Tips and Tricks for Drinking Moderately

As many others have expressed on this thread, I'm limited alcohol consumption by doctor's orders (getting old(er) sure is fun) and try to keep things to 2-3 beers per week and only one per day. This year, I'm experimenting with NA beers as a supplement when I feel like having another. So far, that has worked well as a mid-week beer or in cases where I know I'll want more than one so that I can start with the NA and then move to the more satisfying alcoholic version.

In terms of tips, I have one mental and one physical that work well for me.
Mentally, I think of having a beer as a treat, not as something that is expected or assumed. This helps me place beer in the proper category: I don't have a right to beer like I do to clean water or nutritious food; it is a bonus that makes the day better. In the same way that I wouldn't eat four slices of cake in a day, I won't drink four beers as I've put these kinds of things into the same mental category.
Physically, I've found that drinking slowly is the best way to go. It allows me to extract as much flavor and enjoyment from a pint as possible, and also let's me explore the beer across a much wider range (temperature, carbonation, minor oxidation) to see how it changes over time during a sitting than if I was to drink quickly out of the fridge.

 

My wife and I picked up the habit of having an "apéro" in France--an aperitif in the late afternoon, often with snacks. When we came back to the US I shifted to beer, and this is still pretty much the totality of my (alcohol) drinking. One beer in the early evening, sometimes with a snack, not long before dinner. Over the years I've enjoyed the alcohol rush less and less so I generally keep it to one 12 oz. beer @ about 5%abv. We do occasionally have a stronger beer, but then we split it. Just the other evening we split a 16 oz. "Edgar," one of our favorite beers--an 8% abv IPA from Bullfrog Brewing in Williamsport PA. At 8 oz. at 8% it was near my limit, though. My wife sometimes has wine. With this regimen I honestly enjoy drinking and it does not result in any work/performance/enjoyment impairment during the day.

When we do go out --rarely, nowadays, sadly, after covid-- I generally keep it to two 5% abv beers.

I've checked with my cardiologist (I had a mild heart attack in London in 2013), and he does not see any problems with this.

I could easily quit if I had to--and I may this summer, when I plan to do more bicycle training (which involves some weight loss), hopefully in preparation for the Colorado "Triple Bypass" (an extended bike ride, not the operation!). btw I'm 71.

 

True, checking Beer Advocate can be addictive (!!!) but it sure beats the news on the war in Ukraine, national debt default, mass shootings, etc. I'll check out the NYT or WSJ and then sometimes pass on quickly to Beer Advocate or Facebook--just to get away from the news.

 

Get an annual physical. Listen to your doctor if they say you need to make some changes. Easier to make small changes earlier than big changes later. For me, a nudge from a third party like a doctor is helpful. Lots of other helpful suggestions on this thread about how to make those changes.

 

Waiting at least an hour after dinner before drinking. I work a physical job and most of my hobbies are physical as well, so it's not out of the ordinary for me to fall asleep halfway through the first beer.

 

I think I lean the other way: If I have an unknown variety, I don’t want to blur the flavor from one beer to the next. If I have one great tasting beer and follow it up with a dud, the dud is what remains on the tongue. If I know the variety, then I’ll mix.

 

I'll add another reason to drink moderately: craft beer is expensive. More expensive than other yellow fizzy water. That should probably cross your mind a little every time you wanna crack one open. If you're drinking to get a buzz, and not deriving really any pleasure from the taste, there are way more inexpensive and efficient alcohol delivery mechanisms out there.

 

Actively working out - lots of weights and minimal cardio, sometimes multiple times a day and counting every single thing I put in my body. It was my life. I was young and single.

Would go out Friday and/or Saturday night, slam beers, pig out, and get back to it the next day. Worked relatively well for muscle growth since I was in a deficit pretty much every other day of the week. It was like a cut for 5-6 days then a bulk for 1-2 days. A mini cycle lol.

Thanks for the good thoughts. Still working out and putting up good numbers, so just need to dial in the meals and drink less beer.

 

Not sure what the hostility is for. Perhaps there has been a miscommunication. I made a joke in my original post that read, "Don't tell hotajax, ha!" which highlighted our different opinions on serving sizes of high abv beers. You seem to think any moderation of serving size is an act of the government to control liberties. I find this odd, especially considering that moderating serving sizes is probably something the business is choosing to do to make more money. But, aside from all that, some people, like myself simply don't want a large serving size of high abv beers. I only want a small amount of barleywine, for example. The rest of the pint would not be enjoyable. Again, it's nothing but a difference of personal preference. I see no reason why we can't be friendly with one another just because we don't have the same preferences.

 

I'm super impressed with people who can easily drink one beer in a sitting regularly. I can't. Sure, some days I don't open anything until late and only drink one before turning in for the night or occasionally I'll only feel like one. But in general, I like to drink a lot. I like the feeling of being drunk.

The only thing that's ever worked for me is to have completely dry days. For a while I just made a budget, I would literally put my weekly alcohol budget into a little change purse each Friday, and that physical ebb and flow of cash was a good reminder to consider how much I actually wanted that next drink. That stopped working when I moved back into a place where I was walking distance from bars and stores and also increased my income dramstically.

Recently I took a hard 6 month break and have returned with the intention to not drink more than 2 days in a row and take at least an equal number of days off after drinking. So far it's working alright. My next step is to focus on getting my sleep back in order and that will definitely involve eliminating some of my drinking time.

But I don't think I'll ever be able to be a 1 beer a day type of person. More likely sober 6 days and 7 beers on the day I'm on. Strong ones too. I like to get drunk.

 

I think these threads are important/helpful, but also very concerning at times. It's clear from some of the posts that some people have a real dependency on beer/alcohol, and need some help. Especially those that find it to be a real chore just to cut back a little. Doesn't seem like much fun at all.

 

Remember Saying this? "Weird take". If you don't want a direct response, don't take cheap shots. OK, Skippy? The forum isn't your personal safe space.

 

Hold up....if my comment of "weird take" triggered you, then why didn't you just "push your stool away from the bar and leave?" I am puzzled.

 

I'm in the forced to cut way back for health reasons group as in one stong or two average ABV beers per week. Around
8% ABV is high for me and around 5% ABV is average.

Spending money is not an issue but disappointments are. I look for quality beers/breweries based mostly on info from BA.

Lately I've been on a re-visit old favorites kick, as long as the beer is "fresh" I can't go wrong.

 

Lots of great thoughts here, people.

I'm a creature of habit and tend to be a raging "all or nothing" guy in all areas. So I keep a general rule of avoid drinking the nights before I teach (Sunday through Thursday). I also discovered that I have little self-control when it comes to the hoppy stuff in my fridge, so I'm getting better about only buying a little when I visit a brewery and I'll take entire months off of purchasing anything hoppy.

But I have often gone absolutely nuts on the weekends, so now I track my stats on a spreadsheet and I always try to improve.

The stats are incredibly nerdy (stats partially explain my love of baseball and Phish). I track how many drinks I've had, how many miles I've gone on my bike (indoors or out) and on and on. I keep close tabs on a column that calculates how many bevs I've had per session and bevs per day on average, always trying to lower the numbers as the year progresses. Right now I keep a close look at the column that calculates "beverages per mile" and I try to make ground every month by reducing beers and adding to my riding distance. The last two years I came a HAIR below 6 beverages per mile, and my goal this year is to stay physically healthy so I can ride consistently and hit 8-10 bev per mile.

 

This has been stated several times in the thread, but I agree so I will repeat it:

In my opinion, the first step is to figure out how much you drink. If you don't know how much you drink, how can you cut back, or form a plan? You gotta know what the numbers are before you set a target, or whatever. And if you are going to keep track, you have to account for %. For me, the standard drink already discussed is the way to go (12 oz of 5% beer = one drink).

I used to play a lot of poker, and the losing players never tracked what their results were. That way, they could kid themselves about whether they were a winner. "Yeah I mostly win, I have a couple losing sessions here and there, but overall I am a winner." Yeah right buddy. Show me the numbers.

You need the cold hard numbers on the page so you know what you're dealing with. That "one" beer (a pint of 7.5% beer) is really two beers. If you can't be honest about the numbers, you're going to have difficulty cutting back (if it's needed).

Commit to keeping track first, without worrying about cutting back. Don't judge yourself. (At first, anyway.) The good news is that just the simple act of keeping an accurate log makes you reduce your consumption. It's like magic.

After you see what the numbers are, then you can figure out if you need to change. Then pick whatever strategy works best; there have been lots of good suggestions.

 

In some cases but in others it may be relative. I used to drink 6-10 beers from Friday night to Sunday. That was a lot for me in comparison to my lifestyle otherwise but it could be argued that it wasn't really when looking at the bigger picture, as if I did six that was only two per day. So when I make any general comments without the specifics it's more of it was a problem "for me"...and I view it as such because I would never drink 6-10 sodas, eat 6-10 pieces of cake, etc. But because I enjoyed beer and the social aspects that were sometimes coming along with it cutting back was a bit tough at first but it was not because of any real dependency on it.

 

Agreed. Sometimes it seems that all people ever talk about here is beer.