The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution: The 28-Day Kickstart Plan for Lasting Weight Loss

I am a 38 year old obese female. I received lab work showing I had elevated cholesterol. I decided it was time to get serious and make some changes. I ordered this book, because although I can find anything online I really enjoy having the book in front of me. This book was enlightening, helped to break things down. I liked the weekly meal plan, along with your grocery list. Just remember to add in your snacks to your grocery list, they are not included in the break down. I did not 100% stick to her plan. The nightly meals were large enough that a lot of times my husband and I would eat it for 2 nights. So I didn’t have the leftovers for lunch. I would usually just eat salads. Also sometimes I would improvise a meal. I live in a small town in the South, so I don’t always have access to some of the ingredients. We have enjoyed the dishes, packed with flavor. The only thing is I wish that the recipes had pictures, not a big deal I just enjoy the look of the end results. I started my new lifestyle as of 6/7/24, as of date I am down 30 pounds. And my cholesterol has improved drastically, only a little bit more to go before I am in normal range. I feel better, and within days my feet didn’t hurt as bad. Obviously they were quite inflamed. My blood pressure (although not terrible) has improved. In my short time I am already a big advocate for the Mediterranean Diet, and this book is a good starting point.

STRONGLY encourage you to get this book. It’s not a cookbook, it’s a diet plan and I’ve lost 6 pounds in 1.5 weeks by keeping to portion size, which is so much easier than I expected. The meals are delicious, nutritious, and filling. I agree with others that the ever-changing servings per meal are annoying, and there’s a lot of chopping fresh food. Portioning everything out and sticking the leftovers in the fridge was easy and a nice break from cooking lunch. The eggplant on the first week’s shopping list was a mistake. I couldn’t find eggplant in any recipe that week. In the big picture these are little flaws as you will feel good (and full) while you lose weight!

We started using this cookbook to improve our eating habits a couple months ago. Pros I have lost weight utilizing the book, even though it was the holidays and even though I have not strictly stuck to the diet plan. We eat dinners only 3-4 times a week from it. Using these recipes has helped me learn how my cooking can be healthier. For example: Using olive oil instead of butter. Heavier emphasis on vegetables. Adding flavor with garlic, lemon and herbs instead of unhealthy fats. Limiting meats with saturated fats, but not eliminating them. We have found many delicious new recipes to add to our repertoire. The Greek Salad. Orzo with spinach and feta. Pasta puttanesca. Salmon with Gremolata sauce. Halibut in papillote. Chicken piccata. Greek meatballs. Balsamic carrots. Weekly menus. The menu plans helped perspective on portion sizes and ideas for combining recipes to make a meal. The only time I lost any weight with this diet, was when I did not do the snacks, however. Total calories still counts. Cons There are many items that I cannot find. Fennel and quite a few types of seafood. She does have good suggestions for substitutions. The shopping lists are a wonderful idea, but ended up in buying too much food. I found it best to consult each recipe individually and make my list from that. That also gave me the opportunity to see if I really needed a more expensive version of something. For example, if an herb was just a garnish or could be substituted with a dried version. Serving sizes. Serving sizes for the recipes vary from 1 people to 8 people. I serve meals that range from 1 to 8, depending upon visiting family members. This was another reason looking at each recipe to adjust to expected people served and amounts needed was necessary to create my own shopping lists. Inconsistencies. The recipes needed more testing/editing. The suggested servings didn't always match the amounts listed in the menu or nutrition info. Some recipes needed to be cooked far less time than stated. Or took far more time than stated. Not too difficult to figure out if you are an experienced cook, but could create some disappointments for a beginner. Finally, and this is more a personal taste thing, there were times when there was just too much of things that were not well received by my audience. One week is very heavy on the times spinach is served (although in many creative ways). I learned to half the lemon, although I liked the citrusy emphasis. Also, my family members can't/won't eat garbanzo beans, peppers, cilantro, whole grains....sigh. Many things that I do enjoy! I was surprisingly able to get them to eat whole grain pasta. My picky teenaged son did not appreciate most of the recipes. Overall, I am happy with this book and found it valuable. I do hope that any further editions can work out the quirks.

This book is great! My husband and I have been following it for 7 weeks and have lost a total of 36lbs. I lost 10.4 the first 4 weeks and of course he lost 15 lbs the first 4 weeks. We started the whole plan over at week 1 again after week 4. We currently are on week 7. I have lost a total of 14 lbs while he has lost a total of 22lbs. The recipes are great. My children even like them.(disclaimer- my children are not picky eaters). There is a lot of prep work for each meal but well worth it. I have found that my husband now helps in the kitchen and it has been great! I have always wanted to being the Mediterranean diet because It is supposed to be super healthy, and what is better than allowing wine and cheese on a diet! This has been a great resource for my family. Looking forward to having it guided me to my goal weight. I don’t see myself going off since I never feel deprived nor hungry.

Some of the recipes in this book are really good. However I started trying to buy the ingredients for the first week of meal plans and my walmart online shopping cart quickly racked up to over $200. And I wasn't even done yet! And that was only for the first week! I mean I love that the shopping lists are included, and that the lists are broken up into easy-to-read categories (produce/dairy/meat/etc) but seriously? There are a LOT of groceries to buy every week and even though I've got a pretty healthy finances I can't spend that much on groceries! You could never do this plan on a tight budget or if you're someone who struggles to make ends meat. It's not realistic and that was disappointing. That being said, some of the recipes really are pretty delicious, so I'm still giving three stars. I had to pick and choose some recipes a la carte from the book since the meal plans weren't realistic budget-wise. There are better meditteranean diet cookbooks out there that I've found since.

I am a family nurse practitioner and a I'm constantly encouraging my patients to eat healthier diet. All along I was trying to do the same but was failing. I finally decided to get serious about eating better myself. It also gave me the encouragement I needed to get more active. I have felt tired and fatigued from most of my life . After eating a Mediterranean diet for about a month I began to have more energy. Maybe I just was not getting enough healthy fat in my diet. Anyway, I am so grateful to this author for this amazing book! I know this is anecdotal because it is only one person and my response to eating this way, but this book has actually changed my life! Problems I found with this book. 1. The menu plan is created for a family or at least a couple. If you are buying this for one person the food will last much longer then is planned for in the 28-day plan. I just pick out a few recipes and trying to follow along and repeat the meals much more frequently then is indicated in the book. I still follow the plan as closely as possible but not exactly as written. I definitely do not use the grocery list because you can spend an outrageous amount of money and half of your produce will go rotten in the refrigerator because you just can't eat all that food. I have found that I actually have to shop for about 2-3 days worth of the 28-day plan and it usually lasts me about a week. 2. It's better to buy the book version than the Kindle version of this cookbook. It's just so hard to flip back and forth on a Kindle so the book is just much easier. Things I love! 1. I have more energy! Who knew that after following a Weight Watchers style diet for most of my life I was probably hurting myself! This is a much healthier way to eat. My mood has actually improved. I'm not trying to fall asleep throughout the whole day! I feel like I'm thinking better and I'm a much more productive person. 2. The food is good! It has opened my eyes to new ways to cook food and nothing is that difficult. A chocolate banana shake for breakfast? Love it! Brought a salad to a potluck dinner and it was the highlight of the evening. I wish all my patients would eat this way but it is a lot to ask and it is a pretty big commitment - but it is definitely worth it!

The food is easy to prepare, although the recipes are often 6 or 8 servings and you may need to scale down. But, this diet sure doesn't feel like a diet. Follow the recipes THEY'RE DELICIOUS! Lost weight the first week and continuing to lose!

This book is absolutely amazing. I bought two books previously; however, they were frustrating and confusing. They were just cook books with no explanation about what or how the Mediterranean Diet works. This is where you need to start. This is THE BOOK!!. I now understand what the Mediterranean Diet is all about, which was missing from the other books I purchased. The way this is written, it explains and defines how this is a wonderful lifestyle change and is a healthier way for anyone to eat. It gives you great menu suggestions. After about 3 weeks, I can now plan my menus for the week. A great plus is that every recipe I have tried in this book is delicious. The weight loss is just a wonderful side effect. I sit down with this book every night. I hope I can find a Mediterranean cookbook by Jolene Stassou. If you need a book that explains the Mediterranean Diet, please get this book first!! You will not be sorry. Mine is so marked up and I have so many pages flagged, it looks like I have had it for many years. Thank you Julene Stassou!!!

I bought this book along with a slow cooker recipe book for the mediterranean diet and I am just as happy with this one too! Great recipes, I have tried many already and have been pleased with the results. I am writing down the day I've tried the recipe and the results so I can refer to it when I'm looking for recipes. The 28 day diet plan is also great with the grocery list you'll need every week. Helps you get prepared. Very happy and looking forward to continuing to try more of the recipies. I would recommend this book.

Pretty good quality some of the recipes not great

great information

Be careful if you are outside the US. It is an US book with US measures such as cups. Recipes good otherwise.

I purchased this book 3 weeks ago, and we love the meals! Not going to lie; it is a lot of cooking and prep. You can make some things in advance - I've been using Sunday for that but you will have to cook every night. This is something you will have to plan out in advance and budget for - the weekly shopping is not cheap...warning in advance. However, I am down 13lbs in 3 weeks so it is worth it, not to mention how much better I feel eating really healthy.