Why did I switch?
After years of college, I looked down and discovered I had slowly been gaining weight sitting in a chair, quietly munching on snacks to get me through a long day. By slowly, I mean over about 6 years I had gained 100 pounds. This was unacceptable to me, and I promptly went to the doctor to get advice. She told me that I needed to go on a diet – no surprise. The diet plans she gave me looked similar but I didn’t find them interesting. Bland chicken, lettuce, and an apple did not seem appealing. So I decided to look online for a better diet that would fit my culinary needs as well as dietary. I found a curious diet: The Mediterranean Diet.
I just couldn’t make head or tail of it having never come across the term before but my curiosity led me to research it online and boy, did I find a mine of information about it and this was not your regular custom keto diet, mind you. So let’s take a look what exactly it is:
What is a Mediterranean Diet?
According to the president of Oldways, a nonprofit nutrition group who produced a helpful Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, “The Mediterranean Diet is a lifestyle where good taste meets good health”. The diet itself is not a strict set of rules to follow but it is a guideline to go by. Almost all diets include rules outside of what you are to eat because these rules are general rules to losing weight. First, there is a main requirement of being physically active, which is really the main requirement of any diet. You cannot think to lose weight by miraculously eating better and shedding pounds, so don’t fool yourself. Next is drink water. Water is really important to the human body, so drink six to eight glasses of water a day. The last rule is to eat around 5 small meals a day, this keeps your metabolism running to help you burn off extra calories.
Rather than going too much into the food requirements of the diet, here is a helpful food pyramid. I have to say, the foods are very delicious and filling – it is so much better than eating something bland and feeling depressed or tired.
Trials and Tribulations:
My problem came down to one word. Steak. I love steak and bacon, and I am sure many of you do too. Sure, desserts are good, but if you feel full all the time you don’t crave them too much more than the pyramid asks of you. My town has a bunch of steak houses though, and I go out a lot with friends, it is hard for me to go out and not order steak. However, other than that everything is easy. With good food the Mediterranean Diet requires you eat, it is not hard to stick with the plan.
Results:
I have lost about 20 pounds with this diet in the last year. I feel so much better, like a weight has been lifted off of me and I can breathe again. I don’t feel fat any more, and I am comfortable with my eating habits. I am truly happy with the Mediterranean Diet and feel as if I can stick with it forever. It is now a lifestyle for me rather than a diet. If you have success too, I’d love to hear about it!