I need ideas on what to eat on a Mediteranean Diet please

[AnyoneForPimms]

Hi,

Not sure if any of you watched Tonight but it seems the best way to lose weight and be healthy is to follow a Mediterranean diet.

Any ideas on what to eat please?

[AnyoneForPimms]

Bump

[hazeyjane]

I'd like to know too, please!

Especially considering dh doesn't like olives, 'funny' cheeses (strictly a cheddar lover), dressings, aubergines, courgettes, capers and many, many other things (all of which i love).

[Cies]

I'd say it's not so much eating olives etc as how you view food.

IMO a Mediterranean diet involves choosing good basic ingredients and cooking them with care. It's giving food time once again. Where I live in Spain most people take at least 1.5 hours off work for lunch, so they can eat it with family or colleagues, talk, enjoy etc.

As for the ingredients, well fish, meat, pulses. Salads, vegetables. Pasta, rice, bread. Using olive oil to cook with not butter or lard. Think Italian, Spanish, Greek, Moroccan food.

[Coolmama]

A mediterranean diet is not really a plan as such, more like a way of life. People in the med tend to eat very healthily which includes the following
lots of fruit and veg
meat once a week, if that - and then very small portions
lots of fish - all shapes and sizes - and obviously grilled or steamed etc and not fried or battered.

They eat healthy fats and oils like nuts, avocados, olive oil and vegetable spreads rather than butter.
Salad dressings will be simple oive oil and lemon or vinegar - none of the ready-made stuff as it is lethal -
Aslo - not very big junk food eaters - so no biscuits, chips, pastries, pies etc

It's not really hard to follow and is no different to most other plans that all say pretty much the same thing.
Portion control is also very important -
eg - one portion of meat should be about the same size as a pack of cards - that is more than sufficient to meet your protein needs.
a serving of pasta should be about the size of a cricket ball - to give you a rough idea.

Eating this way will automatically reduce you calorie intact - add a bit of exercise ((As the mediterraneans are generally out and about on foot a lot) and you will almost always lose weight and build up healthy choesterol and good fats which are very important to staying slim.

[Maveta]

Agree with all that has been said, also it is very common to have a very big lunch i.e. two plates, one is supposed to be a starter and one a main but in reality they are like two mains, like paella can often be served as a starter (but a big bowl) and then grilled meat and salad and possibly chips (shallow fried in olive oil).

The offset is that tea/supper whatever you call it is very light, maybe chicken noodle soup, or p'amboli which is just bread with tomato and olive oil and garlic squished on top with some cheese, or cold meat and olives etc.

Agree with a lot less crisps and chocolate aswell, also soft drinks. On saturday at MILs house for example there will be 3 or 4 cans of coke (aswell as water, wine etc) on the table to share between about 12 people. There is more if you want it, just that it's normal for people to have a small glass and that's it.

Having said that there's as much a variety of shapes and sizes here as the UK and I am hardly a stick insect, so not sure how it works as a diet plan

[Cies]

Yes, agree re: drinks. Water is the de facto drink here. You won't see kids being offered soft drinks etc unless it's a party or similar. And juice is normally straight from the orange and only at breakfast time. That's one way to keep the calories down.

[AnyoneForPimms]

Some good advice here. Thanks

I need to lose around 2 stone and my DH about 4.

We have tried various diets but with limited results.

After watching this I decided I needed to change the way I eat to a more healthier way of life rather than "dieting"

I really enjoy cooking and love fresh ingredients.I suppose we do eat too many crisps , biscuits etc and drink far too much wine & soft drinks.

I wish we had a good fish supplier near us as we both love fish.

Have started to drink more water and I suppose that helps but I can't stop weeing

[gillythekid]

Does anyone actually know any good recipe books for med cookery?