Eat Right Live Right:The Mediterranean Way

Eat Right, Live Right the Mediterranean Way

A Quick Guide to kick starting your metabolism, controlling your weight and living a healthy fulfilling life

By Richard A. Saitta, M.D. Medical Doctor and Author of Eating Your Way to Health...Mediterranean Style www.medimeals.com

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voiding certain foods will not help you control your weight. You have to eat a variety of fresh foods to maintain good health and a healthy weight. Forty percent of your calories should come from complex carbohydrates, up to 30 percent of calories from proteins and 30 percent from fats. You’ve heard it before, but what does it mean? Here’s a simple guide to clear things up and help you to control your weight and live healthy.

Carbohydrates:

All “carbs” are not equal. Cakes, cookies, candies, ice cream, soft drinks, and syrups are called refined carbohydrates. As soon as you eat them, they quickly raise your blood sugar. An abuse of these types of carbohydrates will lead to diabetes and other complications; not to mention becoming overweight. Pasta, bread, rice, potatoes and grains are a different type of carbohydrate. They belong to the starch category. These should be consumed in moderation. Green leafy vegetables, fruits and legumes are called complex

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carbohydrates. They are good sources of fibers, vitamins, antioxidants and minerals. These complex carbohydrates should make up about 40 percent of your daily caloric intake. That means eat to your heart’s content!

Proteins:

All proteins are also not equal. Animal proteins, red meats, poultry and fish are valuable for nutrition but should be eaten in moderation. Lean red meat is a good source of protein and is quickly absorbed by the body as a source of iron. A good lean steak is acceptable once a month. Poultry and fish are leaner and can be eaten more frequently.

Another excellent source of protein that has taken a back seat is the little, but powerful bean. Beans are also full of fiber, a half cup serving of cooked dry beans provides about 25 percent to 30 percent of the Daily Value of dietary fiber! Fiber is what helps keep you satisfied and regular.

Fats:

It’s a misconception that fat is bad. All fats are not equal either! Greasy, saturated and hydrogenated fats are not healthy at all and should be avoided. However, one of the healthiest sources of fat is: olive oil.

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Your Health, Your Metabolism and Your Weight Are in Your Hands Poor metabolism and weight gain are commonly associated with one another. There is also the popular belief that there is little that can be done to control both metabolism and weight gain. I have heard the following common complaints in my 30 years of practicing medicine: • “Doctor, my metabolism is shut off, I continually gain weight.” • “Doctor, since my last pregnancy, my weight has continually increased; my metabolism is now totally shut off.” • “Doctor, it must be my thyroid. I cannot lose weight. My mother had the same problem.” • “Doctor, I have tried every diet and my weight has not changed. I haven’t even dropped a pound! • “Doctor, I give up, it’s my genes. I starve myself, I am on the run the whole day and I still gain weight.” I could go on and on. Physiologists have a simple explanation for this problematic weight gain. Your weight obeys the basic laws of thermodynamics. In other words, you should burn whatever you ingest. If there is a surplus of calories, it goes into your “belly” as a fat deposit. If you burn more than you eat, you lose weight.

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For the scientists, it seems to be as easy as it sounds. In other words, despite the fact that complex chemical reactions happen in our body, the result is simple…. controlling our metabolism should be an easy task. On your side, you believe that you cannot do anything about your metabolism except to starve yourself. You need to look with a more critical mind at these misconceptions. It took a long time to accept that there was a close connection between germs, hygiene and infectious disease. Hand washing and brushing your teeth are widely accepted preventative measures for hygiene and are almost instinctively performed. The connection between poor nutrition and poor lifestyle, leading to poor metabolism has not filtered down to a widely accepted concept yet. The power of food with its micro and macro nutrient content is totally ignored. Interestingly enough scientists have recently discovered that there is the equivalence of a complex computerized system in your body, which is centralized in your brain and controls your metabolism.

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Instead of helping to control your appetite and metabolism, this integrated computerized system is unconsciously sabotaged no matter how hard you control your food intake. It appears to be easier to gain weight than to lose it. All of your hard work and effort to lose weight does not mean that it was done in vain; rather you were going about it the wrong way!

A body fueled with the proper foods and supplements will recharge itself in energy for optimum functionality.

We at Mediterranean Meals emphasize the role of nutrition and lifestyle as a tool of controlling your metabolism. We will help you lose weight in a healthy and lasting way. We will help you better understand the beneficial effects of food on your weight control as well as the benefit on your overall health. Most of you are getting your information from unspecialized sources which contribute to more confusion. The relationship between food and weight control is not attributed to one type of food. You are convinced to believe that by totally eliminating either carbohydrates, fats or proteins from your diet, you have found the solution to your weight problems. When you choose to eat a low fat diet, you may have a tendency to replace the calories from fat calories to foods rich in refined carbohydrates which eventually will make you regain your weight if not more. The profusion of fad diets either self administered or provided by friends is the source of imbalanced nutritional habits as well as the source of frustrations and behavioral problems. The results are that even though you are eating less, you eat less of the wrong food. For example instead of eating whole grain crackers you opt

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for the bleach-white table crackers. The ideal diet is not one of these extreme diets you have subjected your body to. One of the main reasons of regaining more weight is the abuse of cyclical weight loss. Poor nutrition is a cause of weight gain as well as a source of poor health. The consumption of refined and processed foods void of any nutritional value coupled with a low level of physical activity will unfortunately condemn you to regain weight. We at Mediterranean Meals will teach you a way of life and how to lose weight the right and healthy way. Food is a mixture of thousands of different ingredients which when ingested during a certain time of day will fuel your body and enhance your metabolism. A well nourished body does not crave foods. Your brain, your nervous system and your muscles must be fed with the needed nutrients for proper emotional, mental and physical well being. You will never pronounce the word “fatigue” again. A body fueled with the proper foods and supplements will recharge itself in energy for optimum functionality. We will teach you how to concentrate on the timing of food and supplement intake to promote an effective energy balance. Fatigue, lack of energy and mental stress are the most common reasons to excuse yourself from any physical activity. It’s up to you to put the right foods in your body in order to kick start your metabolism, control your weight and live a healthy fulfilling life!

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E.T.

N.E.A.T.

T.E.E. R.E.E.

Metabolism 101 You can ask your doctor to test your thyroid function, your blood sugar, cholesterol level as well as study your genetic risk. To me the simplest and most basic way to find out if your metabolism is off is to squeeze the fat in front of your abdomen. The thicker the fat layer, the slower your metabolism.

R.E.E.: Resting Energy Expenditure P.A.E.E.: Physical Activity Expenditure E.T.: Energy Thermogenesis N.E.A.T.: Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis T.E.E.: Thermic Effect of Food

The abdomen is the warehouse for the body’s fat. The abdominal fat, once thought to be a dormant mass is now believed to be a very active tissue. Your belly’s fat is part of a complex system which includes your stomach, intestines and liver which are all connected with your brain. All of these different organs communicate with each other by producing chemical messengers on demand. Pending on the message sent to the brain, your metabolism is either stimulated or slowed down.

1) Your R.E.E. (Resting Energy Expenditure) is the energy that your body burns in order to function while at rest. For example, it is the energy used by the body to breathe and to blink your eyes. The larger your lean body mass or the larger your muscle mass is, the more efficiently your body burns calories.

Your metabolism is a collective process which provides the necessary energy for good body function. An easier way to understand energy and metabolism is to draw a round pie and slice the pie into several slices. Each slice represents a different source of energy.

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2) Your P.A.E.E (Physical Activity Energy Expenditure) is the energy which can have the greatest influence. The greater your physical activity, the more you develop good muscle mass, the more you burn calories. 3) Your T.E.E: Thermic effect of food can be markedly improved according to the type of food you eat. The longer it takes for you to chew food and the longer it takes for your digestive system to digest the food, the more calories you burn.

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As you can see, there are steps you can take to consciously control your metabolism and weight. Most of the time, you become your own enemy by following diets and lifestyles which are short term miracles but are long term disasters for your weight and health. When you starve yourself in order to lose weight you are inadvertently paralyzing your metabolism. After eating poorly for a certain period of time, you reach a plateau and your weight does not decrease any longer. Both your fat tissue and your muscle mass in particular shrink, but the actual fat loss is minimal as the weight loss is mainly due to the loss of water; not due to fat tissue loss.

The Mediterranean diet will improve, health, suppress your “bad genes”, and turn your fatigue into energy.

During this period of weight loss, your muscles disintegrate and become atrophic, and you therefore burn fewer calories. While at a plateau, realizing your minimal improvement, you lose your motivation and energy. When your energy is low, you voluntarily decrease your physical activity, therefore your total energy expenditure decreases markedly shutting off your metabolism as a reflex defensive measure. Unfortunately you will go back to your old eating habits, regain more weight; most of the time it is in the form of fat and your muscle mass remains small. The bottom line is that the fat tissue piles up in your abdomen, when there is no more room in your abdominal fatty cells. Then the piled fat tissue infiltrates your liver and your muscles and your metabolism becomes very inefficient. Your body loses its ability to burn fat as a source of energy. At this time during your battle of the bulge, you feel defeated and in order to try and lose the extra weight you’ve put on, you decide to eat less again, skip meals and starve yourself. This

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of course leads you to consume foods that are void of any nutritional value. Once again you’re spinning on the perpetual revolving yo-yo string! Without you being conscious of it, your starving stomach manufactures and sends out messages to receptors all over the body. These receptors are part of this very sophisticated system which centralizes all information about your body’s energy storage as well as its nutrients and antioxidant levels. These messengers are massively manufactured on demand. They stimulate multiple organ receptors including your liver, your intestines and ultimately your brain. The overstimulation of certain brain zone messengers will induce a constant craving of palatable foods, particularly sweets. Your body is going to crave sweets more and more often. “Sweets” become a habit forming, gratifying and rewarding condition for your brain and your body as well. Your promising diet, as well as all of your resolutions turns you into an unsatisfied, malnourished, unfit person. In a short period of time, you become even more overweight. The diet that we at Mediterranean Meals promote will teach you to eat the right food and take the right supplement at the right time. Our eating strategy will boost your metabolism. The right fueling provided by the supplements will turn your metabolism into the most efficient system. Even your fat cells which usually betray you will send favorable messages to your brain through special pathways. These messages will make you feel full and therefore will make you unconsciously decrease food intake. Your health will improve, your “bad genes” will be suppressed, and your fatigue will turn into energy. Your desire to exercise and maintain an optimal health will be at its best.

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THE GENETIC FACTOR Disease or conditions inheritance, which is what you call genetic, is not the principle predisposing factor for the development of chronic conditions such as weight gain, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Even if your genes predispose you toward easy weight gain, lifestyle and good nutrition can modify and decrease your chance of getting fat. As a matter of fact the older you get, the less influence your genes will have on your good health. Environmental factors are more influential to your weight gain and health. Even if you have a strong possibility to easily gain weight, you may not gain weight. Eating the right food through the Mediterranean Diet, may redirect your genes. Contrary to the common belief

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that genes are the only predictors of your weight and other health problems, there is a lot you can do to prevent what we call, “the luck of the draw.” Your genotype map or your genes map is a Xerox copy of the type of diseases or conditions your body could develop under unfavorable conditions. Your nutrition, the food you eat and your lifestyle have a major impact over the way your genes can be oriented. In other words, your weight is in your hands. For example, you are the only one who can make the right food choices, helping you to prevent becoming an overweight, diabetic or cardiac patient. Genes do not specifically code for a condition, but they may influence your health status by weakening or strengthening your body’s immune system. Macro and micro

nutrients and antioxidants which are part of the food you eat have a specific influence on your gene expression. These food constituents break down into chemicals which help to detoxify the body from substances susceptible to turn on disease processes in your body. In the specific case of weight control, these substances coming from food components have a stimulating or suppressing effect on your appetite. When there is an imbalance between stimulating and suppressing messengers, unfavorable conditions happen. Good foods lower disease signals sent to your genes through bioactive components. Food has the intelligence to orchestrate chemical reactions in the natural way with more specificity and precision than any drug can do!

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BODY BASICS The type of food, as well as when you take a supplement will make you burn more calories and reduce your caloric intake by curbing your appetite. We need four elements to remain healthy: 1) water, 2) sunlight, 3) good food and 4) oxygen. Unfortunately, the overuse or misuse of either one of the four elements will lead to disease formation. We could not live without oxygen, but this precious element could also be the source of our destruction. The theory of the free radical or oxidation is the most accepted theory in the scientific world. This theory insinuates that we get “oxidized” in a simple word, we rust. For example, observe an iron rod little by little, with the action of water, wind and sun exposure, this iron rod will rust. If you have ever looked at a concrete pile reinforced with iron rods, you might eventually see some rusty spots on the concrete surface. The rods have been oxidized and have rusted.

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You can paint and repaint the rusty spots, but in time the rusty spots will reappear. This is what happens to us. Our arteries get plugged, our brain gets damaged, our bones become brittle and our lungs get darker due to cigarette smoking or pollution. Every part or organ in our body is submitted to the damage of free radicals. Studies have shown that poor nutrition and malnourishment are reflected by a decrease in blood levels of micronutrients and trace elements as well as many vitamins. Fat accumulation is also generated by malnutrition which also generates inflammation in the body. Inflammation seems to be at the base of many diseases. One of the consequences of malnutrition, inflammation and obesity is a disease named metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is the generic name of chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes

mellitus and hyperlipidemia. All of these conditions are the result of inactivity and poor nutrition. The increasing weight gain is due to fat accumulation in your abdomen which then moves into your muscles. This is the birth of an illness. While eating high fat, high protein, high refined carbohydrate diets, you deprive yourself from essential and healthy nutrients. Pizza dough and hamburger buns are not made with whole grain flour, but rather with processed white flour. White flour is bleached, stripped of all nutritional elements and fibers. Meat balls on the pizza or the meat from the hamburgers is usually rich in bad fat. The fat is doubled by mayo or extra cheese and reinforced by processed tomato sauce and corn syrup. Now you have a high refined carbohydrate, high fat, high protein diet. Oversized portions as well as your inactivity will lead to being overweight, if not obese.

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If poor nutrition and lack of activity continues, the arterial walls continue to be filled up and plaque is formed, this is the beginning of the end.

Usually, this type of food is eaten over a short period of time which overloads your body with sugar, fat and protein at once. These repetitive, unhealthy food assaults will eventually have severe health consequences on your body leading to many debilitating diseases. High blood pressure is not well tolerated by your arteries. The inner lining of your arteries, the side of the artery always exposed to the blood is subject to intrusive remodeling and damages. The damages are the initial stage of plaque formation which eventually will block the blood flow and trigger a heart attack or stroke. Your pancreas, the organ responsible for the production of insulin, the hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar, will be overworked. Eventually, your pancreas won’t be able to provide based on the overhauling demand and will collapse. Your blood sugar remains elevated and here is your diabetes that Aunt Julia gave you through her genes. High fat and high cholesterol levels will oxidize your L.D.L. (low density lipoproteins) what we call the bad cholesterol. Your liver which is also overworked won’t be able to clear up the excess fat. Oxidized L.D.L. will penetrate the walls of the arteries through the initial injury triggered by the free radicals. Rigidity or a loss of elasticity of the artery will follow and here is your hypertension that your mom gave you after nine months of suffering and tender love. As the process of poor nutrition continues and as your activity decreases, the arterial walls continue to be filled up and the

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plaque is formed. The plaque is the beginning of the end. This plaque will favor the formation of the clot that will trigger your heart attack or your stroke; Happy 50th or 60th birthday. You have been diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease. The rich oversized diet is the source of other conditions such as colon cancer. High protein diets mean diets low in fibers. A low fiber diet will decrease your colon acidity and deprive your healthy bacterial intestinal flora from the necessary nutrients. Osteoporosis has a lot to do with high animal protein diets as well as your high consumption of phosphorus rich soda drinks. High refined carbohydrates will increase your calcium loss through the urine. Lack of activity will speed it up. Once again it’s simple; food should be consumed in its most natural way. Processed foods end up to be poor nutritional sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phyto-chemicals and fibers. Trace elements play a major role as a co-factor with antioxidants in the metabolism and integrity of organ functionality. Fibers bind toxins and nourish the growth of good bacteria in the intestines. Fortunately, our body has a very sophisticated antioxidant system to fight the negative effects of nature. With the help of a healthy life-style as well as excellent and appropriate nutrition, our body can minimize the effects of oxidation. It’s up to you to eat the right way..the Mediterranean way!

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Live to exercise, exercise to live Exercise or physical activity in general should not be a choice because it is a necessity for your well being. You are using your muscles from all of your daily activities such as; working, cleaning, shopping, climbing stairs or recreational exercises. If you want to function well physically, you have to feed your muscles with the right foods and nutrients. Good food, adequate beverages and supplements have a major beneficial effect on your health and fitness.

day? These aches and pains were the result of the accumulated toxins in the muscles due to the fact that you were not physically fit. Your muscles were malnourished, therefore unable to eliminate toxins. Your muscles did not have the right nutrition to manufacture the glycogen necessary for their good functioning. Deficiency in good sources of energy favors easy fatigue and will discourage you from getting involved in healthy physical activity necessary to control your weight.

You can have your blood sugar, cholesterol, homocystine, cortisole, bone density or your genetic tree tested, but none of these tests will replace the accuracy or reliability of your health status, than being at a perfect fitness level.

Exercise and good nutrition are both very important to maintain mental and physical fitness and a healthy weight. Physical fitness is the most reliable health factor for long term health. There is not an ideal weight, but there is ideal muscle mass. The more lean muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn.

In order to get fit, you need to get involved in good physical activities as well as good nutrition. Remember when you went to exercise with your friend and you were full of aches the following

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The better you feed your body and your muscles, the better your metabolism. When you

are physically active and exercise regularly, your body will manufacture a strong anti oxidant. This anti oxidant will protect your arteries. The anti oxidant can repair the initial injury of the arterial wall, the injury that eventually will lead to the plaque formation and prevent a heart attack or a stroke. As previously mentioned, arteriosclerosis, the disease that obstructs the arteries is a dynamic condition. It can go both ways… good or bad. Depending on what you are doing, meaning exercising or not, eating well or not; arteriosclerosis can progress or regress. Your arteries can get clogged or can reopen. After a week of controlled regular physical activity the coronary artery, the artery that carries the blood to the heart can recover a good blood flow. If you have good blood flow in your arteries and good muscle mass you have less of a chance to fatigue easily. When your body has more energy

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available, it means better tolerability of pain for headaches, arthritis and for stress. You can perform better when you have energy; even your immune system protects you better from diseases.

After exercising, your blood sugar becomes ideal which makes it easier for your muscles to absorb dietary proteins. All of the organs in your body send messages to each other establishing a conversation.

After exercising, your blood sugar becomes ideal which makes it easier for your muscles to absorb dietary proteins. All of the organs in your body send messages to each other establishing a conversation. These organs also send signals to your genes. Pending on the types of signals or messages sent, your genes take on a different orientation. When the message is favorable, your genes will be suppressing the outbreak of a disease or condition. Good nutrition, regular physical activity and good fitness as well as favorable environmental conditions are all factors that can positively influence your genes. A good messenger example is insulin. Insulin is a hormone or messenger produced by your pancreas, an organ part of your digestive system. Insulin has an important role in the control of your blood sugar. When there is not enough insulin or for metabolic reasons, your insulin does not work well, you will develop uncontrolled blood sugar or diabetes. The initial stage of diabetes is weight gain due to increased abdominal fat as well as fat infiltration in your muscles. Fat infiltration is a major reason for your insulin to be inefficient or not working. The blood sugar is not used by the fat that is infiltrated in your muscles; therefore it stays in the blood and damages the eyes, the brain, the kidneys as well as the arteries. Exercise can favor the sugar to be burned by the muscles even when insulin is absent.

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Exercise and physical activity have to be taken as serious as a medical prescription. You have to commit yourself and dedicate your time to it. Brushing your teeth and taking a shower are normal current daily activities and so should exercising. Before starting your exercise program, always consult your physician. For psychological reasons, it is better to exercise in the morning before breakfast, but exercising is a plus for your wellbeing any time you dedicate your time to it. Always get professional advice for appropriate, safe and comfortable exercise and equipment. The exercise has to start with a warm up period as well as stretching. A minimum of 30 minutes a day is necessary to get valuable benefits. Increase your activity little by little. Even a small increase in exercise or physical activity is associated with physical and muscle fitness and health improvements. You should have 1/3 of your exercise program dedicated to weight training. It is easier and faster to build up muscle than to build up fitness regardless of age. Learn how to breathe properly in harmony with physical activity. Yoga classes will teach you how to breathe properly. Be sure to hydrate yourself by drinking water before, during and after exercising. It is the best source of hydration! Learn how to take your pulse. As your fitness improves, your heart rate should decrease. Keep it up and keep moving!

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You Have To Want To Eat Healthy! Before you go forward, you have to want to be healthy.   That’s the first step you must take on a journey that will fulfill you from within and ultimately reshape you on the outside.  You need to make a conscious decision that you’re going to put the right foods in your body, no matter what cravings come along to undermine all of the hard work you’ve put into transforming your new way of living and eating.  When your body is fueled with the right foods you feel good.  A well balanced meal containing the right amount and types of protein, carbohydrates and fats is essential to the functionality of every organ in your body.  A great motivational tool to keep those good foods coming into your system is remembering how You To Want To Eat goodHave it felt when your body was Healthy! correctly! nourished

Get Motivated Surround yourself with healthy images. Get your household involved! Get their support and take the time to cook healthy meals together and sit down to enjoy them.  Cooking a meal together is actually saving you money that you would be spending on take-out, and it’s having you spend quality time with a loved one.  That should be motivational enough.  And cooking is not only easy to do, but Get Motivated it’s rewarding when you see the Surround yourself withyou healthy difference in the way will look images. yourcontrolling householdwhat and feel. Get  You’re involved! Get their support and goes into your body.  Buy only take the time to cook healthy meals fruits, low fat yogurts, vegetables, together sit down to enjoy fish, nuts,and legumes, etc……You them.  Cooking a meal will see how full you feeltogether as well is actually saving you money as the diversity and bounty that you wouldinbethe spending take-out, exists produceon section of your and it’s having you spend quality supermarket. time with a loved one.  That should be motivational enough.  And cooking is not only easy to do, but it’s rewarding when you see the difference in the way you will look and feel.  You’re controlling what goes into your body.  Buy only fruits, low fat yogurts, vegetables, fish, nuts, legumes, etc……You will see how full you feel as well as the diversity and bounty that exists in the produce section of your supermarket.

Before you go forward, you have to want to be healthy.   That’s the first step you must take on a journey that will fulfill you from within and ultimately reshape you on the outside.  You need to make a conscious decision that you’re going to put the right foods in your body, no matter what cravings come along to undermine all of the hard work you’ve put into transforming your new way of living and eating.  When your body is fueled with the right foods you feel good.  A well balanced meal containing the right amount and types of protein, carbohydrates and fats is essential to the functionality of every organ in your body.  A great motivational tool to keep those good foods coming into your system is remembering how good it felt www.medimeals.com when your body was nourished

Stay Motivated! Do not fall into any temptations. Get rid of everything you are not supposed to eat from inside your home. Remember Variety, Balance and Moderation! Do not deprive your body of anything. If you crave sweets, have a piece of fruit or make yourself a fruit smoothie. The combination of the fruit and protein will satisfy your craving and make you feel full and satisfied longer. You are more likely to stay motivated if you feel good and satisfied. Keep a variety of fruits and vegetables in the house. If it’s something crunchy you crave, then munch on some almonds or walnuts. Keep your taste buds refreshed by introducing a new and different fruit, vegetable, fish and lean meat recipe to your collection.

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Stay Active!

Eat Breakfast! Eat your breakfast!!! This IS the most important meal of the day. This is your essential FUEL… YOUR KICK START TO YOUR DAY! You need to set a healthy pace for the rest of the day. The distribution of our food intake is just as important as the total amount of caloric intake. Our eating habits have an influence on our snacking, which usually involves foods high in calories and low in nutritional value. There is a close relationship between weight problems and the amount of time spent for breakfast. People believe that by skipping breakfast they will decrease their caloric intake for the day. The variety of food available for a fast and small breakfast is narrowed down to Danishes, doughnuts, and cookies which are all less healthy and high in caloric content. Breakfast should provide 30 percent of your total daily caloric intake. We should make our breakfast food adequate and diversified by including quality proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Failing to do so will tempt you to increase the frequency of snacking on unhealthy foods during the rest of the day. A high fiber cereal and fruit can increase your mental alertness. By eating a healthy and well balanced breakfast you will fuel your body with energy and help motivate you to work well, think clearly and feel good!

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It is important that you stay physically active. Physical activity provides for a great quick pick me up and a feel good motivator. Take the stairs whenever possible; park your car at the end of the parking lot row. It is known that when staying active, it is less likely to get colds and respiratory infections. Also, by staying active your endorphins are elevated, making you feel better and when you feel better you are more inclined to eat better!

Eat Plenty of Fruits and Vegetables A good rule of thumb is to eat fruits and vegetables of many different colors. The darker and richer the color, the more nutrient rich the fruit and/ or vegetable. They are packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Fruits and vegetables are also packed with fiber and it’s that fiber that will help you stay full and more satisfied, therefore keeping you away from overeating foods full of empty calories. The Mediterranean Diet is made up of functional foods. These types of foods contain specific health or medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of diseases beyond basic nutritional functions.

Eat of the Land and Sea The Mediterranean Diet is not one of those “diets” that constrains you into eating only certain foods while totally avoiding others.  The “diet” or rather lifestyle is very diverse and allows you to reap the benefits of this great earth we live on.  Processed foods and foods containing preservatives etc. are not natural.  Why would anyone want to put something that is unnatural inside their body?  It is important to eat what Mother Nature has provided for us.  The fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, etc, that grow naturally in the ground is what the Mediterranean Diet adheres to; the bounty of the earth. Fish and other animals are also eaten, but red meat in small quantities.  Because most of the countries that make up the Mediterranean region are surrounded by water, fish is one of the mostly consumed forms of protein.  Don’t let the scare of mercury deter you.  If you eat garlic, which is another staple of the Mediterranean kitchen, you will be able to chelate (remove certain heavy metals from the bloodstream) the mercury.  But the benefits of eating fish which are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, outweighs any of the negative effects.  The land and the sea are there to be enjoyed and that’s what we will provide for you at Mediterranean Meals! DON’T FORGET TO DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!

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