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.

More packed lunch ideas.

Here are some more clippings from magazines on healthy/packed lunch ideas. Hope they help.

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@MyHFjourney

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Back to routine, packed lunches, kids lunches

Yes, I've been a little slow with the posts lately as we've been trying to get in to a routine. Back to school and back to my todo's. One thing I don't miss it packed lunches, one child won't eat sandwiches. What do I do? I've got some notes and images below that I've collected over time. This post is just as much a reminder for me. I hope it helps you out too.

Enjoy.

@myHFjourney

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Four Simple Tips For Weight Loss

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Guest post By Mike Occhipinti, manager of The Body Shop Studio,  22 July, 2015


One of the most frequently asked questions are “what do you eat” or “what should I eat if I want to lose some weight?” If you are one of those people who find yourself asking or wondering these questions, you might find this article as a good stepping stone to get you on your way. Now let me state I am not a nutritionist or dietician, but I can share with you some tools I have seen personally work for me and my clients. Lets talk about four simple ways to get the ball rolling.

1. Increase meal frequency.

Eating small, frequent meals throughout the day is good way to get your metabolism moving. You want to eat anywhere between 2.5 to 4 hours. Try not to go beyond 4 hours because after that your body goes into starvation mode and will store calories instead of burning them off. When you eat often you also prevent overeating later in the day. If you’re someone who skips meals, especially breakfast, I challenge you to eat 4 balances meals throughout the day then go home and try to overeat. You won’t want to. Why? Because you’ve given your body adequate fuel throughout the day so it’s not craving CRAP (like sugar, which the body will convert quickest to energy) and you will have that willpower you’ve been yearning for. YES IT”S THAT EASY.  Also, the because our bodies are way smarter than we are, when it comes to food rationing and storing for energy it will do it when it needs to whether you WANT it to or not. So keep that engine, your metabolism, running by fueling it, literally, and it won’t have the opportunity to store the fuel as fat. But there is no magic number of meals you need to eat a day or exact time range that you need to follow. The truth is that you need to find what works for your body and metabolism. This comes with some trial and error. Maybe start with 4 meals and 1 snack, or 5 small meals, or three small meals and 2 snacks and see what works best for you and your life. Ultimately, what works for you, will work for you.

2. Eliminate sugar and processed foods.

WHAT?! NO!? REALLY?! YES!!! Sugar is the root of all evil. Just bite the bullet, take the plunge. cut the cord and DO IT. We are often told fat is makes you fat and you should by fat free items but the truth is, when companies take fat out of a product, the taste changes and therefore they must add something. That something is usually sugar, which just so happens to be more addicting than cocaine according to numerous studies performed. You will not only look better but you will feel better too. Science has shown and I personally can share from experience that when you go cold turkey, you begin to not miss it. Then something REALLY cool happens, once you give it up and then reintroduce it because the chocolate brownies your Aunt makes every holiday are just too good to pass up, you actually feel SICK. Processed, white sugar makes you sick. You have two options: You can throw out all of the refined carbohydrates and sugary food/drinks in your house, or just finish them off and not replace them. Food shopping should be done around the outside perimeters of the supermarket. Stay away from the boxed foods and sugary drinks. Something as simple as eliminating sugar goes a long way when it comes to weight loss.

3. Have the majority of your diet come from these food sources:

Lean protein: chicken, steak, fish,eggs, turkey, etc that are grilled baked or boiled.
Fibrous Carbohydrates aka Vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, kale, spinach, ya know, the GREEN stuff
Fats: avocado, coconut oil and other oil variations,
Starchy Carbohydrates: Sweet potato, quinoa, rice, legumes

4. DRINK WATER.

I could go on and on about the importance of water but lets remember the body is somewhere between 60-70% water. It helps with digestion,  flushing bodily waste, maintaining body temperature, helps clear up your skin, and balances your electrolytes. Your muscles alone are 73% water, so if you suffer from muscle cramps, drinking water could alleviate some of those aches and pains. But how much should you drink? A good starting point is to do ½ your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 140 lbs, you want to drink 70 oz of water a day. If you’re exercising you’re going to want to increase that amount. Also, let’s make something clear, coffee, tea, soda, juice IS NOT WATER. When we say drink more water, we mean WATER as in H2O. If you have a tough time drinking water one way to increase your intake is to do it while your eating your meals because you’re already sitting down and can remember to drink it. Drinking water before and during meals will also help you eat less because there won’t be as much room for the food.

The four above tips for losing weight while simple, will go along way. I have seen people make great strides following just these four steps. Stay focused and take it one meal, one day at a time.

www.thebodyshopstudio.com/blog  239 Main Ave, Stirling, NJ 07980 (908) 307-3777

How to focus on your health but not obsess, is this possible?

People are getting bigger and less fit and lifestyle accounts for many of today’s ailments. We know it is important to focus on your health. But health advisers suggest not obsessing over your health as too much focus on diet and weight may propel you to a binge or other eating disorder. If you focus on food all the time you may be hungry all the time too if you get hungry when you think about food.

What is the balance between focusing on health, and not obsessing over food? It seems to be a very fine line, which is why health professionals suggest making small lifestyle changes in the long term instead of short-term diets.  Do what ever you used to do but eat a little less or skip a snack (if blood sugar is balanced), eat lots of vegetables and some fruit, eat dessert only on the weekends or special occasions etc.  If you try to do all the suggestions all at once you risk failing and that failure and the obsession may make you less likely to want to try changes in the future.

In Stop the Insanity Susan Powter says that the obsession over food is the reason for the obesity and that if we stop forbidding foods that we can go back to our natural hunger pattern and be content with our shape and body.

Is it possible to calorie count and not obsess? I am not so sure. If you have to count calories then you are slightly preoccupied with your diet and it focuses on the calories you can’t eat.

In Scarcity:Why Having Too Little Means So Much, Eldar Shafir goes in to depth about how restriction focuses on the loss in a negative way. It claims that the best way to lose weight is to increase the frequency of meals to allow the feeling of abundance. How cans this work with initiating a weight loss? I have yet to find out but it is worth examining given that most diets fail over the long term.

Perhaps the focus could be on stopping binge dieting and emotional eating? I.e. we won’t abuse our bodies when we feel bad and eat too much ice cream. We won’t give in to a binge when we have overeaten a little, i.e. “throw the baby out with the bath water” just because we slipped up a little.  There are lots of resources out there for binge eating and overeating addiction, including overeater’s anonymous, online forums and more.

Of course we all know we should move more and often. Perhaps we could focus more on fitness, since fitness addictions are more rare than eating disorders. But yes there is a small minority that will overdo fitness too. 

@myHFjourney

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Tools to help with fitness

You don't need a lot of equipment to get fit, but there are tools out there to help you lose weight. Here's a review of some useful and popular ones recommended by me. Check with your doctor before changing your routine.

Pedometers are useful as they track how many steps you take. Doctors suggest you get to 10,000 steps a day to get fit. It will be surprising to see how few steps you take in a day and inspire you to walk more. The one I use is the Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker. It has add on products such as the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale and more.

I love reading and my favorite health books right now are anything by Michael Pollan, he is the leader, and very few people will dispute any of his suggestions or ideas. He advocates natural foods, slow cooking, whole foods and more. Nothing to hate there.

Also because of my current health requirements I love anything by Mark Hyman and Daniel Amen (in particular the Daniel Plan ). Both are well regarded leader in their field and their ideas are well thought out and convincing. If you hate shopping and cooking try some subscription services, there are lots out there Medifast has a lot of options and does all the work for you!

As for fitness tools, as suggested in my previous post Here's step one! Get moving I love the mini rebounder trampolines. There are also workout routines at Muscle and Fitness tips.

You could also use sneakers for walking outdoors. I love champion c9 sneakers, they are a consumer reports best buy and available at Target and you can't beat the price!

For weight management you can't go wrong with Weight Watchers any of their programs are top notch and work. They are also approved my the medical community and gimmick free.

An other tool to help if you aren't using a food plan such as Medifast or Weight Watchers is SparkPeople. It is more than just a food plan or fitness tracker, there is a lot of information and peer reviewed articles on the site. There are communities to help you with your journey and fitness challenges for a whole lot of conditions.

Again, you don't need a lot of tools and equipment to get started. But some of the above tools will make your life a lot easier as it takes a long time to get fit and maintain your fitness.

Good luck with your journey. Please comment below on your favorite tools for health and fitness, I'd love to hear about them.

@myHFjourney

Check out this site about sugar and weight 10poundpledge.com/sugar and lets give up sugar!

New Alzheimers study now recruiting for cutting edge treatment.

In the past year or so it was discovered that there might be a connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Apparently Alzheimer’s is affected by insulin and there is a significant correlation between high blood sugar levels and Alzheimer’s. Just one more thing you need to know if you are pre-diabetic, right? But all knowledge is a good thing, and it is good to know that ANY attempt you make to lower your blood sugar can help protect your brain as well. A good diet and exercise may ultimately help prevent cognitive delays, including Alzheimer’s.

In fact, the correlation between diabetes and Alzheimer’s is so high, that doctors are now referring to Alzheimer’s as a Type 3 diabetes. In an article published in November 2008 by the National Institute of Health, authors Suzanne M. de la Monte, M.D., M.P.H. and Jack R. Wands, M.D. conclude that "Altogether, the results from these studies provide strong evidence in support of the hypothesis that AD represents a form of diabetes mellitus that selectively afflicts the brain." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/)

Another article, by Edward R. Rosick, DO, MPH, DABHM, published in the November 2006 issue of Life Extension Magazine states that "The emerging connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's is yet another compelling reason for those who value their health to address issues of impaired insulin sensitivity before it is too late. Although diabetes is an emerging epidemic, it is also wholly preventable and reversible through strategies that incorporate dietary changes, lifestyle modifications, and nutritional supplementation."  (http://www.lef.org/magazine/2006/12/report_alzheimer/page-01)

Alzheimer’s is a topic very close to my heart as my Grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s for many years. In the later stages of the disease, it became very difficult to care for her. She didn't recognize the friends and family who were taking care of her and was terrified of what they were doing to her and why they were there. She forgot how to execute basic functions like eating, going to the bathroom and other self-care skills. Sometimes she would get frustrated, violent or forceful in her attempt to understand what was going on around her.

Research has already determined that there may be a link between blood sugars and Alzheimer’s and currently there is a cutting edge study researching treatment for Alzheimer’s patients (http://alzheimersstudy.com/). The website states that "Currently three studies are underway to investigate whether a research drug called idalopirdine, given in addition to the Alzheimer’s medicine, donepezil, rivastigmine or galantamine, improves brain functioning in areas such as memory, thinking and reasoning." If you have someone currently taking Alzheimer’s medication, please forward information on this important research and treatment to his or her caretakers. There is even an online prescreener available to see if you might qualify. (https://alzheimersstudy.com/screener/ )

If you have trouble with high blood sugar, you now know how important this study might be to you. Please forward this post to anyone you know with friends or loved ones that suffer from Alzheimer’s. This may provide benefits to help the patient and patient costs are covered (even if you don't have insurance). Participation in the study will help progress this research through FDA approval and ultimately allow for the findings to be released for the benefit of the general public in managing this disastrous disease.

@myHFjourney 

It is so much harder to lose weight when you are older or overweight

When I was a teen I could skip a meal and lose a pound or two. Now in my middle age it is almost impossible to lose weight purposely and for long term weight loss. Lots of things are against you in middle age. I tell my kids that they should work on weight loss before they get very overweight.

Apparently a thrifty metabolism is against me. I read a news article that determined that some people have a thrifty metabolism that works against weight loss. Great, just what I needed, right? Thousands of years of evolution have worked so that I can retain weight, so I don't perish. Just what we need these days, right? These days where we almost never miss a meal and eat like we are celebrating every day.

Another recent news article says that exercise isn't to blame, of course I kind of guessed that. I've had bouts of major activity and develop muscle but don't necessarily lose weight long term. Or perhaps I am not keeping up the activity long term. The article suggests that simple carbohydrates are more of a problem. I am beginning to believe that they are right, that glucose and insulin are the problem for the metabolic conditions and the inability to lose weight when you are overweight long term. I've discovered that blood sugar is a major factor in the inability to lose weight.

I've heard of people who have weight loss surgeries but unless they keep working on weight loss you could get the weight back on. Even surgery isn't a guarantee for permanent weight loss.

Right now I am focusing on balancing my blood sugar, some days are better than others. And watching my refined carbs.

What do you think?

@myHFjourney

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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Back to Basics, again!

One thing I have noted these past few months is that setbacks will happen. I've been trying to follow a healthy diet (for pre diabetes) and need to prep mostly every meal. Once in a while I don't feel like cooking or prepping anything and inevitably end up eating junk (cookies, crackers etc). Once this happens it is too easy to give in and go back to eating junk. Then I need to remember the basics of healthy eating and for me this is:

1. Eating unprocessed foods, foods from the ground and from animals.
2. Whole grain products, ie no white flour or white rice or other processed grains.
3. Eating only until I am 80% full 
4. Eating a raw food for every meal (salad or fruit etc)
5. Having cooked vegetables for every meal (prepping and cooking get tiresome but necessary and delicious)
6. Thinking ahead about meals and not leaving it till last minute, tiring and boring but necessary
7. Avoiding even home made baked goods as they are very likely to be processed or baking infrequently
8. Making use of a slow cooker or foods that are not quick fried
9. Choosing organic and natural foods where possible, reduces your toxicity levels
10. Choosing different colors of foods for my meals (looks nice and diversifies the nutrients)

Those are my main general rules which are sometimes difficult to follow if you are in a bad mood and want to gorge on cookies. It is almost impossible to gorge on vegetables in the same way and perhaps we shouldn't be using food in that way. But yes oh so tempting. My snacks need to be fruit, veg and nuts/seeds.

For special occasions we can and should have a treat but as a society we have too many of those celebrations every week. Kids go to a lot of birthday parties, communities have town days and fairs and you could conceivably have lots of these special occasions. So perhaps stray only on the most important days or the days that mean the most to you. It won't feel like a celebration if you have too many of them or too often.

Ugh, so hard sometimes and almost goes against the grain, remember 2/3 rds of us are overweight or obese so everyone else is eating like this too. Lets inspire each other with how to deal with setbacks and refocus. Suggestions welcome!

@myHFjourney

Blood sugar and hunger pangs

So for the past couple of weeks I've been reading the The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now! by Dr Mark Hyman. And I've become aware of processed carbs and their effect on my body. It is amazing how they can shut down my body really quick by putting me in a mini coma/nap after a meal full of refined carbs. I've also become aware that I need to have healthy food in the house and have shopped for healthy foods. I am not following the plan completely yet as I am still reading the book, clearing out my cupboards and shopping for my new pantry ingredients. I will still have additional snacks and regular lunches for my kids but I am hoping they give the healthier dinners a try. In the summer we usually eat healthy with our CSA (community supported agriculture) food co-ops anyway. Most of Dr Hyman's meals are GFCF (Gluten & Casein free) with very few processed foods.

I have been trying out some of the meals in the book even tho I am in the prep phase and I can say I feel like a new person already and I haven't even started. I am dreading seeing my doctor next week as I am suspecting my Blood Sugars are elevated, perhaps more than the pre-diabetic stage, we shall see.  I can also feel the effects of eating refined carbs like never before! I am aware of the effects on my body and can feel them taking over and taking hold. It isn't pretty, I may get tired, I get ravenous hunger pangs perhaps an hour or two after a meal where my body is forcing me to eat again even after a very full starchy meal. Insulin isn't my friend when I want to lose weight. My body isn't as bloated as it was before just from the minimal changes I have done in the prep phase. I don't weigh myself often as it makes me sad but my clothes feel looser.

Now that the weather is better, I have been getting out and walking with friends, keeping my activity level going too. If you are getting any of these symptoms, see a professional, don't rely on a blog for your health and safety. But if you are in a similar position it is interesting to compare and contrast plans. Or perhaps you are healthy as a horse but need inspiration on 'what not to do'! LOL either way, do keep reading and keep coming back.

Thanks

@myHFjourney 

Hypo/hyperglycemia or blood sugar imbalances

Anything over 190 Lbs for my height is obese and have had trouble loosing weight for years perhaps over a decade. Just recently I have had some symptoms that brought to light a possible reason for my troubles. Severe tiredness, in particular after meals (especially after starchy processed meals), extreme hunger an hour or two after a meal in particular if the meal didn't have enough protein or good fat or too many starchy carbs.

The condition was never severe enough to make me faint even tho I have had nice naps after a big meal.  I could get jittery if I skipped a meal or had too much coffee.

This condition makes losing weight VERY difficult but necessary.  All those attempts I have made have been crucial but have been wasted cause I was watching calories or fat or carbs but not necessarily glucose. 

I have to admit to myself that I am in that special category of prediabetic or have hypoglycemia linked with hyperglycemia and have to watch the carbs/fiber like a hawk. No more processed carbs over 15 pts for me without cause. Only fiber or natural carbs, or low glycemic foods or unprocessed foods. The biggest downer for me is there is NO cheating on this plan!! OH NO, blood sugar doesn't give you a day off. I can't have a snack one day a week, I will go hypo immediately(short for hypoglycemic) unless my condition is reversed. UGH how did I get in to this? I have to think of the positives, that I can do my best and will do my best and perhaps my hypo will reverse.

I have a physical scheduled soon and have regular medical care and suggest you do too.

At least now I know why my journey has been so hard. But now I know I CAN"T cheat ever until my condition is reversed! A big hurdle for someone obese. Give me some love people...

@myHFjourney