Has anyone tried the Mediterranean Diet? If so, I have some questions. Is it easy to live with? (I love bread....) Have you lost weight eating this kind of diet? Have you noticed any change in your peri symptoms while on this diet? If so, explain. Lastly, do you have recipes you can share for meals that are quick and easy? I need to do most of my heavy cooking on the weekend, and just heat things up or do fast prep meals during the week. I also need ideas for lunch on the road. Thanks much and have a healthy 2009 everyone!

I'm not sure what the Meditarrean Diet is, but my DH and I have been super low carb for over 2 months now. He has lost 33 pounds, I have only lost maybe 2 pounds, but I feel better, lighter and my clothes fit better. There are a zillion things you can make without rice, pasta, bread and potatoes, but you do have to like to cook. Here is one recipe that I make for my husband and I; it has very little carbs:

Blue Cheese Souffle

5 eggs, separated
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup cream or milk
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch cream of tartar
1/2 teas salt
1/4 teas ground black pepper

Beat egg yolks, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper together. Heat very slowly over low-med heat until it cooks and thickens (stir constantly.) Add blue cheese and stir until it melts in (a very tiny lumps are okay.)

Set aside too cool.

Whip egg whites with pinch cream of tartar until it forms stiff, high, glossy peaks. Gently pour the egg yolk/cheese mixture over the whipped whites and fold in, being careful not to deflate the whites (a few streaks of white remaining is okay.)

In a deep sided dish (a souffle dish is ideal, but any deep sided dish will do), butter the bottom and sides and sprinkle with the parm. cheese. Add the souffle misture---gently piling it into the dish. Bake at 375 fro 30-35 minutes. Eat immediately; this is not a dish that will wait for anyone! I use a fork and a spoon to pry apart big chunks of it. I serve this with a nice green salad. Yummy!

Sorry, I just saw that you asked for meals that are quick and easy...maybe a souffle wasn't the best thing to start out with!

We grill a lot of fish, or lean chicken, pork, or beef, and serve it with an enormous spinach salad. I will make some hard boiled eggs and put them in the salad as well as grape tomatoes, grilled eggplant, sliced green pepper, etc.

Another favorite of mine is to very lightly roast asparagus or broccoli, drizzle it with some olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and salt and pepper. I can eat that hot or cold.

We eat almost nothing processed anymore (if it comes in a box, it's OUT)...for lunch I often take a container of raw green beans and a 1/4 cup of blue cheese dressing and dip them in.

Tell me more about the diet, and maybe I can help you out. I LOVE to cook!

Here is a link to recipes and meal plans using the Mediterranean diet. Sounds like a really healthy diet. I might try it.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/die...iterranean-mpw1

Thanks for that link. Now, if someone could give me a good substitute for olives (got sick on them as a kid and can't look at them). I'm fine with olive oil, but can't handle olives. The Mediterranean diet is supposed to be very heart healthy and great for weight loss. I'm looking for a lifestyle here, not something that is going to restrict me from everything I love. I think I have found it with this diet, minus the olives.

I have been looking at what webmd says about this diet. From what I have been reading you can substitute any food you don't want from any food that is allowed on the diet. Here is more information on it.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-mediterranean-diet

LLW

My Alternative doc just recommended this diet... I see it is mostly fish and veggies....not much meat... I might try it in January, eating more fish to see how I like it... I'm already doing low carb....

TJ

Hi, I am new here and love this site. I am 58 and still in peri. I switched to the Med. diet about a month ago. For years I was doing low carb and started gaining and had high cholesterol(just like my mom at this age) I went to the heart doc with my mom and he had the poster for the Med diet on his wall. I am doing it now and love it. I certainly have not lost weight though. I feel that I have put some on. I just started hot flashing about 2 weeks ago. I am thinking about going back to low carb to see the difference. THe symptoms I am feeling may just be end peri stuff.

I came here because I was having numbness and tingling in my lips....wow, lots of you have the same thing. This is a great site.

The plan I am following is high in complex carbs, low in simple carbs. I don't eat bread/starch with meat. I do eat it with vegies. I limit my bread servings to no more than one or two per day. I eat oatmeal for breakfast, salads for lunch. If I am on the road for lunch, I eat Hummus and Pita bread so that takes care of my bread for the day. Dinner is usually fish or chicken and lots of vegies. I eat rather low fat but the fat I do eat is from olive oil and nuts. I limit nuts to one handful per day. I have lost about 10 pounds doing this. I recommend the following book: The Mediterranean Prescription. It gives beginning and maintenance plans.