>Home>Anti-Aging Nutrition>Diet>The Sonoma Diet

The Sonoma Diet for Healthy Eating and Weight Control

From Roma to Sonoma: The Sonoma Diet Brings the Mediterranean Diet to Your Family Table

Though Connie Guttersen, R.D., Ph.D. titled her very popular book, The Sonoma Diet , I just hate to put it in the diet book category.

Ladies’ Home Journal dubbed it “The Food Lovers’ Diet”, which I find more apt.

Guttersen herself calls it “a celebration of food. There are no foods that you're not going to be able to have on this diet. It's a lifestyle.

The Sonoma Diet isn't about deprivation. It's a celebration of foods that becomes a way of eating for life. You don't want to go back to what you were doing before.”

As a registered dietician specializing in obesity research with fond memories of childhood meals at her grandparents’ home in Italy, Connie has the wherewithal to bring the art and science of food together in a unique way.

To those who say, “But I can’t get or afford the gourmet or imported items called for in the Mediterranean Diet”, Connie points out that Sonoma, California is on the same latitude line as the countries which made the Mediterranean Diet famous.

Sonoma boasts of olive groves, lush vineyards and fresh produce every bit as nutritional as those found in the countries bordering the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Sonoma Diet makes it easy and fun to bring the Mediterranean Diet to your family table. At the core of the Sonoma eating style are: several power foods; European ways of preparing and enjoying them; and a marvelously easy approach to portion control.

No matter what your current weight, you will find much of interest in The Sonoma Diet. Make eating joyful (again?). Maintain or achieve a healthy weight without depriving yourself of entire food groups which your body needs to thrive.

Connie has broken the diet into three “waves” to accommodate any reader. Wave One is intended to jumpstart those who want to lose weight. Wave Two is less restrictive and is followed until one reaches goal weight. Wave Three is for the rest of your life.

The recipes are delicious and eye-appealing. Connie’s belief is that, "when you're eating nutrient-rich foods that are flavorful, you're more satisfied and you're not going to be hungry.”

Sonoma Diet Power Foods

The powerhouses of the Sonoma Diet have high nutritional value and relatively few calories. In addition they have other recognized health benefits such as reducing cancer risk and improving heart health.

In alphabetical order, they are: Almonds (and a few other nuts like walnuts), Bell Peppers, Blueberries, Broccoli, Grapes (including wine in moderation), Olive (or canola) Oil, Spinach, Strawberries, Tomatoes, and Whole Grains.

In just a few cases, the powerhouse foods should replace what you currently use, like olive oil instead of corn oil and whole grains instead of highly refined grain products.

In some cases, you should substitute lower-fat versions of what you currently eat, like low-fat milk in place of whole milk.

Despite the recently-released headline-grabbing study reporting that low-fat diets do not significantly reduce risk of cancer and heart attack, choosing low-fat options is still advisable. Low-fat foods make healthy eating sense because they are less calorie-dense than the full fat versions.

Don’t cringe at my use of the “C” word. With the Sonoma Diet, you don’t count calories. Rather you control calorie intake by portion control.

Except for the minor substitutions mentioned above, no natural food group is prohibited in the Sonoma Diet. Just make healthy choices within each food category: lean meat and poultry; lower sugar, lower starch vegetables; whole grains rather than highly processed ones.

Enjoy Your Food Like the Mediterraneans Do

Part of the Sonoma Diet is a philosophy about food. Food should be savored, enjoyed and shared with pleasant company whenever possible. During Wave One, you’re advised to have one slooooow meal a day. No eating on the run, standing up, or in the car.

Sit down and enjoy your food with those you love. You may be surprised at how much you start to look forward to these daily “celebrations”.

“The Sonoma Diet’s secret to weight loss is rediscovering the ‘right way to eat.’ It’s about the sensual joy of savoring a variety of fresh, wholesome, and delicious foods. In other words, you’ll be adopting a new eating lifestyle.

You’ll find it far more pleasurable and satisfying than the one you’ll be leaving behind. The Sonoma Diet lifestyle will be a part of you long after you’ve reached your target weight. It will keep you slim, healthy, and enjoying every meal for the rest of your life.

You’ll also notice a difference in the way you think about food. As you leave the old bad ways behind and adopt the new good ways, you’ll discover an amazing thing.

The new way tastes better! You’re feeling better, you’re losing weight—and you’re enjoying your meals more than you ever thought possible.”

The Sonoma Diet Makes Portion Control a Breeze

Go to your kitchen right now and measure one of your dinner plates. My everyday plates measure nine inches rim to rim. This is quite a common size and is what Connie recommends as a guideline for portion control.

A “healthy” nine-inch plate for dinner (in Wave Three) is comprised of 50% vegetables, 25% protein and 25% carbs. What could be easier? No fair piling your food to the sky though; you’d only be fooling yourself!

Plate sizes for portion control are different for breakfast; and the food group proportions vary slightly in Waves One and Two. The point is you don’t have to count calories, weigh your foods, calculate points or keep food diaries.

Explains Guttersen, “With the Sonoma Diet, there's no obsessive weighing or calculations. It's an easy plan that teaches you how to put the right amounts and right combinations on your plate so that, after a while, it becomes visual to you. You get it. After a few weeks you know what your plate should look like. It's about the right amounts and balance of these foods."

Sample Recipes from The Sonoma Diet

Braised Hunter-Style Chicken
Makes 6 servings.

• 3 lb. meaty skinless chicken (for example legs, breast and thighs)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 T. olive oil
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 ½ c. chopped onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ c. dry red wine
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 14-oz. can stewed tomatoes
• 1 t. dried thyme, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 T. chopped Italian parsley
• 1 ½ T. lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In large skillet, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Lay in chicken and cook until lightly browned; about 10 minutes each side. Remove chicken and cover to keep warm. Drain off oil, leaving 1 T.

2. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic. Sauté until tender. Stir in wine and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, until most of liquid has evaporated (1 to 2 min.). Add stewed tomatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Return chicken pieces to skillet.

3. Cover and simmer 20 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

4. Arrange chicken on a platter. Sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with lemon juice.

Mediterranean Sautéed Greens For spinach, broccoli, broccoli raab and other greens with a Mediterranean flair, sauté the greens in a little olive oil. Season with salt and a splash of lemon. Drizzle with honey.

Roasted Asparagus
Makes 4 to 6 servings

• 1 ½ lb. fresh asparagus
• 2 t. Italian seasoning mix or 2 t. of your own combo (e.g. thyme, oregano and rosemary)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 oz. Parmesan cheese, shaved

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Preheat heavy shallow roasting pan for five minutes.

2. In a large bowl, toss asparagus with herbs, oil, salt and pepper.

3. Spread asparagus in a single layer in the preheated pan. Roast, uncovered, until spears are tender when pierced with fork (about 12 to 15 minutes). Stir once during cooking.

4. Arrange asparagus on serving platter and sprinkle with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Try the brand new online Sonoma diet plan if you want to control your weight without strict dieting.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be taken as medical advice.

 

| Top | Diet | Antiaging Nutrtion | Home |