Moderating is so subjective!

[Eve11]

Moderating is so subjective!

July 2009

Hey gang,

Thought I would post the guidelines that they suggest at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and what they follow at Moderation Management to give us an idea of what others view as moderation.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse:

For Men
No more than 4 drinks in any given day
No more than 14 drinks per week

For Women
No more than 3 drinks in any given day
No more than 7 drinks per week

A Moderate Drinker per Moderation Management:

* Considers an occasional drink to be a small, though enjoyable, part of life. (LOL-sounds like Sunbeam!)
* Has hobbies, interests, and other ways to relax and enjoy life that do not include alcohol. (SB again)
* Usually has friends who are moderate drinkers or nondrinkers.
* Generally has something to eat before, during, or soon after drinking.
* Usually does not drink for longer than an hour or two on any particular occasion.
* Usually does not drink faster than one drink per half-hour.
* Usually does not exceed the .055% BAC moderate drinking limit.
* Feels comfortable with his or her use of alcohol (never drinks secretly and does not spend a lot of time thinking about drinking or planning to drink).

The MM Limits

* Strictly obey local laws regarding drinking and driving.
* Do not drink in situations that would endanger yourself or others.
* Do not drink every day. MM suggests that you abstain from drinking alcohol at least 3 or 4 days per week.
* Women, who drink more than 3 drinks on any day, and more than 9 drinks per week, may be drinking at harmful levels.
* Men, who drink more than 4 drinks on any day, and more than 14 drinks per week, may be drinking at harmful levels.


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I also went to the research thread to remind myself of a thread I had posted on women and health issues with drinking. Here's an excerpt of what's posted there:

A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that a woman's risk of breast cancer rises with the amount of alcohol regularly consumed. Drinking moderately or not at all can reduce the chance of getting breast cancer.

The study showed that women who drink two to five alcoholic drinks each day, were 41 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than nondrinkers. Excessive alcohol consumption also increases the risk of several digestive-tract cancers.

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Friends,
I have to get SERIOUS about drinking moderately and not going over these amounts. One vacation week I definitely went over my limit for women - doubled it!! So no more!!!

Hugs friends and here's to better controlled moderating!
Eve11.

[DeeBee]

Moderating is so subjective!

Thanks for bumping Eve.
I joined the MM website a while ago and really like some of their tools but website itself is not very user-friendly.

They also speak of a bicycle and tricycle which is when you go for 2 days AF and then 3 days AF -- all these little tools are great to add to our arsenal.

Like you, I too am getting serious about where I am with modding!!

[Sunbeam]

Moderating is so subjective!

Hi all,
I like this information better now than when I looked at the web site quite awhile back. I didn't like that they seem to give permission for women to have three drinks at a sitting, whereas other sources have a limit of 1. I think the one drink is an important limit if one drinks daily, but three would be OK on an infrequent basis. I definitely would not want to drive anywhere after three drinks, but when I do drink, I seem to end up having three although two would be a better limit for me. I REALLY like the other parameters. Probably all of us here think about drinking too much, but as long as that's in the context of NOT drinking, it is good. I need to think and talk about drinking in order to control it. I guess that's why I keep hanging out and posting here. And I like my cyber-friends!

[mooderator]

Moderating is so subjective!

RESONATES!

Sunbeam...when you said you need to talk and think about drinking to control it ....I thought that is IT, right there.....the way I am finding myself to be. It just really resonated with me. Moo

[IAD]

Moderating is so subjective!

Your right .....moderate drinking is subjective.....its like the fallacy of the beard. "How many hairs does it take to make a beard ?" (100 hundred.....2,000, very subjective.........) Only you know when your having too much....don't fool yourself. IAD

[Eve11]

Moderating is so subjective!

Sunbeam,
I agree - if one drank daily then important to limit to 1 per day. I actually have a good friend who does that. She likes a nice glass of red wine in the evening a couple hours before bedtime, and she does that every evening but she always limits it to just one. I've been out with her when she's had her (just one) at dinner or after dinner with me and that works well for her.

So, what I've discovered for myself is if I get hung up on this "I'm on vacation and want a drink" thinking then I am going to limit myself to only 1. My goal is to stay within the 7 drinks per week limit and I am going to commit this to myself starting here and today!!
I almost started a moderation management support group in my city (called an MM person for details) but hubby didn't like the idea as I get too addicted to many things and he could forsee something like that controlling my life. I was just feeling a need for more support as I miss the days of "real" friends when I went to A.A.

So, with that being said I want to thank the members who had a comfort level to send pictures. I know I was asking people to break their anonymity comfort zone and I am thankful that some folks have a comfort level to do that. No hard feelings toward anyone who doesn't but for me personally it really helps me to have you folks become more "real" to me.

I have a physician friend who takes pix of all of his patients and when he talks to them they are "real" people to him - not just a name or a face he's forgotten because he sees so many people. Studies even show that strangers are kinder to each other in person than over the phone. So, this works better for me now and maybe I can make it in this cyber world and don't need a f2f (face to face) experience like I thought I did.

DeeBee, I'll have to check out the MM website to see if there's any info to add to our site here knowledge wise. Liked the bicycle/tricycle info. Always enjoyed that about Kid and Sarah - sharing SMART recovery tips. Every little bit helps.
Hugs to all,
Eve11

[Sunbeam]

Moderating is so subjective!

Eve,
Good for you, grabbing that bull by the horns!

I just decided to get out the MWO book, pg 138, RJ cites the USDA and US Dept of Human Services as defining moderate drinking as no more than one drink a day for most women, and no more than two drinks a day for most men.