Not particularly fun talking to myself this week but I don't want to discourage any newcomers. Yesterday was abyssmal for me and veggies

B: smoothie with greek yogurt, frozen raspberries, whey protein, sugar free davinci syrup, sugar free latte
L: smoky slow cooker chili, slice of multigrain bread, roasted green beans, 1 clementine
D: 1/2 pita and hummus, peanut butter, left over rotisserie chicken. Not sure what this was about but I just didn't feel like fixing a real meal.

Im completly off sonoma until the 28 and im out of town so i jsut wanted ot say

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

hopefully i wont gain too much

Salad tonight!

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a good holiday. Remember it is a holiDAY, not a holiWEEK. I'm home and not in control of my food so trying not to get too far off track.

For a week I have been eating our traditional holiday food that is very unhealthy.
It makes me feel tired, achy and bloated.

Starting in the AM I am going to make the best choices I can
until I learn more about Sonoma. I know some about the diet
and I know a fair amount about heart healthy diets so I can make
good choices until I learn more.

We are traveling and visiting relatives Mon-Thursday so that will be a
challenge. My aunt will cook for us , and I will eat what she cooks but
most of the trip will be eating out .

I think I will stock a cooler with raw veggies/fruit/ and some rotisserie chicken.

Welcome Nancy. Fruit, veggies, and rotisserie chicken is certainly a good place to start. Do you have the Sonoma book? If not, I recommend getting it. It is full of great info. There are also a couple other books on Mediterranean eating/dieting that I like a lot. One is called Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less by Walter Willet and Mollie Katzen and another is The Mediterrasian Way by Ric Watson and Trudy Thalen. All three are very good, include great recipes and meal plans and give you a good overview of this way of eating. Sonoma is by far the most structured approach to Mediterranean dieting so if you need that-tells you how much of what to eat every day-then it is the way to go. If you are one of those people like me who can see the big picture and sort of work it out for yourself, you might like one of the other books better or even all three. There are other books, of course, these just happen to be my favorites.

petra,
Thanks for the book info. I read Eat, Drink and Weight Less a while back.
I spent some time scanning the books at the book store last night.
My hubby is ready to make diet changes too but he may try a meal delivery system.
Giving up a lot of red meat will be easy because I don't eat much of it anyway.

How does this sound.

Breakfast- Protein shake with berries or
Whole grain cereal with fruit or
Eggs with veggies & fruit
Lunch- Leftovers or
soup & sandwich that follows diet
Dinner Sonoma or South Beach Recipe & Salad

Snack on fruit & nuts & yogurt & raw veggies

Sounds like you have the idea more or less. I haven't been posting my menu recently because I'm staying with family and have no control over what I'm eating. I eat what I'm served although I pass on certain items but I'm not deliberately planning meals that comply with my diet.

I recommend protein at every meal, particularly in the beginning. It will help you not feel as hungry. I do detailed meal planning way in advance. Don't know how well that would work for you but it has been sort of the missing piece of the puzzle for me. I would suggest as you try out new recipes, keep a list of ones you are particularly fond of so that you can use them repeatedly.