Everyday Systems

Hey all-

Just got Reinhard's book and it's a great GREAT bible for anyone who is like me and just can't get enough of his philosophies on the No S Diet phenomenon. The website does break down pretty much in general what the diet is about, but the book gives in-depth breakdowns of all the boundaries (No Snacks, No Seconds, No Sweets, S Days, etc) to the point where every question you have will be addressed in the book.

That being said, I want to add a little issue I'm having with mixed drinks. While Reinhard does state that having alcohol is fine and you can drink on N days, I have a feeling he really means wines or liquor on the rocks. My issue is that two to three times a week my friends will buy a bottle of Brandy or Rum, and then get a 2 liter of Pepsi or coke to mix the alcohol with. I am wondering if this is okay to do on N days? Mainly because as we know, coca-cola and Pepsi are known as Sweets and that is a no-no in the No-S diet rules.

I admit I like to drink socially, and this could be a problem. However, I am not one to do shots a lot- and find it easier to mix my alcohol with coke or sprite. But if we can't do that, what about OJ or other juices?

Yes, a screwdriver is fine. Soda would be an S-day mixer.

But the problem with mixed drinks is that it's WAY the devil too easy for your hand to slip and you to have what's really two drinks in one. A shot is an ounce of liquor, remember.

I'll admit to having a problem with this -- that is, the mixers. There's actually as much sugar in juice as in soda. So (and this is my personal opinion) I don't see a problem with using soda as the mixer instead of juice. Just remember the glass ceiling and limit yourself to two drinks.

I understand Reinhard's rationale -- it just doesn't make sense to me.

*chuckles* Or just have a nice martini and be done with it.

No soda on N days, with or without alcohol

I think there's a whole class of sweet drinks that are more dessert than they are beverages -- appletinis and white russians and so forth. Soda as a mixer seems more gray-areaish to me, But I'd probably either use diet soda (which I like) or make a screwdriver/Cape Cod type of thing with juice, or just make a non-sweet drink, with tonic or soda water.

And I think the glass ceiling is pretty important, because that scenario sounds like a recipe for getting falling-down drunk! Perhaps I'm just remembering my college friends ...

Or do what I do; enjoy No-S and ignore glass ceiling. They're separate systems, to my understanding.

I just don't drink alcohol of any type on N-days. My own personal preference of course, but I find that in the drinks that I like (mixers, hard lemonade), it's just a lot of empty calories. I'm not a wine drinker, so that doesn't factor in either. But then I am also a person who will not drink fruit juice on N days - lots of sugar and calories that I don't really need. I get plenty of fruit anyway, so I don't really need it in juice form.

But that's just me.

I simply use Diet Coke/Pepsi as the mixer. I have a problem of not drinking enough, so I don't limit myself even on N-days. Of course, that leads sometimes to nights like last night, where I had 5 SRN(D)Cs.

Hmmm, I personally just skip it.

I like wine with dinner, so I do have a glass almost every day. Doesn't seem to cause any problems.

I could do a glass of red wine every night quite happily, especially while I am cooking.
I am currently saving it for S-Days, not a hard and fast rule but alcohol really affects people in different ways. After 2 drinks, I have an immediate loosening of my resistance to everything and I will eat and I won't care till the next day. I get bingey, I end up giving in to my most self-destructive tendencies. So, I try to limit the damage I might do and save it and the calories for the weekends. I hope, someday to be at a place of habit where I can roll the one good glass of wine back into my daily menu.