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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,

:wel3fc: 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!