When’s your alcohol crunch time?

Coming through the door from work. After putting the kids to bed. Just as dinner is served.  Are there times when you always think about breaking open a bottle?

Lots of us have a daily ‘crunch time’ when having a drink enters our head. You might even pour a glass at the same time each day without even thinking about what you’re doing.  But when one glass leads to two or three you could easily be going over the government’s daily unit guidelines which advise men not to regularly exceed 3-4 units a day (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and women not to regularly exceed 2-3 (equivalent to a 175ml glass of 13% wine). Drinking everyday also denies your body the alcohol-free days it needs to recuperate.

Giving in to the crunch

Going beyond the daily unit guidelines can have many negative effects. In the short term, drinking too much on any given night can be the reason behind anything from an upset stomach to weight gain to a bad night’s sleep. And then there are the more serious long term problems drinking too much can lead to, including cancer, liver disease, heart disease and mental health issues.

Becoming aware what triggers you to have a drink can help you make sure you stay within the daily unit guidelines.

So, what’s your crunch time? And how can you make sure you don’t go overboard when you’re faced with the crunch?

On the way home

You’ve finished work after a long, stressful day. All you want to do is relax. Perhaps for you that’s when you’re most likely to nip into the off license for a bottle of wine or drop some beer into the basket as you dash around the supermarket after work.

But starting to drink as soon as you arrive home from work could leave you snoring on the couch by 9pm and cutting short your well-earned evening.

Face up to the crunch: Should you choose to drink, why not save the wine until dinner time? That way you can savour a small glass or two with your meal over a couple of nights.

When you’ve got the kids to bed

It’s taken an hour of tantrums, tears and pleas for ‘just one more story’. Now there’s finally silence from upstairs, and if all goes well, that equals the rest of the evening to yourselves. It’s all about how you make the most of those precious few hours – and immediately pouring yourself a drink could stop you from doing that, especially if it’s going to make you less motivated to do things.

Face up to the crunch: Have something planned for when the kids have gone to bed and you're less likely to spend the rest of the evening with a glass in hand. Get some films lined up or the next few chapters of the book you’re reading. You’ll be able to appreciate them better having drank less or no alcohol.   

When your partner offers you a drink

So you’ve resolved to ‘be good’ and not drink for the evening. But then your partner asks if you fancy opening a bottle of wine. Do you have the resolve to resist?
Nearly 20% of married couples drink five nights a week compared with just 8% of single people (1). And once that bottle of wine is open, it’s tempting to finish it between you – meaning you’re both likely to exceed the daily unit guidelines .

But do you realise that drinking over the daily unit guidelines can have an adverse effect on your sex life? Alcohol dulls sensation for men and women, and men can struggle to get an erection. Not to mention that alcohol can cause fights: Over a quarter of people have argued with their partner because of alcohol (2).

Face up to the crunch: Instead of drinking, concentrate on making and eating a nice dinner with your partner, talking and perhaps more as the night rolls on. If you both decide that you’d like to have alcohol with your meal, limit it to just one or two medium glasses each.

Over dinner

For you, eating dinner is something of an event. You enjoy cooking good food...then eating it. It’s how you relax at the end of a gruelling day. But dinner time isn’t complete without a glass of two of wine to complement your food.

Face up to the crunch: Pour yourself a jug of water for the table. Having a glass of water alongside a glass of wine will encourage you to space out and saviour a smaller amount of wine.

Want to make sure you’re staying within the guidelines? Use MyDrinkaware to track what you’re drinking.

Page last updated by

Kate Prior, 31 Jan 2012.

Page checked on

15 Nov 2011