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I read this book when I was having trouble losing some post-baby weight and after my doctor told me I had to watch my diet because of high cholesterol. I didn't follow the Sonoma diet to a "T", but I did use the advice in the book and the list of power foods as a guide, along with the materials provided by my doctor of course, and was able to lose the excess weight (about 10-15 lbs). I've started eating more sweets lately though, and have gained some of the weight back, but the book is still here and I will use it again to refresh my memory on what I SHOULD be doing. Following the recipes is just too much work for me, unfortunately.
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My wife got this book. I looked at it in ernest. Yes it has a lot of recipes but in my opinion this book is a complete mess. I really don't like how it starts, it doesn't get to the point , it is quite convoluted and not an easy read. It really does not point your in the right direction quickly if you want to use or point you in the right direction if you want to do it. There is so much verbiage garbage in the beginning that it really is a boring read. Maybe you don't like the South Beach Diet but it has it down sized but it is easy read and gets to the point. Maybe the point about this " diet" it is more an eating plan vs a short term diet. But a book and a diet is only as good as it reads well, can be understood easily and does not have so much fluff that you don't have any idea what you are reader. While I think that this Sonoma diet might be good but I just don't like the way it reads. I think it needs a lot of restructuring . I might suggest just skip the front and go to the recipes and see if some of them sound good. Then try to find some parts of the chapters and the readings that make sense. If you can make heads or tales of it and can use, well by all means. I just will not spend time to make sense of it. I know my wife has not tried the book and she bought it and extolled the virtues of it !!! What does that say?
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I am a 5 foot 4 female. I have been on the sonoma diet for around 10 weeks, and I dropped from 153lbs to 129lbs. So yes, it works really well! For the first 10 days (or phase 1), I lost 10 lbs. After that, I can lose 2-3 lbs per week if I stick with it, but during the period, I cheated a number of time by eating chips and things. I exercise some, but nothing rigorous, mainly walking.
I am not one who needs my diet to allow me to be creative. I love following rules and therefore, I bought the sonoma diet cookbook and always picked recipes that I would like from both books. I cook every night, and bring 1/2 of that as lunch to work the next day. The food is relatively tasty. It is amazing how my total calorie for the day is around 1000-1100 (after each recipe, there is a calorie count per serving), yet I never feel hungry (I eat meals at regular intervals and don't eat the suggested snacks). I pick recipes that contain a lot of vegetables and always feel full and satisfied after a meal. Apart from losing weight, the diet is very healthy. I have learnt many ways to cook vegetables and make them taste good.
I plan to follow these recipes for life as they are tasty, lean, healthy and saves me a lot of trouble to come up with something to cook.
In my opinion, the biggest assets of this diet are the recipes. So, I feel this diet works best if you don't want much freedom in your diet, willing to stick to the recipes and cook every night. If you need freedom in configuring your own dish, you can follow the general plate portion rules, but it is vague and you might end up eating a lot more calories than the recipes in the books and still feel unsatisfied and hungry. If you regularly eat out and don't like to cook, I feel this diet is hard to follow.
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This is a very good diet, if you want to use a Mediteranean Diet style. It helps me stay away from the refined flours and sugars. The recipes are very tasty, albeit sometimes time consuming if you don't have much time. But, I think it's worth it. I'm finding myself, not craving the sweets and salty foods, I did before
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I am a certified weight consultant & the author of Asian Slim Secrets. I think this book is informative; however, if you have read many diet books, you may find some of the information to be redundant. The recipes are pretty good.
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