Hmmm I actually thought I rated pretty low but compared to a lot of people here I might sound like I should be at an AA meeting...
To quote my handy Australian Government: Department of Health and Ageing -issue fridge magnet: "
Men should drink no more than
4 Standard Drinks a day on
average. And never more than
6 Standard Drinks a
day."[sic] Women 2 and 4 respectively and then "Everyone should have 1 or 2 alcohol-free days a week.".
I'd say on
average I'd consume about a dozen standard drinks a week usually spread over a couple of days...
The Spit Roast and Sangria party that we held for an end of university year party last night went awesomely but I don't expect to have another night like it for a few months, I have no idea how much sangria I drank (I mixed it... an artist has to taste his creation
) but the party went well, I drank over a period of time, had plenty of roast to pack it out and would consider myself well short "binge drinking".
To me binge drinking is drinking to excess for no reason other than to get drunk and keep drinking (though I do understand the
medical definition of binge drinking). In my life I've only been drinking twice where I had cause to throw up, once was when for some reason I decided to eat a whole packet of marshmellow's to myself ontop of some homebrewed beer and the other when the person who was buying drinks switched to Corona... I thought the lemon in the neck of the bottle tasted better than the bottle's other contents. Neither occasion I'd attribute as being caused by excess alcohol. Admittedly on one occasion I would consider my drinking to have directly impacted my health noticeably, was a particular once off due to personal issues of the time. When I say it isn't to be repeated I'm not thinking of the drinking but of the causes that lead to me wanting to erase some horror memories...
I have another fridge magnet somewhere (produced by the government as well) that has a chart with a recommended number of standard drinks per hour by age, body mass etc. For myself (Male, 21, tall/~85kgs) it had a listing of 1st hour: 3 drinks, 2nd hour: 1 drink, 3rd hour, two drinks, 4th hour: 2 drinks, 5th hour 1 drinks, 6th+ hour: 2 drinks. It then admitted that this was only a guide and medically everything should be in moderation.
Saying all that I've found several handy hints have kept me in good stead.
Everything in moderation, including moderation.
No drinks until the sun's over the yard-arm (apparently a Navy tradition though I've only heard it second hand), translates to no drinks till evening.
and the one that's been taught in Australian schools for the past ten years or so: Males: 2 drinks first hour, 1 drink per hour thereafter (though I may stretch that to two per hour unless I was thirsty and had three the first hour, I've RARELY gone past the drinks-per-hour list I mentioned in the first paragraph).
All people are equal but some people are more equal than others.