4. Starting the Mediterranean diet
Succinctly put, the Mediterranean diet focuses on the following:
- Eating vegetables, fruits, nuts and whole grains. (Tip: Carrots, apples, and nuts were particularly useful to me in the beginning, as they take both some time and effort to eat them, thus leading more easily to a feeling of fullness). Olive oil is also widely used.
- Eating less red meat while replacing it with poultry and fish
- Replacing salt with different spices
- No refined sugar. Drinking red wine moderately (this one is optional)
- Exercising frequently
Now, the one principle I always tried to respect during my own process of losing weight was this one: don’t push it; follow your body’s pace. So, for the first couple of weeks, all I concentrated on was staying within limits and taking out the one food with most calories, that didn’t fit into what was prescribed by the Mediterranean diet: in my case, chocolate. It could be sausages for you, or some other product containing refined sugar. Once you do this, try and replace this food with a new one from the ones mentioned above.