Weight Loss Diets Examined

Fad Diets & Dieting Fads: Do they work?

Sonoma Diet and the Mediterranean Diet: Are They Similar?

Believe it or not there are two, no make that three diets that will help you lose weight without counting calories, or giving up carbs. That's the premise behind the Sonoma and Mediterranean Diet. The Sunslim diet also falls into this category, but that deserves a page of its own.

The Sonoma diet claims to be structured after the Mediterranean Diet but geared more toward weight loss results. In fact some people often confuse these two diets and think of them as the same, but there are a few key differences.

Both promote portion control, calorie control and belief in the philosophy that good food should be enjoyed. That's where the similarities stop. You eat carbs on both diets, but the Sonoma Diet is structured similar to Atkins and South Beach. Instead of being called phases, the Sonoma diet refers to it as Waves. Wave 1 is designed to kick your sugar habit and forbids fruit or alcohol for ten days. Most people experience rapid weight loss in those first ten days and that usually encourages them to stay on wave one longer than recommended.

The Mediterranean Diet has no restrictive phase. There's no deprivation at any point. Both diets consist of recipes you follow and make. Users claim that the Sonoma diet has time consuming recipes and require hard-to-find, expensive ingredients. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean has affordable ingredients and offers tips on how to shorten cooking time. Neither diet has major restrictions except for Sonoma’s wave 1 stage where fruit and sugar are not allowed. After wave 1, the Sonoma diet is very similar to the Mediterranean diet. The Sonoma diet teaches you portion control by advocating the use of 9 inch plates and instructing you how to fill it for lunch and dinner. The Mediterranean diet teaches you self control of portions without depending on plates. The Mediterranean also encourages you to follow more of a plant friendly diet with very little meat.

You will lose weight on the Mediterranean diet, but chances are you won't see results as fast as you will on the first ten days of the Sonoma diet. The Mediterranean diet allows you to enjoy all food as long as you keep your portions under control. Both diets stress that not enough emphasis is given to portion control and they intend to get that message to their users.

If you're looking for a quick fix, stay away from these. Except for Wave 1 of the Sonoma diet, slow and steady wins the race when it comes to weight loss with these two plans. The slower the weight comes off, the less likely it is to pile back on.

Fad diets and dieting fads may be harmful to your health. If you really want to lose weight quickly, permanently and safely, you should see how these formerly overweight people did it.