[Drinking] BBC2 prog - Adrian Chiles & alcohol addiction

[Greg Bobkin]

Watched it last night and it was a bit of an eye-opener. I rarely go to the pub, but will often have a drink or few most evenings. Mrs B often comments that I drink a lot but I don't think I do, but mauve she is more right than me.

I wouldn't want to give up completely, but I think a bit of monitoring is required to see how much I really AM consuming.

I'm also interested that the programme was shown back in August, but, for obvious reasons, seems to be getting a lot more exposure this time around...

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[Tim Over Whelmed]

Popped into the Chinese to pick up a takeaway last night, normally have a beer whilst I wait, last night had a 330ml bottle of Becks Blue, didn't realise the cost until I looked at the receipt later .... £4 ... that's £8 a pint! Yes, I know, I could have had a soda & lime or nothing, but I fancied a beer and this was a great alternative whilst not breaking the pledge!

If Landlords, Restaurants etc want to adapt to the challenge that now is DryJanuary etc they've got to be reasonable, shirley!

 

[Wilko]

The odd thing is I can do this if I'm in the right mindset. Dad's taxi's and Open Water swimming in the summer are two things I do regularly that don't sit well with drinking for obvious reasons. I either don't drink or go depending on the circumstances. The trouble is when I'm in drinking mode I can have 8 or more pints before i hit the spirits and am more likely to be the last rather than first to leave. I don't really have an off switch when I'm out and I've realised I am putting far too much away as a result.

In the short term I'm going to log my units a week and at least try to get it below 50 whilst making a concious effort to start later / finish earlier when out. I appreciate that shouldn't be the toughest of goals but setting unrealistic expectations is always the route to failure in my experience.

As AC said in the documentary, maybe the issue is not the off switch but the on switch, why is it too easy to flick on?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

If Iggle Piggle is sinking 8 pints before hitting the hard stuff, God alone knows how much Macca Pakka is knocking back. And a night out with the Tombliboos sounds like it'd be absolute carnage.

I always had Macca Pakka as a pot head. No-one finds stones *that* interesting unless they've had a puff. The guy who drives the Ninky nonk has clearly dropped an E. Upsy Daisey definitely likes a G&T.

 

[Wilko]

Popped into the Chinese to pick up a takeaway last night, normally have a beer whilst I wait, last night had a 330ml bottle of Becks Blue, didn't realise the cost until I looked at the receipt later .... £4 ... that's £8 a pint! Yes, I know, I could have had a soda & lime or nothing, but I fancied a beer and this was a great alternative whilst not breaking the pledge!

If Landlords, Restaurants etc want to adapt to the challenge that now is DryJanuary etc they've got to be reasonable, shirley!

Indeed. Make it a quid or quid 50 for a decent non-alcoholic beer and it will fly off the shelves.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

All of the issues around alcohol need careful planning to avoid the pitfalls, most of the careful planning is done when we're sober, which really begs the question as to why we go to the next step?

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Indeed. Make it a quid or quid 50 for a decent non-alcoholic beer and it will fly off the shelves.

Tescos sell 15 x Becks Blue for £7, that's 47p each, even allowing for a 100% mark up we should be at a £1, and, as you say, even if it were £1.50 it'd be reasonable, but £4!

 

[Iggle Piggle]

As AC said in the documentary, maybe the issue is not the off switch but the on switch, why is it too easy to flick on?

There's always an excuse. Bad day at work. Good day at work. It's the weekend. It's nearly the weekend. The kids are in bed. The list is almost endless. Breaking the mental link as alcohol as a reward is probably key.

 

[Wilko]

Tescos sell 15 x Becks Blue for £7, that's 47p each, even allowing for a 100% mark up we should be at a £1, and, as you say, even if it were £1.50 it'd be reasonable, but £4!

I think I paid 3.80 for a Heineken 0.0 last week, I quite liked it but at those prices I will stick to a water.

 

[Wilko]

There's always an excuse. Bad day at work. Good day at work. It's the weekend. It's nearly the weekend. The kids are in bed. The list is almost endless. Breaking the mental link as alcohol as a reward is probably key.

Indeed. I found recording it on the drink less app was the best thing to do as you are suddenly aware of just how many units you are sinking. It also gives me great pleasure at the end of the day to tick the 'no alcohol' box and watch the green line fill up in the calendar. I am not saying I am going to give up drinking altogether but since I started using the app in August I have had 121 alcohol free days out of 143 so I am pretty pleased with that.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

I think I paid 3.80 for a Heineken 0.0 last week, I quite liked it but at those prices I will stick to a water.

... and that's the problem we have, in Tescos you can buy 4 Litres of 5% cider for £4.10, and we wonder why we have a problem in the NHS, with crime and the breakdown of society and the family unit.

 

[pearl]

I suppose my point is that's a good week and I'm over 4 times over the recommended limit for the week. I dread to think what a bad week is.

More or less anyone who I get on with likes a pint. Even those that are exercise centric still like a pint and we will end up in the boozer after swimming or whatever. There's always something going on that is centred around booze. This weekend I'm off to Haydock and a friend is visiting friday. To all intents and purposes i will drinking from friday night until Sunday morning with a bit of sleep in the middle. Next week, I have a meeting with a supplier that will end up in a session which is never less than 5 pints. Those 3 alone will be 75 ish points.

Having spoken to an alcoholic whom had bottles of vodka stashed on his training runs for the london marathon and checked into hotels to raid the mini bar when all else was shut, I appreciate I'm nowhere near that level. It is, however, eye opening to realise how many units get consumed on a good week and how I can quite easily drink double the weekly recommended limit in an afternoon and still be alright the next day. Whilst I'd have been proud of that in my 20s, perhaps now is the age I should realise that's a bad rather than a good thing.

Believe me I know exactly what you mean. I have stopped going to pubs (unless a special occasion), it hasn't done my social life much good, but I decided my health was more important (these days). TBH I think the government guidelines are bollox. I'm trying to keep to 40-ish units and gradually get that down. I'm (sort of) enjoying the challenge, but as I'm going to have a lower income soon I need to sort myself out!
Good luck and best wishes

 

[Stumpy Tim]

There's always an excuse. Bad day at work. Good day at work. It's the weekend. It's nearly the weekend. The kids are in bed. The list is almost endless. Breaking the mental link as alcohol as a reward is probably key.

Nailed it. I genuinely feel I've broken that mental link over the past 9 months, and when you do that you suddenly see the subliminal advertising everywhere... TV programmes, films, books, even birthday cards! They all tell you when you should have a drink, and it's basically all the time.

 

[whitelion]

Nailed it. I genuinely feel I've broken that mental link over the past 9 months, and when you do that you suddenly see the subliminal advertising everywhere... TV programmes, films, books, even birthday cards! They all tell you when you should have a drink, and it's basically all the time.

On an Alcohol Awareness course I attended whilst in HMP I wrote a piece about alcohol and addiction/attraction. The theme was how the drinking of alcohol was glamourised bh the advertising industry (effectively the drinks industry). The type of adverts pushed at us are of successful people enjoying a drink of their choice in a glamorous situation. Think: the floating Gin Palaces in the harbours of Monaco and other Med ports. Five star hotel bars award winning restaurants and attractive locations world-wide. That's all great and linking glamour wealth and alcohol is relevant to those who participate in boozing at this level. What's not shown is the street drinker even the aftermath of a night's boozing...you can see this in any town centre at weekends with streets covered in puke and takeaway food cartons etc people pissing in open air (yes girls too).
I tbink the point I'm trying to put over is that in drinking more than appropriate when you've lost control of your inhibitions can affect anyone no matter how rich or poor you are.
I've got memories of the brawls in the summer at British racecourses by well dressed ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Stat Brother]

Perhaps trivializing the issue a bit, but it seems the younger generation have a lot, how can I put it 'distractions' than I certainly
I did when I was in my 20s. Social media, gaming, etc etc seem to be the point of reference these days, not 'let's meet down the pub every
evening'.

I wasn't every evening...







...we had Wednesday's off.

 

[Bozza]

I've got memories of the brawls in the summer at British racecourses by well dressed ladies and gentlemen.

As you should, it was only last Summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGpKEo38_QE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUmjogaGbw

 

[zefarelly]

I think you're right, although I'm more of a magic roundabout man myself

I always had Macca Pakka as a pot head. No-one finds stones *that* interesting unless they've had a puff. The guy who drives the Ninky nonk has clearly dropped an E. Upsy Daisey definitely likes a G&T.

 

[zefarelly]

That's where all the hoolies go now they've been ostracised from football

I ****ing hate horse racing anyway. Barbaric cruel and crooked

As you should, it was only last Summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGpKEo38_QE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUmjogaGbw

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

One very positive side effect I've found from DryJanuary is sleep patterns. From the FitBit records I'd be asleep for say seven hours with about an hour to an hour and a half "restless", this has been slowly getting better, last night slept for seven hours with just nine minutes restless!

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

As you should, it was only last Summer.

The Friday evening meets at Goodwood were great, very sociable, lovely setting and felt as safe as houses, now it's all about the drinking and the DJ, yes it meets their needs of more revenue but it's a different crowd. As someone stated it's really not unusual to see someone hitch up their skirt and have a pee, fighting is commonplace as is the very obvious signs of drunkenness to a point way, way beyond fun. Who's responsible for this? Goodwood, who serve people excessive amounts, people who sneak drinks in, wider society or Paul Barber ... you decide!