[Closed] Anyone go through stages with booze?

I only drink alcohol in moderate amounts so I don't really have that on/off relationship with it. I do love the taste of beer and will sometimes have a zero/low alcohol one, especially on hot days when sugary drinks just don't hit the same spot.

I could skip chocolate for the rest of my life and not care.

I didn't touch a drop for about 13-14 years but then started bunking off school and went with the big boys to the local pub that served under aged school kids.
Stopped drinking at the end of last August and haven't touched a drop since.

So dry - drinking - dry. Does that count as stages?

I just don't understand zero alcohol beer. I mean what's the point? It won't taste the same and you won't be walking over lamposts after 15 cans.

Just have a lemonade or a wee ribena.

Likewise veggie burgers, why? Surely you want to avoid meat and any connotations with the stuff.

I can not touch it for weeks, months even. Had last year off completely. My issue is, once I start, I don't stop until bedtime. So the hangovers kind of put me off it. I've never been the type that of person that can have a couple of pints and stop there, unless the couple of pints happen late. So I try and drink infrequently,

I will have maybe 2 cans of beer once every 4 to 6 weeks, or maybe longer. I will get drunk on a night out, but they're rare these days 😉

Unlike I hear from most people, I only usually drink when I'm very relaxed/unstressed and also when I'm not working the next day... or intending to do any sort of serious ride the next day. So that cuts out a lot of weekends!

Currently enjoying a decent bottle of Malbec.

The End.

Just have a lemonade or a wee ribena.

To answer the OP: no, that’s weird. 😀

Just Italian beer for the moment while the rest I don't like.

However, I really miss Borneo rice wine ...

Don't drink on a school night, thereafter it can be carnage.

No I don’t go through stages, most evenings are a struggle not to have a drink. Once I’ve done a day or two it’s much easier, until it isn’t then I start all over again.

In the mornings, when I'm hung over, I promise myself never again. By the time it gets to about 4pm, I'm bored again and I go and buy more booze.

Been like this for two years now. I hope this stage ends soon, cause I have no idea how I can stop it.

I go through periods of abstinence, daily, from about 11pm to about 6pm the following evening

Apart from weekends, obviously.

I never eat chocolate though. Ever. So all in all, I reckon it’s all ok

Currently enjoying a decent bottle of Malbec

So am I. Amen, brother

anCnoc 12 year old for me!

~15 years ago I used to have a glass or two of merlot most days after work, for the last ~10 years you could count the number of days in a year where I'll have one or two glasses of alcohol on one hand.

I've been through all the stages.

My last drink was on new years eve. My last splitting headache was on new years day. I just can't do it anymore now that the downsides far outweigh any possibility of having any fun.

I've banned myself from drinking in the house because it's a pointless exercise. I don't have much of a social life so skipping pubs is easy these days. The health benefits are immediately obvious when you quit for a few weeks but I've traded headaches and lethargy for chest infections and tonsillitis so this year has been pretty grim so far.

I'm planning to stay sober for as long as possible. I might even do a yoga.

No I don’t go through stages, most evenings are a struggle not to have a drink. Once I’ve done a day or two it’s much easier, until it isn’t then I start all over again.

This is me too. Went from Jan 4th to March 8th with not a drop. No reason just did. Once I started again it's very hard to not think about it all the time. And can we please stop talking about Malbec...mmm... Malbec... 😳

My drinking habits are pretty random, but what is for sure is if I have more than 2 pints, then I'll keep going until it runs out / closes or I fall asleep.

To help counter it, I've also started drinking the low alcohol beers (<0.5%) over the last few years, and it helps... still enjoy a cool beer flavour at 6pm, and still be functional the next day.

+1 for the Big Drop range... they're packed with flavour.

I was not drinking heavily but I would say I was drinking fairly consistently, 4 to 6 beers per night, same at the weekend but a bottle of wine Friday and Saturday as well.

Weight was never really a problem until I hit 40 and overnight I went from under 75kg to over 85kg. I decided if I was going to be heavy I had to be strong so I started lifting first thing in the morning. As the weights I was lifting went up the amount I was drinking went down.

At the moment I tend not to drink during the week, maybe a couple of beers on Thursday, and some drinking on the weekend but normally half a bottle of wine and some beers. Also, the beers I drink now tend to be 2.5% rather than 4.5%.

I'm not saying that what I was doing before was bad and what I'm doing now is good, it is what it is. I just find that if I've got a specific goal and drinking interferes with that goal then I tend to reduce my drinking. If I've got no goals I drink a fair bit.

i try not to drink during the week and go wild at the weekends. when i say wild... maybe 2-3 cans of lager or cider on a friday and saturday night. Maybe one or two on sunday, then back to nothing.

I recently had 5 large bottles in one evening, felt a bit rough the next day, which was a good reminder as to why i only have 2 or 3.

for me my free time is too precious to spend it hung over.

Very rare for me to drink.

However,

But any german pilsner (brewed under thier purity rules) with a homemade pizza is my favourite moments 🙂 Only one bottle.

Like either the Aldi or Lidl ones. Might try the Alc free one next.

But drinking is a curse 🙁 and can ruins lives 🙁

PS I have been close to a problem IMO in the past and came back from the brink.

I generally like *a* beer - it hits the spot and I fairly often have one at home, but generally not on school nights. This is my "happy place" with booze.

If I go out with friends, or round to neighbours, generally they drink more and I go along with it. These days, I hate hangovers as it can write off a week and lead to further illness like a run down cold but also including low mood, grumpy, hate the world feelings as well.

Its hard to avoid the sessions with pals (zero will power after a couple of drinks), but they're my "stages".

When I was young I used to drink till it was all gone or the money ran out.I was a complete pita. Then the hangovers started to last more than one day, and kids came along. I stopped drinking completely for 2 years. I became a complete pita again. So I learned to drink again, whenever I want to but never an awful lot as I cannot stand the hangovers. I'm still a complete pita though😁

I just don’t understand zero alcohol beer. I mean what’s the point?

‘Cos the good ones taste fantastic, they are good for rehydration and they don’t mess me up after a dozen (actually make that 2-3 these days)

Or put simply, all the pleasure, none of the pain.

Yes, I'm a feast or famine drinker. I did dry Jan and felt great, even had the app and loved seeing all the dry days (and money saved) add up. Then started again in Feb and hit it hard, maybe 2 cans a night in the week, 8 on Friday (yikes), 4 on sat, 2 on Sunday.

Decided two weeks back that the fun feeling of drinking did not out weigh the rough feeling in the morning. Also I'm getting fat belly and skint and I don't want to die before I'm 50. So mostly dry again, non in the week, 4 little 330ml cans of fancy beer as a treat on Saturday, non on Sunday.

Feel much better again, motivated to do exercise, not destroying my exercise gains with empty beer calories, and saving over £100 a month.

I just don’t understand zero alcohol beer. I mean what’s the point?

I thought this, then I had one, and it was a bit of a revelation. I had three or four in an afternoon, whilst having a barbecue, they tasted just like any other cold lager (which I know is a bit of damnation by feint praise, but with a burger, that's fine) and ended up entirely sober and clear headed. I was sold.

I'm genuinely sort of kind of maybe thinking about not drinking at all, as more and more it seems to really affect my sleep. There's clearly some good stuff going on in the area of alcohol-free beer, what about wine?

Likewise veggie burgers, why?

Do you 'get' chicken burgers? Turkey sausages? Why have Shepherd's Pie when Cottage Pie exists? How do you feel about tuna mayo sandwiches, do you get all pouty and confused because there's no bacon?

Surely you want to avoid meat and any connotations with the stuff.

You're the one with the connotations. The defining characteristic of a burger is that it's a convenient form in which to serve protein.

Your logic suggests you think that the only reason to drink alcohol is to get drunk, and presumably drink coffee for its stimulant properties. What you're missing with all of this is, it's OK just to like things.

What is the calorific content of alcohol free beers? There is a fair amount of calories in alcohol, so are the alcohol free beers the beer equivalent of coke zero, or do they replace the alcohol calories with something else?

How do you feel about tuna mayo sandwiches, do you get all pouty and confused because there’s no bacon

Thin sliced tuna with a smidgen of wasabi mayo and shards of crispy bacon. That would be the solution to that dilemma.

What is the calorific content of alcohol free beers?

Some are much better, some not so much. A bit like the flavour really.

Likewise veggie burgers, why?

Gateway drug to full vegan.

yeah I go through a stage where I haven't got any beer in, then I go to the shop and get some.
Generally drink every night, just one or two cans. Usually Stella, recently the wife asked me to cut back so I bought Carling instead. *tears laughing* *throwing up* lol

I just read an article about the effects of drinking. Scared the shit out of me.
After today, no more reading.

I have an occasional night off. Wife is a teacher and she usually picks up a bottle of wine on the way home anesthetise herself for slog of marking and lesson planning in the evening and if I'm at home that evening I'll have a glass or two.

My relationship with alcohol is quite abusive and at times I've drunk until I've passed out.

saving over £100 a month

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I'm traditionally a Fri - sat night drinker but have recently changed to having perhaps a big bottle of lager with dinner on the weekend, for 'relaxation' purposes. Bit nothing else so I'm never drunk but just like the taste of beer

However, if I do an MTB ride of say 3 hours or longer then I feel I deserve more booze in order to relax my muscles. So Sunday night could turn into a booze fest. And an expensive one at that as supermarkets close early

An unappealing habit I've picked up is going to Aldi for a mid week shop and grabbing one of their €1 pale ale cans to drink on the drive back home. It's just as cheap as a can of coke is the justification

pale ale cans to drink on the drive back home

Wtaf…

I am going through a period of entitled drinking. That is, why should I not have a beer because Ive worked hard enough and deserve it. Childish, right?

Combined with my moans in the bike thread, I’m on hols making the most of Moretti and Malbec but starting to think I’ll have a month off from next week until my next race in May. Having just ordered some Rashies to wear on our Summer holiday, I’m very aware of increasing middle aged spread and my mental attitude toward it.

I have, since my mid 30's or so; had either a beer or a glass of wine a night. I generally don't really ever feel the need to drink more than that, I rarely drink during the day or lunchtime even at weekends, although I have noticed recently that I miss it when I don't have it. Which has made me think about it a bit more.

I don't go through stages like the OP. I drink pretty much every day now. Used to be a binge drinker. Frequent black outs. Gave up a few times for months at a time but don't have the motivation now. I am drinking an 8% IPA now. I'm dreading it finishing. I love the hit of a strong beer on an empty stomach. I'd like to drink about 5 more of them but I'll try to cook after this one then probably have a nightcap before bed. Once I've got food inside me, I don't want to drink any more beer and I like whisky but not in any great quantity.

I see the point of 0% beer and have drunk it before in the past. Now though, I'm not really interested in anything under 7 or 8%. 10% just tastes of alcohol. Like I say, it's about the hit. I'm not really one for getting quietly sloshed over dinner. Having said that, I used to like a red wine what I ate meat and a dry white with fish or seafood. I'm not sure wine really goes with vegan food though. Not for me at least. I guess with some food but not quite like the above.

OP - I did the maths......

A litre of southern comfort (other drinks are available - I mean; other drinks are REALLY available) is 35 units.

So your 'peaks' of drinking are coming in at about 8 units a week. A week. Or in old money 4 pints of beer a week. I'm not dismissing that as not drinking.....but it's not drinking very much. If your drinking was a landscape you'd be a bit like the gently rolling fields of Holland rather than mountains and valleys of the Alps. I'd say you don't have an on/off relationship with alcohol, rather an on/off relationship with a taste.

And again...southern comfort.....other tastes are available!

edit - the pilot on the other hand........kind of hoping you are not doing too much piloting of anything at the moment.

Don't worry @convert, I am not a pilot of any kind.
I had a Scott Pilot bar/stem combo to sell when I first joined and I chose pilot over scott.