[Closed] Drinkers like me

Just watching this with my morning coffee. It would be nice to have that much disposable income to drink like that.

This the Adrian Chiles programme? I was, quite frankly, astonished how much he was putting away! That quantity of alcohol has to be an outlier surely? In one episode of one night's drinking, he put away what I do in about two and half weeks!

I go through phases (like most I think)

Go from no drink at all for a few weeks, then to have a whiskey every night, then to nothing during the week and a bottle of wine over the weekend, to then go to the pub twice a week for a couple of pints.

Never the same, rarely do those 1 whiskeys a night turn into a couple or go over a week, or do I go to the pub more.

I reckon I’m fine, like most I reckon.

I think it was interesting in how it became obvious that the drinking was an escape from a bigger issue, namely depression and his circumstances as a divorcee in the metropolitan entertainment industry were major contributing factors. He was remarkable candid. It was scary how quickly he racked the units up.

I enjoyed the programme and really warmed to him. As mentioned above was food to hear him talk openly about his anxiety and depression. As an aside, the pub he started drinking in is a favourite mid ride pint/food pub of mine

didnt see this prog but theres a sober october advert doing the rounds thats boiling my piss.

*one always leads to another and another so its better to abstain - try not drinking for a month*

eh no , i can quite happily have a single beer with my dinner and it doesnt lead to the need for another .

of course i may be the outlier here ....

of course i do understand some folk could do with a month off - and it could be the start of a life change. but the wording of the advert is just shit.

eh no , i can quite happily have a single beer with my dinner and it doesnt lead to the need for another .

But can you quite happily not have a beer with your dinner..

Can't we just enjoy getting on the beers for just simply that? Why do we have to analyse everything, "my dad once left me on the park on my own" that's why I drink, "My mum used to make me clean the toilet every week" that's why I drink.

I drink because I enjoy it. And like trail rat above I can have one beer before dinner or not. My favourite beer of the week is still a Sunday afternoon/evening after a family day out/big dog walk/bike ride etc all done before having a nice family meal together.

Go from no drink at all for a few weeks, then to have a whiskey every night, then to nothing during the week and a bottle of wine over the weekend, to then go to the pub twice a week for a couple of pints.

This is pretty much me as well. Probably 1 week in 4 I'd average over the guideline amounts but other weeks would be nothing.

The current debate about "safe levels" of drinking is interesting. The way the risk is described isn't that helpful. There is no "safe level" of driving, riding your bike, sex, air travel but no one is suggesting or promoting abstaining for all of those things.

I’m not under the anfluence of incerhol like some dinkle peep iyam.

It's all about how acceptable it is, isn't it?.

Some of the folks I share a lunch table with at work definitely seem to drink far too much, but it's alright, it's just a couple of glasses of wine, innit? One look at instagram 'stories' at the weekend and it's all wee gifs of drink, shots, wine, beer whatever. Faceboak is the same.

Folk don't like being told what they're doing is bad for them, never have.

I've actually finally realised that I just like the taste of beer, the alcohol bit doesn't really come into it, I can quite happily sit and have 3 or 4 alcohol free beers, and the choice of beers is very slowly getting better too.

I’ve actually finally realised that I just like the taste of beer, the alcohol bit doesn’t really come into it, I can quite happily sit and have 3 or 4 alcohol free beers, and the choice of beers is very slowly getting better too.

I'm similar. Any suggestions for good alcohol free stuff? Sometimes sparking water hits the spot if all I want is something cold and fizzy. The hardest part of abstention for me is in social situations, but I suppose I am lucky in that I can have 4 or 5 pints with mates, have a laugh and not suffer for it. Sometimes go a couple of weeks with nothing and have a dry November each year.

Erdinger alcohol free stuff is quite nice.

I suspect where I probably drink more than I think I do is with spirits at home. A DIY G&T at home is very definitely stronger than a pub bought one. Similarly a self poured whisky is a lot more generous. The unit count is calculated on pub measures rather than my sloshing.

And whilst I like the taste it is the effect too for me. No particular wish to be drunk but I enjoy the feeling of a having a couple in the tank. Interestingly the program discussed increased anxiety when drinking. I 'think' the periods in my life when I have drunk more have been to counter anxiety rather than been the cause of anxiety. Could well be wrong though.

When I was Ironman training and was off the beer I found the Erdinger and Warsteiner to be OK. Tried brewdog Nanny State horrible, which was a disappointment.

None of it tastes as good as proper beer though.

Interestingly the program discussed increased anxiety when drinking. I ‘think’ the periods in my life when I have drunk more have been to counter anxiety rather than been the cause of anxiety.

Ah, but you may drink more to counter anxiety but that doesn't mean it doesn't actually increase anxiety. In small quantities and in the short term alcohol has a positive effect and larger quantities are depressant. For those for who this isn't a problem then fine. In the case of Adrian Chiles on the "said" programme it is very clearly a problem, and though I suspect he is a somewhat extreme case (an "outlier" to use STW speak) there are probably a lot of milder examples who are in denial and for whom the prog might be a clarion call. Personally I've found it beneficial to introduce drink-free periods, but I was always a moderate but every day drinker, not at all like bikebouy and trail_rat. I don't like feeling I'm dependant even if the quantities are modest.

When I was Ironman training and was off the beer I found the Erdinger and Warsteiner to be OK. Tried brewdog Nanny State horrible, which was a disappointment.

I love the Erdinger. The Nanny State is very hoppy and needs acohol to balance that, but I sort of like it. Anyway it's expensive compared to Erdinger. Becks Blue is bland but at least you can get it in most pubs.

Agree Becks Blue is not that nice at all, it tastes like traditional non alcoholic beer.

"But can you quite happily not have a beer with your dinner.."

well yes , that was kind of my point. i mean its a rare occasion ill have beer with my dinner . I had one last night but its been a while since.

I had it because id been sanding and painting windows all afternoon and evening so decided i deserved a beer as a reward.

I didn't drink it to numb the pain from the boredom of painting windows.

but fully get why some folk do though.  I get my escape from reality by exercise.

as i said its just the condescending sweeping tone of the advert that grinds my gears.

I quite like Nanny State. It' an exciting time for low/zero alcohol ales - there'll be a lot coming out over the next 12 months, I reckon.

If you don't mind lager then you're set for alcohol-free beer - loads of options. Placebo effect will have you buzzing 🙂

Ale is more of a challenge - I don't mind nanny state but it's quite astringent and miles away from what a decent beer would taste like. Ethanol is tasteless (although does still effect how the beer feels) but a method to separate it out will usually disrupt the other flavours.

Hard to find the happy medium with bevvying - I can easily do too much, and I can nearly as easy do none at all. Something in the middle is more elusive - Salute those who have it right.

I haven't seen the programme, but saw a piece about it and it rang true as I go through patches of drinking too much over a period, normally due to coincidental circumstance than anything more sinister. I'm currently on day four of no drinking after what was possibly three weeks of at least one drink each day.

I find the most dangerous drink is the second one, because that's the one that's more likely to lead to a third and more.

My doc asked me how many units I drank per week.

I said, 'I'm an alcoholic not a sodding accountant!' 😉

Like most I've gone through periods (a week or two at most) of drinking every day as well of periods of abstinence - dry January as a typical example.

Currently my wife and I will share a bottle of wine each night for Friday, Sat and Sunday but then have nothing the rest of the week. Occasionally there'll be a drink associated with work, usually a pint of beer or a pint of shandy. Come winter time we'll occasionally swap the bottle of wine for a whisky (home measures so probably a triple!). If we go out for a meal then it depends who's driving as to which of us will have a drink. These days I find I get bloated when I drink beer so that tends to limit my consumption of that particular tipple.

Is the above fine? Absolutely no idea!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/10/alcohol-free-days-middle-aged-drinking-public-health-england

Amusing article but some sensible talk about alcohol free days as opposed to the odd month off.

Is the above fine?

I hope so, as it's basically what I do. I might be your wife 😉

 its just the condescending sweeping tone of "some stw posters"  that grinds my gears.

Every time alcohol is mentioned on here.

I gave up alcohol for about 18 months at about 25, wasn't deliberate I just didn't drink for month or so, and then carried on. I think it completely changed my drinking habits, previously I always had a bottle of red wine open to drink with dinner, there would always be a beer on friday evening, saturday night out, two pints with the odd pub lunch etc. I was probably fairly consistently hitting the maximum recommended weekly intake.

After that I never really went back to it, I still get pissed once in a while, but it's a few times a year and 6 pints, rather than that being a mediocre friday night.

Amusing article but some sensible talk about alcohol free days as opposed to the odd month off.

There's a bit of a scandinavian thing (tradition seems a bit too big a word), where they give up alcohol for 1 day a week, one week a month, one month a year, one year a decade.

nanny state [is] quite astringent and miles away from what a decent beer would taste like. Ethanol is tasteless (although does still effect how the beer feels)

Not strictly true, it has a smell and a taste, but it's mostly outside the sweet/salty/sour/savoury palette, a bit like tannins make your mouth feel dry (which a bit like bitter, but not), or capsaicin, or menthol, Also fermentation produces fusel alcohols which give you that nice warming feeling in small quantities (like whisky and rum which also contain them in larger quantities).

You're right though, it's what balances out other flavours, alcohol free beer tastes like spag bol that's been cooked without any salt.

I quite like a Nanny state, and also Heineken zero as well, but I'm no beer snob. Your spag bol must be really shite Tinas.

its the calories that put me off drinking more! that and the groginess in the morning, even after 1 beer or glas sof wine ill have a slight bit of cottonmouth when i wake up. as such i generally try to avoid it during the week - this also helps me appreciate that first beer of the weekend!

a few weeks ago i tried some of that Jamesons Caskmates Stout edition and loved it, then last week i spotted it in Sainsburys so treated myself. that was on my way home on Friday afternoon - when i woke up on Sunday morning it was all gone!! that was quite alarming!! i wasnt on the lash, getting lairy or owt, just sat sipping small measures watching the tele!

i fully intend to get another for this weekend too!

Can’t we just enjoy getting on the beers for just simply that? Why do we have to analyse everything

This +1

Can’t we just enjoy getting on the beers for just simply that? Why do we have to analyse everything

You don't. Who said you had to? Why did you choose to keep reading this thread?

I love a beer, but I also have concern for my health. My main reason for not drinking as much these days is the empty calories. You can work all week to run a deficit if your trying to lose weight and blow it all the weekend with beer.

I am not sure when I started feeling guilty about what I eat/drink Its not as much fun as when I didn't 🙂

I can go for a few weeks without being bothered, but then get caught out having "a couple" which turns into holy****imsmashedletsgoclubbing very quickly. I do worry myself sometimes too when the wife says "where's that whiskey gone?" which was bought on a Friday night and gone by the end of Saturday.

My biggest problem is the desire to smoke after I've had a few drinks which tends to make me think twice about drinking... But I've avoid smoking for a while now....

What Nico said, no one says you can't.

You can work all week to run a deficit

so that you can

blow it all the weekend with beer.

I thought the programme was good. The bit about first getting served with your mates at 15/16 could have been me.

I used to be a big drinker but having been gradually cutting down over the years .When I turned 50 I made a conscious effort to drink much less and well under the (arbitrary) 14 units a week most weeks - with the odd blow out with old friends.

I'm drink alcohol free beer quite often. Erdinger, Nanny State and Estrella Damm/FreeDamm

Chiles did a guide in the guardian...

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/sep/09/adrian-chiles-top-10-alcohol-free-beers

He's bang on, get yer alcohol free beers in big bottles!

but fully get why some folk do though.  I get my escape from reality by exercise.

I'm the same these days, and in the early days of the ex moving out I made absolutely sure it stayed that way, as I have in the past "heavily self medicated" in these situations. I didn't have to totally avoid the beer, and although staying fairly sober on the staff Christmas do was odd, it wasn't that hard!

 Your spag bol must be really shite Tinas.

I should point out that my spag bol doesn't taste like non alcoholic beer.

I’m with trail_rat. I like the taste of good beer, I like wine and the odd whisky. But I drink solely for the taste, not the effect. If I needed the effect, I’d stop. As it is I can go a few weeks without imbibing. A nice IPA or Belgian beer is rather something though. But just the one.

I did try and collect data on drinkaware, but got fed up of it nagging me to fill in days when I drank zero units (most days). Part of my job is to teach teenagers about the Clinical Pharmacology of alcohol. There are few drugs we take at such large doses.

just remember,

Beer is God's way of showing us he loves us.

FACT

I like the taste of good beer, I like wine and the odd whisky. But I drink solely for the taste, not the effect. If I needed the effect, I’d stop. As it is I can go a few weeks without imbibing. A nice IPA or Belgian beer is rather something though. But just the one.

Absolutely this^. I’ll occasionally get a few bottles of beer in, and have the odd one of an evening after dinner, and during the winter a single malt, but my main drinking is a couple of pints on a Friday and Saturday evening with my best mate in our favourite pub in Corsham. We both enjoy the different flavours of beers, and they’re constantly changing what’s on tap, so there’s always something new to try. Getting drunk isn’t part of it, I don’t like the sensation of getting drunk, I do like the taste of a well-crafted pint.

Well I got back a few hours ago from 2 days away with work and just downed a lovely bottle of red, on a school nite, so I’m probably an outlier too 😀

the program explores how some people aren't alcoholics in the historic sense - not compulsive behaviour - but the kind of heavy drinking he was putting away - 75+ units a week, every week - is still problematic.

if you pile through that much on a regular basis you are going to be a burden on the NHS, you are going to eventually ruin your liver and if you have mental health issues, which some do and some don't, you are self medicating with the wrong drug

but lots of people don't do that volume so if this isn't you don't stress !

EdIt - yes I like booze and I used to drink a fair bit more when I was younger but I've always been about the taste and textures, life is too short to drink cheap crap 🙂

I've seen this programme twice bizarrely. First time on my own, second time with the Mrs. We both agreed it could have been me presenting it 🙂

Qutie frankly if I didn't ride my bike at least 12 hours per week I'd be the same weight as him too. It's a tricky thing this beer drinking lark. As you get older it becomes a constant battle to balance the benefits of it and the bad parts. It would all be a lot easier without also having to worry about being judged as an alcoholic, borderline/functioning alcoholic, drinker, or whatever other term people use to label you whilst standing on their ivory towers.

I don't know what the solution is. All I know is that like anything, whether it's bike riding, boozing, driving fast cars, smoking weed, jumping off cliffs or out of planes etc if it gives you enjoyment, even if it's fleeting, then it seems stupid to deny yourself it because of the risk of bad things happening as a result. Life is too full of boring mundane crap as it is to deny yourself the things that distract you from that, and if drinking helps do that, then why not?

Bike riding doesn't put the burden on the NHS that drink does, last time I saw the stats. 🙂

Interesting article on limits below. More about morals than science. I note that many on here make the point that being under the influence to any extent it not what they are after.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/03/alcohol-health-government-advice-drug-benefits-morality

Bike riding doesn’t put the burden on the NHS that drink does, last time I saw the stats.

I guess that why beer has significant extra taxes and bikes don't 😉

You sound just like the Jakeys on Drinkers like me mate! 🙂

I became teetotal without realising. Just stopped drinking because of having young kids and booze, generally, just making me feel really tired. Don’t miss it at all to be honest. I seem to drink ridiculous quantities of coffee though.

Bike riding doesn’t put the burden on the NHS that drink does, last time I saw the stats

huh. broken both collarbones riding bikes, only 50% of these incidents were while drunk. draw your own conclusions.... 😉

currently on a month off myself. i live alone with my dog, and the pub is a convenient dog walk away. no-one to shout at me if i come home pissed or decide to carry on and get pissed when i get home. i don't doubt there are 'other reasons' for my drinking but TBH if i want the world to f off ( or whatever ), so long as i'm paying the mortgage and being a constructive member of society, that's my business and nobody else's. i generally get my days off/week in, but for various reasons, not least background physical health and ongoing weight loss i'm trying for, i thought i'd take a break. i still go to the pub and drink juice 3-4 times/week, however this friday i'm riding my bike instead because the past two fridays have just been boring.

It seems there are benefits to alcohol. Pour me another.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/01/social-drinking-moderation-health-risks