Starting on Monday....any advice, wise words, easy meal ideas would be appreciated. I work full time, my husband and I are on opposite shifts and we both are in need of dropping quite a few pounds. We got married 1.5 years ago and quit smoking 3 months ago....as you can imagine we are ready for some positive changes and this plan looks like a good place to start

Will you be following Sonoma or Mediterranean? I loosely followed Mediterranean, and gradually lost weight over a year. There are some great meal ideas in past accountability threads in this section, and there is also a recipe thread. My advice would be to go easy on carbs; keep pasta, bread, to a minimum even wholemeal. Eat lots of protein (I don't eat meat so for me this was legumes and fish) and vegetables.
Find a cardio exercise that you really enjoy. The weight started to fly off me and my body shape started to change once I added exercise.

Any other questions just shout! Well done on beginning and best of luck! Xxx

Hi Jenn,

Great job on quitting smoking! Eating healthier is a great way to support your new non-smoking lifestyle.

I tend to go more Mediterranean than Sonoma. There are a few posters on here who have had success with Sonoma, and I've recently picked up the book.

Thanks for the advice and kind words Ive been on one week and have lost 11 lbs. The food is delicious and best of all I dont feel like Im missing out on anything so I will continue to follow the Sonoma diet, even if its rather loosely at times!