Diet Novelties .com

Yes, we urbanites are all guilty of falling prey to a yo-yo of health
routines. On regular days we somehow manage to stick to a moderate eating
habit, and then completely let go of it once the holiday season sets in.
And now that the banquets and drinking sprees are over, it’s time to face
the mirror and count the ways to shed off those unwanted pounds. Again.

As always; diet and exercise is the healthiest weight-loss combination. But
because not everyone can afford - time or money-wise - to engage in a
regular exercise routine, others resort to dieting alone.

In dieting, any legitimate weight-loss doctor will advise that moderation
is the key to healthy eating and, ultimately, a healthy weight.

Right dieting means not depriving yourself of the foods you want to eat but
merely controlling your portions. And by getting to try everything in
moderate amounts from all the food groups - meat, fish, poultry, dairy,
vegetables, fruits and whole grains - you not just get all the essential
nutrients for your body. You manage to keep your desired weight as well.

This golden rule in dieting will not be found in any diet book or fad that
have made people only unhealthier over the past several years - until the
Sonoma Diet came this month.

Developed by Dr. Connie Guttersen, the Sonoma Diet is based on the eating
lifestyles of people in the Mediterranean and Sonoma Valley in California.
It holds the promise of teaching a healthy way to lose weight - using food
variety and moderation in its core principles.

Guttersen’s book, “The Sonoma Diet: Enjoy Foods with Flavor. Lose Weight
for Life,” was released by Meredith Books right on time - just when people
are at the height of their post-holiday health and weight worries.

And the good news is the diet seems to provide a healthy outlook on
dieting. No all-meat, low-carb regimens. No raw-food only meals. No
deprivation and no starvation.

All food groups are incorporated into the diet, and you may even dine with
wine!

The diet

One of the surprising principles in the Sonoma Diet is, “to lose weight,
you have to love to eat.” This is contrary to the requirements of other fad
diets, which usually deprive dieters from eating certain foods.

Gutterson, a registered dietitian, culinary professional and nutrition
consultant to the renowned Culinary Institute of America in New York,
describes the diet as “a uniquely flavorful weight-loss plan that brings
together the art and science of food, combining the latest knowledge from
the world of nutritional research with culinary arts.”

The diet’s roots can be found not in the lab but in two agriculturally
abundant regions of the world: the fertile coast of the Mediterranean Sea
and California’s lush Sonoma Valley.

These two sun-drenched regions, Gutterson said in Sonomadiet.com, have
something in common besides their climate; “They share a festive approach
to eating - a heartfelt love of great food that turns every meal into a
celebration of life.”

On the “Early Show” aired Jan. 4 on CBS News (www.cbsnews.com), Gutterson
explains: “The diet is a healthy way of eating where you’re enjoying meals,
often with a glass of wine. But it adds a weight-loss component…Flavor is
part of health, and it’s part of losing weight successfully…And when
you’re eating nutrient-rich foods that are flavorful, you’re more satisfied
and you’re not going to be hungry.”

Gutterson adds: “There are no foods that you’re not going to be able to
have on this diet. It isn’t about deprivation. It’s a celebration of foods
that becomes a way of eating for life.”