Wave 1 - Day 6

Breakfast was the usual:  1 cup oats with 1 cup almond milk.

Snack: cottage cheese with blackberries and some green tea

Lunch out: Ghengis Grill bowl
in the mix: fish, beans, brown rice, lots of veggies

Dinner: 1 slice 100% whole wheat bread, cherry tomatoes,
no sugar added applesauce

I went shopping!!!  Yay for a bigger variety.

Today was so much better than any previous day on this diet. I think that I'm finally nearing the end of the major physical withdrawals that came from quitting my beloved junk food cold turkey.  I finally feel the rewards of healthy eating, and am seeing how I could keep this up for a long time.

I'm still looking forward to wave 2, when I get to drink wine every day and have chocolate a few times a week.  :-)

Wave 1 - Day 5

breakfast: oatmeal with almond milk (more porridgey than usual)

snack: peanut butter with apple!

lunch: 50% veggies, 30% tilapia, 20% whole grains (barley)
with some evoo and vinegar

dinner: cooked veggies with vegetarian
refried beans

I felt like giving up again early in the day... but after my apple and PB snack, I felt so much better.  I think that I may be learning how to deal without junk food.

I am convinced now that what I'm dealing with is detoxing from a sugar addiction.  That's how crappy I feel a lot of the time.  But my friends and FB people advise me that the terrible cravings and physical shock will only last about a week, and after that I will feel better than ever.  So I'm going to hang in.

One thing that is new for me is that I am only eating when really hungry, because I am so sick of these foods that it's not fun to eat anymore.  This was the opposite intent of the diet, which is supposed to be all about learning to enjoy food more.

I think that because I have to stick to a budget, it is hard to have much variety through the week when my food list is so limited.  I can't buy a large variety of fruits and vegetables when I'm the only one eating them.  So I have to make do.

I'm looking forward to Wave 2, when I will be able to treat myself more often and have a bigger variety of fruits and vegetables to eat.

Wave 1 - Day 4

Breakfast: 1 cup oats, 1 cup almond milk

Lunch:  big salad 

snack: green beans

snack: apple

CHEAT snack: 2 cups popcorn with 1 tsp evoo

BACK ON TRACK dinner: tilapia and veggies

Today was tough.  It seems like every day is getting harder instead of easier.  Hence the cheating with the popcorn.  It was air-popped and 100% healthy, but not on the food list for wave 1, so it was cheating on a diet.  Luckily, I was able to stop after only a couple of handfuls and fix myself a  New Sonoma Diet dinner (minus the whole grains, because of the popcorn which I figure could count as my whole grain for the night despite it not being a wave 1 approved food).

So I'm going to stick to this diet for the rest of the 10 days of Wave 1 and then perhaps for another 20 days, but I'm not sure if I can do more than a month. 

I originally planned for 3 months, but... well, this may be too strict for me. I'm hoping to learn a few lessons from it (especially that I am capable of cooking several times a week and that health food makes me feel better that junk food does), and perhaps to get rid of the constant junk food cravings that I've had for months now.

Wave 1 - Day 2 - What I ate

1 cup oats, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 cup strawberries,
green tea!  I was full halfway through, so I saved the rest
for when I got hungry again...

I added 1/2 cup of cottage cheese to my breakfast
leftovers for a tasty snack!

Lunch was 2 vegan boca burgers with some ketchup
and a side of broccoli!  (Or was it a bunch of broccoli with
a side of boca burgers?) 1 tsp EVOO on the broccoli.

Dinner tilapia (cooked with EVOO and garlic) with a side of
veggies and barley.  In the mix of veggies: summer squash,
zucchini, bell peppers, red onion, and canned tomatoes.
Cooked with some cooking sherry and lime juice.
All seasoned with Italian seasoning.

Later I had a snack of celery and 1 tbs peanut butter.

I also enjoyed an orange!  And Diva and Jacques enjoyed
some begging.

I did pretty well today, but I was SO wanting snacks.  And not healthy ones.  I wanted chips and candy.  But I didn't have any of that, and I'm going to stick to this for 3 months like I said, so I settled for Sonoma-friendly snacks.  :-)

I'm off to get on my bike for an hour!  I don't think I mentioned this, but the NSD suggests 1 hour of exercise 5 days a week.  Nothing specific, just whatever I want to do.  And today, the bike fits into my schedule.

I hope that all of you are having great weeks so far, and that you are enjoying my food posts.

All about "Wave 1" of The New Sonoma Diet

So I started a new way of eating yesterday, straight from the book The New Sonoma Diet by Dr. Connie Guttersen.

I have eluded to how it works, and what it is, but I haven't really just outlined the plan on the blog yet.  That's what I'm hoping to do now!  Keep in mind that I am not suggesting that anyone else do this plan;  I am simply telling you what I'm doing.  If anyone wants more information, however, don't hesitate to ask me in the comments, on my FB page, or email me.  Not that I'm an expert on it yet.  I'm just someone who is reading the book.

Yep, I said "is reading" as in "I have not finished it yet".  I'm working on it, and this is a diet that one can start after only reading the first part.

The first thing to learn about The New Sonoma Diet (NSD from here on out!) is that it is divided into three parts, known as Wave 1, Wave 2, and Wave 3.

Wave 1 is the first 10 days, Wave 2 is the duration of the diet until one gets to one's desired weight, and Wave 3 is the way that one on the NSD should eat for the rest of their life.

Like other diets that are broken into parts like this, the first part is the strictest.

This diet is about food lists (lists of foods that are acceptable to eat on the plan) and plate filling guides.  As long as I stick to the foods on the lists and fill my plate according to the diagrams provided, I will lose weight without having to actually count calories (the calories are cut by simply following the other rules).

There are a few lists, and while on Wave 1, I am to stick to the list of Tier 1 vegetables (vegetables that are always unlimited;  I can snack on these whenever and stack my plates high with them at meals); tier 1 fruits (fruits are limited on Wave 1); lean proteins, healthy fats (3 servings daily of either specific counts of nuts, 1 tsp olive or canola oil, or 1/4 avocado); low fat dairy, and whole grains.

The plate filling guides for wave 1 are in this picture:

It says that for breakfast, there are 2 options (there is actually a 3rd option that is not pictured).  The first option is a 7-inch plate filled with 75% protein and 25% whole grains.  Option 2 is a 2-cup bowl of 50% whole grains and 50% dairy.  The third option is a 7-inch plate of 100% protein.

For lunch and dinner, one meal must be a 9-inch plate with 60% vegetables and 40% protein, and the other must be a 9-inch plate with 50% vegetables, 30% protein, and 20% whole grains.

Snacks are optional, but allowed.  There is a list of acceptable snacks, but I can also snack on tier one fruits and vegetables and healthy fats (remembering the daily limits on fruits and fats).  One option for a snack that I like is a half cup of low fat cottage cheese.

Here is my basic plan to get me through the next 9 days:  I will choose foods for each meal from below, which are all foods on the lists in the book that I like-

Breakfast (a 2 cup bowl of 50% whole grains and 50% milk, or a 7 inch plate of 75% protein and 25% whole grains)

•  oatmeal
• whole grain cereal
• milk (soy)
• eggs

Lunch (a 9 inch plate with 60% tier 1 vegetables, 40% protein)

• veggies- broccoli, salad stuff
• beans
• veggie burgers
• tuna
• spices and herbs

Dinner (a 9 inch plate with 50% tier 1 vegetables, 30% protein, and 20% whole grains)  

• veggies- salad stuff, frozen stuff, onion, zucchini, squash, peppers, asparagus, cabbage
• fish
• beans
• brown rice
• barley
• whole grain pasta
• spices and herbs

Snacks (whenever I am hungry between meals)

• 11 almonds
• low fat cottage cheese
• apples
• celery
• broccoli
• tomatoes

Drinks

• water!
• 1 can diet soda per day...
• tea 

Over all, it is a lot of food, and it is REAL food, which is healthier than what I had been eating.  I'm almost never actually hungry between meals, but I have a lot of "head hunger" because I am craving my junk food...

So far, I have had a few questions myself (and the answers that I improvised for me):
1) How many fruits are allowed daily for Wave 1? Up to two servings per day.
2) Is soy or almond milk okay? Yes.
3) How about ketchup? In reasonable amounts; use your head.

There are also rules about what to drink.  One of the purposes of this diet is to get away from artificial foods, including artificial sweeteners.  So preferably no more diet soda, but Dr. Guttersen says that if that is just not okay with me, I can have 1 can per day.  So that's what I'm doing.

There are no limits to caffeine, so long as they come from tea or coffee (unsweetened, of course).  I'm drinking lots of green tea.

So despite missing the taste of diet soda, I'm not caffeine-deprived.  Yay!

Okay, that's it for now...  I will be back late tonight with a food post for Day 2.

The New Sonoma Diet - Wave 1 - Day 1

1 cup oats, 1 cup light soy milk, freshly cut strawberries

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese for a snack

I made iced tea for the first time!  I went with green tea,
since there is a "one diet soda max per day" rule with the
NSD, but no limit to caffeinated tea or coffee.  And
I'm a tea person, not so much with the coffee.

Lunch was really good.  My first salad in a long while.
Spinach, bell peppers, red cabbage, red onion,
kidney beans, and a packet of light tuna.
Dressing was 1 tsp EVOO, some lime juice,
balsalmic vinegar,and some Italian seasoning.

I sneaked some celery into the movies...

Dinner was tilapia, veggies (zucchini, summer squash,
red onion, red cabbage, bell peppers), and barley, all
seasoned with garlic, evoo, vinegar, and Italian seasoning

No exercise today.  Planning to eat 11 almonds and an apple later if I get hungry again, but I don't know if that will happen.  If you couldn't tell be the pictures, this was a LOT of REAL food.  I'm  pretty satisfied. 

I will go into the details of the rules of The New Sonoma Diet Wave 1 (the first ten days) more tomorrow.  

All in all, I am very proud of myself today, and I foresee a great future with this diet, with a few tweaks to be made after my three month trial is over...

B.S.

Before Sonoma.  ;-)

As I mentioned in my last post, I am going to be starting a new dieting adventure soon, in the form of a three month dedication to eating as prescribed in The New Sonoma Diet by Dr. Connie Guttersen.  Also, I will be reviewing this book for you guys.

I thought that it would be a good idea to document this review every step of the way.

I thought about waiting until after the LSAT to begin, but I can't seem to stop my "last supper" eating, and I know how much weight I could gain by June 16th if I keep this up so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead and get right into this new way of eating on Sunday, June 2nd.

Since I am jumping head first into another diet (though I will be mostly calling it a "way of eating", which to me is less negative), I couldn't skip the most fun part.

For those of you who have ever set a start date for a new diet, you know that the most fun part of this is to engage in "last supper" eating.  So naturally, I couldn't skip out on that.  Here is what I bought today, to be consumed before the diet begins on Sunday morning (with plenty of help from Stacey, no doubt):

Jacques approved.
Not "NSD" approved, though...

Yeah...  I'm not proud of having done this, but I wanted to continue on in my honesty  here in the blog.  Whatever is left of this on Sunday will go straight to Stacey, who will not be joining me with this new way of eating, but who will enjoy the meals that I cook.

So here I am, starting a new diet.  In my progress photo outfit, I think that I look pretty good:

But that can be deceiving, so I thought that I would take some REAL progress photos, featuring myself in a sports bra.

Here are the "official" BS pictures:

BUT... I don't want anyone to think that my number one goal with this new way of eating is to get smaller.  Nope, my number one goal is health.  (Longevity is my ultimate goal, but I know that even great health cannot always guarantee a long life.)

I just want to do a thorough review for you guys, and I know that many of you will probably want to know if I lose any weight during these three months.  While I am not going to weigh in, I have no problem taking progress pictures.  And YES, I would love it if I got smaller, at least small enough to fit into my 14's again, but that is not my #1 goal with this.

Because I am reviewing the diet, I am going to have to see if it lives up to its claims.  One of the claims that The New Sonoma Diet makes is right on the cover:

"Trimmer Waist, More Energy 

in Just 10 Days".  

I pretty much call BS on that claim, but I will be posting updated photos after the first 10 days, as well as reporting on any notable differences  in my energy levels.

The first 10 days are more restrictive than the rest of the plan, but still don't seem too bad.  For me, the hard part is going to be giving up ALL JUNK FOOD.

Yes, me, the junk food queen (a recent title I reluctantly gave myself) is going cold turkey off of the stuff.

In that way, this diet is VERY restrictive.  But in actual amounts of food, it is not restrictive.  And in the fact that I don't have to count calories (or anything else), it is not restrictive.

There is a list of foods to choose from for Wave 1 (what the first 10 days are called).  This list includes unlimited amounts of "tier one" vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats.

guidelines for what to eat on Wave 1

I generally call BS on the idea of making any vegetables or fruits off limits, but I am going hard core here, so will abide by the tier one boundaries for the first 10 days.

The good news is that pretty much all of my favorite vegetables to cook (peppers, onions, squash/zucchini, asparagus) are tier one veggies.  The bad news is that my favorite fruit to eat is a tier three, which means no bananas for 10 days.  But I can deal.

Okay, so my plan is to begin first thing Sunday morning, which means that I need to prepare my kitchen accordingly.

I'm planning to spend a part of Sunday preparing for the rest of the week.  Getting all my vegetables chopped up and in containers for easy access for cooking quick meals throughout the week, cooking a giant pot of brown rice to use throughout the week, same for some beans, and defrosting some fish.

Another thing that I'm going to try to do:  Blog my eats every day of Wave 1, including pictures, for you guys.

Okay, I think that I'm ready to go now.  I'm looking forward to starting this, despite the withdrawals I'm bound to have...  I will miss my chips, pizza, and cake.  But none of those should be eaten regularly by someone who wants to be really healthy.  So, I'm doing this.