Monday March 6th will be 1 month for me so far on Sonoma. I have not lost one pound. During the 1st week I got a cold and so I did not even eat the 3x a day. The 2nd week was better- I was able to exercise a little every day- then I wound up with a flu-like relapse last week> mostly only eating chicken soup and salad. I find this to be not that much different from how I usually eat> I have substited brown rice for white rice, whole wheat bread for white, etc... and other than that- I never really drank soda or ate cake or ice cream so that is not even an issue for me as far as the sugar thing goes...I was really enthusiastic about this plan, but am becoming quite discouraged at this point and was wondering how everyone else is doing?

Not eating enough can also stall your loss, but remember.. you were sick not once but twice. Your body probably held onto everything it could to help you heal. If all you were eating was chicken soup and salad most days, that isn't nearly enough so it's no wonder you didn't lose.

As strange as it sounds, you have to feed your body to lose... starve it, either intentionally or unintentionally and it will hod onto a pound for dear life.

Also, never forget.. the scale is only one measure of progress and you are eating this way for more than just weight loss. You are eating this way for good health.

It's frustrating I know! same thing happened to me on WW but then all of a sudden it started falling off!

Hang in there!

Like you, I am very weight loss resistant. What LindaT said is really important: do NOT starve yourself. Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water. The weight WILL come of. Some of us just have to work harder at it.

What I do is follow a combination of Sonoma/South Beach in the types of food I eat. At the same time I watch calories. What I do is that I base my meal on 3 oz lean protein, then add 1 cup or so of cooked vegetables and a fresh salad. Also I need to make sure I eat what truly is 1 serving of carb, i.e. 1/2 cup brown rice, no more. I also make sure that I am eating the right amount of fat (mostly olive oil, as I don't like salad dressings or mayo, especially if they are low fat).

Good luck and don't give up.

I totally agree with LindaT and really have nothing to add except my experience. When I first started eating better (close to Sonoma but not quite) and exercising regularly, I did not lose a single pound or see any changes to the outside of my body for almost 3 MONTHS. Very frustrating, but as I was making a lifestyle change for my health, I stuck with it and am finally shrinking. Even better, my blood pressure and cholesterol have greatly improved from six months ago. Hang in there and do not starve yourself! Also, make sure you get lots of veggies. That seemed to make a big difference for me.

Thank you all so much for your replies and support ~ I will keep going with this plan, I really do like it. Hopefully when I get over this lousy cold I will be able to incorporate exercise as well> I am sure that will help
Good luck to all!

Hi there!

I think you will find that if you continue with the plan you will lose. I do think that you should eat the total allowance of food each day. Don't starve yourself.

Think of it this way the food is so very healthy it sure can't be bad for you and I do believe that if you feed your body correctly you will lose weight and not even feel like you are dieting.

Good Luck!

Hi everyone. I am glad to see I am not the only one to have trouble loosing. I am starting the Sonoma Diet today, and feel a little confused about the details. My main concern is how to balance so I eat enough to avoid the starvation mode, because I do exercise quite a bit( running, walking, tennis) only rest one day a week. A few months ago I tried South Beach, and the 2 first weeks lost 0 pounds. Of course I gave up. But reading some of the postings here, I see that things can take much longer to start happening. I don't have a lot to loose, that makes it harder also.
Does anyone have any useful advise for me?

dollidot, the first thing I would advise is to keep in mind that there are more reasons to follow this way of eating than to just lose weight. That is the only thing that kept me going last fall when I was eating clean and exercising and seeing no changes. I kept telling myself that my body was repairing itself on the inside and taking care of important things, like health, first.

If you follow the guidelines, you will get enough food. I exercised a lot during wave 1 (weights, swimming, biking, med-high intensity cardio in the gym; 5-6 days a week) and was generally OK. But ... I ate a little more, mainly additional vegetables. Remember, if you're truly hungry you can eat as many wave 1 vegetables as you like. There is no reason to be hungry on this plan.

Thanks Sherry. I know this is a very healthy life style, and feel good about that. Overnite I dropped about a pound of water, a very good sign.

I've been dealing with that icky flu-like stuff for about 2 weeks now, and I haven't really lost during that time, either. I also haven't had the energy to exercise since I've been sick. I'm just now starting to feel like my old self again, so I hope by the end of the week I can get back to my usual routine.

Hang in there, and like everyone else said, be sure you are eating enough!

Jeri

Jeri,
I am still trying~ feeling a little better each day. Concentrating more on getting well right now.
It's nice to know that I am not alone.
Hope you are feeling better as well! Maybe we are 'detoxing'
~we can do this~