I've just done the sums in a spreadsheet, and it turns out that I've consumed about 90 units of alcohol since Christmas. That's a bit less than 3 units per day on average. Seems a lot. It's definitely been an unusual period because I received a load of alcohol that I normally wouldn't buy.
But I'm going to keep an eye on it now.
The average / day figure isn't the whole story of course, for example if you binge drink 12 units in one night and abstain the rest of the week you'll have done yourself more harm - temporary hopefully - than steadily drinking 20 units over a week. Probably.
But anyway no alcohol today, and today is Day Zero in a new blank spreadsheet. If anyone else wants to join in, comment, track their progress, talk through difficulties or challenges, please do.
I'm not really worried because I drink a lot more moderately than I did 10-15 years ago. But we'll see how it goes.
I decided in late December to try not to drink for a year. Nothing up until now but I now don't feel that I'll manage a year. I think I've lost about half a stone, maybe more, and I'll continue to abstain and eat more healthily until my annual health MOT which should be in March. I'll take stock after that.
This is how I'm calculating units of alcohol. Example: a bottle of Baileys: 700ml (70cl) at 17% strength.
700 * 17 / 1000
.. 11.9 units.
A 330ml bottle of a 5% beer: 330 * 5 / 1000 = 1.65 units.
It's easier to count if you keep your own alcohol separate. So you don't have to work out how much is in a glass, but how much is in a bottle when you buy it which is of course obvious. Of course if you and your significant other share bottles of wine, not so simple. But you can get it roughly right. You could of course use a glass measuring jug ..
Fortunately Mrs Slim has more refined tastes and doesn't drink the cheap Chilean Sauvignon that I bring home from Tesco.
I drink roughly 110 units a month. Been the same for years now. Mostly at weekends unless we're out for a special meal in the week.
January tends to be a bit drier than the rest of the year as I try to stick to wine of less than 13% Too much these days is up at 14.5%, I'm getting old I used to actively seek out the stronger stuff, now I look out for the less strong.
Quote from: Nickslikk2112 on January 25, 2025, 11:12:06 AMI drink roughly 110 units a month. Been the same for years now. Mostly at weekends unless we're out for a special meal in the week.
January tends to be a bit drier than the rest of the year as I try to stick to wine of less than 13% Too much these days is up at 14.5%, I'm getting old I used to actively seek out the stronger stuff, now I look out for the less strong.
Agreed, can't do the strong stuff anymore.
I've had an almost-dry January enforced upon me by illness so I've had exactly 6 pints all month, which must be a record low since I reached adulthood.
As is usual for me when I decide to abstain for a while I take a notion for something. Last time it was white wine. This time I'm curious about trying really light red wines. I'm disappointed that I didn't satisfy this craving during the Beaujolais Nouveau period. I don't suppose there will be much left in stock now and even if there is it probably wouldn't be as good. I do miss Saturday night beer though. In any case I should really steer clear of red wine as it does seem to trigger palpitations more readily. Any suggestions for a lighter red would be handy though.
I had a beer when I returned from cycling (a Moretti) so the spreadsheet's off the ground already! Unfortunately I didn't get the full 330ml. I poured about half of it into a glass in the kitchen. A moment later 'er indoors picked up the bottle, and thinking she was pouring the last drips away prior to recycling, started gushing it down the sink! I stopped her after about 15ml I think.
4.5%, 1.42 units.
I was having a dry month this month but a 60 birthday party yesterday and I had to partake. But I did keep it light until whisky was distributed among the guests - I only had one though.
Just passed double—figures pints for the month/year.
Thing is, I don't presently foresee compensating for this much when I'm 100% well again. :-\
Pretty modest alcohol week. But I've just bought some wine and a bottle of nutter-strength beer at Tesco.
(https://i.ibb.co/gZNcHp2F/alc250131.png)
Not had a drink since Sunday..still managing to stick to the no alcohol during the week for weight purposes... I'm gasping tbh.. anyway bottle of red tonight
Quote from: Slim on January 31, 2025, 03:09:31 PMPretty modest alcohol week. But I've just bought some wine and a bottle of nutter-strength beer at Tesco.
(https://i.ibb.co/gZNcHp2F/alc250131.png)
What's with the 329ml? Did you dribble? 😁
Quote from: The Picnic Wasp on January 31, 2025, 03:33:59 PMQuote from: Slim on January 31, 2025, 03:09:31 PMPretty modest alcohol week. But I've just bought some wine and a bottle of nutter-strength beer at Tesco.
(https://i.ibb.co/gZNcHp2F/alc250131.png)
What's with the 329ml? Did you dribble? 😁
Sadly I noticed a bit left in the glass just before I migrated it from my desk to the dishwasher yesterday evening. But it was warm and flat. So I chucked it.
Dry Jan ending tonight. As always a struggle in the first half then not too bad for the rest of the month. I don't think I can ever give it up but at least I can control it. Went a bit off the rails during Covid.
It always is strange to me how the Americans always seem to bring up how many years sober they are during interviews or are introduced as x years of sobriety. Some of them only drank for a few years to begin with.
An easy way to work out the amount you've had in a glass of wine is to weigh the glass empty, then weigh it once you've filled it. I've just had 229 grams of Sauvignon Blanc which, because the density of water is very close to that of wine, is close enough to 229 ml. So at 11% strength, that's 2.52 units.
I had a beer yesterday and the day before and didn't really feel it (at about 1.5 units). But I can feel the wine kicking in a bit. It's making me feel chemically relaxed, languid. It makes me feel like I want more. A single beer didn't do that.
Quote from: Nick on January 31, 2025, 05:45:21 PMDry Jan ending tonight. As always a struggle in the first half then not too bad for the rest of the month. I don't think I can ever give it up but at least I can control it. Went a bit off the rails during Covid.
It always is strange to me how the Americans always seem to bring up how many years sober they are during interviews or are introduced as x years of sobriety. Some of them only drank for a few years to begin with.
Lockdown was dreadful. I was living alone having just developed quite a serious illness for which the treatment had to cease due to the restrictions. I was in a lot of discomfort, couldn't read due to the condition and to compound things the TV aerial packed in. I'd always been prone to a weekend binge as an outlet when work wasn't going so well as was quite usual, but lockdown was something else.
The Tesco delivery was a welcome sight and the ABV type of purchases increased as the weeks passed. Beer to wine. Wine to spirits. I quickly realised that the hangovers were becoming more of a withdrawal process, so I decided to nip things in the bud. I didn't have another drink for 235 days and was a bit relieved when I did to discover that it wasn't going to be an issue.
It was more of a frustration at the time that some event had stopped me going dry for an entire year, but I suppose there's no medal at the end anyway, and the only pat on the back would be from me. If we ever have to lockdown again I definitely wouldn't drink.
Keeping a spreadsheet has proved to be quite a useful exercise. I have a cell showing total units for the most recent 7 days. I feel I've drunk very moderately in that time, and yet I've consumed nearly 13 units. One more Moretti would have taken me over the recommended max. Actually I more usually drink slightly stronger beer than that.
(https://i.ibb.co/5gGbgDKt/alc250204.png)
To be fair I have drunk every day for the last six, which is not usual.
Quote from: Slim on January 31, 2025, 07:36:22 PMAn easy way to work out the amount you've had in a glass of wine is to weigh the glass empty, then weigh it once you've filled it. I've just had 229 grams of Sauvignon Blanc which, because the density of water is very close to that of wine, is close enough to 229 ml. So at 11% strength, that's 2.52 units.
Just had the last glass out of the bottle, 120 grams of it.
So the combined Sauvignon Blanc weight according to the scales was 744 grams. An AI tells me that the density of dry white wine is 0.992 g/mL which means that I did actually weigh exactly 75 cl of wine, the actual bottle contents. Remarkable. The scales must be very accurate.
But I need to adjust the figures very slightly, at the moment they assume that Sauvignon Blanc is the same density as water.
And with that done, I've now consumed 14.05 units over the last 7 days, a little more than the recommended max.
Pretty modest consumption this last week, with the moving 7-day total standing at 5.99 units. Averaging just over 1 unit / day since Jan 24th.
(https://i.ibb.co/5Xs8kt8d/alc240212.png)
And a pretty moderate first month of monitored consumption. Don't think I've been close to the recommended 14 units max for any 7-day period.
(https://i.ibb.co/Y7p12YvD/alc-first-month.png)
And another month later, still drinking very moderately I'd say, at a rate of less than 1 unit per day overall.
(https://i.ibb.co/Zpn0GLGt/alc250324.png)
Years ago I remember that George Best had implants surgically inserted in his stomach to help him stop drinking (although they didn't work). The idea is that if you drink alcohol, they interfere with your ability to metabolise it, making you ill rather than drunk.
Well it seems that the method has moved on a bit now, because a friend of my wife has just had one inserted subcutaneously, under the skin of her bum. Apparently she's hoping to save her marriage and family. I'm very fond of her but for as long as I've known her, she's been a sort of black hole for alcohol products. More than once I've had to help her to a car after she's been round, because she's hoovered all the Prosecco (she wasn't driving of course).
Fingers crossed it works for her. I'm told it hasn't been hard to go without so far.
Interestingly she went to Dublin to get it done. Cost £800.
Fair play to her for recognising a problem and working to save her marriage - hope it works out for her.
Managed to neck down almost a week's worth of booze at my niece's wedding yesterday. I can't drink like I used to and it was bloody fizzy lager.
I'll get back to smaller quantities of good quality, trying to find an excuse to miss the birthday party I'm invited to next Saturday...
So I've recorded every drink for three months now. In that time I've consumed 14.658 litres of alcoholic drinks. 101.99 units of alcohol in total.
If all of those drinks were poured into a large container and stirred thoroughly, a blend of various beers, various wines and a little bit of Scotch whisky - the resulting concoction would have an alcohol strength of 6.96% ABV.
Ove the three months I've averaged 1.11 units per day which is very moderate I think. Though in the last seven days I've consumed 14.78 units.
So four months in and apparently I've consumed a bit more alcohol in the last month than I did in the previous month, because my overall intake over the entire period averages at 1.28 units per day. Still not particularly of concern.
I have consumed 158 units in that time, as follows:
(https://i.ibb.co/mFFfh5dL/alcunits.png)
Probably makes more sense to account in "wine", "beer", "spirits" than individual brands.
I see I spelled "vieille" wrong, will fix that.
So far this year I have consumed 527.8 units of alcohol, compared with 554.1 this time last year.
That's 3.615 units a day, Way too much for the Nanny state, but hey-ho.
Unsurprisingly a week on holiday has kicked up my alcohol intake somewhat. I've now consumed 198 units since Jan 24th, though that's still only an average of 1.34 / day.
21.76 units over the last 7 days, so I'll have a few days off now. Not had a drink since Wednesday. Definitely need to keep that going for a bit.
Been playing with Google Sheets this morning and I now have a graph of my 7-day rolling average alcohol units consumption, from 31st Jan (first day when 7 days of data were available) to Jun 18th (most recent drink). Living on a cruise ship with not much else to do but go for a drink certainly whacks up the intake.
(http://bikediary.uk/images/alcohol_avg.png)
I've completed nine months of alcohol accounting now and over that time I've averaged 1.37 units per day. Less than 10 a week so I'm pleased with that. No doubt that will climb a bit over the festive season.
Well done. I've knocked the boozing right back to only Friday night now. Find it painful on the stomach and the hangovers are just not worth it. No doubt I will have a few blowouts along the way, I don't want to give it up entirely and I know I have drunk fairly solidly over my life, I do miss it though.
Quote from: Nick on October 26, 2025, 06:10:38 PMWell done. I've knocked the boozing right back to only Friday night now. Find it painful on the stomach and the hangovers are just not worth it. No doubt I will have a few blowouts along the way, I don't want to give it up entirely and I know I have drunk fairly solidly over my life, I do miss it though.
Definitely sounds like a good plan. I'm on a similar course but it's not easy. Hangovers seem to have transitioned into mini withdrawal episodes somewhere along the way without me noticing. My mood is so much better when I haven't indulged for a while.
So I've closed my Alcohol spreadsheet and started a new one for 2026. Over the eleven-and-a-bit months that I accounted for in 2025, my average units per day was 1.38. That's 475 units in all, most of them in beer.
For a long time it was 1.35 but inevitably there was a bit of upkick toward the end of the year. Still - pretty moderate. Sort of erratic though, this is a smoothed trend graph, the units on the left are alcohol units.
(https://i.ibb.co/Xkz6R4P9/alc.png)
I ended the year on 1,285 Units. Marginally my lowest ever since I started recording.
That works out at 3.5 per day, mostly taken in the form of Red Wine, followed by White wine. I like wine me :) I am however trying to go for wines @ 13% or below, rather than looking for the 14/15% I used to, climate change is making it harder though.
I've completed a year of alcohol accounting now. 519 units, an average of 1.42 per day, a bit less than 10 per week, but there are a couple of peaks in the data.
This year so far I'm on an average of 1.68 / day, just because of all the stuff left over from Christmas. Nothing alarming but it should decline over the next couple of weeks.
The first two months of the year, seven-day-average-smoothed.
(https://i.ibb.co/svWC7bGr/alc260301.avif)
Once I'd finished off the Christmas present bottles, I'm down to an average of less than one unit per day. 1.17 / day over the whole year so far.
I consumed 98 units of alcohol over the first three months, a average of about 1.07 units per day, 7.47 a week.
Odd though it might sound, I think I might not be drinking enough. The thing is - I like a drink, but when you don't drink that often, you don't usually really feel like having one. Perhaps I'm missing out.
Quote from: Slim on April 03, 2026, 10:37:11 AMI consumed 98 units of alcohol over the first three months, a average of about 1.07 units per day, 7.47 a week.
Odd though it might sound, I think I might not be drinking enough. The thing is - I like a drink, but when you don't drink that often, you don't usually really feel like having one. Perhaps I'm missing out.
I think you are. Me and the wife had an impromptu trip to The Angel yesterday afternoon. Three pints each of Hobgoblin Gold. Just enough to give a little 'buzz' - lovely!
Quote from: Slim on April 03, 2026, 10:37:11 AMI consumed 98 units of alcohol over the first three months, a average of about 1.07 units per day, 7.47 a week.
Odd though it might sound, I think I might not be drinking enough. The thing is - I like a drink, but when you don't drink that often, you don't usually really feel like having one. Perhaps I'm missing out.
I'd say that you're much better off with the endorphins from cycling. I can honestly say if that time machine opportunity arose, I'd dial back to my teens and be teetotal. I had quite a boozy circle of friends back in the day and I often wonder if different roads might have opened up if that circle had been different.
I also think alcohol and ageing don't mix well, but that may be more to do with medications. I find it too much of a depressant as time passes.
I foolishly decided to go completely alcohol free in 2026 but had a few drinks for a gig which led to a few drinks on other nights, but when the year is 100 days old, 90 of those will be booze free.
Six months into 2026 now and I've consumed an average of 1.14 units per day this year so far. Pretty moderate. Can't remember what caused the spike in April.
There's a bit of an uptick in June, due to the timeless appeal of beer in hot weather.
(https://i.ibb.co/ksv9QDfs/alctojun.png)