Learning to liver little...

Blimey. Opening up my drinking habits for the world to see. What will I discover? And what will other people think of it? Will the circulation of the Journal go into freefall when my teetotal readers discover I have been known to enjoy the odd glass or three? Or will publicans stop having the paper on their premises when they realise that I, like so much of the population, drink more often at home than I do out? Mind you, if either of these prove to be the case there should be a circulation spike once the French wine industry realises how much I do to personally ensure they are doing good business in the UK...

'Am I a hazardous drinker?' is the question this whole exercise sets out to answer. I think that probably I am not. I am confident that if I averaged out my alcohol consumption over a period of time I would come in with a weekly average within the guidelines we're given by the government.

But I don't drink every day. I drink on maybe two or three days a week and, if I'm having a good time with my friends or family, I most certainly don't stop to count my units. There occasionally comes a point when I can't count, full stop. So I am fairly sure that I go over what is probably advisable, according to some doctors at least. Other doctors don't seem too concerned themselves, particularly those who are drinking with me at the time...

And am I bothered? Actually no. I feel like my life is pretty balanced. I eat healthily, exercise regularly and enjoy my drinking. I could eat and drink less, and of course exercise more. But I have a busy job and a busy family life, so I, like everyody I know, makes small compromises all the time.

Let's face it if I was independently wealthy I would probably work less and spend more time playing tennis or swimming. Mind you I would be able to afford Chateau Latour on a regular basis, so it would bring its own problems... I suspect that if I suddently stopped having to work for a living I would be less likely to become a honed, bronzed athletic type than I would North Devon's answer to the Great Gatsby. Throwing a party has to be preferable to going to the gym, every time...

So if anybody fancies joining me on my diary, leave a comment. There is, after all, safety in numbers. I'll be checking in on Monday to let you know my consumption...

Cheers!