OK I'll admit it! I'm a little "frugal" but I don't think that anyone wants to throw away another $25 on a bogus diet book. I joined online and have been doing the diet now for 3 days (was planning on cancelling my membership after the required 4 weeks) and I've lost a lot so far.

I've read a lot of posts on this forum raving about the book and how it has such great recipes, etc. Would you guys recommend buying it, or simply continue to follow the plan off of my current knowledge + the recipes on this site? I will probably end up buying it but I wanted to make sure it was actually worth the price and had good information in it that will help me stick to the plan.

Any help appreciated

Hi. I was online for 5 weeks and it was pretty good, but there were a lot of bugs with the site and so I canceled my subscription. I did buy the book and like ti because I prefer to read a book in bed and not readign a lot online. Its personal preference. I may rejoin but I am glad I have the book. I found it at kroger for 18$. Shop around for a better price.

I bought mine at Sam's Club for less than $14. I feel that you really do need the book OR the Sonoma Diet web site, which costs even more, to be successful. There is so much more in the book than you will find here on this site due to copywrite laws, which means they can't post from the book verbatim (sp?).

TJ

You can get the book at Sam's Club for around $12.88, when you are done with it, or if you don't like it, you can always put it up on eBay and make most of your money back. You might want to look into selling some of your other diet books on there if you don't use them anymore.

Personally I think a lot of people fail at certain diets because they don't actually read and understand the whole concept. For instance I have SOOOO many friends who supposedly did South Beach last year. They didn't buy the book, but based their diets on what they heard others say about it, or on interviews they saw on the news. They were only incorporating one or two aspects of the plan, and in some cases being more strict than they needed to be. None of them stuck with it very long.

I am a big picture kind of person. I need to understand the "why" and not just follow a list of do's and don'ts. This helps me make better choices when I am confronted with something that isn't necessarily addressed in the book/plan.

So I guess you COULD just get by with some info you pick up here or elsewhere, but I think in order to maximize your chance at success, you should at the least get your hands on a copy, even if you borrow one from a friend or library.

Personally I think Sonoma and South Beach complement each other, together they have a TON of information that most likely very different than what you were taught about food and nutrition.

I ordered my book from Zooba, so it was just $10. I can't swear to it at the moment, but I think all of the recipes from the book are on the website. In my personal opinion, I think the book has everything you need, and most people would be better off spending 10 or 15 bucks on the book instead of 65 on the website. Any good diet book should be able to stand alone without the need to subscribe to an expensive service to understand what the book is all about.

I like having the book because it's easier to reach for, curl up on the couch with, and carry to the kitchen when I want to cook.

It is a great book (most of the books thickness is recipes); but I wish I would have just waited for a library copy!
When it comes down to it ; it IS just another diet book.
It really is things that are common sense. (or should be) But maybe we forget things over time.
There are great tips and recipes in the book.
But I hated to pull out the 24.00 for just "another" diet book.

Go to the library and see if they have it or can order it from another library.

I got mine from Hastings for $18. I never joined the website, because I'm always afraid places like that will hassel you till your death to rejoin once your trial period is over and you cancel! I've found the book really valuable - I can take it with me anywhere to quick check things that I'm unsure about, and if I feel a little weak (i.e. reaching for the m and m's) I can reread a chapter and enlighten myself - and help myself make the right choices. I'd buy the book, but get it somewhere cheap. I think Amazon had it for $14, but you'd have to pay shipping. Good Luck!

I'm going to be odd man out here and say no you don't need the book. The book is based upon the Mediterranean Diet, which has free articles online all over the place. The one thing Sonoma has that the Med Diet doesn't is a portion control mechanism. If you can work that part out on your own, then great.

I lost my weight on the Med Diet, without any books but I did invest in some calorie counting software that helped me with tracking and creating recipes. I think it just depends where you want to spend your money. I like software and I got a free 15 days trial, so I had a chance to see if I'd really use it.


YMMV.. to each their own. Just my experience.

I'd say you don't *need* the book, but it is helpful--more helpful than the website, IMO, and much cheaper. I ordered a copy from Zooba for 9.95 but got impatient for it to arrive and ended up buying another copy from Sam's for about $14 including tax. I gave one to a friend.

I've read all the recipes in the book, and they do sound good, but I don't think I've actually used any of them. If you understand the basic principles of the diet, you can find recipes just about anywhere and adapt them to fit.

Jeri

LindaT, what calorie counting software are you using? I'm starting the Med Diet and was going to go out and buy the book today, but have seen several meal plans online and lots of recipes so I wasn't sure if the book was a wise and necessary investment to be successful.

Lola, I am using DietPower - You can get a 15 day free trial, at least you used to be able to and it cost i think about 50.00. You can add custom ingredients and create recipes so that is where I think it is the most valuable. In the beginning it will be more work to get all the things you eat entered in that aren't in their database, but if you're like me - you end up eating a lot of the same stuff so it isn't much work past the first month or so.

It's at dietpower.com

Some people need the book, some don't and only you can really decide. The book wasn't around when I started so I had to figure it out for myself.

But I can tell you there is no way I'd pay to join the web site!!

The Book is great. Even if you just use if for the recipes.

I found the book helpful mostly for recipes.

(AND I LOVE THEM!!!)

A lot of the introductory text was repetative with itself and, if you have been reading about other diet theory and nutritian, it is repetative to external sources as well.

I am glad that I have the book for the recipes, but the rest wasn't necessary for me.

Whatever you choose, be sure to ask lots of questions when you have them!

I joined online and bought the book...both are great....if you have one you really don't need the other...you can actually get most recipes and print the ones you like in about 3 weeks time, just by going by their suggestions...wave 2 starts repeating rather quickly..u can also print list of foods for each wave, power foods etc....I personally find it easier to look in the book and there are more recipes there

Good Luck

I got the book at Amazon.com for 14.97

Hi - I like having the book with me for references/recipes anytime, anywhere.