to what extent does your life revolve around alcohol?

I (barely) knew a guy who died with alcoholic cirrhosis at age 42. His nightly routine was 5-6 six-packs of beer, IIRC.

That'll do it

A case a day you might as well be buying the hard stuff. And the piss volumes alone. And the time commitment. Jesus.

He drank in his backyard (reportedly filled with bags of empties). Shift the lawn chair over a bit each day for a new pissoir.

Addiction produces fuck-tons of perseverance and commitment.

"12 ounces of piss" he says as he sways over the toilet

This thread turned into the Lifestyle Channel just now

If you don't have six weeks, two weeks of [a very low calorie diet](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/84/2/304.long) may do the trick, as the body preferentially pulls fat from the liver before it reduces peripheral fat.

To answer the thread question: not at all. For a while now I've been thinking that I SHOULD drink more than I do now; right now my average is 1-2 alcoholic beverages per month.

Wish I could say the same. I drink every day, beer when I get home, couple of glasses of wine over dinner, maybe another afterwards. More on the weekend. It's crept up over the years.

I've been thinking that I SHOULD drink more

According to the advertising, your life will become more vibrant, happier and involve more beautiful women in skimpy clothes if you do. It hasn't worked for me so far, but maybe, like you, I just drink insufficient amounts to make the transformation.

My last drink was in February of last year. I quit drinking partly to help support someone in my family who was struggling and wanted to quit, necessitating a dry household, and also because I've seen enough alcoholism in my family.

I drink a lot less than I used to, out of sheer "I'm in my late 40s and this shit's too hard to bounce back from anymore". Also I have a partner and stepkids. We'll drink around them but you cant be maggoted around a bunch of children.

(I still drink on the reg tho, and really should pull back more)

Always try to do fun things less, adult people.
That's how you hold off death! Spoilers he gets you in the end.

Yeah. But dying early of cirrhosis of the liver is not a fun way to go.

I like drinking, on balance it's a positive in my life, but I also need to cut down a bit for health reasons.

As my old Da always says "something's gotta kill you".

Hes in his 70s now so he's doin orright.

I've been trying to dial it down for a while. It sometimes feels Sisyphean when the very special part of me decides that a bender is the right choice because FUKKKIIIIITT!!! TALL CANS IN THE AIR RAISED HIGH but if I look at my habits 10 years or even 5 back it does appear that a there has been a cumulative effect and I'm less shitty for it.

I wish I could say that! Ive dialled right back but I'm feeling sicker/older/sorer than ever. It is possibly for other reasons tho.

i hit the "shit's too hard to bounce back from anymore" wall around age 26–27, now I barely drink

Counterpoint

Moderate and heavy drinkers had 2-fold higher odds of living to age 85 without cognitive impairment relative to non-drinkers.

Well there you go if I don't die I might be still pretty good at crosswords while I'm in hospice care

Or the causation that's in the correlation is that the clever ones tend to drink more

In 2012 I spent a couple of months in the "automatic purchase and consumption of vodka" zone, until I happened (there were no decisions at this point in my life, stuff just *happened*) to drop some powdered shroom capsules at the onset of the daily blackout. The next morning, the urge to drink was gone. And without that urge, physical withdrawal symptoms are nothing more than a mild gastroenteritis, so I managed to quit easily.

I also wrecked my place and shat in the sink that night but overall my life has improved I think.

I only drink once a week now, 4-5 drinks total. Alcohol seems to massively exacerbate my depression as I've gotten older (along with a hangover at any more than 2 beers), the not-fun of coming home and reading depressive stuff and listening to sad music and the next day started to outweigh what fun there was the night-of.

I'd quit completely if not for the social component - not that any of my friends would care if I didn't drink but I can't fathom how any couple has sex for the first time dead sober and weed doesn't have that conversational glow of a group of people in the 2-4 drinks range.

Quitting completely also feels like it cuts off a part of life I enjoy, I don't want to shut the door on those (now rare) nights of just talking drunk shit at the bar with strangers.

I started binge drinking at 12 and have drank heavily for 21 years since then. At the moment I'm really happy with my consumption, at last. I get shittered sometimes, I get drunk during the week every once in a while. I drink a decent amount most weekends but sometimes not that much, or only on one or two nights.

This contrasts with say my mid/late 20s when I was living alone and probably drunk at least 4 nights a week and often would go on 3 or 4 day drunks (facilitated by working a 6 days on, 4 days off work schedule). That was too much.

I have a decent not spectacular whiskey shelf, now drink wine with meals if out, quarterly sessions with work or w/e might see me drunk but nothing major these days

When I was younger I used to drink more, but almost always in relative moderation. I have never been able to go above 5 pints without becoming drunk and often ill. Three pints used to be my typical consumption. Nowadays I drink only 2 pints (sometimes only 1), as I like the effect up to that point but not the negative effects when I drink more than that. I only drink at weekends, so 1 or two pints on Saturday, the same on Sunday, as I am scared of the risk to my health of drinking more frequently. But recently I have thought it might be nice to become one of those people who is a more regular fixture at the pub. I do enjoy the lift to my mood that 1 or 2 pints give me, and I dislike being bored and gloomy all the time during the week.

I'm lucky with alcohol; don't normally get much of a hangover & somehow I've never felt any real craving for it while sober. I don't monitor or think about my intake and it varies a lot but probably averages about twice a week, normally a couple of beers with some weeknight venture. never really got into drinking at home. I've still indulged in plenty of reckless and self-destructive drunk behaviour mind, and that triumphant feeling you get when you're a bit drunk is such a seductive high, but I've got other vices to fall back on

I unapologetically love drinking. Alcoholic beverages are tasty, they pair nicely with food, and they enhance camaraderie. They provide a little layer of insulation from the harshness of world, which is, in moderation, quite a nice feeling. Bar culture is rich and evocative; wine and beer and spirits have interesting histories and social roles.

So I drink often, but not a huge amount at a time. That is, I will generally have two or three drinks almost every evening, and at pretty much every restaurant meal. What I've never been a fan of is the big weekendy college-type binge. The 8, 9, 10-drink spree that you don't remember much about and isn't much fun and feels terrible in the morning.

So even though I drink almost every day, it's been many years since I've felt solidly drunk. Not least because drinking steadily for 30 years leads to formidable tolerance. If I undertook to get really drunk, it would take a LOT.

I haven't ever come across much information about how steady-yet-modest drinking (spread throughout the week) compares with the same amount consumed all on Friday night, in terms of how much it's wrecking my body. In any case, I periodically take a week or two off every now and then, whether to demonstrate that I can, or to push the reset button on my bloodstream just a little.

I feel instinctively that something that lightens your mood and makes you feel less stressed and more relaxed is quite likely somewhat beneficial to your health. Also, there's the whole antioxidants, glass-of-red-wine-a-day, Mediterranean diet thing, but that could be spurious and maybe it's the stress relief and alteration of mood that's important. On the other side of the coin, the liver, and body generally, do have to keep getting rid of it, so there's the question of how much intake (and how frequent, as you say) before physical damage cancels out any benefits.

going to pub for a few drinks >>>>>>>>>> drinking >>>>>>>>>> going to pub

one of my local boozers was the scene of a recent vehicular homicide in the car-park, and is not the most friendly type of place. The other was recently the scene of a paedo-hunter type citizens arrest, and is a shithole with a ropey landlord. So I'd put supping in the garden>>> going to the pub!

But the banter, the crack, the warmth and bonhomie.

Irish privilege but I can't imagine having only one world class local. Even at home you've your choice of five or six spots each of which is a classic

I've got one, but it's not really world class tbh. However there were no pubs where I grew up, I blame that John Calvin.

i have something of a problem

but pub bonhomie is the only life i know

any "efforts" i've made to cut down have always felt like they resulted in failure. i dunno, there was a time in my life where i did e every week and i used to think "how will i give up" and then i just got older and did it less often.

similarly with alcohol i reckon, although i binge drink a lot, my consumption is dropping a little. i stay in one day out of thurs/friday/saturday/sunday more often than ever, a small decrease, but the trend is there to see.

i don't really drink monday/tuesday/wednesday - occasionally a glass of wine but i'm fairly disciplined. my friendship group makes it difficult to cut down sometimes, not for a second that it's not my choice or whatever, just if i hang out with my friends there'll be drinking, and equally if i am thinking of staying in there can be a lot of pressure, text messages etc, to come out and get wasted. everyone is away this weekend and i'm p excited about how easy it'll be to stay home and do healthy things.

problem for me is i have a chronic illness, alcohol frees me from its effects, temporarily, even though it prob makes them worse, slowly, over time. it's a v hard thing to battle - if i stay in when i feel bad i'm just staying in feeling bad, if i go out i can completely forget the physical symptoms for a time.

Ye Mad Puffin otm.

Alcohol forms an integral part of my life. II mix cocktails a couple times a week. Wine with dinner is like water; it's impossible NOT to have it, usually a couple glasses. When I eat out for lunch on Saturdays, I'll have wine with the food or a cocktail. For dinner out, forget it: cocktails and wine. Aging has fucked with my metabolism enough that I know when I've had enough and as a result hangovers are rare.

I'm too much a creature of routine, too besotted with self-control to pass a limit. I told a friend last week that these days when I drink with lunch and smoke a cigarette, I get sad – I have nothing to look forward to later in the day!

OTM on my losing the inability to binge drink for pool parties and all day activities. I just returned from a six-day beach vacation and, barring two glasses of white wine, I drank no alcohol during the day – again, if I'm drunk at 2 p.m. what is there to look forward to?

what sometimes scares me is i reckon i'm getting even better at the longer sessions, like out at 2pm and then it's 4am and you're sat quietly discussing something trying to find somewhere else to go.

once you're drunk looking forwards ceases to be an issue in my experience :)

not claiming to be sober in those situations, just the illusory sobriety that comes

xpost

yeah that

satori or somethink

I get sad – I have nothing to look forward to later in the day!

That's exactly how I feel when walking home from the pub on a Sunday night. Nothing to look forward to until Friday (I don't go to the pub on a Friday, but I do go out for a meal).

I went out quite recently with some friends and got absolutely blasted, 20s-style and the hangover the next day reminded me of how long it had been since I did something like that. I think it's the same with a lot of behaviour from when you're younger, you just find yourself doing things less and less until you realise you've stopped.

I'm not sure I even drink less than I used to (although on balance probably), but the mode of drinking has changed quite a lot. Probably a side-effect of being married and therefore going out involves drinking wine/cocktails more than it used to (and a whisky before bed is still one of the greatest pleasures) but being properly drunk or having an extended session happens less and less as I get older. My life doesn't revolve around alcohol, but my social life probably still does - as it does for most people I suspect.

Still, the idea of being on holiday and not drinking every single evening is just weird to me.

Like we now have what is essentially a fully-stocked cocktail cabinet in the front room and most of it never gets touched.

the joyous logic of booze is that once you've drunk yrself into isolation what else is there to do but carry on?

read Kingsley Amis' writing on drinking?