My team dinner at the high end restaurant went fairly well last night, but was not aligned with my plan as I had wine (not allowed in wave 1).  I limited my alcohol consumption to only 2-3 glasses of wine over the course of cocktails, dinner, and the wine bar outing.  For dinner, I had only a taste of the appetizer bread and fried food.  Despite the temptation, I avoided the blue cheeze drenched fried potatoe chips entirely.  They taste great, but I bet they take a day off my life every time I have them. 

    My main course was a flat steak served with mushrooms.  It was fantastic!  It might have been a little bit larger portion than what I was supposed to have, but my thinking was that it's better to fill up on some nice steak than leave myself open to picking at the blue cheese potato chips or calamari. 

    My team leader's new boss was in town today for an intro meeting with our team.  These types of meetings are always critical to have your i's dotted (Go Buckeyes) and your t's crossed.  One thing that is certain with any meeting like this is that our team leader will be taking us all out to a nice dinner (and drinks) to build some team unity.  These events are fun, but not the type where you can be the only guy on the team saying "well, I would have the filet mignon and the $100 bottle of wine, but I am in Wave 1 of my Sonoma Diet." 

    With this in mind, I have planned to eat a light breakfast of 1 package of instant oatmeal.  I was going to have a light snack and then a whole wheat turkey sandwich for lunch.  This plan got shot down when my team leader asked me to come to lunch with him and two other team members from our branch office.  My lunch ended up being texas style barbeque beef and turkey, with a ceasar salad (no croutons) and cole slaw on the side.  I avoided bread and went light on the sauce for the meat since it's probably loaded with sugar to make it have that sweet taste.  I skipped desert and had water with my meal to keep me fresh.  Overall, I would say my performance went pretty well. 

    I started Wave 1 today by going grocery shopping, excercising hard for an hour, and eating foods suggested by the Sonoma diet plan.  Here is a list of some good Sonoma Wave 1 picks:

Processed Sugar - Out.

Sugar Substitutes - Only allowed 1 packet per day total - so just avoid it and save yourself the trouble.

Meat - Lean is nice.

Veggies - Load up on them.  Fresh veggies are good for you and taste great too.  Use onions, peppers, and other such veggies as flavor enhancers.  Potatoes excluded.

Fruit - Out during Wave 1 (It's only 10 days...you can do it).

Cereal - Only high fiber.  It should be 8 grams of fiber per serving or more.  Remember to avoid the sugar cereals and fruit (tough to find cereals that work).

    While I haven't technically been following the Sonoma Diet this week, I have been reading about it and preparing to hit it hard.  My short term goal is to in shape for an athletic event I have coming up on Sept 2nd, but my long term goal is to learn better eating habits designed around healthy food choices and better portions.  

    In preparation for my athletic event, I have been working out pretty regularly in addition to long hours at the office and studying for the GMAT.  The easiest thing to do when I am overworked and stressed is to start snacking on food that piles up the calories.  In general, I have been avoiding this food pretty well......and then it backfired on me!

While I have not had a chance to go grocery shopping to kick off my Sonoma Diet, I have been working out nearly every day for the past 2 weeks or more.  Last Saturday, I played 5 softball games in the 105 degree Texas heat.  I did a combo cardio gynastics type workout on Sunday for about an hour.  During the week, I have run in the morning before work one day (an achievement just to wake up), lifted and ran outside (100+ degrees) during lunch on Tuesday, and took Wed and Thursday off as I had work conflicts during the lunch and evening hours (I could not get myself out of bed before work unfortunately).  My weight is at 176 as of Tuesday's post workout weigh in. 

My girlfriend and I have both signed up for the Sonoma Diet and made our plan, but now we need to go grocery shopping.  Since I can't comment on the effect the Sonoma Diet is having since I haven't given it any time yet, I will share with you what I do know about my plan. 

The diet is 3 waves:

• 1. 1st 10 days - Overcome the urge for processed sugars and flour products that are quickly absorbed into the blood stream and lead to weight loss.
• 2. Main segment until I reach my target weight (167 by the way) - this segment continues the process of less process sugars, but focuses on eating slowly and savoring food. 

I consider myself pretty knowledgeable regarding physical fitness, health, and nutrition.  However, I am not a professional nutritionist, doctor, or trainer.  Like most of you reading this blog, I just want to be healthy and happy, but I have other priorities that distract me from eating well.  This leads me to gain weight, have less energy, and feel down about things in my life.  Getting on a diet plan can be useful for giving you suggestions on how to eat better and excercise in a healthy way, but what all good plans do most effectively is to give the member checkpoints, goals, and a little peer pressure either from other dieters, friends, or family.

    It is decided!  I am trying a new diet plan to kick start my enthusiasm to lose the 2nd half of my weight loss goal.  Many of you may have seen my previous blog: "eDiets: Changing My Diet To Fit My Lifestyle."  The eDiets plan worked great and I lost 9 pounds out of my goal of 16 pounds.  My starting weight was 183-184 as a 5' 10.5" athletic guy and I now hover around 175-178 depending on my workout diligence.  

My eDiets adventure lasted about 4 months, but I found myself not using the plan well in the last 6 weeks or so because I was bored and focused on other priorities in my life.  The plan was effective in giving me a kickstart and a framework to change my eating habits for a healthier lifestyle.  Without the plan, I most likely would not be in the good shape I am in right now with the confidence that I can take it another step in get into GREAT shape.