How much are you really drinking?
A free alcohol units calculator that compares your week to your country's guidelines.
Most of us have no real idea. We pour by feel, count in vague halves, and round down without quite noticing. If you've been quietly wondering where your drinking actually sits, this is a gentle, honest place to find out. It takes about two minutes. There's no judgement here, and nothing is saved unless you ask me to keep it.
Where do you live?
On how many days in a typical week do you drink?
And on a day when you drink, what do you usually have?
Roughly, what does one of those drinks cost you?
What that adds up to
What tends to change when you drink less
People notice different things, in a different order, and at their own pace. But there's a pattern I see again and again.
One of my clients, a teacher I'll call Maria, had been using a couple of glasses of wine to switch off from a stressful job. Over time, those couple of glasses had become most of a bottle, and she was waking at 3am, sweaty and unable to settle. As she gently cut back, that early-hours waking started to ease. "It was as though a fog was lifting from my mind," is how another client, Tara, put it, about a week in.
I'll be honest with you about the start, though. The first few days can feel worse before they feel better: a little irritability, some tiredness, restless sleep. That's common, and it passes.
More on this in alcohol and sleep and what changes in your body when you drink less.
How much could you reduce by?
In a small anonymous survey of 10 past clients, they reported cutting their drinking by 65% on average. I want to be honest about that number. It's a small survey, and everyone is different. But here's what a change on that scale could look like for you:
In that same survey, 4 in 10 saw a change within a month, and 8 in 10 within three. Progress, not perfection. That's the whole idea, and there's a way to get there that doesn't rely on willpower.
Want to see how you compare with everyone else?
Pop your email in and I'll show you where your week sits alongside other people who've taken this check, and send you a summary you can keep, plus my free 10-step guide. No spam, and you can leave whenever you like. I'll only keep your answers if you enter your email.
Where you sit
Based on the Alcohol Toolkit Study distribution for England and each country's official guideline. As more people take this check, these comparisons will update.
About the author
Tansy Forrest is a clinical hypnotherapist with over a decade of specialist experience in alcohol moderation. She is the author of Ten Steps to Drink Less and Live Well (Synergy Publishing, 2025) and creator of the Freedom from Overdrinking Blueprint. Her YouTube channel has more than 185,000 subscribers across the UK, US, Canada, and Australia. In a small anonymous survey of 10 past clients, respondents reported meaningful reductions in alcohol consumption, and 90% said they would recommend her methods to a friend or colleague.
Alcohol guidelines are wildly different by country
The same week of drinking can sit within the guidelines in one country and well above them in another. Here's the official guidance, side by side. Every figure links to its source.
| Country | Official low-risk guidance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | No more than 14 units a week, spread over 3+ days (men and women). | UK CMOs |
| Ireland | Up to 11 standard drinks a week (women), 17 (men), with 2–3 alcohol-free days. | HSE |
| United States | Up to 2 standard drinks a day (men), 1 a day (women). | Dietary Guidelines |
| Australia | No more than 10 standard drinks a week, and no more than 4 on any day. | NHMRC |
| New Zealand | Up to 10 standard drinks a week (women), 15 (men), with 2+ alcohol-free days. | alcohol.org.nz |
| Canada | A continuum: 1–2 drinks a week is low risk, 3–6 moderate, 7+ increasingly high. | CCSA |
| France | No more than 10 drinks a week, no more than 2 a day, with days off. | Santé publique France |
| Germany | Traditionally up to ~12g a day (women), ~24g (men), 2+ alcohol-free days. Germany's newer guidance says there is no risk-free amount of alcohol. | BZgA thresholds · DGE 2024 |
| Spain | Low-risk thresholds of up to 10g a day (women), 20g (men), and less is better. | Ministerio de Sanidad |
"Above" and "well above" on this page are plain-language groupings relative to each country's own guideline, not official medical risk categories.
Questions people often ask
How much alcohol is safe to drink in a week?
No amount is completely "safe", and each country draws the line differently. The UK guideline is no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, which is roughly six medium glasses of wine or six pints of average-strength beer. Australia says 10 standard drinks a week. Canada's newer guidance treats risk as a sliding scale that rises from the first drink. The honest summary is: less is lower risk, and the guidelines are a helpful line to measure yourself against rather than a promise of safety.
What actually is a unit?
One UK unit is 10ml, or 8g, of pure alcohol. A medium glass of wine is about 2.3 units, and a pint of average-strength beer is roughly the same. Other countries count "standard drinks" instead, which is why this check works everything out for you behind the scenes and shows it in whatever your country uses.
Do I have to quit completely to take my drinking seriously?
No. Moderation is a legitimate, evidence-based path for people whose drinking sits in the mild-to-moderate range. You don't have to call yourself anything, or commit to never drinking again, to make a real and lasting change. That's the whole approach of my book and this site.
When is moderation not the right place to start?
If cutting back or stopping brings on shaking, sweating, nausea, or severe anxiety, that can be a sign of physical dependence, and the safe first step is your GP rather than a calculator. This is nothing to be ashamed of. It's a physical state that needs proper care first.
Can I get help to drink less online?
Yes. Online support can work well for people who want private, practical help to reduce their drinking without attending a group or committing to abstinence. Tansy offers private consultations and the Freedom from Overdrinking Blueprint for people who want structured online support to moderate their drinking.
Drink less. Live well. Feel free.
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