CathyM Weight Loss & Health Blog

I am down 8 pounds now since starting the Sonoma Diet on December 30. That’s a little over 3 weeks ago. I am happy with the progress!

One of the components of the Sonoma Diet is portion control. We do not count calories or weigh food, instead a plate is used as a visual for portion control. On Wave 1, which does not have fruiit, a dinner would be on a 9-inch plate with 30% protein, 20% whole grains, and 50% vegetables. For Wave 2, the main part of the diet, a dinner would be 25% protein, 25% whole grain, 25% vegetables, and 25% fruit. It sounds easy enough but it is a little hard to be exact. For tonights meal, I made an Asian salad with crab and peanuts as the protein. They were mixed in the salad so a little hard to use the plate for measurements. However, what I do is pay attention to the total amount of protein and then know my portion. In other words, I have a pound of crab and I can have about a quarter pound of it, so therefore a quarter of the finished salad. During the 1980’s I used the Diet Center to loose weight and we always measured 4 ounces of protein. I am pretty good at estimating how much protein I am eating.

I am also using portion control on my wine by using a very small wine glass. Most of my nice wine glasses hold quite a bit more than 6 ounces. This small glass only holds 4 ounces. Some nights I only have the 4 ounces and the times when I want some more, I know to only fill it up half way for a total of 6 ounces.

Yesterday I moved to Wave 2 of the Sonoma Diet. This is the main part of the program, it is the diet that we stay on until reaching goal weight. I am down 4 pounds so far (after 10 days of Wave 1). I feel great and am excited about Wave 2.

The first difference for Wave 2 is that we add fruits! There’s an emphasis on berries – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries – because they are so healthy. There are many others as well and some that are allowed only once a day (of the 2 fruit servings per day). There is an expanded list of vegetables as well. Never any white rice or potatoes but there are sweet potatoes and carrots. I’ll write more about the Tier 1, 2, and 3 foods another day.

Another big addition is wine. It is wine because of its heart healthy benefits. The diet does not recommend substituting other types of alcohol. We are allowed one 6 ounce glass of wine a day. I think that’s quite generous (for a diet afterall). I measured a couple of wine glasses and I am going to try to use a small one that only holds 4 ounces and make that work most days.

I am still excited about the diet, still loving the food, and meeting some new diet pals at the Sonoma Diet Online

There’s an article yesterday about “Americans opt for healthy eating, not diets.” Eight out of 10 dieters said their goal was both to lose weight and improve their health. The Sonoma Diet tries to meet these goals with wholesome, fresh, and delicious food. I have just finished the first week and all of the food has been delicious.

I ordered The Sonoma Diet Book from Amazon and it arrived today. Although the online program is great, it does help to have the reference book too for quick answers on some things. One of my questions was can I occasionally substitute other alcohol for wine. The answer is no and the reason given is that only wine has enough healthy nutrients to make the extra calories worth it.

A couple of points from the introductory chapter of the book. The Sonoma Diet is not low carb or low fat. There are plenty of satisfying carbs and they are all whole grains – high fiber and healthy! The fats emphasize olive oil which has been shown to be heart healthy. By not depriving carbs and fats, this diet is satisfying and I hope one that I can continue with as an eating lifestyle for a very long time.

One thing I disagree with is the statement that it is “Simple for busy lives.” The meals take a long time to prepare. About 2 – 4 hours a day. Many of the lunch meals have as much preparation time as the dinners. I think that the longer I am on it, I will develop ways to shorten the preparation time or make substitutions but for now I am trying to stick fairly close to the menus offered online. I love the food and am willing to put in the time because of that.

I have a few more days on Wave 1 (1st 10 days of the plan are the most strict) and I look forward to seeing what new food alternatives there will be in Wave 2.

I have spent a lot of time shopping and in the kitchen the last few days. It has all resulted in delicious food. After picking up most of my produce and herbs at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, I made a trip to the grocery store to pick up additional items. Then today I went to a health food oriented market, Sprouts, to find the more obscure items. They had it all but I think I had to ask 4 times where something was. I needed wheat berries, and quinoa, and whole wheat bread crumbs. We had the quinoa tonight in a pilaf along with Braised Pork Tenderloin with Olives and Capers and a spinach salad. It was very good.

Yesterday, New Years Eve, I managed to eat healthy by bringing lobster and crab and cole slaw (from the diet recipes of course) to a party and drinking just a little champagne. We also danced – exercise is good! Earlier that day, we were scuba diving (that’s were we got the crab and lobster) and it all helped contribute to 3 pounds weight loss. Nice to get off to a good start!