Welcome! Here are my responses to your questions.
How was your first week?
Wave 1 is meant to get sugar cravings under control and acquaint you with proper portion sizes. I had already given up a lot of sweets, and don't do artificial sweeteners, so that part wasn't hard. Honestly, I was hungry a couple of times during Wave 1 but ate more Tier 1 veggies. I was surprised at how quickly I got used to eating less and am OK now.
Do you put anything on your toast in the morning?
Sometimes I have toast with peanut butter (all natural, of course). Other times, I make an "egg sandwhich" and put cooked egg on my toast.
Do you find you enjoy this way more?
More than what? But yes, I enjoy eating like this. We used to eat this way, years ago before I got so busy with work and started relying on "conveniece" food and eating out. Not surprisingly, didn't have weight issues then either. So doing this feels familiar and "right" to me. Processed food is really scary to me and I had forgotten how good real food can taste. I am making every effort to continue to eat this way no matter how busy I get.
Do you feel you have more freedom and energy on the Sonoma Diet?
Not really sure what you mean by "freedom." If you mean, because no single food group is "off limits," then I guess so. Never really dieted before, though I tried "low-fat" (and got heavy) then tried "low-carb" (and got even heavier). I am not really thinking of this as a "diet" but rather as a healthy way to live. My energy level is better, but that is also partially due to my exercise routine. My goal was to improve my health and the two (eating well and exercising) go together.
Is it something you think you can stick with pretty easily?
Yes, I think so. It is taking me some time to figure out how to pre-plan meals, shop accordingly, and prepare ahead of time what I can. But it helps during the week when I can have a fresh, made-from-scratch dinner on the table in 20 minutes. It's very gratifying when my family raves about how good it is, and I know I'm not feeding them crap.
I really, really, really think this is a great way to eat!
