I’m careful to not drink more rum than I can handle, so I measure precisely. I just stick my index finger onto the bottom of my gulping sipping glass and stop pouring rum when it reaches the first crease of the finger (the distal interphalangeal joint). Easy-peasy.
…my sipping glass is 32” in diameter, but I don’t think that matters much.
Sawed the bottom couple inches off a galvanized trash can did you? Reminds me of trashcan punch back in college. I can’t have had too much yet; the can’s not empty.
Don’t forget to suck the rum off your measuring finger immediately when you’re done pouring. Wouldn’t want to be spreading that sticky stuff all over the rest of your barware.
I don’t want anything messing with how my mind works.
That’s true of anything people consume, though. That’s why, if you are on a diet for whatever reason-- diabetes, weight control, liver health, or any of several other things, you need to use measuring cups and a food scale. Every time. Or buy food that is portioned, like yogurt in individual, 5.5oz containers, and not the 32oz tubs.
You left out a word there dear Rivkah. That should read:
… and not the single-serving 32oz tubs.
Same applies to ice cream. And Fig Newtons. At least those things come in two single-serving tubes.
As a younger guy I knew that putting a keg fridge and tapper in the mancave or garage would be a Bad Idea. As would be buying boxed or jug wine. Never did it. My now-liver thanks my then-mind for its foresight.
Now, in the presence of so much good booze on the market and space to store it and money to buy it I need to ensure that now-mind considers the interests of future-liver/brain. A dilemma by any other name.
I’ll usually have a glass of whiskey or a beer in the evening, but very rarely more than one. I work at home, and a drink is a good way to mark the end of the work day.
I am mildly allergic to alcohol so it is so close to none so as to be none. I might have a small can of sake like once a year. Maybe. Sake, for whatever, reason is one alcohol that doesn’t make me feel too bad.
At the risk of a hijack -
I’m going to quibble here. IF your approach is calorie counting you do. And that definitely works for some. But “need to”? Many have other methods that work for them that are not based on counting or measuring.
Thing is for nutrition one of the effective other approaches is based on quality of nutrition, proportions more than portions, paying attention to no longer being hungry, and keeping treats restricted as special occasion items.
Alcohol in that mindset probably falls into the treat group. And if someone is going to indulge in a treat frequently then portion control becomes important. IMHO.
I’m going to side more with RivkahChaya on this one DSeid. You’re both right of course, and there are multiple ways to manage dieting. But, with the possible exception of dark leafy greens without toppings, if you eat too much of anything, no matter the quality of the nutrients, you will not do well if weight loss is the goal.
Diabetes, liver health, and other issues tend to focus more on the quality and balance of what you eat at least as much as portions though, so as I said, you’re both right.
That was one of the problems with almost every diet trend IMHO - they boil things down to 2-3 phrases, and people latch on those and ignore the rest of the supporting strategies. “As long as I avoid carbs, I’m fine” but eat 3-4 kilocals of meat and cheese and watch your waist expand!
“Eat a balanced diet with large portions of vegetables and fiber” while drowning the veggies in butter and cheese, and lots of healthy fruit snacks, which are modern hyper sweet versions swimming in sugar.
Yeah, diet as a whole should be examined in terms of total intake, nutritional balance, and with concern for underlying conditions, but very few people want to do that. And (back to the topic) we are terrible on the whole about estimating quantities without measuring. So we under-report to ourselves and our doctors.
I am reminded of my step-father who I mentioned earlier as a borderline (or likely over) alcoholic - he and my mother were working on losing weight many years ago, and they were at the time doing a SlimFast variant. So breakfast, lunch and snacks were tightly controlled, with a ‘sensible’ dinner being the main meal of the day. It worked fine for my mom, but step-dad had issues, he wasn’t cheating on the food, but he was still having 2-3 ‘lite’ beers a day. And boy does that add up fast!
Handful of times a year. It’s cyclical in that I don’t drink much these days so each drink hits me harder and I usually have to drive later so I don’t drink much so…
If I’m having an exceptionally nice dinner out or a wedding, etc I might have a drink to start the evening, knowing that I have a while to do before it matters. I almost never drink at home. Back in the olden days, I drank like, well, a typical young person but those days are behind me.
…unless your diet consists of foods that are deemed negative calorie, like celery.
“Summary This empirical study refutes the existence of negative-calorie foods; however such foods will contribute to a negative energy balance, and thus the loss of body mass”.
…but maybe you have to be a bearded dragon for this to work. 
I’m going stop after this as we are diverging from the thread topic too far, and there have been many threads on this before.
Weight loss is less the preferred goal than healthier habits and lifestyle. When that is achieved fat mass loss, with muscle mass preservation or gain, usually follows, and healthier outcomes almost always do.
Eating “too much” rarely happens if the guidelines I mentioned are followed. Long term it usually will when they are not. No duh that fads that allow drowning in butter need not apply. It isn’t too complicated; it is just difficult in our modern environment.
To again try to tie to this thread … again considering alcohol as a treat food is reasonable. Having treats in moderation infrequently is fine. But then being aware of what really is a moderate occasional treat, and if frequently, then what is a reasonable frequent portion, matters.
At the portions some imbibe the calorie intake even becomes significant, beer belly is I suspect more the calories than the alcohol…
This is my husband, and I wish it were me. I voted “none” because nowadays I mostly don’t drink at all. On rare occasions, say twice/three times a year, I’ll have a glass or two of wine. If the occasion is a party rather than dinner, it’s a 50/50 chance that I’ll drink to excess without realizing, because just one free drink makes the next one easy to have. And once I start feeling tipsy it’s easy to go along for the ride though I always regret it deeply the next day. But it’s literally once a year or so.
So, there is a couple with whom we’re very good friends: the wife of the couple has been my wife’s best friend since they met in middle school. We all worked together at the Renaissance Faire in the 1990s, the husband was my best man at our wedding, we’ve taken vacations together, they live two blocks away from us, etc., etc.
For as long as I’ve known them (34 years, now), both of them have been regular drinkers, which has typically meant two or three drinks a night, each. These days, they tend towards cocktails (bourbon old fashioneds for him, gin and tonics for her), always with a generous pour.
The reason I note this is that we got a phone call from the husband on Thursday night; his wife has been hospitalized, with acute pancreatitis. After several days of testing, the doctors have determined that the cause of this is that her gall bladder is shot, and has sent gallstones into her bile duct.
Her doctor told her that the two primary causes for this happening are drinking or smoking, and she’s never smoked. So, her gall bladder will be coming out, once they get the inflammation of her pancreas under control, and she’s being told that she will no longer be able to drink, at all.
There at least used to be some social circles in which this was just basic normal behavior; that’s what grownups did, and they often considered it odd not to. – I’m reminded of the Mr. and Mrs. North mysteries by the Lockridges. Those don’t seem to intend to describe, or to have been perceived as describing, excessive drinking.
I think that’s a lot less in style than it used to be; but the attitude hasn’t disappeared altogether.
Yeah. I used to have a rule that when I wanted another, it was time to stop. Now when I want another, I usually have one.
A bit of a hijack, but since we’re talking about dieting … I love Haagen-Dazs ice cream, especially vanilla, but I got a shock one day when I happened to look at the ingredients list. A small 14-oz container of H-D Vanilla contains the following percent DV (Daily Value) of these ingredients: Saturated fat, 175%; added sugars, 96%; cholesterol, 83%. Some of the flavoured ones are even worse for fat and sugar. For “Caramel cone” flavour, the respective numbers are 235%, 138%, and 70%. You get a pretty significant wallop even with a tiny half-cup serving, which is their idea of a single serving and is probably less than half of what a typical human (or large dog like me) will consume in one sitting.
It’s enough to drive you to drink. Which in my case, it did! 
Annnnd… you’re hanging out here?
I actually came to post that I wouldn’t drink at all if it weren’t for football season. Because the only way I’ll watch is in a pub full of very emotionally invested fans. I don’t like football, as much as I like being among fans and feeding off the fun and camaraderie.
And I’ve got to have a Spotted Cow if I’m rooting for the Packers, an Anchor Steam if the 49ers are playing, bourbon for the Titans, coffee so the Seahawks win… and a flagon of mead if I were ever rooting for the Vikings.
ps: I’ve noticed a lot of discussion of how much we drink here (in CS and MPSIMS). Any reason?
This thread was a musing based off of reading this:
I do appreciate no one showing that article to my wife…