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Mediterranean Diet...

UncleMac
UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
edited November 2024 in Social Groups
In my ongoing battle to overcome the muffin top, the Med Diet keeps coming up. Thoughts?

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/advice/a15255/mediterranean-meal-plan-w1/

Replies

  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I have read up extensively on this diet. It's only beneficial if your body has those genetics. In other words, it doesn't work for everyone.
  • MadDogManor
    MadDogManor Posts: 1,632 Member
    Well, I can honestly say when I lived in Italy (I was a Navy Corpsman) I ate the real Med Diet every day and actually lost 15 lbs. I was also active duty, smoked cigs, drank espresso and was 25 yo. I still cook this way mostly, heavy with olive oil and olives, lemons, capers, onions, tartufa, cheese, eggs, pasta, bread etc etc. Our problem now is serving size
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    The plan as described here looks good because it has structure, variety, good tasting foods, and items that can be prepared within reasonable time and effort constraints. :star:
    Give it a try for a few weeks. B)
    =-=-
    There are 21 countries on the Mediterranean Sea so I am off put whenever I see the nomenclature. Sorry.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    What leads you to the med diet? A different angle? New energy towards a goal?
    The first Med diet was a study of a small number of countries rebuilding their economies after the destruction of WWII. http://www.completely-crete.com/cretan-diet.html
    http://www.mediterraneandiet.com/2009/01/05/who-discovered-the-mediterranean-diet/
    I like that consuming legumes is a crucial piece of the plan.
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    What led me to the med diet was curiosity and a desire for change.

    I was raised in a "three squares per day" household. The primary cook was my mother. At age 77, she is morbidly obese and has been so as long as I can remember. At 5'3", she currently weighs 233lbs and that's after losing 20lbs. She is type II diabetic and is now insulin dependent. My youngest sibling (age 49) is also type II diabetic and morbidly obese. The only person in the family who isn't obese is my father. I'm built similarly to him but carrying an extra 50 lbs or so.

    I don't live anywhere close to my family so I can't use them as an excuse for being fat. I'm not useless in the kitchen but I don't much enjoy cooking... even less meal planning... For the past couple of years, I used batch cooking as a way to stay ahead of the hungers. Part of the reason for batch cooking was my son lives with me and he had a friend/fellow student who boarded with us. The boarder ate more than my son and I together and typically ate three suppers per day instead of breakfast lunch and supper.

    As of the new year, the boarder finished his studies so it's just my son and I. So I figured it was a natural time to change things up. I'm casting about to find things that are easy due to my rudimentary cooking... and at the same time healthy and wholesome.

    The dietitian wants me to be eating six times per day. That is a massive pain in the azz for someone who doesn't like doing meal planning or food preparation. Heck, I don't particularly like bringing a homemade lunch to work, let alone preparing a lunch and two snacks, all with protein etc etc...

    So I'm not sure if the med diet will work for me. I haven't dug deeply into it as yet. Still in the exploration stages.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    With the boarder moved on, you can play around with new ways of eating. All sorts of possibilities open up now.
    I suppose that you can keep doing your batch cooking with new sets of ingredients and options.
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    That is the informal plan. My son is pretty flexible about eating... by which I mean he's too lazy and/or unskilled in the kitchen to do much more than fill a bowl with cereal. He used to be a somewhat picky eater as a child but that passed shortly after I stopped paying attention to it. He's grown accustomed to the batch cooking so I'm likely going to continue that. So I'm casting about for easy flavourful recipes that bring in more veggies without adding a huge mess in the cooking.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Some fruit and veggie recipes here. Maybe one or two will work:
    http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/top-10-healthy-ways-to-cook-fruits-and-vegetables
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    Those do look interesting. Thank you!!
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    UncleMac wrote: »
    What led me to the med diet was curiosity and a desire for change.

    I was raised in a "three squares per day" household. .

    I stopped eating 3 squares a day. I was gaining too much weight and I wasn't that hungry.

  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    MostlyWater wrote: »
    UncleMac wrote: »
    What led me to the med diet was curiosity and a desire for change.

    I was raised in a "three squares per day" household. .

    I stopped eating 3 squares a day. I was gaining too much weight and I wasn't that hungry.
    It's funny... although I don't mind eating, if I could find a way to remain healthy while consuming one meal a day and not be bothered with the rest, I would do it. My challenge is to make enough time for ME and to change my attitude toward eating... and that isn't coming easily. I'm fairly stubborn. lol
  • Montepulciano
    Montepulciano Posts: 845 Member
    I would love to hear how it works for you, UncleMac if you decide to try it out. My problem is that I could do it for a while, but I would start missing things that aren't on it.
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    Montepulciano wrote: »
    I would love to hear how it works for you, UncleMac if you decide to try it out. My problem is that I could do it for a while, but I would start missing things that aren't on it.
    Anytime you're missing something, that means there's an issue. Rather than changing over wholesale, I'm more likely to introduce a new supper dish once per week... or if it is suited to batch cooking, there will be leftovers.

    Having "lost" the largest appetite in the house as of Christmas, as I settled back into my usual cooking routines, I've found leftovers are lasting longer... hardly surprising when I think about it... So I might start bringing leftovers for lunch at the office instead of hitting the local restaurants daily. Easier to control the portion sizes etc.
  • marshal616
    marshal616 Posts: 62 Member
    I've heard that Mediterraneans are stringy...

    I'm so very sorry. It's been a long week.
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    marshal616 wrote: »
    I've heard that Mediterraneans are stringy...

    I'm so very sorry. It's been a long week.

    That's why I'm looking for recipes. LOL
  • MadDogManor
    MadDogManor Posts: 1,632 Member
    I sauté garlic, peppers, squash, onions and basil in lemon olive oil and serve over spaghetti a lot. And add chicken pieces for protein sometimes. Don't know if this is the Mediterranean diet approved, but it works for us. Good luck
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    That sounds so simple! Thank you!!
  • MadDogManor
    MadDogManor Posts: 1,632 Member
    Most of the time, I make the whole box of s'getti then keep it in the fridge for the week. Then, it's just one sauté pan! And usually, whatever veggie looks like it's too old for the salad LOL
  • UncleMac
    UncleMac Posts: 14,479 Member
    Often as not, the decision to stirfry comes from finding an assortment of ingredients, each too small to make a meal of but when combined & sizzling become supper... and most of the time, it works pretty well. :blush:
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