What is a Mediterranean diet and how did I get it so wrong?

My parents are Greek and love to hold their traditions and pass them on to their kids. However I grew up in Australia where I wanted to be just like everyone else and eat their foods. So I was brought up with Greek dinners but packed a regular lunch to school and often had cereal for breakfast. Snacks were western local types too.

Here is what is a a Greek type of diet:

• Lots of meals with vegetables as their base
• A lot of those meals have tomato sauce bases which are rich in Lycopene
• Greeks love herbs, particularly oregano, dill, parsley, basil and put them in their cooked meals and fresh salads
• Main fats are olive oil (extra virgin of course) and a little margarine
• Meat isn't the main dish but incorporated into other dishes, such as stuffed peppers etc.
• Roasts and meat main courses are for special occasions
• Feta goes with everything, but only a little piece, perhaps one or two serves
• Fruit is mainly for children but adults can eat a serve often after meals
• Fruit juice is not encouraged, but sour cherry or tart cherry drinks are common for special occasions.
• Breakfast is often coffee or milk with bread or pastry or piece of fruit
• Lunch is at home and not packed, kids at school used to eat tiropita (cheese puff pastry) to hold them over till they get home for lunch usually by 1
• Lunch is the main meal of the day
• Rests often occur after lunch
• Dinner is small and accompanied by a walk in town afterwards by the whole family
• Snacking is usually seeds (or a few nuts), ie pumpkin seeds but they buy them unshelled and shell them while eating. This forces you to slow down and give you something to do
• Milk is mainly for babies or young children
• Yogurt can be a light meal or snack, usually plain with a touch of drizzled honey, delicious
• Meals are a group affair with other people or often crowds
• Fish is plentiful served more often than meat and served to even very young children
• Wine used to be made at home and everyone can have a sip even children
• A small glass is used for wine and you can have a little at meals
• Bread is allowed and served as an extra at meals but you only eat it for saucy dishes or if you weren't full with the veggie main
• Legumes are very popular and incorporated into soups, bakes, dishes and more
• Rice is used for a side for saucy dishes or in the stuffed vegetables and in soups or bakes
• Greeks eat bulgar, a cracked whole wheat
• Goat and lamb was the usual meat back in the day
• Sweets are for children or only in small quantities for special occasions
• Fasting from meats, dairy and oils was common before special occasions
• You have to sit down and eat, with no distractions just company, eating on the run is rude and uncouth
• Tea was popular and served often
• Chocolate was ONE piece wrapped and was delicious but overeating wasn't allowed
• Overeating or drinking too much were akin to sins and rude/crude behavior
• If you find that you aren't getting full by eating a regular portion then stop anyway, it isn't food that is the problem
• Water is served with all meals and for all visits

Read how I got it wrong in this post.

How did I get the Greek diet so wrong?

I think I covered most of the main points of the Greek diet in my previous post here. Well how did I do it so wrong to get to a pre-diabetic stage? Well I grew up in Australia leaning toward a western diet, just like everyone else.

• I ate cereal for breakfast
• By 11 am I was usually starving
• I ate a regular packed lunch (since eating away from home or a cold meal isn't really a Greek thing)
• I snacked on western snacks after school
• We ate our Greek dinners but often had dessert afterwards
• We didn't walk after meals, in some towns there is nowhere to walk to
• We gravitated towards the western diet of more meat for meals, it was more affordable after all
• Since we ate like it was a special occasion every day, for special occasions we would go overboard
• We didn't fast as much
• Sweets were for everyone not just children
• Fatty meats were used not just lean goat and lamb, ie beef and pork
• Legumes gave you gas and hence were unpopular
• No rest after lunch made you hungry again by 3
• Pastas and noodles were popular fusion cuisine when I was growing up
• Fruit was popular and healthy and not limited
• Snacking was chips and cookies instead of nuts/seeds
• Yogurt had sweeteners and additives
• We gravitated towards processed prepared foods often
• Snacks can be eaten alone, or sometimes meals too
• Snacks can be eaten on the run, in the car, didn't sit for meals
• Chocolate was ONE whole bar and often not as delicious as that one/first piece
• If you weren't full you keep eating till you were

So it is unsurprising that I developed complications, in fact a lot of immigrants that move to a Western country will eventually develop problems similar to the locals.

So now my goal is to try to go back to the original Greek diet and avoid processed foods as much as possible. I also have to give up on my sweet tooth and just let sweets go from my diet. Hopefully pre diabetes is reversible or manageable and I haven't done permanent damage.

What are you eating in your home?

@myHFjourney

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More on the Mediterranean diet and my progress so far.

Last post I mentioned about the Mediterranean diet (but really it is a lifestyle) and gave some of the common food/diet customs.

Here are some more lifestyle factors I forgot to add:

• They eat greens weekly if not daily, usually dandelion weeds which are plentiful and cheap.
• Greek vinaigrette is used for many purposes including salad dressing, marinating and more: Olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and oregano.
• Eggs are a quick meal or a pantry meal.
• A market visits towns once or twice a week for people do their shopping.
• People walk to the market, old people walk faster than young people.
• People walk to church, school and to shops, everyone gets to walk.
• People walk up and down stairs in buildings, elevators are small and for special occasions.
• Eating is for relaxation, you shouldn't be in a hurry and the meal should be enjoyed.
• People only concern themselves with the current day, tomorrow will have it's day, yesterday won't be repeated.
• Meals are cooked early so you don't have to do it at the last minute when you are tired, perhaps that morning.
• People often cook for more than one meal and share the meal or save for freezing or leftovers.
• Fun is incorporated, even in a small way, to everyday.
• During religious fasting the diet is very similar to a vegan diet and still has plenty to offer.
• The outdoors and nature is revered, there's plenty of nice things to look at to brighten ones mood.
• Detailed planning isn't a very revered skill since a lot of people only concern themselves with today.
• Quality is very important, much more so than quantity.
• People follow the rule that you can have a little of everything, or in moderation.

So there is plenty to try to incorporate into todays western modern stressed lifestyle, plenty of back to basics ideas.

So how have I been doing? We were on vacation recently where we walked A LOT, ie 28,000 steps in a day and I decided to get rid of my sweet tooth (was it always really just a decision?) and ate diabetic types of meals. My meals have high complex carbs, protein and fat in every meal. I minimized as much as possible, even on vacation, my simple carbs, even if the rest of the family ate regular meals and snacks. When I got back I weighed 7 Lbs less! Yes, finally budging the scale. I need to keep at it with the diabetic style meals, minimal processed & starchy carbs and lots of walking.

Hope you are doing well.

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