My previous drinking habits qualified me as an “alcoholic” on various checklists, but many would say that the fact that I have been able to moderate my drinking suggests that I am/was not an alcoholic. Whatever. To me, it is only a word.
I’m very pleased with how it has gone. I’m glad I’m not drinking as much as I did, but I am also very happy that I can still enjoy the occasional beer, glass of wine, or mixed drink.
MM certainly is not be for everyone, and many people describe great results from AA and other 12-step abstinence programs.
But I just wanted to toss this up to let you know, if you want to reduce the amount you drink, but want to see if you can avoid complete abstinence, you might want to give MM a shot.
Ayup, I’m right there with ya, Dinsdale. In the past year and a half or so I’ve gone from getting good and plastered every night to drinking almost totally just on weekends.
I’m curious, how do YOU do MM? What rules do you follow, how do deal with it, what are your personal decision making steps? I just clicked on the link, so I’ll get some from that, but if you don’t mind sharing…
Tomcat, I have 3 steps I try to follow. I don’t drink more than 4 drinks on any one day, don’t drink more than 14 drinks in a week, and don’t drink more than 3 days in a row.
So, for example, if I know I’m going to be going somewhere on Sunday that I anticipate I’ll want to drink, I have to not drink on Fri or Sat. And limiting myself to 4 drinks makes me slow down, and space them out with non-alc in between.
It has gotten to where my new “rules” are almost “habits.” It is very easy for me to NOT drink - say on a Friday evening if nothing is going on, as opposed to before when I’d have 4 or more beers just because it was Friday. At first I wanted to drink all of the time, but the urges have definitely faded in strength and frequency. When they do occur - if ever - they are easy to resist.
One thing that is cool is when you abstaiin for 30 days and then moderate thereafter, your tolerance goes way down. So now I can get a really good buzz off of just a couple of beers/glasses of wine.
It is really fun not being the drunkest person at every gathering I attend. It is painful, sometimes, to see how stupid and obnoxious some drinkers get without realizing it, and to realize that I undoubtedly used to be that way myself. Heck, I’m plenty stupid and obnoxious stone sober. I don’t need any help in THAT direction!
Thanks. I’m reading through the site and took the quiz and all (scored 11, low end of the moderates). I’ve been wondering if my binge drinking was a problem or not. It is hard to tell, especially where I am. In the Czech Republic, beer with breakfast is OK and secretaries keep a bottle of the local tipple in their desks in case someone has a birthday or a stomach ache (Becherovka is a sweet clove-ish drink with the kick of whiskey- it is good for digestion though). Having a few drinks after work every day is ok…heck, having a few beers at lunch is. So I don’t knwo what is ‘moderate’ anymore.
I generally get puking drunk about once every other month, and just wasted once or twice a month. During the week I’ll polish off a bottle of wine occasionally. So, not too bad when considering what I could be doing, but still…it seems like a lot. I’ll probably be reading more about this over the next few days.
NOT TO BE A JERK! Just an obsevation: If the effect is the same, would it matter if you drank 8 or 4 drinks? Or is the point of moderation only the amount and frequency?
I don’t think the effect is “the same.” For example, 4 beers is never gonna make you “puking drunk” or even “wasted.”
If I am drinking 4 beers - say at a party - I often pace myself with 2 the first hour, and no more than one an hour after that. The first couple give me a buzz. Then I maintain that functional buzz, instead of continuing to pound until I get sloppy drunk. As long as the party lasts, I know I’ll still be able to participate in conversations reasonably intelligently.
Another example, when I was drinking more heavily and regularly, I could not imagine why anyone would ever drink just one beer. Hell, at my heaviest, I regularly put down a sixer before driving to a party. The only reason I drank was to get drunk. Now, I can enjoy 1 or 2 beers, and not feel like I’m just getting started. And sipping instead of gulping, I enjoy the flavor of different beers and wines.
