What is the Mediterranean diet, a menu for every day to lose weight

Weight loss is often accompanied by health problems, hair loss, skin deterioration. But not in this case. The Mediterranean diet helps to lose weight, rejuvenate and improve overall well-being.

The essence of the Mediterranean diet

This is the only UNESCO-approved diet recognized as a truly safe weight loss system. On the contrary, it is able to improve the general condition of the body, does not contradict the canons of proper nutrition, but has its own approach to drawing up a diet. The classic Mediterranean diet contains many foods that are prohibited by other weight loss systems.

The essence of the diet is the daily use of food that is present in the diet of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean. Fat and fat people are rare among Spaniards, Italians, Libyans and Moroccans. These countries have low mortality rates due to cancer and cardiovascular disease. They are leading in the life expectancy of the local population.

What are the benefits of the Mediterranean diet?

This system was not invented by nutritionists, it was not compiled in laboratories, but was formed over the centuries in certain places. The menu of the Mediterranean diet does not contain artificial products, preservatives, semi-finished products, which will already have a positive effect on human health.

Benefits of this diet:

• Prevents diseases of the heart, blood vessels, lowers cholesterol, dissolves existing plaques, prevents blood clots, the development of atherosclerosis.
• Maintains clarity of mind, positively affects the functioning of the brain. This diet can prevent Alzheimer's disease.
• Eating this system prevents cancer of the stomach, intestines and breast.
• Reduces blood sugar levels, prevents the development of diabetes and insulin resistance.
• Increases immunity, helps the body recover faster after severe illness, long-term medication.

It is based on products that give strength and positively affect the emotional background. It is believed that the Mediterranean miracle diet not only increases life expectancy, but also affects quality. Only an energetic, cheerful, active person can live 100% every day.

Basic principles of nutrition

It is worth immediately debunking the myth that food is expensive under this system. The Mediterranean cleansing diet is rich in a variety of products. It is not necessary to eat only shrimp or gourmet fish, you can always take budget analogues.

Basic Principles:

• There is not enough fat intake, these are not fried sausages or pan pastes. This is a useful extra virgin olive oil. You can safely water salads and other dishes without worrying about the calorie content of your daily diet.
• Lots of vegetables and fruits. The Mediterranean diet allows even grapes, bananas, banned by other systems. Plant foods should be included in every meal.
• Dairy products. It is worth focusing on natural yogurt, cottage cheese, fermented baked milk. There is no need to use fermented dairy products with sugar, dye, flavors in the composition. If desired, you can always add berries or honey.
• Fish and seafood. Like vegetables, this category is at the heart of the diet. These products should be present in the daily menu.
• White meat. You do not need to use it often, 3-4 times a week is enough, less often. In the heart of chicken, rabbit meat, quail, sometimes you can lamb.
• Cereals. Brown rice, durum wheat paste, buckwheat may be present in the diet of the Mediterranean diet, pearl barley is allowed. Legumes are a must.
• Red wine. You can drink up to two glasses a day, served with lunch or dinner. It is important to choose natural wine without preservatives and excess sugar in the composition.
• Eggs. Yes, but not more than once a day
• A variety of natural spices, all kinds of fresh and dried herbs are welcome. You can eat nuts and seeds.
• Bread and rye cakes are cakes made from wholemeal flour.

During the Mediterranean wellness diet it is important to drink not only wine (although this is very pleasant), but also clean water. The daily minimum is 1, 5 liters. Green tea, natural fruit drink on fresh fruit, water with lemon are welcome. Just don't turn healthy drinks into a source of carbohydrates by adding sugar or honey. Taste receptors need to be cleared.

Weight loss rate, duration

This system does not promise a loss of 15 kg per month or 40 kg in six months. The weight of the Mediterranean (Mediterranean) diet disappears gradually without stress to the body. With the right approach, a person will lose 3-4 kg per month, but it all depends on the initial data.

If you eat for a long time in the menu of the Mediterranean diet for weight loss, then very soon your old habits will be forgotten, other foods will take the place of your favorite dishes, the right diet will become a way of life. The Mediterranean diet is not limited in time, it can be followed at any time, because the inhabitants of Morocco, Italy, Greece, Spain eat something similar.

List of prohibited products

The diet for weight loss in the Mediterranean diet can be built independently, below are only approximate menu options. The main thing is not to add banned products. This is especially true for refined sunflower oil, sugar, mixed spices with glutamate and other preservatives.

What you don't need on a diet:

• sausages, ham, semi-finished products;
• pure sugar, limited honey;
• sweet drinks, sweet, ready-made desserts;
• all kinds of cakes made from white flour;
• lard, bacon, fatty meats and dairy products.

The easiest way to avoid mistakes with the dishes is to cook yourself. In cafes and restaurants, cheap oils are most often used instead of the freshest vegetables, low-quality meat and fish.

Mediterranean diet for weight loss: a menu for every day

Here is an example of how you can feed on this system. Then you can adjust the diet to your work or study schedule, personal taste. In addition, it is not necessary to eat different dishes every day, you can prepare something for a few lunches or dinners.

The Mediterranean diet for weight loss includes minimally processed foods. Prolonged cooking, stewing, marinating reduces the amount of nutrients. And simple cereals, soups, salads do not require much time for cooking.

> zxtable border = "1" cellpadding = "0" > Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Breakfast avocado toast with mozzarella, tomato, tea cottage cheese casserole with banana, tea egg, mozzarella and pieces of 10 cherries cereal, slice of cheese, 2 cucumbers brown rice with cheese and herbs pasta with shrimp and cheese Omelet with green beans and tomato Breakfast Orange A glass of tomato juice fruit salad with yogurt soft cottage cheese bunches Orange juice pineapple Dinner stewed vegetables with chicken, a big bunch of greens cream soup with shrimp vegetable stew with meat, tomato juice mussel soup and cheese fresh tomato gazpacho, a piece of grilled fish broccoli soup with fried shrimp brown rice, squid in cream, vegetable juice afternoon tea apple, cottage cheese smoothie with vegetables a glass of yogurt vegetable salad with olives fruit salad with nuts and yogurt tuna toast, all kinds of juice a slice of bread, salted fish, tea Dinner pasta with seafood and cheese, vegetables brown rice pilaf with chicken and vegetables roasted fish with rice, vegetable salad salad with roasted chicken, carrots and cheese pasta with green beans, mussels fish stew with tomatoes, vegetables pasta with shrimp, cherry tomatoes and cream

Remember that all dietary dishes are prepared with olive oil, also used for salad dressing, you can add lemon juice, various spices. You can also include a glass of red wine with each meal.

According to the classic Mediterranean diet, the number of meals is unlimited, but it is important not to overeat. Most menu options have five. You can add an extra dinner or remove the second breakfast, which is also a snack.

Mediterranean diet for weight loss: a menu for every day

Many people say that the Mediterranean diet is very expensive, and the quality of frozen seafood leaves much to be desired. It is difficult to find real olive oil. But in this case it can be replaced with other unrefined fats. Suitable are flaxseed, walnut, hemp oil, pumpkin seeds. You can use edible coconut oil for your diet.

Remember that the Mediterranean diet (the menu for the week below) includes sparing ways of cooking. The oil can be consumed in any quantity, but only for refilling. You can spread the product before grilling or in the oven. You can not use it for frying, it is better to cook dishes for the diet in a dry pan or lightly grease it with the thinnest layer.

> zxtable border = "1" cellpadding = "0" > Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Breakfast zucchini steaks with garlic sauce and cream casserole with raisins oatmeal with nuts sandwich with cheese, boiled egg, tea pumpkin porridge with rice muesli with yogurt sandwich with fish Breakfast banana grapefruit Grenade Apple vegetable salad fruit juice, egg pumpkin puree Dinner fish soup without potatoes from any fish, rye bread stewed vegetables, toast, a piece of boiled meat vegetable soup, a piece of fish, a slice of bread pasta with cheese and squid, vegetables cream soup with chicken and vegetables, tortillas cabbage soup in fish broth with beans stewed vegetables with beans, lightly salted herring afternoon tea yoghurt fruit and milk smoothies cottage cheese with apple Fruit Salad cucumber and herb smoothies cottage cheese with nuts tomato juice Dinner Greek salad with cheese and olives fish cakes (steamed, baked), cabbage salad pasta and cheese, carrot salad with nuts fish stuffed with vegetables, cucumber salad with sour cream and dill buckwheat with chicken, tomato chicken stew with cream, coleslaw grilled vegetables, a piece of pike

There are virtually no seafood on the Mediterranean diet menu, but you can sometimes include them in your diet if you wish. For example, add shrimp to a salad or eat a seafood cocktail.

Mediterranean diet: recipes from the menu for the week

Above in the diet menu there are many interesting dishes that are also easy and quick to prepare. They are great for morning, afternoon and evening meals. Here are the most interesting recipes.

Cream soup with chicken and vegetables

On the Mediterranean diet cream soups are often on the menu for the week. They are good for the stomach, saturate well and are easy to prepare. Here is a basic recipe with vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 300 g chicken fillet;
• 300 g broccoli (maybe cauliflower);
• 100 g carrots;
• 100 g onions;
• 200 g zucchini or squash;
• 150-200 ml cream;
• spices to taste.

cooking:

1. Cut the chicken, immerse it in 800 ml of boiling water, then add the carrots and onions and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, five minutes later the broccoli, add a little salt. Cook under a lid on low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Grind the chicken with vegetables, add spices to taste. Dilute the soup with cream, bring to a boil again and you are ready to serve!

In winter you can use frozen vegetable mixture for such soup. Also, it is not necessary to dilute the dish with cream, you can initially pour a little more water.

Pasta with cheese and squid

This dish is on the top menu for every day to lose weight on a Mediterranean diet. Buying squid in the store is not a problem now, but it is prepared very simply and quickly.

Ingredients:

• 1 squid;
• 200 g of pasta;
• 150 ml cream 10%;
• 0, 5 hours lzehtin;
• 70 g of cheese.

cooking:

1. Boil the pasta according to the instructions, but cook for a minute less. Drain in a colander.
2. Heat a frying pan, lightly grease it with oil.
3. We clean the squid, remove the ridge, cut into strips. Pour and fry for literally a minute, be sure to stir with a spatula.
4. Pour the cream over the squid, bring to a boil, start with half of the grated cheese, allow to dissolve and add salt.
5. Put the pasta, stir quickly, bring the dish to a boil and turn it off. Leave for ten minutes under the lid.
6. Sprinkle with remaining cheese when serving.

In the same way you can prepare a sauce with shrimp or other seafood for diet. The only point is that you should use low-fat cream so as not to increase the caloric content of the dish.

Greek salad with cheese and olives

This salad is a great substitute for lunch, dinner on a diet, especially in summer. It fully meets the requirements of the diet.

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers;
• 2 tomatoes;
• 0, 5 red onions;
• 1 black pepper;
• 15 ml of lemon juice;
• 1 pinch of black pepper;
• 100 g of feta cheese;
• 2 tablespoons oil (olive oil);
• 10-12 olives.

cooking:

1. Cut cucumbers into cubes. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and cut them as well. Red onions are cut into very thin semicircles. Pour into a salad bowl.
2. Cut the pepper into thin strips and cut into feta cubes, quarters of olives, add to other products.
3. Mix lemon juice with oil, add salt, pepper. Pour over the salad. Stir when serving.

You can add all kinds of vegetables, use cherry tomatoes instead of ordinary tomatoes or replace olive oil with Greek yogurt. It also makes a great sauce.

Mediterranean diet for the elderly

It has already been mentioned above that the Mediterranean diet helps prevent Alzheimer's disease. Has a positive effect on the brain, will be salvation from senile dementia. Also, nutrition according to this system has a great effect on other internal organs, but in old age it is recommended to give up wine, and also to change the composition of some dishes. Here is a sample menu for a week of the Mediterranean diet for the elderly. It meets all the requirements of the aging organism.

> zxtable border = "1" cellpadding = "0" > Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Breakfast oatmeal with raisins baked cheesecakes, fruit puree steamed omelet with green beans millet porridge with pumpkin pumpkin steaks, sour cream omelette with fish fillet Fruit curd Breakfast pumpkin puree Orange Apple juice portion of soft cottage cheese vegetable salad Peking cabbage salad with olives, lemon, herbs salad with carrots, walnuts Dinner stewed vegetables, minced fish cutlet vegetable soup, a piece of fish buckwheat soup without potatoes chicken soup puree, black bread soup with rice and tomatoes, compote Casserole with cauliflower and cheese cauliflower soup, bread afternoon tea cottage cheese a glass of kefir banana and yogurt smoothies tomato juice cottage cheese vegetable smoothie with leafy vegetables all kinds of fruits Dinner buckwheat with fish cakes and tomato sauce vegetable stew with fish vegetable salad, chicken cutlet roasted fish, vegetable puree stewed chicken with pasta fish topping, 10 olives, 1 tomato chicken cutlet, brown rice, tomato juice

Reviews of the Mediterranean diet

First examination, female, 34 years old

For the second year I have been eating this diet, I got used to it, I don't want red meat, I gave up animal fats, but I added chia seeds to the main diet, I use quinoa instead of rice. All the while, my weight dropped from 82 to 57 kg. It was gradual, not all at once. I noticed that the clothes became looser, the belly was much smaller, and the scales made me happy.

Second examination, female, 25 years old

It all started strangely for me, at first I saw a menu for a week with recipes for losing weight on a Mediterranean diet from a friend, only then I began to rummage through what kind of system it is. I immediately liked that everything is simple, you do not need to cook anything complicated, just for me. Basically we sat down with a friend, she supported me, but she was the first to leave the race. I went on the fifth month of the diet, my health improved significantly, vitality appeared, I started sleeping well, I lost 9 kg. But the initial weight was small (67 kg at 164 cm).

Third examination, female, 47 years old

I have never had weight problems, but menopause came very early. From the age of 44 I started to gain weight quickly, as a result of +20 kg in one year. The endocrinologist told me about the diet, I liked the very idea of such a diet, but I adapted it a little for myself, for example, I refused wine. I can not drink it, the body does not tolerate it well, constantly heartburn. But I can afford pomegranate juice.

Fourth examination, female, 38 years old

I heard about the Mediterranean "miracle" diet from a doctor, I decided to study this diet and gradually switched to it. I had no Mondays, no schedules. I just gradually changed my usual diet to systemic meals. Hereditary risks At the same time I lost 11 kg.

Contraindications to diet

Despite the high marks, awards and many positive reviews, the Mediterranean system has contraindications.

Who should not follow a diet:

• people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the abundance of fiber can provoke attacks of pain;
• people who have suffered serious illnesses, surgeries.

Also, do not follow this diet if you have an intolerance to fish or seafood. Everyone should decide in advance how close the diet is, whether it is possible to adhere to such a diet in the menu of the Mediterranean diet for weight loss for a long time.