Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Oct 8, 2014 17:18:00 GMT -5
An interesting article on slate today about how much Alcohol Americans consume on average.
www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/10/how_much_alcohol_do_americans_drink_consumption_predicts_alcoholism_and.html
The average seems a bit skewed because those who drink a lot drink A LOT. The highest 10% of drinkers drink 74 drinks a week! That's crazy, I can't imagine drinking 74 drinks a week. However, the articles acknowledges that the average number of drinks is not really indicative of what's "normal." It's kind of like how if Bill Gates walks into a room, the average income of the occupants of the room goes up substantially.
The articles notes that a full 1/3 of Americans don't drink at all, and another 1/3 only drink on rare occasions, like holidays.
How much alcohol do you consume on average weekly?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2014 17:23:33 GMT -5
I must bring the average down! I drink -0-
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quince
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Post by quince on Oct 8, 2014 17:24:53 GMT -5
My husband drinks not at all, and I drink about .1 drinks a week. I enjoy dark beers and fruity mixed drinks, but can do without the alcohol content.
My husband pointed the same article out to me, and he suspects that even in the top 10%, there's the steep slope- that the top 1% of drinkers drink a lot more than those in the 10-5% range.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Oct 8, 2014 17:25:57 GMT -5
74 per week! Wow.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Oct 8, 2014 17:28:42 GMT -5
Up until I was 25, I drank a lot but that was more binge drinking stuff.
After I got married, my wife wasn't much of a drinker so I would go months without drinking anything.
Over the last few years, we drink more wine. I'd say that I have 2-3 glasses of wine either 1 or 2 nights per week.
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cktc
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Post by cktc on Oct 8, 2014 17:30:03 GMT -5
I'm a lot like the author. Maybe 2-15, it varies a lot depending on the season.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Oct 8, 2014 17:31:36 GMT -5
I must bring the average down! I drink -0-
Me, too!
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kent
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Post by kent on Oct 8, 2014 17:32:03 GMT -5
A video worth watching IMO ETA - best viewed in full size
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Oct 8, 2014 17:33:20 GMT -5
I drink fairly normal. Hold glass to lips, sip, swallow. I occasionally use a straw.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2014 17:33:43 GMT -5
A generous glass of wine every night- 8 to 10 oz. so it's really not one drink they way most researchers classify them.
More if we go out to eat, but that's pretty rare. If I overdo it I end up with a migraine at 3 AM, so I'm very good at exercising moderation. I also work out in the afternoon so never drink at lunch.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Oct 8, 2014 17:35:25 GMT -5
Two or three during the week if I go out to play trivia with my peeps. One or two if DH and I go out to dinner. Five or six if we do a marathon football game day event (noon-midnight or later.)
Some weeks, none at all.
I never did like statistics.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Oct 8, 2014 17:36:27 GMT -5
I drink fairly normal. Hold glass to lips, sip, swallow. I occasionally use a straw. Your avatar is going to make me drink heavily!!!
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Oct 8, 2014 17:39:52 GMT -5
I drink fairly normal. Hold glass to lips, sip, swallow. I occasionally use a straw. Your avatar is going to make me drink heavily!!! I had a different one picked out but it was really creeping me out. Pretty bad if you can scare yourself with your own avatar.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Oct 8, 2014 17:45:19 GMT -5
DH has one most days, so 0-1/day, probably 3-5/week. Before DH, it was 0-1/month. I just never thought about it.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Oct 8, 2014 17:48:12 GMT -5
DH drinks about twice a year. I drink... substantially more often than that.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Oct 8, 2014 17:49:10 GMT -5
I drink fairly normal. Hold glass to lips, sip, swallow. I occasionally use a straw. Your avatar is going to make me drink heavily!!! I switched it so you could see the other one. How do you like it?
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Oct 8, 2014 17:50:50 GMT -5
Your avatar is going to make me drink heavily!!! I switched it so you could see the other one. How do you like it? Not a fan of creepy clowns.... Off to fire up the blender and make myself a margarita. And yes I know it's only Wednesday....
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Oct 8, 2014 17:57:49 GMT -5
I very, very rarely drink anything alcoholic. I just don't much like the taste. If I have anything like that it will be a glass of wine, or a liqueur, and that's probably not even once a year. I'm a water addict.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Oct 8, 2014 17:59:08 GMT -5
Up until my mid to late 20's my core group of friends and I were in that 10% group. My roommates and I had a kegerator at home, would go out on Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday for football and hit up happy hour a few nights a week. We'd always pre-party before going out, get to the bars at 10-11, drink until closing then end up at home drinking until 5-6 in the morning. For a while I cut out alcohol for 3-4 months at a time as I got big into running and training for half and full marathons. Eventually people started getting married, having kids, buying houses and none of us could recover like we used to. These days when I drink it may be a beer with dinner a few nights during the week, a beer or two on date night and drinking on some Sundays while watching football. That said right now I'm on a health kick and haven't had a drink of alcohol in almost 4 weeks and don't plan to for another month. What's a trip is that even 4+ years after those days ended any time my friends and I do go out we see some of the exact same people who are still going strong. Some of those people are 40+ years old and it's just what they do.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Oct 8, 2014 18:10:58 GMT -5
I know that DH will have finished up the entire bottle of Connemara after enduring nine days at him mom's house!
ETA: And I've gone through a couple of bottles of wine after listening to him complain about her!
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vonna
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Post by vonna on Oct 8, 2014 18:52:03 GMT -5
Normal? I strive to be above average, not normal!
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Oct 8, 2014 19:02:39 GMT -5
I have about two glasses of wine or cocktails five nights a week.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Oct 8, 2014 19:04:34 GMT -5
Two or three during the week if I go out to play trivia with my peeps. One or two if DH and I go out to dinner. Five or six if we do a marathon football game day event (noon-midnight or later.) Some weeks, none at all. I never did like statistics. and sometimes more when you go with chiver to Fenway I'm sitting here with a red solo cup of pinot grigio over ice, with my sis watching hockey. I guess I bring up the average too. sent from my electronic distraction
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Oct 8, 2014 19:22:54 GMT -5
Two or three during the week if I go out to play trivia with my peeps. One or two if DH and I go out to dinner. Five or six if we do a marathon football game day event (noon-midnight or later.) Some weeks, none at all. I never did like statistics. and sometimes more when you go with chiver to Fenway I'm sitting here with a red solo cup of pinot grigio over ice, with my sis watching hockey. I guess I bring up the average too. sent from my electronic distraction Fenway...I get to talking...and wildly gesticulating... and coaching...and "damn, is the game over? We should go get some beers."
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Oct 8, 2014 19:37:22 GMT -5
Abby Normal 's avatar of Stephen King's clown "Pennywise" is pretty scary.
But what is even MORE scary, is Kent's video. That was my DH before the booze killed him - he wasn't an alcoholic when I dated and then married him, but stress of his job caught up to him in later years when he was in an executive position, and he became dependent on "one more drink" to get him though - it got him through all right - it ultimately was the death of him.
His father was an alcoholic as well - I believe to this day, his father's dependence was planted in him when he was conceived.
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milee
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Post by milee on Oct 8, 2014 19:41:30 GMT -5
No pattern. There are times I go a month or two without drinking any alcohol and then other times when I drink regularly. If I had to describe the most common week, it would be one drink a night (glass of wine with dinner) for 2 nights during the week then 2-3 drinks on the day/night I'm sailing. But then again, there are times when we go to brunch and I'll have 2-3 Mimosas or Bloody Marys. Or we'll be at a party and over the evening I'll have 2-3. But even on those times when I talk about having 2-3 drinks, that's always spread over a many hour period of time.
Guess like the study the "average" or deciles would be really skewed. If you take every drink I have over a year's time and divide that by 365, it would show that I drink less than 1 drink per day, which would make me sound almost like an abstainer. I'm not, I just am not a regular enough drinker to make a solid pattern.
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lynnerself
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Post by lynnerself on Oct 8, 2014 19:43:16 GMT -5
Generally one drink most days, it may be wine, beer or a cocktail. On my 2nd glass of champagne tonight however. DH and I both off early from work for a change and decided to celebrate for no reason other than that.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Oct 8, 2014 19:51:51 GMT -5
I tend to have 1-2 beers or glasses of wine 3-5 nights/week. I'll do more when I know I can sleep and not have to be up until 3am nursing a baby DH can do 8-10 beers while watching a ball game, but usually he will just do 1-2 drinks with me in the evening. We really like dark/craft beers so most weekends we pick up a six pack of something that looks interesting. Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards
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jeffreymo
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Post by jeffreymo on Oct 8, 2014 20:19:29 GMT -5
Now that I'm getting closer to 40 and have 2 young children I drink a more normal amount. I tend to binge drink, particularly during football season. I might drink 10-12 beers on a Saturday and then not drink again for a couple of weeks. I rarely, if ever drink Sunday-Thursday.
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Oct 8, 2014 20:21:23 GMT -5
I typically drink between 5 and 12 drinks a week.
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