Clarification

British Chap · Post by **British Chap** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:52 pm

I'd appreciate a quick check on something becasue I don't think I fully understood some of the boundaries of NoS when I started.

Inititally I understood 'No Seconds' to mean no second helpings of any particular food during a meal. What I'm realising from reading other threads is that it actually means 'Single Course' or 'Single plate' at each meal. e.g It's NOT OK to have a full plate of Lasagne and green salad and then to follow that with a dessert replacement of oatcakes, apple and a slice of cheese - becasue that's 2 plates. In England - that's not what we'd call 'seconds' but it is a second plate of food which is actually what I think Reinhard is getting at. Am I getting this right? I don't want to be anal - just want to be clear on boundaries. Anyway - it seems to me that 'single plate' will certainly help you control calorific intake but also has the greater benefit of making sure that everything that goes on that plate is good quality.

Secondly - I've notice a few folks getting worried about having a glass of wine with their meal. For my money wine or a glass of beer falls within the NoS's rules i.e. it's not sugar-based - am I missing something here too?

Thanks

Gareth

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:15 pm

Well, I think some of it is open to interpretation. I interpret it as one serving of whatever is being served with the exception of desserts, unless the dessert is a serving of fruit (and not fruit with pastry, etc). I think the "no seconds" rule is more important than the meal being served on one plate.

There are some meals that fit nicely on one plate; there are others that don't --- but you're not having seconds on anything. I rarely put a salad on my dinner plate. It goes in a separate bowl. Of course, that might mean that my dinner plate holds only a serving of the main course, maybe some vegetables and bread.

Soups and sandwich for lunch is another example that doesn't fit on one plate. Soup in a bowl, sandwich and maybe fruit on the luncheon plate.

I think Reinhard includes wine with his meals -- I do at some. One glass, not two.

Do what works for you. Getting buried in the interpretation of the rules might defeat their simplicity.

ThomsonsPier · Post by **ThomsonsPier** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:29 pm

Just eat a sensible meal at your mealtime and don't worry too much. Your example is essentially two distinct meals, both covering all of the food groups, served consecutively. I would imagine that's technically within the rules, provided you count it as two of your daily food intakes.

I've recently been ignoring most of the rules in favour of the one 'S' that stands for Sensible. Find some posts about 'virtual plating' if you're still having problems.

Finally, I often have a glass of wine or beer with dinner. Or after dinner. And I own some very large glasses. I'd say that, as regards alcohol, calories are not the primary concern. Unless you're drinking alcopops, in which case I have no sympathy for you. Question for American folk: what exactly is a wine cooler (the thing you drink, not the one that keeps the white chilled)?

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:06 pm

Wine coolers are wine mixed with selzer or soda water.

ThomsonsPier · Post by **ThomsonsPier** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:17 pm

wosnes wrote:Wine coolers are wine mixed with selzer or soda water.

Aha! Thanks for that. That would be a spritzer over here. Mmm, wine.

david · Post by **david** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:17 pm

I make everything fit on one plate. If I have a bowl of salad, I try to leave 1/4 of the dinner plate empty to compensate.

Last night I had some pasta with tomato-mushroom sauce and some steamed asparagus. I had a banana as well, but I didn't want to get sauce on it so it wasn't literally ON the plate, but it would have fit for sure. This is virtual plating and my experience shows that it's easy to fool yourself and let the one plate concept get stretched out of recognition.

The great majority of the time I just do ONE plate with a minimum of virtuality or stacking. ONE is an easy number to count.

--david

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:11 am

Officially, "no seconds" means stick with one physical plate. But feel free to adapt it to your preferences if that makes sense. There are times when one physical plate is just not possible, and your British definition is the only reasonable option (or "virtual plating").

Drinks (unless they're full of sugar) are not covered by no-s. You can drink all you want, even caloric drinks like milk and booze. I have a separate system called glass ceiling for limiting alcoholic intake (for the sake of brain cells, not fat cells). As for juice and milk, yes they are as caloric as sugar soda, but they're hard to drink in anything like the same quantities: they taste like a they have a lot of calories, they're cloying past a very small amount. Plus they have redeeming nutritional value. So I don't worry about them.

Reinhard

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:17 am

Speaking of full of sugar drinks, here's a lovely one for an S-day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caipirinha

Ignore the obnoxious hipness. It'll be unhip soon enough.

Reinhard

david · Post by **david** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:51 pm

The new mojito, perhaps?

I came upon a weird combo last night but it was really good! It was 3 parts lightly sweetened iced tea and one part chocolate soymilk.

--david

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 3:01 pm

I've heard of the Caipirinha before. It sounded interesting.

I once started to make a mojito and realized I had no rum, so made it with tequila instead. It was pretty darned good! I called it the tejito.

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:12 pm

You have to limit alcohol to one or two glasses because it has a lot of calories. Also, I have found that alcohol makes you feel more hungry. Juice can be dangerous because it has a lot of calories. I limit mine to 1/2 to 1 cup per meal. I mix with water so it is not so sweet.