Q & A
 

I thought a thread for questions and answers would be great for those us who need clarification.

This may be a little self-serving because I have questions but I think there has to be others like me (right?).

1. Snacks. The book only touches on snacks. I want to be sure that I understand. At one point I felt we could have a snack as long as it was balanced and later she said we could only snack on tier 1 vegetables and men could choose from a list (Whole grain bread and peanut butter for example). What is right? What do you do??

2. Alcohol. Ok, I got my husband on board with me and I am so so happy about that. But I know there is no way that he can go without drinking beer until wave 3. I am ok with the wine but what about my husband? Going without a beer for wave 1 isn’t a problem but after that I am sure he will think I am crazy. We are going to Vegas for a wedding on the 24th. By then we will be on wave 2 and have all of the sugar out so I don't want to take a step backwards but . . . we will be in Vegas!

The sample menus show more than just veggies for snacks. You can have almonds, or bell pepper strips with Laughing Cow, and other healthy snacks. Snacks should be about 100 calories or less. The nutritionist on the official site said to spread the snacks out through the day if you wish. You can also have unlimited tier 1 veggies. I think the general idea is that if you are really hungry, go ahead and have a snack. It will help tide you over and make it easier to stick to your next meal, and not overeat.

Alcohol - I don't know what your husbands weight loss goals are, but in my opinion, letting him have an occasional beer may be a good tradeoff if he is going to be supportive of the plan the rest of the time. I guess it depends on if it won't act as a trigger for him, making him crave other non-Sonoma friendly foods.

Thank you Suzanne! I saw that she said men and active people can have snacks but I thought she wanted us to eat only tier one vegetables for wave 1.

I think you are right about how to handle the alcohol for my husband. It could be a trigger. I think after have a couple of drinks our resistance to temptation is weakened. DH does want to lose weight.

It's really confusing. She does say on page 73 to just eat just tier 1 veggies for snacks in Wave 1, but then the sample menu shows other things, like Laughing Cow cheese and nuts. She probably just means that you can't choose tier 2 or 3 veggies or fruits for snacks, like you can on Wave 2. But since the almonds and a small amount of dairy are allowed each day, you can enjoy them as snacks instead of as part of another meal.

I have a question, but not necessarily on the diet itself - just a board policy question - Can I post recipes from a magazine? I was starting to flip through the latest issue of Light & Tasty and found a few recipes that would work for this plan. Is that okay?

One of my favorite snacks I discovered yesterday was the Babybel mini wheel semi-soft goat cheese and a serving of whole wheet triscuit crackers (12 according the the box) I spread a little of the cheese and make a cheese and cracker sandwhich...it is absolutely yummy imho. The crackers take some of the tanginess off of the cheese which some people don't like...I don't mind it, but I think it's even better with something, like the crackers. The whole wheat crackers have 3 g of fiber, btw.

do you think that a tbsp or 2 of hummus is an appropriate snack substitute for nuts or cheese snack in wave 1 or 2? while i love both nuts and cheese (yum!), i have recently rediscovered my obsession with hummus and want to incorporate that in too.

Yes, but I would say keep it to 1T. This is the amount she suggests as a snack for peanut butter so I think this should be treated along the same lines.

I believe you can post recipes from elsewhere provided you say where you got them from. Is that correct?

good to hear you, too, think that the hummus is 'sonoma legal', LindaT. a former roommate of mine got me hooked on it, but my obsession fizzled. then i saw it in the grocery store a short while back and now want hummus on everything;)

I've been taking smaller salads for snacks, I can make them out of Tier 1 Veggies, and have been using just a splash of Basalmic Vinegar or lemon juice and garlic, to "wet" the salad so to speak.

What I'm finding is that at work, I'm snacking because it's a habit, not really because I'm hungry.

Lpree - sorry I needed to run this past Suzanne first since I didn't want to get her web site in trouble giving the wrong answer. :^:

Go ahead and post it in the recipe section. make sure you identify in the title what Wave it is appropriate for.. look at how the other recipes are done and you'll be fine.

Thanks Linda. I don't have it with me, so it'll be sometime in the next couple of days. I just wanted to make sure it would be okay.

thanks!

Help. My husband seems to be starving. A part of me says that he should just stick it out and stick to the portions. Another part of me wonders why he is eating the same portions as me. He is a 240 pound man. I just don't want him to quit. Do I encourage him to follow the plan as written or increase his portions. I did tell him that he needs to snack at about 3 on whole grain bread and peanut butter (he loves that).

Suggestions? Opinions?? Please help he is getting unbearable grumpy!!

If he is really honestly and truly hungry, extra portions of Wave 1 veggies will satisfy him. If he claims he doesn't want that, then he is probably dealing with a craving..

Has hubby ever been on a diet before? The reason I ask is that most of us women have been many times and for men, well the first time is a rude awakening. :lol:

One thing, the men seem to get almost double the snacks women are getting. Is he getting that much or your sized snacks?

What about a pinch of brown sugar to go with the cinnamon in my oatmeal in the morning???

Jules you really want to stay away from sugar... brown or white. If you must have something, get yourself some Sugar free torani or sugar free davinci syrups. I use sugar free almond roca or caramel on my steel cut oats and it is great.

The syrups are available at places like Walmart, Cost Plus

Thanks, I'll add it to my list when I shop this weekend.

This was in my e-mail this morning.

Snack Smarts
If you're like most people, you love to snack. The good news is that snacks are fine on The Sonoma Diet — in fact, they may help you in the long run by keeping you from getting too hungry between meals and then overeating once you sit down at the table. The trick is to snack mindfully, which means eating the right amount of the right foods. During Wave 1, a small snack between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner is fine — as long as it's a Tier 1 vegetable. (Don't worry — there are a lot more choices once you hit Wave 2.) One exception to this rule is if you're a bigger man, or a man or woman who leads a very physically active life that includes lots of exercise. In that case, you can expand your options during Wave 1 to include ½ cup of low-fat cottage cheese with Tier 1 raw veggies, 3 ounces of hummus with veggies or a slice of whole-grain bread with one tablespoon of peanut butter.

Donna did you get the email because you subscribe to the Sonoma site?? I am thinking of doing that. What do you think of it?? Gina

I did subscribe to the Sonoma site. It was $65 for the quarter, with a minimum charge of $25 which works out to 5 weeks. Once I have hit my five weeks, I will be cancelling. I just don't get enough out of it to be honest, over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to copy the recipes that I like, but I get more out of the book which I bought after I joined the site.

I feel that the recipes in the book are terrific. Are the recipes on the web site as good?? Is it the same person who came up with the recipes in the book??

Yes, the recipes on the web site are just as good, it has the ones from the book plus more. I believe they are all from the same person.

Now in the book if you follow the meal plan, she give women more than veggies on wave one for snacks. One day it is 28 peanuts and another day it is celery with laughing cow cheese. For women. She is not offering only Tier 1 veggies as a snack. In the meal plans she is surely balancing fats etc. She likely wants you to eat Tier 1 first. I *have* been hungry following the plan and I weigh 265, I could prob use more protein or something. I am just doing what she says to eat by the letter until I get the hang of it LOL

Zombiemommie - I noticed that also in the book, the only thing that I can come up with is possibly the meal plans in the book are written with the assumption that the person following the plan will be exercising. I don't know, that is just the information that I got in the e-mail and since the question was raised, thought I would provide the information.