Wanting to start the Mediterranean Diet
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sarahhuff4124
Posts: 5 Member
I'm looking into transitioning into the Mediterranean diet or something similar. Was hoping to find someone else who id/has to chat with, share ideas and recipies, etc...
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I think wanting to start the Mediterranean Diet and looking into transitioning into the Mediterranean diet or something similar are two vastly different things. Diets don't work, and the Mediterranean Diet doesn't work because of the same things no other diets work - the prescription. Your diet is just what you eat; you can eat anything you want. And that's what you'll ultimately do. So the smart thing to do, is to have habits and an attitude that leads you into making overall good choices. Being told what to eat just makes you rebellious, and when you're rebellious, you get naughty. The diet composition that is the Mediterranean Diet is a-ok. A little low on sat fat and meat for my liking, but not a horrible diet. But the principle, the whole idea. The Mediterranean region is a large region with many countries and cultures with their own cuisines based on what's available and socially acceptable. Many regional diets around the world are equally healthy. I personally eat in a Nordic/Central European-ish style, but of course I also eat dishes from all around the world.
I think what you're looking for, is the overarching principle - balance and variety. How to create that, is up to you. Cooking from scratch is often recommended. But you have to use/find recipes that suit your taste - and to be able to use them, you need to know how to cook. But if you can cook, you don't need many recipes.
So it's way more complex, but not as complicated, as "they" want us to believe.7 -
Transitioning? Start eating more veggies and lean meats.8
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Weekly meal plan is the best way. It's mostly what you don't have, not what you have. Keep it simple.
Don'ts
Red Meat (very limited)
Dairy (extremely limited)
Vegetable Oils (drastically reduced or eliminated)
Sugar and simple carbs (reduced or eliminated)
Lunchmeat
Pop or empty calorie drinks.
Highly processed foods
Do's
Chicken Breast/Thighs/Lean ground chicken/turkey
Fish
Olive Oil/Fresh Olives
Coconut Oil (sparingly)
Tons of fresh vegetables, like 6/7 servings a day
Fruits and nuts for snacks (not fruit/nut boxed stuff, sugar free fruits and nuts that are raw with no salt or oils). Berries are especially good.
Limited goat/sheep or very limited cow cheese on rare occasion. Some yogurt on occasion or Kefir.
Rice, oatmeal, potatoes, quinoa, legumes in moderate quantities (even some occasional whole grain breads but in strict moderation)
Wine in moderation
We start by a weekly meal plan. Yummly or Copymethat are great sites to get ideas from others.
Our week roughly looks like one or two salads for dinner. One or two Vegan meals and the other one/two are chicken once and fish once (either in a salad or heavy on the vegetables and light on starch). We go out once a week and might occasionally have a "cheat" meal like a hamburger perhaps every now and then. I still might have a salad when I go out with salmon or chicken.
Our snacks are mostly nuts/seeds, chick peas, hummus (we mostly make our own to have just Olive Oil in it for the oil) and fruit. We might do green juicing or vegan protein drinks as well. Occasionally, we might make some homemade granola with honey or maple syrup with grass fed yogurt and fresh berries. Air popped popcorn is another one we like with some Nutritional Yeast. These are just some examples of healthier snacks.
Lunch might be a bag of frozen broccoli or a bag of veggies from Trader Joe's (Soyatash is one of my favorites). Frozen vegetables without sauce are great to have around. Just some olive oil or a dab or vegan butter on them (or nutritional yeast). Neither of us eat breakfast except sometimes oatmeal or fruit or nuts/seeds.
I've been doing the basics of the Mediterranean Diet for 3/4 years now. It's actually not that hard at all. It's more about not buying crud at the grocery store and planning your meals and snacks.
This is our "blueprint" for it. There's no right or wrong, it's just about increasing your vegetable consumption and eating mostly chicken and fish and eliminating a lot of what's wrong with the Western Diet.
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Go to the Eating Well magazine website. Select meal plans, then theMediterranean meal plan. Then select calories- 1200, 1500, 1800. Its a 7 day meal plan with snacks that has you eating tons of fruits and veggies. You can also access the recommended recipes on their website.6
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sarahhuff4124 wrote: »I'm looking into transitioning into the Mediterranean diet or something similar. Was hoping to find someone else who id/has to chat with, share ideas and recipies, etc...
Why.
Because it's healthy, maybe?
I'm assuming you have googled pyramids and charts already but this is pretty good
https://researchgate.net/figure/Fig-1-The-Mediterranean-diet-pyramid-simple-graphic-format-of-the-most-up-to-date_fig1_228622489
I personally don't eat bread that often and have pasta once or twice a week. I have rice way more often (but I grew up in the North of Italy haha)
I'm dairy free but I eat yogurt daily for the probiotics.
I find it a bit weird when people say they want to 'start the Mediterranean diet' because that's basically a lifestyle I think. But I've always been eating like that so I don't know any different
I think it's pretty easy, just focus on fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, fish, meat and eggs a couple of times a week and use olive oil instead of butter or other oils. That's what my nutritionist told me anyway!
Good luck
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sarahhuff4124 wrote: »I'm looking into transitioning into the Mediterranean diet or something similar. Was hoping to find someone else who id/has to chat with, share ideas and recipies, etc...
Why.
Because it's healthy, maybe?
I'm assuming you have googled pyramids and charts already but this is pretty good
https://researchgate.net/figure/Fig-1-The-Mediterranean-diet-pyramid-simple-graphic-format-of-the-most-up-to-date_fig1_228622489
I personally don't eat bread that often and have pasta once or twice a week. I have rice way more often (but I grew up in the North of Italy haha)
I'm dairy free but I eat yogurt daily for the probiotics.
I find it a bit weird when people say they want to 'start the Mediterranean diet' because that's basically a lifestyle I think. But I've always been eating like that so I don't know any different
I think it's pretty easy, just focus on fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, fish, meat and eggs a couple of times a week and use olive oil instead of butter or other oils. That's what my nutritionist told me anyway!
Good luck
How is it healthy exactly?
https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/73/3/318/47363014 -
I didn't know there was a 'diet' marketed as the 'Mediterranean diet'. I come from a Mediterranean country, now living in Ireland. My diet has changed, since I can't purchase the same food here. Back home I ate much more different types of veggies, fruit, fish and seafood, but unfortunately for me here aren't available. I'm not sure how they can market a Mediterranean diet for people living in anywhere in the world, since they won't have the same variety of fresh food available. Not saying that products available in the Mediterranean are better or worse than anywhere else, but just different...5
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I'm originally from a country where the people eat a Mediterranean diet. There you can't see even one person as obese as the people I see everyday on the streets here in the UK. People would turn their heads if they saw someone as obese as that and think they are probably ill to be as fat.
Just eat more veggies and properly cooked too, not the undercooked version people in the UK and US have. No wonder people here in the UK don't eat veggies, they are eating them raw and plain and bland (e.g. just steamed) and they are just disgusting e.g. raw grean beans or raw broccoli with your meat. They are not supposed to have a crunch but be soft, spiced, buttery, salty, saucy etc. Think stew, casserole, hash ,vegetable hotchpotch etc. cooked dishes.
Just eat much more veggies, fruit and dairy.
Half of the days in a week were meat free where I came from (not by some rule or anything, it is just how people eat).
It is very difficult to become obese if you cook from scratch and use 70% veggetables and snack on fruit (just because this is the norm and not because you try to eat "clean" - noone there's even heard of clean eating, which is bull anyway).7 -
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes: Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts. Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil. Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods. Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month.1
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While some of her "diet" methodology may be a bit flawed, I like a lot of the ideas and recipes by the author of the Sonoma Diet. She has the original diet book with many recipes and then a follow up cookbook with even more. All inspired by Mediterranean eating habits.1
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sarahhuff4124 wrote: »I'm looking into transitioning into the Mediterranean diet or something similar. Was hoping to find someone else who id/has to chat with, share ideas and recipies, etc...
Why.
Dude, I think you know why. It has good press! And, some of it might actually be true!
In general, I wager that most people will lose weight if they stick to this diet. Any diet that rules out chocolate cake, ice cream, and bread and butter is bound to work.
@crazyravr: Go for it!4 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »sarahhuff4124 wrote: »I'm looking into transitioning into the Mediterranean diet or something similar. Was hoping to find someone else who id/has to chat with, share ideas and recipies, etc...
Why.
Dude, I think you know why. It has good press! And, some of it might actually be true!
In general, I wager that most people will lose weight if they stick to this diet. Any diet that rules out chocolate cake, ice cream, and bread and butter is bound to work.
@crazyravr: Go for it!
And yet, I lost weight eating chocolate cake, ice cream, and bread and butter (every day!). 5 -
Sorry but your comments are making me die laughing here in Rome. What people THINK is a Med diet is hilarious. I grew up in Minnesota--meat+potatoes+butter+ hotdish...... I married an Italian 30 years ago and moved to Rome. Now I eat --pasta, pizza, olive oil, vegetables that I've never seen in Minnesota, fruit at every meal, risotto, crusty breads, lots of legumes, more fish, some meat, and lots of fabulous deserts. I learned early that bread and fruit had to be on the table for every meal. Milk and cheeses are also a must. People here are thin. I just got back from the summer at the beach and the bods are to die for. In the evening, you see these same people in a restaurant eating pizza and pasta. Portion control is what makes the difference no matter how "healthy" your diet is.
PS: The pastry and gelato shops are always packed.15 -
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I'm a bit envious you manage to just laugh - the concept "The Mediterrean Diet" makes me cringe, I feel sick, sad, annoyed. Food, everywhere, at least places where people are healthy, is supposed to be love, life, enjoyment, just like you have observed.snowflake954 wrote: »Sorry but your comments are making me die laughing here in Rome. What people THINK is a Med diet is hilarious. I grew up in Minnesota--meat+potatoes+butter+ hotdish...... I married an Italian 30 years ago and moved to Rome. Now I eat --pasta, pizza, olive oil, vegetables that I've never seen in Minnesota, fruit at every meal, risotto, crusty breads, lots of legumes, more fish, some meat, and lots of fabulous deserts. I learned early that bread and fruit had to be on the table for every meal. Milk and cheeses are also a must. People here are thin. I just got back from the summer at the beach and the bods are to die for. In the evening, you see these same people in a restaurant eating pizza and pasta. Portion control is what makes the difference no matter how "healthy" your diet is.
PS: The pastry and gelato shops are always packed.3 -
I often make meals from the recipe books of Mediterranean chefs such as Gino D'Acampo, Antonio Carluccio etc... These books aren't diet or health books but they have some good traditional recipes. My mum often makes Greek food from recipes collected on our travels round the Greek Islands when we were growing up. We also eat a lot of Spanish and canarian foods as we have an apartment in lanzarote and enjoy their way of eating. There isn't a diet as such, but more of a lifestyle and an approach to eating. Everything is focused on ingredients, mainly vegetables and legumes, fresh fish if available. The food is made to be flavoursome and joyful. Why not try buying a recipe book and going from there?2
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Anything mixed with hummus taste amazing to me. This looks like a good recipe.0 -
I often make meals from the recipe books of Mediterranean chefs such as Gino D'Acampo, Antonio Carluccio etc... These books aren't diet or health books but they have some good traditional recipes. My mum often makes Greek food from recipes collected on our travels round the Greek Islands when we were growing up. We also eat a lot of Spanish and canarian foods as we have an apartment in lanzarote and enjoy their way of eating. There isn't a diet as such, but more of a lifestyle and an approach to eating. Everything is focused on ingredients, mainly vegetables and legumes, fresh fish if available. The food is made to be flavoursome and joyful. Why not try buying a recipe book and going from there?
True--it's a lifestyle. Italians want to know where their food comes from and how it's grown. They demand quality and tradition. This is hard to understand in other countries. We have programs for hours on the weekends showing different regions, interviewing growers, producers, factory owners, chefs, etc. Many products are designated DOP--quality controlled from the origin.
Can you eat this way in the States for instance? When I'm home on vacation I cook, especially if the family came along. I have to sort through many products to find something similar, but, it can be done. Things are also available now, that I had to bring along 25 yrs ago. It's too bad there isn't more interest in quality, but that's just cultural differences.2
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