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

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.

Follow me on twitter @myHFjourney


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