Sober is a no go

I have two books that I've been pushing off the coffee table for a while. Or turning over. One is called ‘Ontwijnen’, the other ‘Since I Stopped Drinking’. I know myself and I know that there's a chance that once I start reading, I might suddenly become a teetotaler. That happened when I read Alan Carr in preparation for an interview and just suddenly, not really intending to, I stopped smoking. And I believe that I don't want to stop drinking, that's just a bit much for me. Then you're cutting off a part of what makes life enjoyable for me. Choosing wine, decanting a glass, and enjoying a good glass with friends.

But now I've found it. A woman shouldn't consume more than 14 drinks per week, and a man shouldn't consume more than 20 (yes, that's also unfair, yes). That comes down to two glasses a day. But to be honest: on the weekend, you easily drink four or five glasses in an evening, right?

So what have I come up with? I allow myself 14 units per week. During the week, I don't drink anyway, so I save the other glasses for the weekend. And the goal is to have a few strips left on my card by the end of the week. What helps me with this is that I think with each glass: is it worth it? I was at a little theater on Thursday where my daughter had a performance with school. Normally, I would have quietly knocked back two (maybe even three) glasses of mediocre wine there, but now I thought: no thanks, I'm saving my allowance for really good wine.

So the automatic response of ‘Yes, please’ faded a bit. This week I ended at -3, so a total of 11 glasses consumed. In one week. I think that's neat.

This wise lesson actually comes from the book by Evi Hanssen, so without reading it, it still gave me a little push.