup ergonomically adjusted by a professional.

Guess what? You'll still die. And you'll have had way less fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

Even one or 2 drinks per week increases your odds of breast cancer.

Oh my god, you're so tedious. I hope you never eat red meat and three quarters of every plate you consume is composed of vegetables, and you get whatever the perfectly perfect amount of weekly exercise that is recommended now, and you get 9 hours of sleep each night and meditate to avoid stress and have a desk setup ergonomically adjusted by a professional.

Guess what? You'll still die. And you'll have had way less fun.

Hardly, I have lots of fun. I'm more present in my life, less stressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous! Sorry, or really not sorry, to disappoint you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you listened to the Huberman Lab podcast episode on the topic of alcohol (August 2022)? It’s a great overview of what alcohol does to your body and it discusses what levels cross the line into alcohol use disorder. I strongly recommend that anyone who drinks listen to this episode regardless of whether you have (or think you have) a drinking problem. If you’re actually trying to stop but need a little help, the Reframe app is a great resource.

PP here- thank you so much for posting this. I listened, and it's what I needed to hear. I went from being someone who only drank on the weekends back in my late 20s to a person that drinks around 24 drinks a week in my mid-40s, everyday 1-2 then 4-5 on weekend nights. I've tried quitting before and made it only 2 weeks. I'm going to try again - I think it helps a lot to know exactly what you are doing to you body and how bad it really is. What was most interesting to me is that Huberman focused on the impact of low to moderate drinking, 1-2 drinks/day or even if the amount averages that in a week, and the harm done. I was surprised to learn about how bad it was for the gut biome - it makes sense - I just never thought about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

Even one or 2 drinks per week increases your odds of breast cancer.

Oh my god, you're so tedious. I hope you never eat red meat and three quarters of every plate you consume is composed of vegetables, and you get whatever the perfectly perfect amount of weekly exercise that is recommended now, and you get 9 hours of sleep each night and meditate to avoid stress and have a desk setup ergonomically adjusted by a professional.

Guess what? You'll still die. And you'll have had way less fun.

Hardly, I have lots of fun. I'm more present in my life, less stressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous! Sorry, or really not sorry, to disappoint you.

Okay, great! I'm a moderate drinker and also unstressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous. And don't feel the need to scare strangers on the internet with specious claims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

Even one or 2 drinks per week increases your odds of breast cancer.

Oh my god, you're so tedious. I hope you never eat red meat and three quarters of every plate you consume is composed of vegetables, and you get whatever the perfectly perfect amount of weekly exercise that is recommended now, and you get 9 hours of sleep each night and meditate to avoid stress and have a desk setup ergonomically adjusted by a professional.

Guess what? You'll still die. And you'll have had way less fun.

Hardly, I have lots of fun. I'm more present in my life, less stressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous! Sorry, or really not sorry, to disappoint you.

Okay, great! I'm a moderate drinker and also unstressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous. And don't feel the need to scare strangers on the internet with specious claims.

It is all science, not specious. You are brainwashed and just don’t want to hear it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

Even one or 2 drinks per week increases your odds of breast cancer.

Oh my god, you're so tedious. I hope you never eat red meat and three quarters of every plate you consume is composed of vegetables, and you get whatever the perfectly perfect amount of weekly exercise that is recommended now, and you get 9 hours of sleep each night and meditate to avoid stress and have a desk setup ergonomically adjusted by a professional.

Guess what? You'll still die. And you'll have had way less fun.

Hardly, I have lots of fun. I'm more present in my life, less stressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous! Sorry, or really not sorry, to disappoint you.

Okay, great! I'm a moderate drinker and also unstressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous. And don't feel the need to scare strangers on the internet with specious claims.

It is all science, not specious. You are brainwashed and just don’t want to hear it.

Nope. I looked this up, and it looks like 3 drinks a week is the number where it could potentially be an issue.

I also didn’t see you answer whether you comply with all other drastic health directives? I do hope so. Otherwise your fabulous, unstressed life will surely be cut short. Would be such a shame not to have you around to judge other people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really been exploring my relationship with alcohol this past year. Mainly, I am worried about my physical health but I also had the same realization of the amount of drinks per day really creeping up. I successfully implemented this plan (kind of stole this from the SunnySide App- which I never did but get ads for them all the time)

I started by tracking my drinks for 2 weeks. I was drinking 3-4 glasses of wine PER DAY during the work week and 4-6 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Insane! i was shocked by this). I was really thoughtless about having a beer with lunch on a Saturday or a glass of wine while making dinner during the week. It was so habitual to me...I had very much normalized that idea of having a glass of wine before dinner, one with dinner, and then 1-2 while watching TV after dinner.

After two weeks, I set a goal to have 15 drinks per week. (That still sounds like a lot but is less than the 30+ drinks I was having). This was actually not hard at all. The first week, I had 2 drinks per day, with 3 on the Saturday. The second week, I had three days with no alcohol and then two weekend nights with 5 drinks.

I then reduced my goal to 12 drinks and did a similar distribution- but this time, I really noticed how much better I felt on the days that I had no alcohol at all. This was motivating to me.

Then I reduced to 10 and that started to look like not drinking Sun-Wed. This worked well for me.

Currently, I allow my self 8 drinks per week and I have maintained this for almost 8 months. I don't drink on nights where I have to work the next day, and I don't cheat if there is a long weekend or holiday. If I have a social event during the work week, I either don't drink or I take a weekend night off. I notice a lot of benefits in terms of my sleep, weight, skin, sex drive, etc but what I also notice is that I am so much more comfy enjoying a single glass of wine without feeling the need to midndlessly pour another. I switch to seltzer or tea and it is totally fine.

I am aiming to go down to 6 drinks per week this month, which to me feels very manageable and realistic.

My message is: you can do it!

That is great. Keep cutting back. 6 per week is still high for health reasons

No, it's not, assuming it's one drink/day and not one day of six drinks. Is it ideal? No. But it's SO much better than heavy drinking - and huge kudos to you, PP, for cutting back as you've done. Keep it up. The less, the better - and also, we need to be realistic about alcohol consumption in the context of health overall (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).

Even one or 2 drinks per week increases your odds of breast cancer.

Oh my god, you're so tedious. I hope you never eat red meat and three quarters of every plate you consume is composed of vegetables, and you get whatever the perfectly perfect amount of weekly exercise that is recommended now, and you get 9 hours of sleep each night and meditate to avoid stress and have a desk setup ergonomically adjusted by a professional.

Guess what? You'll still die. And you'll have had way less fun.

Hardly, I have lots of fun. I'm more present in my life, less stressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous! Sorry, or really not sorry, to disappoint you.

Okay, great! I'm a moderate drinker and also unstressed, a healthy weight, and feel fabulous. And don't feel the need to scare strangers on the internet with specious claims.

It is all science, not specious. You are brainwashed and just don’t want to hear it.

Nope. I looked this up, and it looks like 3 drinks a week is the number where it could potentially be an issue.

I also didn’t see you answer whether you comply with all other drastic health directives? I do hope so. Otherwise your fabulous, unstressed life will surely be cut short. Would be such a shame not to have you around to judge other people.

Not judging, just sharing what I know. And I don't eat red meat, eat lots of vegetables, and exercise. It is alarming that you think that makes me a lesser person somehow and that my life should be cut short.