CathyM Weight Loss & Health Blog

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.

Posted January 5th, 2008 under Diet Program Reviews, Health and Weight Loss, Nutrition and Weight Loss. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.