The chicks had this book on the home page earlier this month and I wish they had left it up a little longer. I got it and haven't read it cover to cover yet but I wanted to mention it here for a couple reasons. First, it is based on the Mediterranean diet. I recall several people saying that they thought Sonoma/Mediterranean diet were very healthy diets but they found them difficult for one reason or another. This book goes out of its way to try to make this easy. They have a 3 week diet spelled out in detail exactly what to eat every day for those that need that. They also have a 1 week "portable plan" for busy people who don't like to or can't cook for one reason or another. My only personal criticism so far is that it doesn't have a sugar detox period which I think is probably necessary for most people but not everyone would agree with me about that. Those of you struggling with Wave 1, you may want to take a look at this book. It might give you an alternative way to get comfortable with this style of eating.
No, not the Dean Ornish book. I think he did write or co-write a Mediterranean light book but he is known for a different program. This is written by Walter Willet from Harvard and Molly Katzen? Walter Willet has written many books about nutrition and published many journal articles on this topic. He is very well respected in the field of nutrition. I think the chicks keep the stuff that was on the home page forever so you can still find it.
Now that I have looked at the book a little further, some other positive points are that most of the recipes are for small quantities like 1 or 2 servings which is great for people like me who live alone and don't like having to make huge quantities of something I may or may not end up liking. There are also some healthy snack food recipes in there. I know "Connie" discourages snacking for the most part but a lot of us need this to keep from overdoing it at meal time so it is nice to see some creative options. I think she would even approve of these in small quantities. I also have times, particularly when I'm on call (I'm a doctor) when cooking is just too much effort. Having an alternative to get through that is great. I think I could live with their "portable plan for a few days if I had to. Sure beats ending up at McDonalds because I can't stand the thought of cooking dinner after working 12 hours.
I am one of those people who does not need the "sugar detox" period. I try to eat healthfully most of the time anyway, and only indulge in the sweet bad stuff on holidays, birthdays, etc. However, reading some other forums as well as this one, I see people who have a terrible time saying "no' to the office pastry cart and can't pass a checkout counter without grabbing a Snickers bar.
I'm going to rave about this book a little more. They also include a little test they call a "body score." It is a way of testing how well you are following the principles of this diet and lifestyle (how many vegetable servings, fruits, whole grains, exercise, are you eating mindfully, etc did you do.) You can take it every day or every week and it will show you where you can improve. The higher your score, the better you are following the program and the more likely you are to lose weight. I took it last night for the first time. The goal is a score between 25-50. I got a 25 so I am doing the bare minimum and there is lots of room for improvement. Again, for those of who mentioned they found this hard this would be a way for you to check on your progress and you could set small goals for improvement. Like for me, I could see that one of the easy things I can work on is eating more vegetables.
petra65- The book sounds great. Can you please tell me the title of it so I can see if my library has it? Anything that will help me understand this way of eating more sounds good to me!!!
I realized after I posted that you had already put the title of the book as the title of your post- oops!! Lol, I think I should pay more attention! But thank you for posting the info anyways. I looked the book up at my library and put a hold on it (they have it, but it is currently checked out). I cant wait to read it!
I decided to follow my own advice and even if I am having problems following sonoma exactly right now because I am distracted by my new dog, I can at least follow this plan. I can even carry the book to work with me and see what my options are for lunch if I didn't have a chance to pack something.
Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less
