Everyday Systems

Wine is my sweet of choice. I could easily not eat sweets (candy, pastries etc.) but love wine and could easily have more than 2 glasses each day. I had posed this question before and glass ceiling was recommended for N days and on S days. It's been a while since I asked this question and there are new folks around now. What do you think? Should wine be an S (possibly going beyond 2 glasses but without being an idiot) or stick to glass ceiling on both S or N days?

That being said I haven't been following No S for a while but am looking back into this sane way of eating.

Thanks for your help!!

Hi Jaob,- That's a very individual choice! Personally, I don't drink very often, but my policy is a glass ceiling of: 1 on N days and 2 on S days. I have maybe 1 red day a year, where on an S day I go over a little bit. But this is totally separate from the NoS diet for me. I wouldn't recommend getting drinking mixed up with the S's of the diet.

Sweets can make you gain weight. Wine can make you gain weight AND impair your functioning and judgment.

The reason for the glass ceiling is different than the reason for no sweets.

You are the grownup here, but glass ceiling is a good, reasonable rule. It keeps you far from binge drinking. And I say this as someone who also loves wine.

Just in case you were still wondering, beverages are not restricted with the NoS diet. So definitely wine (or a strawberry margarita) is not considered an S.

I'm a big fan of wine too. I'm also partial to a nice cocktail, although I do define sweet cocktails (with fruit juices, cream, chocolate, etc) as a dessert, not a drink.

We all get to choose how we follow No-S. For example, I treat PB&J as an S, whereas I know lots of people here wouldn't. The thing is that I know that for me, the sweet/salty combo is a treat, and a trigger for overeating. Lucky for us, the system is flexible.

Personally, I would find a strict glass ceiling too limiting when I'm at a wedding or other special occasion. However, since I parent a young toddler, the situations where it is appropriate for me to drink more than a standard drink are few and far between, so my drinking is naturally very limited.

Making wine an S - I would rebel a bit against this I think. Some days when I am hungry and dinner is going to be a bit later, enjoying a small glass of wine while I cook is what helps me avoid nibbling on the food.

One thing I have found, since I gave up drinking for almost 2 years (pregnancy and then nursing), is that a small amount of good quality alcohol goes a long way these days. If you decide to cut back, you may soon fine that a smaller quantity of nice wine feels like enough.

Thanks everyone for the insightful replies. Hopefully this thread will help anyone else considering the same!! BTW-I am giving NoS another go. It is so sane and at this point in my life (52) I just need to settle into a lifetime of normal eating and stop dieting (which btw has gotten me nowhere). See you around the boards!!

Welcome back!!! Looking forward to reading your thread.

I found Glass Ceiling helpful, but not for weight loss. I found it helpful for what it was intended to do -- handle a drinking problem that was creeping up on me. (Matter of fact, I said that if I could not keep my drinking to two drinks a day for a whole month, I didn't need a system, I needed rehab. That worked well for me).

There were drinks I considered an S on the same criteria I had for other foods. Did it TASTE really sweet. (Appletinis, Cosmos, Mike's Hard lemonade). I did not classify my beloved Redneck Cardboardeaux (Boxed White Zinfindel) as a sweet, though, since it's wine.

These days, my drinking has tapered off to the point that while I consider Glass Ceiling to be in effect forever, in practice, I might have a glass of wine on two days in any given week. Didn't force it. After I instituted Glass Ceiling, it just happened.

If a glass of wine is part of your dinner ritual or your cultural conditioning, I don't think there's any real need to consider it an S. (It's not mine. 3 of my grandparents were teatotallers).

Thanks for your honest reply Noel!

Even though NoS would not consider wine an S I think we need determine some of our own Ses. But if I save wine for my S days I run the risk of having a bit too much to drink on S days-not good! Not quite the same as overeating icecream on S days So keeping glass ceiling in mind on all days is a smart choice for me and something I will work toward.

I would love to keep this conversation going if anyone else has some input/insight!