Stay in the Blue 17+

I have a long history of binge drinking to extreme excess, and this app has really helped me keep control on my drinking. I use it almost every time I drink because it is so helpful. Being able to see on a little graph how far you are is helpful, as it’s easy to down drinks without realizing the future consequences. I know this seems like a stupid app made by UofM to stop binge drinking, but it is helpful for those of us who struggle with binge drinking. If you have a history of extreme intoxication (like ending up in the hospital as I have), I highly recommend.

The only thing is that the drink categories are a little weird, like some drinks I’ve never heard of and can’t find through Google (like Angry Ogre (which might be a typo of Angry Orchard?)) and could be updated to include Four Loko’s and hard seltzer’s. Furthermore, an option to customize your drink w/ ABV could be helpful, because even for wine some wines are 5% and some are 15%, and there could be a serving guide to go with it. I know it’s a lot to ask, but to be able to search for your specific Franzia wine or hard cider could make things more accurate.

The only other complaint I have is that it’s sometimes hard to track your log when you’re testing potential drink additions, like sometimes I see what my ABV could be with another glass of wine, but each test makes it harder to see what I have actually drank. If there could be a feature to test what each drink would add to my BAC that’d be great.

Anyways, this is a great app, especially for those like me who binge too much like me.

I’ve tried staying in the blue, on one occasion, just to see what it’s like to stay true to the name of the app. Well, you might as well call it “stay in the blue balls” because the blue region did not provide any enjoyment, and in fact, the “staying in the blue” experience brought me back to sophomore year of high school cuddling with a friend of mine during movie night. Since then, the red zone has been the goal.

Of course, there’s a certain level of enjoyment that I garner from emptying the bottle by adding drinks on the app, but once the bottle is finished, I find myself reflecting on my decisions and guilt, denial, and then finally despair set in, in that order.

Overall, very highly recommend this app and find it particularly reminiscent on my past life as well as my current motives.

This app helps to limit my drinking. Initially, adding drinks is fun because I get to watch the bottle empty. But once the bottle gets to the bottom, drinking additional drinks becomes pointless to me. So the effects of this app are an increase in rate of consumption and a decrease in total consumption. Which I am usually thankful for the following morning.