What is a Two-Totaler?
I am a “two-totaler.”
A “two-totaler” is someone who won’t drink more than two alcoholic beverages per day. Its origins come from the term “teetotaler,” which is a person who doesn’t drink alcohol at all.
Why did I decide to become a two-totaler? Simply put, I wanted to place a boundary around the amount of drinking I’d do at any given time. This isn’t because I found myself drinking every single day or had the urge to drink regularly. It’s more about creating a set of controls and certainty around something that had the potential to put in me in a position where I’d have less control than I’d like.
I contemplated quitting drinking altogether, but I didn’t want to go quite that far. I tend to make rules that go to the extremes in order to create constraints, but this time I decided to approach the process differently. I wanted to avoid full-on deprivation but still have a definitive stopping point when out in a social setting.
Becoming a two-totaler is where I landed.
I considered other options as well, like becoming a “three-totaler” because it rhymed with teetotaler. But I know that three drinks would be one step too far, especially considering my affinity for IPA beers, which usually clock in at 6.5% alcohol or greater per bottle.
I’ve taken the following measures to support this new approach to drinking as well.
- I’m not keeping beer at home. If I want to enjoy a beer at home, I’ll grab only a single can or two from the liquor store.
- Once I hit the two-drink limit, I’ll switch to non-alcoholic beer or water because I don’t drink soda.
Those are the two rules that support my two-totaler lifestyle.
I’ve long said that frameworks foster freedom and becoming a two-totaler is another example of this in action. It also checks off all the boxes I want in a framework in that it is simple enough to understand, flexible enough to allow some variety, and durable enough to stand the test of time.
