Long-time readers know that I continually flirt with the Mediterranean Diet. I like the idea, I love that the diet is heart-friendly, and I truly love that this is a diet in style-sense, not in weight-loss sense.

My problem is not having the food stuffs that I need for the Med diet on-hand at home. And I never know what to buy when I am at the grocery store. So I did a quick Google search to find suggestions for what to put on a shopping list. Lo and behold, I found an actual printable shopping list!

No need to carry your Advanced Mediterranean book to the store with you now.  Just print out the grocery list PDF on your printer holding standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

PDF (direct link)

via Printable documents for the Advanced Mediterranean Diet.

Now that I have the stuff I need to eat according to the diet, it’ll be much easier to actually do it. At least part of the time.

So now tell the truth: you didn’t think you’d hear from me again, didja? Figured I had tossed in the towel and given up, maybe had a horrible holiday season? Never give up on me, Dear Reader! I mean, sure, I have disappeared in the past. But the past is the past, and now is now! And I am very ready for 2011!

Not that I am starting out in the best of ways. I have been naughty this week, indulging in cupcakes and IHOP, of all things. What the hell is that, anyway? Cupcakes? Seriously? What am I, 10?

I actually have an explanation. It’s not an excuse, but it at least explains the cupcakes. This week both my wife and my daughter had a birthday party. One of the many naughty bits of food available were cupcakes. EVIL!!!! Do not fall under the spell of those wanton hussies! 

They tasted pretty damned good though!

Don’t even ask me about IHOP. I took my son and older daughter there after we went b’day present shopping. IHOP apparently is a major red-light food for me, ‘cuz once I started eating, I couldn’t stop ’til I had cleaned my plate. I almost never clean my plate anymore. That was very odd, and kinda unexpected.

That’s my long-winded way of saying I’m gonna gain a few pounds this week. I know it, and I know what the cause was, so I am not freaking out. But I don’t like that I’ll be starting 2011 on a negative note.

[le sigh]

-M 

Tuesday’s entry was all about eating too much when dining out.  When I am on top of things health-wise, I never have a problem with this. I stop eating when I am full, whether I am at home or eating elsewhere. My tummy and my mind are in harmony. Each knows what the other is doing. Both work together. Things get easy. Well, easier anyway. Dropping weight and keeping it off are never truly easy. But I digress.

Everyone who tries to lose weight knows the old adage: it takes 10-15 minutes for your tummy to tell your brain “Okay, that’s enough food, I’m pretty satisfied right now.” Those of us who end up very overweight ignores this adage in one of two ways

1. we eat too fast, and then we keep eating more and more and more before the signal between tummy and brain is received.
2. we ignore that signal

I’ve been down both routes. Fairly recently, too. Eating too fast is my normal problem. I can inhale food, if I am really hungry. There are also a few types of food that I eat super-fast, even when I try not to. (PB&J sandwiches, I’m looking right at you.) The end result is: I eat too fast, feel like I am still hungry, so I eat some more. By the time I get the signal that my tummy is full, I have eaten a lot of extra food. And I feel like a blimp.

The second trap plays most into my problems. There are certain foods or certain times where I simply will continue to eat. Even if I am stuffed to the gills. Even if I really don’t even want to eat anymore. A country breakfast (eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes). Apple crisp. Jumbo shrimp. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Sitting in a movie theater. Eating a dog at Coors Field. All very dangerous, because I cannot stop myself. I know that I should stop. I just choose not to.

These are what I must work on. I cannot allow myself to get too hungry, because then I eat too fast. I can’t get my “usual” at a breakfast joint, because I’ll eat every single crumb on my plate. I have to be smart about these things. I have to plan strategies for when (not “if” but “When”) these situations arise. Be ready for them.

You know the Boy Scouts motto? Be Prepared? Same thing.

One way that I slipped up is the amount of food I let myself eat when we would dine out. Normally, when I am behaving, I don’t come close to eating a full portion at a restaurant. Depending on the restaurant, sometimes I can’t work my way through a half-portion! As the media has pointed out a time or two, restaurants have increased portion sizes to ridiculous amounts. Nowadays, it is expected that a person cannot finish a whole entrée.

Yet that was exactly what I was doing. No matter where we went to eat, I would sit at the table and eat every damned thing on my plate. My plate would be practically clean! That isn’t like me… It’s like the me from my past, the me that I am trying to move away from. That I thought I had moved away from.

Though – obviously from my current weight – I was totally being that guy again.

As I work my way back into a healthy mindset – as I try to get myself back on-track – I have to remember the small things I can do to keep from falling back again. Leaving food on my plate at a restaurant? That should be an easy small thing to do.

Strike that: it will be an easy small thing to do.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s been wacky, for certain. And I haven’t been sticking 100% to the Weight Watchers plan. But I have been making at least some better choices, and I’ve been trying to watch my portion sizes. And so far, this is paying off: according to my scale, I am about a half-pound lower than I was at my weigh-in on Wednesday.

I learn and relearn some lessons, but some I take to heart: if you are going to splurge, make your self stick to good foods while you do so. Have a box of WW 2 Pt. Bars instead of a box of Twinkies. Have a glass of strawberry milk instead of a milkshake. Have a yummy, yummy tangelo instead of a pb & honey sandwich.

Splurge, sure, absolutely if you can’t help it. But minimize the impact.

Of course, one should also avoid Red Lobster’s Alotta Colada. But we won’t talk about that one….

Beef & Macaroni Casserole

12 ounces Healthy Harvest elbow macaroni — Cooked and drained
2 tablespoons Oil
1 1/2 pounds Ground beef 4% Fat — browned and drained
dash Salt and pepper
1 large Onion — chopped
2 Stalks celery — chopped
1 can Tomato paste
3/4 cup Water
2 tablespoons Sherry
10 3/4 ounces 98% Fat Free Tomato Soup
1/4 cup low-fat Cheddar cheese — grated, or Parmesan
1 teaspoon Leaf oregano

1. Toss cooked noodles in oil.
2. Place in greased CROCK-POT.
3. Add all remaining ingredients, except grated cheese.
4. Stir thoroughly.
5. Sprinkle cheese over top.
6. Cover and cook on Low 4 to 8 hours. (High: 2 to 3 hours)

The idea behind the diet is pretty straight-forward: eat like people along the Mediterranean always have. That means a whole lot of whole-grain breads and pastas, fruits and veggies, and olive oil. Daily yogurt and cheese. Smaller portions of fish and skinless poultry. And very little of other types of meats, sweets, etc. It makes a lot of sense, and should be easy to follow. Especially for someone addicted to breads and pastas like me.

My problem is visualizing what I should eat frequently versus what I should try to avoid all together. Fortunately, I was able to track down an awesome  food pyramid tailored for the mediterranean diet (oldwayspt.org). There are actually two pyramids available for download/printing; one for adults (includes wine) and one for children (no wine). This makes a very easy-to-read guide to foods that are okay. Theoretically, that’ll make it much easier to create food plans. And to put lunches together.

My favorite part of this: since nuts are one of the Daily foods, it means I have (get) to eat a lot of peanut butter. YUMMY!