Lose Weight with the Mediterranean diet

This summer change not only your diet but also your way of living. For thousands of years, people around the Mediterranean have enjoyed an active lifestyle, sprinkled with natural dinners with their families.

What exactly is the secret of the olive skin Greeks or Italians ? Balance. Eat as healthy and as good as you can, enjoy preparing dinner for family and friends and plenty of outdoor movement activities. This are the principles of the Mediterranean lifestyle.


The Mediterranean lifestyle has nothing in common with unlimited portions of pizza or pasta, as we see in some movies of the '50s. In fact, consuming moderate quantities of the delicious dishes, rich in nutrients, and especially with your loved ones, making the dinner a good time for communication and relaxation is what's making the Mediterranean Diet so special.

Basically, what is the Mediterranean Diet consists of ? They eat meals based on vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fish, occasionally chicken and very rarely red meat.


All these foods are eaten fresh, unprocessed and unrefined. A study published in 2001 in the International Journal of Obesity shows that people lose weight and maintain their figure easier with the Mediterranean diet than with a hipolipidic diet, precisely because the first contains foods that are tastier and the diet can be maintained for a longer time.

A first change would be to replace margarine, butter, mayonnaise and sauces with olive oil. Added to tomatoes, green onions, garlic and fish, olive oil gives a distinctive taste. It also can be used not only in salads but also for cooking.


The benefits of olive oil refers primarily to a sufficient amount of monounsaturated fat, so necessary to the cardiovascular system, and antioxidants, including vitamin E. All trials show that the daily use of 20 ml of olive oil can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, just because of this monounsaturated fat. So, the  Mediterranean diet helps to increase its adepts longevity.

Another ingredient of the Mediterranean diet is outdoor movement. Experts explain that, in addition to the benefit of burning calories and body weight loss, a daily fitness routine help reduce stress and tension by improving metabolic function and resistance in general. So, you can start with 30 minutes of walking and then gradually increase and change the intensity of effort (running, if your doctor recommends).


So, it's not necessary to dine at a Greek tavern, or to walk on the beaches of Ibiza or the ruins of Rome; purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at the market, cook them correctly, take long walks in the park and  enjoy living. This is sufficient to keeps us young, supple and healthy.