Too much alcohol and I know it.

Check out oneyearnobeer.com

"If outwardly your good, your good" ?

No, my sister in law died from alcoholism a few years ago. Your body is able to metabolize a certain amount of alcohol daily but beyond this, over time there will be kidney damage. The amount of alcohol one can metabolize varies by sex, body weight, and overall health but it will be less than 2 bottles of wine/night. Simply not having alcohol at home during the week can help reduce drinking. Setting a limit per evening or per week can also help. I'm interested to hear what others will say so will follow this post

The dry January thread got me to thinking about how much I drink over the course of a year, so I started counting. I believe I am a moderate drinker. Perhaps the OP could try to drink quantities in line with these amounts. I am not a mixed drink guy. Strictly beer, wine, whiskey.

Hope this helps.

In 256 days I have drank:

BEER: 16.1 gallons
RED WINE: 3.8 gallons
WHITE WINE: 2.7 gallons
WHISKEY: 0.17 gallons

We are not necessarily chasing the first drink feeling. I loved the 5th and 6th drink feeling. Some people drink to get hammered, remove all inhibitions or anxiety or stress. I would get black out drunk a couple times per month.

OP, congrats on the progress.

Just don't buy it. Don't have it in the house, don't order it at a restaurant

Yes 👍

Thems be rookie numbers.

Yes, thank you.

So 1 beer and 0.75 glasses of wine a night? And one shot of whiskey every two weeks? Yes you are moderate in my book.

But this gets back to my question. Maybel I'll start another thread on it. I mean you drink 14 drinks a week. That sounds like a lot but it's not if you drink 2 a day as a guy.

But it hit me the other day. Do I drink more now per week than I did when I got out of college?I mean back then I'd pound like 10 drinks on a friday night. BUt I didn't drink at all during the week. WHich is worse? I'm assumign the binge night per week.

I’ve had this conversation with a friend of mine various times over the years. I’ve always been more inclined to drink “for fun”, so a lot once every week or two, staying out late and getting drunk, whereas he is more of a 2-3 drinks most nights after work guy. I don’t know what the answer is; but I know that as I’ve gotten older (40 now), my urge to “go out” has plummeted, so now it happens every couple months or less, while he’s still drinking the same amount.

I tended to drink a few beers (2-3, ranging from cheap domestics to craft beers) every night to "unwind." Told myself it helped me relax (and I really enjoyed the mild beer buzz especially from those higher ABV craft beers). It became a habit. A few drinks helped me unwind and fall asleep faster, but it started to impact my quality of sleep. I just kept doing it to relax and unwind even though it was extra unnecessary calories and it impacted my sleep quality. I tried multiple times to cut the habit, but I just kept doing it.

I finally completely cut the habit when my child was born. I was unable to effectively function with reduced sleep because of the baby and poor sleep quality from the alcohol. I cut the beers out cold turkey. The first week felt weird, but it became much easier thereafter. I had formed a nightly habit/routine, and changing it up felt off, and of course I missed that little buzz.

Cutting night time beers made a HUGE difference. I sleep significantly more soundly and I've lost enough weight to get back down to my college racing weight. The extra calories really add up, especially before bed.

I have to watch myself. I do like a mild beer buzz, and having drinks with friends reminds me of that fact. I've slipped a little bit and have almost fallen back into the habit a few times after having drinks with friends or at parties. As lame as it is I will often grab nonalcoholic beer with friends now to above falling back into the habit.

All that said I think it's complete BS that breweries don't have to list nutritional facts on beer cans. I very strongly suspect that seeing the extra calories one consumes with each beer would be a good deterrent for many. It would definitely help me be more mindful.

Using the standard sizes of 12 oz. beer, 5 oz. wine and 1.5 oz. hard liquor, individual drinks in 256 days comes to:

BEER: 172, RED WINE 96, WHITE WINE 69, WHISKEY 14.

Total: 351 in 36.6 weeks = 9.6 per week. The high end of moderate, but its under 10.

I never drink wine in 5 oz. quantities. It's usually 8, sometimes 10. But the accepted standard is 5. I made note of the quantities I poured from the bottle at home and estimated when at a restaurant.

The question of do you drink more now compared to when you just got out of college, I suggest you do what I've done and start counting your drinks - as should the OP. It has helped me because now I know if I cut out 25% of my drinking, I would run faster. I am certain of that. An older runner like me (62) needs every edge he can get.

I'll stop counting on Dec. 31.

Let me help you with your issue: Beer makes you fat.

You don't need to read labels. You already know. Stop making excuses for yourself and others.

I have no idea why you would want to change that. I wouldn't, but that's me.