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"The Sonoma Diet is unique in that it is not about food deprivation but rather the pleasure principle of savoring good meals."

The Sonoma Diet

Sonoma County, California, is just thirty miles north of San Francisco and home to two hundred wineries. But to those who have been there, Sonoma County is not a place, it is a state of mind. It is where you open up to the sensual caress of a Pacific sea breeze on your face, where you walk along mountain trails alive with flowers, where you picnic all afternoon near the mystical Russian River as you enjoy sun-drenched fruits and vegetables, freshly made breads, and any variety of wine you could possibly desire.

The Sonoma Diet, named for that bit of California paradise, is unique in that it is not about food deprivation but rather the pleasure principle of savoring good meals. Dr. Connie Guttersen, who devised the diet after years of careful research, believes that "in order to lose weight, you have to love to eat." Her advice is to eat mindfully and joyfully from healthy foods grown in havens like Sonoma Valley and the Mediterranean region of Italy and France.

Dr. Guttersen has her doctoral degree in nutrition and serves as a dietary consultant for many Fortune 500 companies. She has been an instructor at the famous Culinary Institute of America and Texas Christian University. After years of experience in the field, she came up with a simple approach to weight loss that becomes a lifelong way of eating instead of a diet plan.

She believes that dieters ruin the pleasure of eating by calorie counting, keeping track of points, and calculating carbohydrate values. Instead, they should learn to savor every moment of their meal by "eating mindfully." Every meal, she says, should be a celebration of life. You choose foods typically grown in Mediterranean climates proven to improve your health, protect your heart and boost your energy. By combining these "power foods" in smart ways, you increase your metabolic rate and lose weight quickly and safely. Power foods enjoyed for centuries in climates like Sonoma County or Southern Italy are olives, nuts, fish, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and wines.

With the Sonoma Diet, you control the amounts you eat by using certain sizes of bowls and plates. You fill your plate with the proper "power combinations" by following diagrams provided by Dr. Guttersen.

The Sonoma Diet has three "waves" or phases. During the first ten days or "Wave One," you eat only wholesome unprocessed foods and eliminate sugars and refined grains. In Wave Two, you add chocolate and wine and other delights. When you reach your ideal weight, you enter Wave Three, which is a lifelong way of eating guaranteed to maintain your weight.

Prominent nutritionists writing in More magazine, Women's World, First Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets endorsed the Sonoma Diet as sensible, good advice for anyone who wants to be healthy. The July 2006 issue of "O," Oprah Winfrey's magazine, included it as one of the six hottest diets in the country today.