Non drinkers (or those that drink very little)

I could very easily have a glass of wine every night, but try to limit myself to Friday, Saturday & Sunday. The warmer weather certainly makes me want to drink more, sitting chilled out in the sun with a drink in my hand…..

Some weeks I will, some weeks I won't have a drink until the weekend.

I honestly can't remember the last time I went more than a week without a glass of wine or a g&t, though.

I feel odd one out now. I probably have a drink about twice a year and could happily never drink alcohol again.

If I felt I was having to limit myself I'd be really concerened and consider myself on the slippery slope.

What's the attraction?

I'm a classic binge drinker. Last weekend I had 4 glasses of fizz at a BBQ, then 2 glasses of wine when friends popped over Sunday evening. I won't drink anything now till Saturday where we are hosting a BBQ. I generally don't drink during the week, the odd glass here or there but not regular.

Currently limiting my booze intake (wedding diet) and I am shocked at how many people have an issue with it. One of my friends in particular after messaging me to arrange a meet up avoided confirming a date after I told him I'm off the booze and therefore not up for a lengthy boozie bar crawl.

I don't have an issue with people drinking if I am not or visa versa, but I am probably guilty of offering non drinkers a drink in the first instance for fear they are just being polite (I probably did this when we met AC) I am now starting to appreciate how annoying that is.

I've never been a 'glass of wine every night' kinda girl, but recently found myself drinking more and more, to the point where I feel I need to stop it. Mainly since the miscarriage.

However, I am making a conscious effort to not drink so much at the moment as my weight is creeping up and booze doesnt help.

I find there is never much choice for those who dont drink. When i was pregnant I purposely drank non alcoholic cocktails because I didnt want lemonade all the time!

I wouldn't classify myself as a big drinker but If I am out in the pub etc I will drink - usually to excess.

Ive been out the last 3 wkends and am really quite sick of drinking but before that I was last drunk at Easter.

Rightly or wrongly I would rather sit in sober by myself than go out to a pub etc where everyone else is drinking.

Say every Friday in 3 I'll maybe open a bottle of wine & drink it over fri, sat & sun.

I hate hangovers and wasting money on drink - I'd rather have new clothes or holiday spending money.

Never ever been a glass of wine every night kinda girl.

You are not the odd one out AC, I am not a big drinker either....when I go out with friends I will usually drive and if me and OH go out it is taken for granted that I am designated driver! Most people I know will have a glass or bottle of wine in the evening but I have never felt the attraction of drinking at home tbh...........maybe its because I am always so thirsty and alcohol is not a thirst quencher. My OH family think me strange that Im not a drinker and I constantly get silly comments made but I am who I am!!

It tastes lovely. No soft drink tastes as nice as red wine or g&t to me.

I used to consider myself a fairly big drinker, a glass of wine most nights and binged at the weekend. I had a dry January and felt so much better that I started to drink non alcoholic beer during the week and then only a glass or two of wine at the weekends.

now I'm pregnant I'm amazed at how many people tell me to just have a drink and that it won't do any harm. I'm perfectly happy not to drink thank you!

The thing I struggle with is what soft drinks to drink. Mocktails can be too sugary and water gets very dull quickly.

I only drink about once every few weeks. If I drank every night it would just make me sleepy and depressed. Plus to me it's empty calories - I'd rather have cake!

? Now you're talking!

I'm a binge drinker. I can go weeks without having a drink, but when I do it's usually many. I don't drink unless it's an event, so if there is a wedding one weekend then three weeks later a birthday party - I probably won't have had anything in between.

I don't drink in the house unless it's pre party and wouldn't bother having wine 'just because it's a friday night'. I was going to the other night, opened the fridge to get wine, and saw carton of fresh orange so had an orange and soda with lots of ice, in a big wine glass instead and it was lovely and refreshing and more satisfying that then wine!

No reason for being like this, the amount I'd drink on a binge probably amounts to more than one a night anyway so doubt it's better for the diet.

I dont really drink. Well, not at all at the moment due to imminent arrival of baby porkchop, but normally maybe one glass of wine if we go out for dinner, and that's maybe only once every couple of months! I do get fed up of people trying to push it on me, but I dont feel left out as such. We dont go out partying much, maybe I'd feel left out if we did that, I wouldnt want to be regularly out with drunk people! My H doesnt drink at all so that makes it easier.

The older I get the less I booze I drink. I never drink in the week unless I've got friends round and even then it's one glass of wine as anything more in the week makes me feel fuzzy the next day. When I go out I do drink a bit more but for almost a year I've not been drunk and if I ever I go out now I pace myself as I cannot stand hangovers anymore. H isn't a big drinker either in all fairness so we only ever have drink in the house if we know people are coming over.

I drink. I can drink a lot and used to quite regularly quite a large amount (binge drinking). My dad is an alcoholic. I married a teetotaller and now drink very little. Am just as happy going out and not drinking. I sometimes have a glass of wine but end up using the rest of the bottle for cooking (you can freeze it for risottos and casseroles). I occasionally have a g&t.

I live in the sticks so have to drive everywhere anyhow.

AC - I have a bottle of posh fruity non alcohol fizz in storage especially for when I can come visit!

I just like the taste of different drinks, wine, cider, gin, cocktails i'll try pretty much anything!

My brothers fiancé hasn't drank for years, my brother himself isn't a big drinker, few pints of Guinness will last him an evening but me, boyo, ma and pa do love our wine and mixers so will happily plough through a fair amount on an evening if we are all round or out for dinner. She never seems bothered but at first I was conscious of looking like a totally lush in front of her.

this!

Now i am a responsible parent, i dont drink during the week unless im popping out with a friend then il have a glass or wine or two..but also SINCE becoming a paretn i have made the most of my drinking nights out more then i did before, i guess to let off steam? Maybe. I was a big drinker pre pregnancy i suppose to, so this is a pointless statement im making ha!! I like the taste, theres nothing better then a cold cider/wine on a summers evening!!

I'm not a drinker, well, occasionally I will have a drink but I mean like a couple of times a year. I have no problem with drinkers, but I do get sick of being accused of 'looking down my nose' at people who drink. My family don't say this, it's more acquaintances and supposed friends. That is utter bollocks. My husband drinks, my whole family drink (and yes AC they really do drink every night!). I don't care, I just choose not to. I don't understand why it's such a big deal.

H's family really get on my nerves. I always drive, so even if I was in a drinking mood I wouldn't even have one when I am driving, yet they ALWAYS try and pour me a glass of wine with dinner. It's so annoying, and embarrassing, when I have to almost fight with his dad to say no.

It's so much easier now I have a genuine excuse, though they still plonk alcoholic desserts in front of me! Argh.

I'm quite a binge drinker, don't really ever drink in the house, but on a night out I can do two bottles of prosecco and half a dozen shots of sambuca/tequila...the full dozen if it's a really wild night. It really is a wonder that I've never had my stomach pumped.

The warm weather definitely makes an ice cold glass of wine or a fruit cider far more appealing, I could easily drink every evening in this warm weather if I had a beer garden within walking distance.

As it happens I'm doing dry July, and yes, I find it more difficult to socialise. I don't mind being sober, or others being drunk, but it's annoying when everyone asumes that I must be pregnant. I done dry January so you think that they would remember that and give it a rest, or the fact that I start a hugely demanding course in a month might convince them...but no.

All in all, I would say that there is a huge drinking culture, and that it's quite easy to feel left out if you aren't drinking.

Similar to me. I don't often drink 'just because everyone else is'. I go on about one night out a month, if that and don't get hammered as I dont like the feeling of being drunk (unless of course I am with the netball lot).

I drink most days. At least a glass of wine or a cider. My family are big drinkers, my parents always had a glass of wine with thier dinner and to me it's a normal thing to drink as much as I do. I will easily drink a bottle of wine of an evening and feel ok in the morning.

i very very rarely binge drink though. I don't go out and go mental on shots and spirits etc, I've done my years of that. To me alcohol is a sociable thing and I'm afraid I think I'm a nicer/better person when I have had a drink. Many of my friends still see me as party mini and I think they expect to see me constantly buzzing and tbh drunk.

I wouldn't say I am a teetotaler but I rarely drink. I am really into my running (in case you haven't guess from other posts) and am usually training for some event or other and have it in my head that it's better for me not to drink too much during training. I gave up drink for lent several years ago and found it really didn't bother me and since then I may have the odd glass of wine when out but very infrequently. OH can't drink because of his meds and he also had to stop driving when all his treatment started. This means I am always the driver whenever we go out, which I don't mind. So I guess I just got used to it? I think I would find it odd if I was drinking and he wasn't when we are at home.

A lot of our friends say they miss the 'drunk me' when we go out, but now I find it only takes a glass or two and I'm giddy - so much so that I have several nicknames because of it. I just laugh it all off and tell them I am saving more money than they are getting drunk on just a glass. The soical aspect of drinking is odd - you'd never drink several pints of coke (well you might but I think it would be pretty yucky by the third pint). On a related topic is there still a social side to smoking now that people have to go and stand outside?

I very rarely drink. I used to but when I stopped I lost a lot of friends because of it. So in answer to you first question, yes I feel left out not drinking!

I'm not a massive drinker, I didn't touch alcohol at all until I was 27/8. I like cider and G&T, but don't have them very often, and can make a drink last hours - 1 pint of cider is enough for me.

I usually offer to be "The Driver" on outings as a way of getting round the drinking thing.

Interesting points...

Arrdvark - awesome. Looking foward to the fizz (do you rmemeber on my wedding day everyone in the house was having champagne except for me and my daughter on the non-alc fizz?)

The first time I met a bunch of Hitchers I got myself a non-alc cocktail and pretended it had alcohol in it, as it didn't seem to be the done thing not to drink, and it's hard not to fit in.

A lot of people assume I'll be no fun without a drink inside me. I can enjoy myself on an evening (or afternoon ) out without chemical help, thanks!

And lastly, alcohol makes me feel overly hot and gives me indigestion, especially acidic wine.

I think I'm a binge drinker. I can go for weeks quite happily having nowt but then will have loads at social events or nights out. I avoid being desi because I know if we are out in an environment with drinks I will want one to 'join in'.

Currently I'm really into fruit beers or the strawberry Kopparberg.

Unfortunately I still don't seem to be able to put my teenage years behind me so I don't tend to drink unless it is to get drunk if that makes sense? So if I'm on a night out with friends I'll drink (a lot usually!) but if I don't have a night out planned I'll easily go weeks without having any.

In the warm weather I like having a cold beer but even then I'll usually only have one.

Out of me and my H I tend to be the driver if we are out for dinner or visiting family and I don't like having even one alcoholic drink if I'm driving. I don't tend to mind being the driver but sometimes I do think I'd like to have a drink too.

I'm exactly the same.

I used to drink on work nights out to gain more confidence and less shy. I really regret being like that as it made me very very stupid.

Now I drink on nights out because I like the taste of the drinks, but I will happily be the designated driver.

This is H.

I'm another binge drinker. I'll hardly ever drink in the house unless we're having friends over in which case we can go a bit mental with the cocktails and tequila shots. I drink way too much on nights out, it's fun at the time but the hangovers are just getting so bad I'm really starting to hate it.

Like MY I'm doing a dry July and it's crazy how much hassle people have given me about it. I went to a BBQ/party last weekend and every single person I spoke to gave me the "go on, have a drink" routine. I don't own a car so I can rarely use driving as an excuse but I think it's crazy that people have to justify why they aren't drinking on a given night. I sometimes use the training for a run excuse but that usually leads to more hassle about how weekends are for fun ?

I do love a good drink though. A nice wine with dinner. An expertly made cocktail. A cold beer in the sunshine. Perfection.

I drink more when the weather is nice. The sun just makes a pimms or cider seem more welcoming. Not so bothered in the winter but I do drink every week (mostly weekends.)