So, here is the deal:

I did 1.5 days of Sonoma last weekend before some retirement dinners on Monday at work. I knew there were coming, so I didn't really plan to 'start' until this past Tuesday. I did great Tuesday - Friday night, but then I was visiting some friends for the weekend and had a non-sonoma-but-still-pretty-dang-healthy weekend. I know that this coming weekend again I'll have to be 'off' the diet simply due to eating what other people are preparing for me...

I am pretty strict while I eat alone, and I eat halthily when I'm not alone... so how many days before I switch to Wave 2? I can't imagine actually having 10 straight days on Wave 1.

Ok, this may be considered sacrilege, but here is my not so humble opinion.

I lost my weight following the Mediterranean plan, which is what the Sonoma diet is based upon. The Med diet didn't have any portion control mechanism built in, so I had to come up with my own. I didn't use any 10 day period to purge myself of cravings or anything like that. I think by the numbers on my tracker, I have been fairly sucessful. Of course I'd like to have been at goal by now, but wishing doesn't get us there.

What I am saying is for me, I didn't need this 10 days period to get rid of cravings. I am not sure every one needs this, but I am sure some do need this. The only purpose of the Wave 1 is to get rid of cravings. If you aren't struggling with those, then you may not need this sort of 10 day jumping off point.

I agree with Linda.

When I started to change my eating back in September, the goal was to make a healthy lifestyle change, not to dump a bunch of weight in a hurry. My eating has gradually evolved into the Sonoma Diet. It appealed to me, and still does, because of its emphasis on real and unprocessed food, portion control, and veggies.

My lifestyle includes lots of social eating -- large family that likes to party . Usually it's pretty easy to conform restaurant meals to the Sonoma Diet. It's not always so easy when there is a set menu, but this is what I learned from the Sonoma Diet so far: I don't have to eat a huge piece of birthday or wedding cake, a small piece is just fine; raw vegetable appetizers taste just fine without the ranch dip; it's OK to leave food on a huge plate.

I think for you to succeed, make it fit you. Like Linda said, maybe you don't need Wave 1. I don't think I needed it, but I did Wave 1 anyway for 11 days (guess why!) and enjoyed the accelerated weight loss. Now I feel like I'm more on Wave 3 than Wave 2, but I'm still dropping about a pound a week.

Oh! This is so great to hear!

I've -never- really had sugar cravings, so cutting it all out wasn't a big deal for me. And I've found that as long as I get enough to eat, I don't really have processed food cravings, either.

I do love dark chocolate (the darker the better!) but it's never been in 'craving' form. Maybe I'll switch to a Wave 2 style (except I don't really like fruit, so I won't have that too often anyway) Wave 1 style hybrid, and just try to keep some main things in order.