The Mediterranean Diet provides endless delicious options to create a daily menu. But before presenting any Mediterranean Diet Sample Menu it is important to understand the keys to creating your own menus afterwards.
- The importance of every meal and
- The three hours golden rule
Breakfast : Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Without it the body does not receive any of the essential nutrients it needs, so the metabolism slows down. As a consequence you feel cravings for salty and cravings for sweets during the day. That simply means that you have not provided your body with the necessary source of energy to make it work properly.
Snacks : Snacks, full of proteins and vitamins, are essential for your body not to slow down metabolism. These are foods that increase metabolism during the day, which is very important. You can enjoy two snacks every day between the meals. Have the first snack 3 hours after breakfast and the second one 3 hours after lunch.
Lunch : It is very crucial not to skip lunch since that will only slow down metabolism and make you overeat at dinner. You should have a balanced full of proteins and fiber lunch to keep you full until dinnertime.
Dinner : Dinner is a special meal in the Mediterranean Diet. This healthy diet meal plan should be wisely formed since it is the one that will prevent you from feeling hungry until the next morning.
According to all the above a Mediterranean Diet Sample Menu looks like this:
Here are 2 examples of every meal of the day
- Yogurt 2% with rich in fiber cereals, fruit (3 strawberries or 1 apple or 1 peach or a small handful of berries, e.t.c.) and a small handful of raw nuts or natural dried fruits. Coffee or tea.
- Toast with whole wheat bread, turkey ham and a slice of cheese. Fresh orange juice or a glass of milk. Coffee or tea.
- A handful of mixed natural dried fruits or nuts.
- 2 crackers or 2 bran biscuits. Tea.
- Grilled fish or chicken or beef with vegetables. Green salad with balsamic vinegar dressing (2 tablespoons).
- Lentil or white beans soup, greek salad with olive oil (2 teaspoons) and feta cheese (30 grams).
- Yogurt 2%, 2 crackers.
- 1 banana or 1 apple with cinnamon. Tea.
- Green salad with chicken stripes, croutons and dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and mustard (2 tablespoons).
- Pasta Neapolitan (sauce: 2 tablespoons), green salad with olive oil vinaigrette (2 tablespoons), a glass of red wine.
You can find all the products you need for every meal to plan your own menus in the Mediterranean Diet Foods Online Store.
The three hours golden rule :
It always takes about 3 hours for your body to finish digesting a meal. Therefore you should not eat for at least 3 hours after your last meal. Still you can always drink lots of calorie free fluid, like water, tea or black coffee, between your meals. (Snacks are considered meals as well)
The quantity of the food is also crucial apart from its good quality. The list below can help you realize what every portion means.
- Milk = 1 cup = 250 ml
- Yogurt = 1 portion = 240 gr = 8.35 ounces
- Cheese = 1 portion = 45 gr = 1.6 ounces
- Chicken, fish or red meat without any fat parts = 200 gr = 8.7 ounces
- Legumes = 300 gr = 2/3 pound
- Raw nuts = 30 gr = 1 ounce
- Cereals rich in fiber = 30 gr = 1 ounce
- Dried fruits = 100 gr = 3.5 ounces
- Bread = 1 slice = 35 gr = 1.25 ounces
*According to your lifestyle, height, weight, exercise or other factors there might be a need for more than 1 portion from the above
Use all the information as a guide to form your own every day Mediterranean Diet meals.
And don’t ever forget : Enjoy your meals!
I lost 20 lbs when on the diet couple yrs ago. I have been looking for diet guide to get back on the diet, The list I had before had foods listed and amounts for each meal, I have looked for that diet page but have not found the specific page. I think specific listing for each meals really helps, can you provide this? Thanks for any help. Jerry Davis
Dear Jerry, first of all I would like to thank you for visiting my website and reading my articles.You can find a list of foods at the section of http://mediterraneandietfoods.com/mediterranean-diet-sample-menu/, where there are examples of how every meal should be formed and you should always follow the pyramid which you can find at http://mediterraneandietfoods.com/mediterranean-diet-food-list/. Amounts of each meal can not really be provided since every person has different needs according to the weight, fat, age, height and different parameters that keep the body in balance.There is no standard and the amount of food should be carefully planned so that the body and metabolism are not under a “shock”. You can find some examples though at http://mediterraneandietfoods.com/healthy-weight-loss-foods/