A toast to sobriety - I aim to abstain

Hawke's Bay Today News Editor James Ford. Photo / File

I am going to start a journey next month that I hope will continue for a long time, well, the foreseeable future, anyway.

I've decided to kick alcohol to the kerb and jump on the tee-total bandwagon.

I have no doubt it will be tough to swerve a refreshing tipple at the end a long working week, but, nevertheless, I aim to abstain.

I had been thinking about it for a wee while. Like most people I over-indulged at university and alcohol has played a weekly role in my life ever since.

But, with baby number two impending, and other challenges on the horizon, I thought it the right time to cut ties with the drink.

The Ministry of Health offers clear guidelines on determining whether your alcohol intake is harmful.

They suggest long-term drinking risks can be reduced by drinking no more than two standard drinks a day for women and no more than 10 standard drinks a week. Although men can safely consume three standard drinks each day and no more than 15 standard drinks a week.

It is also advised to have two alcohol-free days every week.

What is considered one standard drink may also surprise you. A 330ml can of beer containing 4 per cent alcohol is considered one standard drink. As is a 100ml glass of wine at 12.5 per cent alcohol.

Meanwhile a 335ml bottle of RTD spirits at 8 per cent alcohol is 2.1 standard drinks and a 750ml bottle of wine containing 13 per cent alcohol is 7.7 standard drinks.

Moving up the ladder quickly, a 1000ml bottle of spirits at 47 per cent alcohol is the equivalent of a whopping 37 standard drinks, while a three-litre cask of 12.5 per cent wine is 30 standard drinks.

My issue is not a lack of alcohol-free days. I aim and achieve, usually, five booze-free days every week.

But, if I am completely honest with myself, I drink more than what is considered a safe three standard drinks once a week. Which, by definition, is binge drinking.

I'm under no illusion that achieving complete sobriety will be a challenging process. After all, booze is ingrained in Kiwi culture.

But, all going to plan, I'll be raising a toast, with an orange juice, to a month free of alcohol come July 31.