An Interview with
Dr. Connie Guttersen
Connie Guttersen, R.D., Ph.D. is a leading nutrition expert who has devoted her career to developing flavorful approaches to healthy eating and weight reduction. A registered dietician, culinary professional, and nutrition consultant to the world famous Culinary Institute of America, Dr. Guttersen delivers key nutrition messages by bringing together the art and science of food in an easy to understand style. She has focused primarily on the diets inspired by Mediterranean and other regional cuisines.
In the past, when you heard the word "diet" it was how many days were you on it until you were off. Then you could either try another one or go back to what you were doing before; it was always a temporary stage. The Sonoma Diet is a way of eating that becomes a lifestyle that you don't
want to give up. It has nothing to do with low-carb or low-fat. The "next step" recognizes that artificially low levels of dietary fat or carbs are neither pleasing or healthy.
You divided your diet into three segments, or Waves. Why did you make Wave One ten days long, and how long does Wave Two last?
The first part, or Wave One, is 10 days long because it allows you to really get a jump start and completely focus on the triggers that put extra pounds around your waist.
This is when you see the greatest change, especially around the waist. For most people who want to lose weight, that is where the weight is. We know that those extra pounds around the waist, the spare tire, is a red flag for heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, and possibly even Alzheimer's. Those first 10 days are designed to deal with sugar cravings and improve energy levels. They also target hunger. It's enough time to get the motivation going. Wave Two is where you stay until you reach your goal weight, and Wave Three is the lifestyle phase, for after you have reached your goal weight.
Isn't Wave One more restrictive and a little harder for people?
Yes. It's a little more difficult because there is no wine allowed. There's also no fruit for that time period, because we really want to restrict the sugar for those first 10 days. For the majority of people who need to lose weight, they sure love the sweets. If you're somebody who's used to eating a lot of really intense sweet flavors, your taste buds are almost blunted. In those first 10 days your taste buds regenerate themselves. And it seems to be enough time to get over the worst cravings for sweets. Then on the eleventh day, when you bite into a strawberry or a blueberry, you can really taste the natural sweetness and you think Wow, this tastes great!