Diets for Weight Loss and/or Better HealthA Mediterranean eating style has become very popular because of its potential health benefits – it’s associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Now the Mediterranean diet (as a part of a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, not smoking, and moderate alcohol consumption) has been shown to increase life expectancy. But how does this eating style stack up as a weight loss diet?
The Mediterranean diet comes closest to the type of diet plans we develop at Personal Diet. The Mediterranean diet comes closest to the type of diet plans we develop at Personal Diet. The main difference is that weight reduction diets should be a little more limited in the amount of total fat, 25-30% of calories, even though the same types of fats are encouraged (monounsaturated fats like olive oil or canola oil). This helps to control the calories for weight loss. An advantage to following a Mediterranean style of eating is that the foods are mostly fun and tasty to eat, and there is a great deal of variety. Traditional foods of Spain, Italy, Greece, Crete, the south of France and parts of the Middle East fall into this style of eating so you can really find a lot of great restaurants and recipes that you can use on this eating plan.
Now,
many of you will say that it's hard not to overeat on pasta and rice
dishes and you're absolutely right! The greatest challenge to applying
this eating style (or any other) is keeping the portions within your
calorie level so that weight loss can occur. Don't expect to
lose
weight by eating everything on your plate at an Italian or Greek
restaurant! A typical serving of pasta in a restaurant is 2 cups – that
is 4 typical servings of carbohydrate (bread/grain/starchy vegetables)
in just one meal so it adds up quickly! Even the good diets have to
be controlled in portion size, but by following a Mediterranean type
of
weight loss
diet, you'll have the added health benefits of lowering risk
of heart disease and enjoy a wide variety of great tasting, healthful
foods.
PersonalDiets™
identifies very
specific habits that are strongly related to healthy weight loss
&
weight
maintenance
and helps you build on those habits.
Keep
it simple, and make changes that you can agree to fit into your life
right now. We can't blame fats or carbohydrates for our epidemic of obesity in America
“Scientific
evidence indicates that the best diet for most people is one that improves their
lipid (cholesterol and blood triglyceride) profile, avoids harmful cancer-promoting
substances, and limits excess calories that lead to unhealthy weight gain and
other chronic diseases. We have to go with the best information that science has to offer, and learn to trust our intuition and common sense in sifting through unfounded claims and sometimes dangerous diet fads."
Carolyn
Classick-Kohn, MS, RD, CFT
A
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A
Mediterranean diet includes the eating styles and foods of many countries
in this diverse part of the world. In general, a Mediterranean eating
style has an emphasis on whole grain carbohydrates (pasta, rice, cereals
rather than refined sugar and processed carbohydrates like baked goods,
snacks, etc.), plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil as the
main source of fat, fish and poultry in moderation, and a limited amount
of red meat and other sources of saturated fat. This is a relatively
high carbohydrate, low fat diet and is a great way to eat for good health
and for weight loss, but you'll need to follow a plan that helps you
structure the proper amounts of these foods so that you
lose
weight. It's important to understand that a "high carbohydrate"
diet refers to the percentage of carbohydrate in your diet, not the
total amount of carbohydrate foods that you eat. So, when you follow
a "high" carbohydrate weight loss diet, the actual amount
of carbohydrate will likely be lower than what you're eating now because
it is restricted by the amount of calories you are given - that's how
weight loss occurs on any diet.