Siege

I hope this hasn't been brought up before. But i've always wondered how some people who are the same size as me can drink so much more than me.

I can understand how the guys that can drink cases and cases of beer as if it was water do it, they simply are much much bigger than me (I'm a pretty small guy).

But what about the people my size? Several of my friends can drink like there is no tommorow and still be fine.

Some people I talk to simply say it's practice, and some people have little "tricks" ie: someone suggested eating lots of bread first (Not sure about bread, but I do hear that drinking on a full stomach is much better than drinking on an empty one), and like Cal from Undergrads says "beer before liquor, get drunk quicker. Liquor before beer, you like Pam Greer" I doubt the accuracy of anything uttered from Cal

So how about some tips from the TFPers?

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Suave

First of all, some people are just genetically better at it. Now for the things you can control:

-having more lean muscle mass (ie. bodybuilding) will allow you to consume more alcohol without being affected
-eating beforehand will allow you to consume more (especially something starchy like pizza)
-drinking smallish amounts from early in the day (~1-2 drinks per hour) will make you feel it less once you start drinking in earnest, though I'm not sure how your motor skills will be
-drinking frequently in general, even if only a couple per day, will increase your tolerance
-get enough sleep. Being tired+drinking alcohol = double the effect of the booze

Personally though, I do everything I can to be a cheap drunk.

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ngdawg

Perhaps it's not that they can 'hold more' but perhaps their drunkedness is not as apparent. In any case...bread does help-anything that's filling will, really-to help slow down the buzz. Also, it really isn't a good idea to mix the different types of booze. Stick to one thing, whether it's beer, mixed drinks(by the way, the sweeter the drink, the sicker you'll feel regardless of how drunk you get). Wine makes you sleepy as well as drunk. I'm a lightweight with alcohol as well and quite frankly, while a buzz is ok, riproaring drunk is not all it's cracked up to be. Drinking should be part of the fun, not the hoped-for cause of it.

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scott_p_1

The practice thing is true. Back when I was in top drinking form, I could drink almost twice as much as I can now without getting sick.
And the food thing, yes, it's VERY true. I've gotten very drunk very easily on empty stomachs a couple of times. If I haven't eaten anything all day, I can't drink 1/2 as much as I can normally. My normal 'good buzz' amount had me hanging over a toilet bowl nearly passed out the last time I drank on an empty stomach.

My tip is: Don't worry about being a heavyweight. I like it better now that I can get drunk out in the bars for under $100. Just know when to stop so you don't get sick.

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pan6467

If you are looking for a cheap drunk, mix vodka or rum with Gatorade. As Gatorade targets getting into the body faster to hydrate it speeds the alcohol up.

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maleficent

Actually, it's beer before liquor never sicker...

getting sick is is a sure fire way to show you can't handle your liquor and perhaps shouldn't be drinking...

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Siege

Hmm. About that bodybuilding one, I did notice myself lasting longer after working out for 3 months. I've kept up with working out, so hopefully my tolerance is even better now.

I'm not looking to get drunk cheap, i simply want to last longer (makes me sound like i'm talking about sex )

It's because my buddy's birthday is coming up, and I predict a long night with drinking involved. So I want to be able to drink through the night and remember it the next day.

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"Your name's Geek? Do you know the origin of the term? A geek is someone who bites the heads off chickens at a circus. I would never let you suck my dick with a name like Geek"

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maleficent

Then it's about pacing yourself - don't guzzle -- alternate between a drink and either water or a soft drink.. don't mix... be careful of shots...

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StanT

My suggestion is to not look at drinking as a competitive sport. When you've had enough, you've had enough.

irateplatypus

ways to hold your drink better...

1. eat a meal before you drink in earnest. have a bit of food spread out through the evening.

2. drink more often.

3. drink the same type of beverage all evening

4. restrain yourself from acting like a friggin idiot

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Elphaba

Amen, Stan. I tried to drink with the "big" kids, and now I can't imagine why I even tried.

Pace yourself, Siege, and quit while you're ahead is my best advice. A DUI doesn't need to be in your future.

diddagirl

It definetely takes time for someone to be able to handle serious amounts of alcohol. For myself, it takes me alot longer to get drunk if I eat about 1/2 hour before I drink. Starches like breads and stuff are very good. Also, drink a glass of water after every single drink.

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Siege

One of my neighbours happens to be friends with my buddy. She was kind enough to be my DW - Designated Walker

(My buddy and I live real close together fortunately)

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"Your name's Geek? Do you know the origin of the term? A geek is someone who bites the heads off chickens at a circus. I would never let you suck my dick with a name like Geek"

--Kevin Smith

This part just makes my posts easier to find

stevie667

I've found with me, it's all about the type of alcohol. I'm not a small guy by anyones standards, but if i have two, yes two, pints i will be a complete wreck. Singing, dancing, all without leaving the comfort and safety of the floor.
I can also down two bottles of tequila (i can do 7 shots right down the hatch then lemon, i'm very proud of myself for it) and still be standing, singing and dancing.
Most other drinks have me in about the middle, but i try not to drink where possible these days, my brain still hurts from the last time.

I willl chime in for the bodybuilding one, though on a different note. I used to be roughly the same size about a year ago, and i could beat anyone under the table with *ahem* interesting substances, even though the guys i was doing it with were veritable experts on the subject, mainly because i have a fair few pounds of muscle mass over them.

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Ustwo

I used to have a huge tolerance and would 'warm up' with a pitcher before I even started to feel it.

Now I don't drink very often and it only takes a few beers to get buzzed.

This is a good thing as its cheap, less hard on the health, and no hang overs.

Yea in college we made fun of people with low tolerance, with such fun nicknames as 'two can', but once you grow up a bit its not a big deal.

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paddyjoe

She's pretty hot no matter what I'm drinking!

Pip

Some good, simple rules that have allowed me to party with the wildest and still keep my wits:
1. Eat properly beforehand. This has been said before, but it's important!
2. Alternate between alcoholic and soft drinks. One beer, one soda, one drink, one glass of juice and so on to stay hydrated.
3. Keep your own pace. Take smaller sips, stay away from shots and remember it's not a competition, it's about having fun!
4. (Optional in case of asshats) Pretend. Order alcohol free drinks that look just like ordinary. A glass of orange juice could just as well be a screwdriver, just drink it like you would drink a screwdriver!
5. Before going to bed, take a brisk walk and drink lots of water.

Some people have a higher tolerance by birth. Studys show that those run a higher risk of becoming alcoholics however, so don't be too jealous of them!

Vincentt

The people at my dorm (all japanese) are all small, and thus become very drunk quite fast even though they drink all the time.

They have developed a way to handle beer... but I don't think you're gonna like it.

At every party there is at least one... bucket. They will drink a huge bottle of beer then throw up, if they feel they have drank too much.... they will throw up.. then drink some more.

So... by forcing yourself to throw up Before you get too drunk.. you can drink more.

btw - this is horrid advice.

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Mephisto2

Asian people get drunk easier than Europeans. It's not a "problem" but is genetic in nature.

There's also quite a variance in alcohol tolerance in almost everyone.

Somethings that will help you "hold your drink" better are

1) Eat before you drink. This is a major factor. Carbs work best.
2) Drink a glass of milk before a major night on the town.
3) Avoid fizzy drinks; the bubbles increase the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream
4) Practice. I don't mean this facetiously, but like all drugs, you can build up (or at least increase) your tolerance to alcohol by using it more often.


Mr Mephisto

Ustwo

Most of them lack alcohol dehydrogenase. Basically their liver doesn't break down alcohol and it is only lost when expelled in the lungs. Common to all mongoloid peoples including native Americans, which is why they had so many problems with 'fire water'.

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World's King

You know how I drink so much?


I don't stop.

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Mephisto2

I'm not a medical person (unlike you Ustwo), but I believe it's a particular enzyme that they don't have? One that's used to metabolize alcohol. Is "dehydrogenase" an enzyme?

What purpose does it serve?

Mr Mephisto

Redjake

drink twice as much water as you drink alcohol and you can drink a disgusting amount of alcohol before getting sick. at least that's what I do. if you take a shot of vodka, drink two shots worth of water (or more). alternate between those and you can throw down some alcohol. I don't drink beer so I can't help you on anything but liquor.

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Ustwo

Says it better than I would.

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Ustwo

Hey I learned something new...

Its not alcohol dehyrogenase that asians lack but aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Its makes a lot more sense to me as I always wondered why they had such a strong, toxic seeming reaction instead of just staying drunk.

I hope you are all as thrilled as I am with this new information

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stevie667

I did a peice of biology coursework on dehydrogenase, but my ones made alcohol, not broke it own. I used potatoes with my dehydrogenase, so what did i make? vodka!
The stuff was great fun, i got the biology lab fish drunk on fumes (you'd actually be suprised how funny it is to get fish drunk) and made all kind of neat colours and bubbles by mixing it in with different compounds.

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streak_56

For me it was practice. Before I could drink ALOT. 24 of beer, 1/4 bottle of Ameretto, 1/4 bottle of 151, 1/4 bottle of Kaluha (sp?). That was probably me at my best, but right now, I think I am fine with just 3 drinks max. I get drunk faster on beer than I do on liquor. So I mostly stick with liquor. But right now, I haven't gotten drunk since December, I just don't see the point in getting drunk anymore.

Lead543

I'm a cheap drunk, but I'm 5'3" and about 115lbs...and a girl. If I drink 1/2 can of beer in 15 minutes I'm loaded. Not eating before drinking used to just make me feel sick, I didn't get drunk any faster. I think the rate you get drunk at has to do with tolerance. I know a few girls who can match guys drink for drink (what a talent yeeesh).

I don't understand the whole thing some have with how much alcohol they can consume. It's just more money, more calories, more strain on the body. Where's the accomplishment in that?

Frosstbyte

This sounds strange, but state of mind has a lot to do with it, too. I spent last summer in Moscow, and we expected to drink a lot, since Russians drink a lot of fucking vodka, more than you can possibly imagine.

A typical night went like this:
Three of us buy a 750 of vodka (for $2-5 and it tasted great, awesome) and drank it in a half hour at most before we left.
Go to club, drink at least 5-7 more shots.
Go to afterparty, drink 3-6 more shots.
Go back home and drink whatever people didn't finish during pregame.

For those of you counting, that's a whole lot of liquor in a night, but I never got sick and I never was trashed out of my mind, because I was expecting to "need" to drink that much and was prepared to do so. That might not work for you, but I was surprised how much more I drank there than I ever could here.

Other than that, the food thing is big. And your Cal friends got it mixed up, "Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you're in the clear." The logic is that beer takes some time to hit your system because it has more crap in it to be processed, so if you drink beer and then drink liquor, they're going to hit you at the same time. However, if you drink liquor first, that hits you immediately and then when you follow up with beer your body has some time to recover before it gets more alcohol in it. This rule of thumb does, in fact, hold true almost always, so don't worry about trying it "just to see."

And, as everyone said, drinking a whole lot really isn't something to aspire to, since you can overestimate and kill yourself, which is bad.

Daoust

I thought this was funny. Because, you know, most people after they spend a night out drinking are pumped to go out for a nice brisk walk around the block afterwards. Maybe they prepare ahead and get their workout gear on. Put their favourite 'brisk walk' CD in their walkman, and even maybe stretch so as not to pull a hammie.

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Disk_Pusher

My nickname at NAU was "Five-shot Liz".

'nuff said.

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skinnymofo

i too can vouch for this, at my prime (sheesh im 19 and already past my drinking prime) i would just have to mentally prepare my body with the savage onslaught it was going to take during the night. If i go in with the mindset of "Its time to get drinkin" and theres tons of alcohol its no prob.
but now if i dont its like maybe pound 3-4 beers, let digest for hour to make room.

oh and another way to hold more is to stand up when you drink.
and if you do one day to liquor before beer switch back to beer when you finish with the liquor itll make for an easier come down (atleast it has for me) and a energy drink of somesort (like redbull) with all its vitamins and stuff in it will help aleviate possible hung over effects if you drink some or mix it while your slurping down the brews.

MSD

Stay with one kind of alcohol. Don't switch back and forth between beer, liquor, and everything else, I think the medical reason has to do with the ratio of absorbtion rate to metabolizaiton rate, but I can't remember and I don't feel like looking it up. I do, however, know that I can sober up after a Poland Spring bottle full of Everclear faster than I can sober up after several beers (and Smirnoff ice, etc.) mixed with a few shots.

Siege

Well, i'm back from the party. I ended up drinking surprisingly little. Not because I got drunk fast, but because for some reason I got uber gassy, uber fast. Never happened to me before, but by the second beer and some other stuff, I felt really bloated.

Anybody got tips for that? The gas could have been dinner related, but I doubt it. Just some standard pasta.

My buddy did end up praying to the porcelain gods. But that was because he decided to do a shot for every person that was there, something like 12 people? Along with many beers while playing drinking games.

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"Your name's Geek? Do you know the origin of the term? A geek is someone who bites the heads off chickens at a circus. I would never let you suck my dick with a name like Geek"

--Kevin Smith

This part just makes my posts easier to find

hulk

speaking of drunk, I had 9 standard drinks at like 4pm. It's now 9pm, I'm still totalyl pissed. Whee!

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KeyserSoze

Now this is being written by someone who was a HEAVY DRINKER, and I mean HEAVY, Jack Black neat in a rocks glass, Miller Lite back every night for about eight years straight.

I sat and drank every night with others and some nights it would seem like nothing I drank would get me drunk, and other nights ...well most of the nights I would be three sheets into the wind.

Your body gets immuned to it just like anything else over time and quanitity and let me tell you I wish I could have had just two drinks and walked away but I was chasing that buzz all night long.

I go 6'2, thin build and I would drink others twice my size under the table many of nights.

Don't try to be the person who can drink the most and don't chase the euphoria feeling I did for all of those years as you will be headed down the wrong path..I PROMISE YOU THAT!

I use to think it was cool that I could drink so much J.D. straight and people use to cringe when they would see me drink a FULL ROCKS glass straight down (were talking about three shots for those of you not familiar with the term) and not miss a beat.

My bartab averaged about $150 a night and I eventually drank a business away, my family, friends and everything I owned, and I mean EVERYTHING, and became homeless.

I won't get into all of the totally dipshit things I would do in blackouts but lets just say one time at a party I stodd in my buddys living room and pissed in his fireplace in front of everyone, and that wasn't the worst.

I finally woke up one day and decided one of two things was going to happen that day...something was going to change or I was going to kiss an Amtrack train.....needless to say I'm writing this so you know I missed the train.

I walked into a rehab and asked for help, and i'm not talking about the Betty Ford clinic...this was a L.A. County run facility..a real shithole but it was the best thing that ever happened to me and I now donate time and money to this place for giving me my life back.

I did the time in county for the DUIs I ran from for six years and understood that I could have killed someone when I was drinking and driving and am grateful to God that I never did.

I have not had a drink in ten years and seven months, my perspective on life is better, I help others less fortunate then myself but best of all I appreciate my life now and all that I have each and every day.


Who gives a shit how much you can drink and if your friends think you're a wimp becuase you don't get shitfaced, passed out drunk.....FUCK THEM!

I use to think I was really cool at how much I could drink especially when I drank others twice my size under the table but when I look back now I wasn't cool I was STUPID..plain and simple.

Anyhoo...maybe this will help you or someone and maybe not, but I thought it should be mentioned if you're thinkiing about coming a power drinker.

Have a nice day

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Zeraph

Huh? If the point is getting drunk why would you want to spend more money to do it? (since you'd have to drink more)

I've never understould this odd attitude about drinking.

Zeraph

This is about the effects of alcohol.

0energy0

you can't hold jager bombs. trust me. i know.

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Johnny Pyro

I can handle alcohol like a pro because it runs in my family. Both sides. The Pyro family has self-medicated themselves for generations. I'm also 6'4" 210lbs. I think that helps also. I'm partial to Jager. I can drink a whole pint in 45 minutes, and be pretty buzzed, but not on my ass. All I do is drink Jager, I love it!

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