How do you control your alcohol intake?

Wine 101: The Basics
61

Nice pic Peter! I do a few things, mainly centered on moderating vs restricting intake.

  1. I often drink less frequently during the week but do enjoy wine on weeknights. When doing so, I keep a few 1/2 bottles from Sauternes on hand. ON OPENING a bottle, I’ll pour half into the half bottle and cork it BEFORE decanting or starting into it, and save half for later. Pouring off have and sealing it is important as it is more difficult to stop 1/2 way through a bottle. Also, pouring into the half bottle on opening limits the air exposure and the remainder will be good for several days. I often do this on the weekend and only infrequently consume a full bottle.

  2. Mix up the alcohol. Sometimes a small serving of Chinato, Grappa or Cognac is satisfying whereas a single glass of wine usually leads to 1/2 a bottle.

  3. When at wine dinners KEEP THE POUR SMALL. I enjoy the experience of tasting lots of different wines and comparing them, but have no ambition to get drunk or drink to excess. Moderating the intake also leads to being able to taste the wines served later in the dinner…

  4. Having moderate alcohol during the week (not every night) leaves me going into the weekend without feeling any need to ‘catch up’. I’ll often have a full bottle of wine Friday night, starting with dinner but that has more to do with relaxing after the work week and not having to be too productive Saturday morning…

Cheers,

62

Looks like you have a good system going for you Ross!

63

Began a while ago to just drink weekends. It was difficult at first because of being used to always having wine with dinner. A substitute of soda water/lime or lemon juice/ and mango or pineapple helped the craving a lot. And as a by product my skirts fit better :slight_smile:

64

This month I abstained from all forms of alcohol for 3+ weeks. During the Holidays I was drinking almost everyday and didn’t like the way I was feeling. I’m glad I cleared my system out, because I slept better, had fewer headaches and felt mentally sharper. Moving forward I’m going to limit my consumption to two days a week and nothing during the week.

65

Being a stay-at-home dad really changed my habits… right now, only 2 glasses on Fridays and Saturdays

Whatever the reason - I’m happy I’m not killing bottles anymore like there’s no tomorrow [training.gif]

66

About 8 months ago, I started using Cellartracker to keep track of my modest cellar.

About a month ago, I ran a drinking report and, wow, I’d been drinking a lot! I am the only wine drinker in the household, and it had become easy to drink a whole bottle over the course of the evening. Seeing the data has been quite helpful.

67

absolutely cracking up reading this… champagne.gif

68

Great idea Eileen.

Keep it up!

69

I drink abort 3 bottles a week,so i dont Worry to much about it.remember to live.Life is short [cheers.gif]

70

I don’t drink more than two glasses in a sitting. I always have water on hand to sip throughout and after.

71

I found myself reaching for a drink of some sort everyday after work. I didn’t like that so I made a rule, no drinking M-W. Usually have a beer on Thursday, and then open a bottle or two of wine throughout the weekend, with a glass or two of bourbon sprinkled in

72

Good for you. Thats a great regimen. Keep it up.

I too found it hard after a good day of work not to resort to some liquid enjoyment. It can quickly become habitual which is not where I would like to go. Designating off days is a way to deal with it.

73

Does anyone curb their alcohol intake after the holiday season and practices a dry January?

74

I do not, but there is a Dry January thread on this board somewhere. (Found it)

75

Cirrhosis and being an addict in recovery [cry.gif]

Jason

76

Jason,

So sorry about your health issues. I hope you will be better soon!

77

I’ve been doing dry January for four years now. The past three years I extended it to President’s Day Weekend. This year I didn’t go to dry January but have limited it to Saturday’s only so far in February. I’ve been on an exercise kick and limiting alcohol helps keep me going with the exercise. Unfortunately I tore a calf muscle last weekend while skiing so that is going to limit the exercise until I heal up. Thus until then I’m gonna have to watch what I drink because it has a direct correlation to my weight.

78

Mike,

How did the four years of dry Jan work out for you? Did you notice any significant difference?

Exercise is definitively crucial and together with a healthy diet and responsible alcohol consumption…

Good luck and speedy recovery with the calf muscle.

79

Rereading what I wrote above, I meant this year I haven’t extended dry January to Presidents Day.

I’ve felt that dry January is a good way to reset my thinking, not specifically around alcohol, but around health and specifically weight management. Each year I lose a few pounds. Unfortunately as I get older, that’s harder and harder to do. Year one, I remember thinking that a month without alcohol would be hard. This past January it was barely noticed and easy. While I’m not being militant about it, I’m trying to keep the alcohol consumption down. Mostly on weekends.

Heading to the doctor shortly for an update on the calf. Fingers crossed.

80

From a medical perspective, the evidence for whether or not alcohol consumption is harmful vs neutral vs beneficial for health is not strong as it’s difficult to conduct high quality studies to address this question.

Best evidence thus far is that no alcohol intake is likely the healthiest option.

However, for many life without wine and other drink is just not acceptable, myself included.

In this case, studies suggest that up to two standard drinks per day for men is not associated with worse mortality and disease based outcomes. Same for women, except one drink instead of two.

Plus, some weak to moderate quality studies suggest that one glass of red wine per day is healthy.