Eating My Veggies

  I hate diets. I hate the rules, the extreme cravings, the possibility of gaining everything back and usually the taste of the food you are allowed to eat. I'm not an extremely picky eater, but there are a lot of healthy foods that I think taste horrible (avocado is #1 on that list).
  Last summer, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I panicked and started making even more changes in my lift. My doctor referred me to a dietitian and after that appointment, I became even more confused about diets and what I should and shouldn't be eating. The dietitian said I should count calories, but I should also keep things low carb, and I needed to watch my portions and eat mostly vegetables. I tried counting my calories and watching my carbs for about a month and kept getting frustrated. I never knew how many calories were in an apple! I thought apples were supposed to be one of the best foods you could eat! One apple would pretty much take up my entire calorie count for breakfast which meant I was starving by the time I went to lunch. I decided to focus on keeping my carbs down, but I didn't lose any weight with that. I remember when the Atkins diet first gained popularity, my Mom made me try it and I didn't lose weight on it back then, either.
  After a little over a month of failing at what the dietitian said I should do, I just started focusing on making sure my plate was mostly vegetables instead of lower in calories and carbs. All of a sudden, my work clothes were fitting loose and my favorite pair of jeans can't be worn without a belt! I realized stressing over counting calories and special ingredients wasn't helping me at all. Focusing on filling my plate with veggies and not stressing helped me lose some weight and I was excited.

  I started doing some research on diets that were easy to follow, could be adaptable for what I liked and for travel, didn't have to keep track of calories or carbs or any other numbers, and the food would actually taste good. All of my research kept leading me to the Mediterranean Diet. I was already sort of following the Mediterranean Diet anyway, when I stopped the counting and focused on veggies. I'm not going to go into the specifics of the diet, because there are so many websites out there that are dedicated to the diet and they do a much better job at explaining everything. (Olive Tomato is a really good one with info and recipes.)
Here are the main reasons I like the Mediterranean Diet:

• NO counting carbs or calories or anything else!!
• The focus is on eating more vegetables. If there is a vegetable I don't like in a recipe, it is easy and OK to leave that one out.
• The main sources of protein are fish and beans. There are only a few fish I like and a few beans I don't like. It is also easy to substitute a fish or bean I do like. Sometimes, I substitute chicken breast for the fish.
• It is OK to use frozen or canned veggies. That means less stress about using fresh veggies before they go bad, especially this time of year when there aren't a lot of veggies in season. That also means there are more options than just a salad.
• Fruit is OK!!! I am so excited about this one! I don't have to feel guilty about eating an apple or strawberries.
• It is easy to follow, which gives me confidence instead of stress when I'm making my choices about what I'm going to eat. 
• It doesn't feel like a diet, because there aren't many things on the restrictions list.
• You don't need to buy a lot of special ingredients to make one dish.
• We do a lot of road trips and camping and it won't be hard to keep following this diet while we are traveling and camping.
• It is an easy lifestyle change to switctoto.
• I can still have pasta, rice and breads (whole grain).

 This photo shows how easy this diet is: Grilled Mahi Mahi with Steamed Broccoli

  Eating better and not stressing about what I can and can't eat makes me feel better about myself. I'm excited about checking my weight now, even after I give into a chocolate craving. If I do have a chocolate craving and give into it, I don't feel like I've had a major set-back and it screwed up all the progress I've made so far.

  This diet may not work for you, so I recommend doing lots of research before starting any diet. It is also a good idea to speak to a doctor about the diet you choose to make sure that it will work with your health conditions. Find recipes that go with your diet and see if they can be modified to fit your tastes and lifestyle before going out and buying a bunch of ingredients you may not use. Experiment! Until recently, I had no idea I loved Feta cheese and that I hated chickpeas! 

  Choosing this diet has made a HUGE difference in my respect for myself. I feel better and my lab work has already showed it is helping (I'm almost out of the pre-diabetes range only 6 months after finding out I was in the range.) I get excited about trying new recipes because they usually taste GREAT (I have had a couple not so good ones, though.) and that gives me more motivation and confidence to keep on doing what I'm doing. That motivation and confidence it turn makes me happier with myself and overall happier.