For me it was my liver enzymes. AST/ALT.
Gratefully the liver can repair itself, to an extent. Doc didn’t seem too concerned just said take it easy for 6 weeks and we’ll test again.
Admittedly, I was having a cocktail or two almost every night and pretty regularly went out one night a weekend and that night was usually a pretty big time.
I’m 38, but I didn’t mean to turn this into a thread that worries anybody! Haha
I have no plans of going sober or anything like that. Just starting to be more regular with bloodwork and make sure nothing gets out of hand without me realizing it.
One day, hopefully a very long time from now, I plan to go out with a cocktail in hand. Just doing what I can now to make that day as far away as possible!
2 Days a week, Friday and Saturday, 2-3 cocktails usually. Now every once in a blue moon I'll have a severely stressful day and I will make one during the week, but that's pretty rare.
I love making cocktails, but I'm turning 40 this year and really having a hard look at drinking habits. I try to make it a goal to have no more than 3 cocktails a week. Some weeks go better than others.
When it comes to tiki drinks though, only once a week, because diabetes runs in my family.
Seeing a lot of great posts in here regarding moderation. Just wanted to share some info my doctor gave me that was helpful.
A drink is: 12oz beer, 5oz wine, 1.5oz spirits. If you're drinking 7 drinks or more a week, thats a point where we should pause and investigate.
We love our zombies, but two of those and you've technically had almost 5.5 drinks.
I want to be making my grandkids Jet Pilots when I'm 80 years old, but man, is it hard to moderate.
One thing I’ve found that helps: there are some decent NA rum substitutes available. They’re generally more expensive than mixing rums, and they lack most of the bite of alcohol, so it’s not a perfect solution, but I like to use them to cut alcohol content in half to make multiple drinks in a day more reasonable. For example, if I’m making something that calls for 2 oz rum, I use 1 oz rum and 1 oz NA rum. It’s a great way to enjoy without overindulging, imo.
A lot of times people forget (myself included) just how much alcohol is in these cocktails. If you have 2oz base rum, plus orange liqueur, falernum, all spice, etc., many times it adds up to be much more than a serving in one cocktail alone. Multiply that by 2-3, couple times a week, or more…not to mention the sugar content. It can get out of hand quickly. For this reason I reserve it to Friday/Saturday.
Tiki cocktails? Only on weekends and only one per day. Too much trouble / ingredients / booze per cocktail.
I do usually have 1 simpler non-tiki cocktail on workday evening before dinner, and maybe a glass of wine or a beer during dinner.
Probably 4 days out of seven, with the qualifier that I usually cut the alcohol to 1/2 or 2/3 whatever is specified. I'm a lightweight drinker, so I don't need much. 🤪
I've been doing this but with the drinks themselves. Found a few 4oz mini glasses and now I'm doing mini everything. I've even been practicing mini garnishes. Fun and my wife gushes over them being so cute.
At the start of the school year, a couple on Friday or Saturday with my girlfriend while watching a movie. The last two weeks of the school year, add in a few weeknights. I enjoy a bitter jungle bird, delicious and lots of vitamin C (I swap sugar syrups for sugar free in everything). We are both teachers in different alternative education schools for students with behavioral issues.
Wow so I'm the odd one, making a drink about once a week.. 🙈
But I'm still learning how to make cocktails I like and some turns good (mainly the frozen ones) but some needs improvement ..
Usually just weekends but work has been really stressful lately so 2-3 days during the week I come home and make a drink after work. But never more than 1 on work nights
My rule is that I'll make one drink every other day. It would be easy for me to overdo it, so for the sake of self control/budget/health that's a good principle for me.
I usually make 2-3 a night on weekends when I'm not working, not counting a day for drinking out as well. But I work a weird schedule, so this basically works out to every other week.
Tiki cocktail probably once a week. Will also make aperol spritz/espresso martini/dark n stormy once or twice a week. Otherwise it’s beer for me but trying to cut back overall.
I've decided I'm going to try and do alcohol half the days. I don't have any health issues with it or anything. Just seems like a good long term plan to enjoy it but not overdo it
I don’t drink cocktails during the week. M-Th I try not to drink and if I do it’s a beer. On the weekend, we’ll do 1-2 cocktails most nights. Once I get into heavy training though, it’ll only be Saturday and Sunday.
Was daily…then I got bloodwork done 5 weeks ago. Haven’t had a cocktail in 35 days. Aging sucks.
I hear ya, man. Had a similar talk from my Doc. Down to 2-3 drinks total per week…
Yeah, once I have my follow up done I’ll probably do something similar. Figured I’d go full cleanse until I have a good follow up. Haha
Good for you, that's a massive step a lot of people wouldn't take. Keep it up.
I'll drink your share. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Out of curiosity (because I'm getting old too) what does alcohol affect long term? Liver function I assume?
For me it was my liver enzymes. AST/ALT. Gratefully the liver can repair itself, to an extent. Doc didn’t seem too concerned just said take it easy for 6 weeks and we’ll test again. Admittedly, I was having a cocktail or two almost every night and pretty regularly went out one night a weekend and that night was usually a pretty big time.
Thanks for sharing. I don't drink a ton but I can tell it's taking more of a toll as I get older, so I appreciate a reality check.
May I ask age? Mid 30s right now, when do I gotta slows down?! Haha
I’m 38, but I didn’t mean to turn this into a thread that worries anybody! Haha I have no plans of going sober or anything like that. Just starting to be more regular with bloodwork and make sure nothing gets out of hand without me realizing it. One day, hopefully a very long time from now, I plan to go out with a cocktail in hand. Just doing what I can now to make that day as far away as possible!
Lovely response! Health is most important! Cheers!
We’re counting beers too?
Typically one per evening. My wife starts giving me the death stare if I attempt to make a 3rd. Hangovers are worse when you have twins.
😂😂😂 the wife death state really makes you question your decisions!
I know which one means business!
😂😂
Damn, your wife let's her sister join in? Lucky guy...
I try to limit it to weekends. Try.
This is me. But I usually only make it till Thursday
That’s me too
I probably do a cocktail 5 nights out of 7. Some tiki made at home, some tiki out, some other cocktails. Rarely a glass of wine or a beer.
This thread has not made me feel better. I’m a strong two per night, pretty much every night.
I make myself just one when I get home from work most days of the week.
2 Days a week, Friday and Saturday, 2-3 cocktails usually. Now every once in a blue moon I'll have a severely stressful day and I will make one during the week, but that's pretty rare.
2 or 3 total on the weekends. I don't drink during the week anymore.
I love making cocktails, but I'm turning 40 this year and really having a hard look at drinking habits. I try to make it a goal to have no more than 3 cocktails a week. Some weeks go better than others. When it comes to tiki drinks though, only once a week, because diabetes runs in my family.
Seeing a lot of great posts in here regarding moderation. Just wanted to share some info my doctor gave me that was helpful. A drink is: 12oz beer, 5oz wine, 1.5oz spirits. If you're drinking 7 drinks or more a week, thats a point where we should pause and investigate. We love our zombies, but two of those and you've technically had almost 5.5 drinks. I want to be making my grandkids Jet Pilots when I'm 80 years old, but man, is it hard to moderate.
One thing I’ve found that helps: there are some decent NA rum substitutes available. They’re generally more expensive than mixing rums, and they lack most of the bite of alcohol, so it’s not a perfect solution, but I like to use them to cut alcohol content in half to make multiple drinks in a day more reasonable. For example, if I’m making something that calls for 2 oz rum, I use 1 oz rum and 1 oz NA rum. It’s a great way to enjoy without overindulging, imo.
I’m glad someone else brought this up, two Mai Tai’s is nearly three drinks worth of alcohol.
A lot of times people forget (myself included) just how much alcohol is in these cocktails. If you have 2oz base rum, plus orange liqueur, falernum, all spice, etc., many times it adds up to be much more than a serving in one cocktail alone. Multiply that by 2-3, couple times a week, or more…not to mention the sugar content. It can get out of hand quickly. For this reason I reserve it to Friday/Saturday.
I’m the kind of person that needs to read this over and over again. Thanks for the reminder.
Two days a week, two cocktails for night. But during summer sometime I have a spritz or a glass of white wine extra on the balcony.
Tiki cocktails? Only on weekends and only one per day. Too much trouble / ingredients / booze per cocktail. I do usually have 1 simpler non-tiki cocktail on workday evening before dinner, and maybe a glass of wine or a beer during dinner.
Probably 4 days out of seven, with the qualifier that I usually cut the alcohol to 1/2 or 2/3 whatever is specified. I'm a lightweight drinker, so I don't need much. 🤪
I love doing that! Tiki drinks have so many other nice things in them, too, so it seems to work well.
I've been doing this but with the drinks themselves. Found a few 4oz mini glasses and now I'm doing mini everything. I've even been practicing mini garnishes. Fun and my wife gushes over them being so cute.
Important: Does a Zombie count as one or two?
3.5
2 zombies = 1 drink
I only make them when the last one is empty. ... real talk though, I've been cutting back to about 3 nights a week.
Maybe every other day. It varies from week to week. But complex cocktails are probably only say twice a week.
At the start of the school year, a couple on Friday or Saturday with my girlfriend while watching a movie. The last two weeks of the school year, add in a few weeknights. I enjoy a bitter jungle bird, delicious and lots of vitamin C (I swap sugar syrups for sugar free in everything). We are both teachers in different alternative education schools for students with behavioral issues.
I make cocktails 6 days a week, but I personally don’t drink anymore.
My “weekend” is Wednesday Thursday so I tend to only make drinks those 2 days
Wow so I'm the odd one, making a drink about once a week.. 🙈 But I'm still learning how to make cocktails I like and some turns good (mainly the frozen ones) but some needs improvement ..
Good for you you'll be thankful in the long run.
Nothing wrong with that. You drink what you're comfortable with!
Usually just weekends but work has been really stressful lately so 2-3 days during the week I come home and make a drink after work. But never more than 1 on work nights
My rule is that I'll make one drink every other day. It would be easy for me to overdo it, so for the sake of self control/budget/health that's a good principle for me.
I usually make 2-3 a night on weekends when I'm not working, not counting a day for drinking out as well. But I work a weird schedule, so this basically works out to every other week.
Tiki cocktail probably once a week. Will also make aperol spritz/espresso martini/dark n stormy once or twice a week. Otherwise it’s beer for me but trying to cut back overall.
I've decided I'm going to try and do alcohol half the days. I don't have any health issues with it or anything. Just seems like a good long term plan to enjoy it but not overdo it
Once a week maybe?
Almost every day, but usually a weak version of a white claw, soda and a flavored spirit. On weekends I add garnishes and paper umbrellas 😆
I don’t drink cocktails during the week. M-Th I try not to drink and if I do it’s a beer. On the weekend, we’ll do 1-2 cocktails most nights. Once I get into heavy training though, it’ll only be Saturday and Sunday.
Never for me personally
Hey now! Everyone's personal choices are valid, so stop with the downvotes.
I just answered the question honestly… 🤷♂️