Popular Diets Reviewed: The Sonoma Diet

My Thoughts
Written by a dietitian, the Sonoma diet does outline a well-balanced diet. It seems very similar to the South Beach Diet, though without as many recipes. I have to say I found this book much easier to read than the South Beach diet book.

As with other diets, weight loss on this plan is most likely due to the decrease in calories. But for someone who needs a list of foods to focus on, this plan provides well-balanced recommendations. The focus on whole grains, lean meats and mono-unsaturated fats is within the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines.

The Sonoma diet also includes information on how to withstand cravings for foods that aren’t on the diet. It was refreshing to see that the author admits that cravings still do exist and provides the reader with tools to deal with them. However, I do not believe the promise that by the end of wave 2 you will no longer experience cravings for processed foods. As I’ve mentioned before, emotional eating ques still exist long after you’ve changed your eating habits.

My biggest concern with this diet is that the plate sizes are very small and I’m not entirely sure they’re reasonable. A 7-inch plate may be hard to find and will be quite a shock. To give you an idea of how small that is, I measured my dinner plates and my salad plates were 8 ½ inches. I don’t have particularly large plates by today’s standards, so it could be difficult to find a 7-inch plate. And for someone who is used to eating on a plate that is twice that big, that is an enormous decrease in food intake.

* Grade: B+. With the exception of wave 1, this diet includes all the food groups. It encourages whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and non-fat dairy. It also focuses on heart health monounsaturated fats.

* Popular Diet Rating System

A: This diet meets accepted standards for a healthy well-balanced diet. It recommends food from all food groups with an emphasis on healthy choices within each food group.
B: This diet meets most accepted standards for a healthy well-balanced diet. It emphasizes healthy foods but does not include food from all food groups.
C: This diet only meets some accepted standards for a healthy well-balanced diet. It does not differentiate between food choices in each food group and therefore does not emphasize healthy foods.
D: This diet does only meets one or two accepted standards for a healthy well-balanced diet.
F: This diet does not meet any accepted standards for a healthy well-balanced diet. It does not differentiate between healthy foods and unhealthy foods and/or does not meet caloric needs.