Friends, I'll update you.

The past few months have been quite a change. Going back to school has meant a pretty big shift in my diet. I drink the occasional soda now (as I'm often exhausted and stuck on campus for 14 hour stretches), I will eat whatever free food is offered whenever it's offered (cookies, brownies, the occasional slice of pizza), and in general, I feel like I'm doing a pretty bad job of eating Sonoma Diet-approved foods. Furthermore, I don't get to the gym nearly as much (I just make it to a yoga class or two a week), probably because I am too intimidated by the fancy collegiate gym and all of the muscles found in the weight room. Not to mention the horrors of the locker room, which is used by my students!
Surprisingly, I am not gaining weight, and in fact, am still losing a bit. Perhaps also surprisingly, I am drinking less as a grad student than I did as an office drone. I still pack most of my meals, which are salads and soups prepared in a Sonoma Diet way. I probably eat less, as I am too cheap to supplement my meals with food from campus and too lazy to pack enough food for a 14 hour day at the ungodly hour of the morning I do my packing. And most days find me crisscrossing campus at least a few times, which I suppose counts for more than it feels like. So, I'm now in the mid-140s, a weight I literally find boggling. In addition, I now have a pair of size 8 jeans in my closet that are TOO BIG. Again, they are from the Gap, so, let's not make too big a fuss.

How am I, you ask?

Or maybe you don't. I'll just update you on my weight-maintenance, if you are so curious. My two-week long road trip, while enjoyable, not-unexpectedly resulted in a couple of extra pounds on the scale. I'll blame the "Angry Tendercrisp" I couldn't resist ordering at a Burger King somewhere in Utah. Or perhaps the Kansas City BBQ, Eggs Benedict, and god knows what else. It was two weeks of feasting and fast food, followed by a messy first few weeks back in LA with the start of school, my brother's visit, and a lot of eating out/catered lunches. Still, I am mostly back on track now, and am happily hovering in the low 150s. I'd love to see what 145 lbs looks like on me, but I am also happy with my eating habits (which incorporate a lot of Sonoma Diet recipes and principles), and, generally, with my activity levels (which have lately been low, but as I get into my new school-based routine, will hopefully pick up), so I don't really want to put my time and energy into setting and achieving goals.

Whole Grains 101 on Chowhound

Ahh, another link for your edification. Chow.com provides an informative lesson on whole grains, an essential part of the Sonoma Diet, and one that I think can be the most confusing, especially for those unfamiliar with "health freak" foods like quinoa, farro, and bulgur.

The Mediterranean Diet on Epicurious

Just today while researching what to do with some lemon cucumbers I acquired, I came across a post linking to a study about the effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet (which is what the Sonoma Diet is based on). Good news, the diet "improves functioning of the critical cells lining of our blood vessels." Works for me!

Epicurious also has a breakdown of the different major diet concepts, and a sample day on the Mediterranean diet. That's a wave one or two day, Sonoma Diet folks, but a mighty delicious-sounding day if I do say. Yum.

Mark Bittman's 101 Simple Summer Salads

Literally, cannot wait to make each and every one of these. 101 salads made with summer's finest, organized by protein, sort of. About 1/3 are vegan. Mark Bittman, food writer for the New York Times, has written about his choice to eat a vegan diet before 6 pm, a diet I think makes a lot of sense from a health and environmental perspective. I'm quite happy with the Sonoma Diet, but I may give Bittman's strategy a try at some point.

Anyway, I am sitting here, swooning over peaches and vinegars and cold noodles. Not every salad is Sonoma Diet-friendly, but the overwhelming majority are, and I am so eager to work my way through the list. Summer joy.

Hooray!

Those two pounds are gone already, and I am back to my pre-adventure weight of 154. I will celebrate by visiting 2-3 dining/drinking establishments this evening and practicing moderation.

2 days of 'normal'

So, I'm back from my fun, and I ate:
not as many vegetables as I would have liked,
lots of not-nutrient-rich carbs (aka delicious pasta, potatoes, baked goods, pizza),
a lot of fat and sugar.

I did manage to log many, many miles on foot, and even managed to get in two runs.

But, I still fit just fine into my size 8 pants (and just went through my closet, getting rid of 10s and 12s that hang off my flat ass), and weigh in at 2 lbs more than when I left. And considering I'm about to surf the crimson tide, I expect that those two pounds will be gone in a few days.

So, not a massive dieting success, but not a disaster either. Today and tomorrow I will pack in the healthy foods, but then, I'll have a friend visiting for the weekend and I imagine we'll be taking in LA's culinary delights in a major way. And drinking a lot of wine.