20 x 3 (11 page)

Whole grains

The grains that you eat should be whole grains that contain no saturated or trans fats. Whole grains typically consumed on the Mediterranean eating plan are oats, barley, buckwheat, bulgur wheat, couscous, millet and rice. All these grains contain high levels of iron.

It is best not to eat processed cereals as they are nutritionally poor. If you have to eat a commercial breakfast cereal then check its nutritional information panel first, as they typically contain high levels of sugar in the form of fructose.

Sample recipes for a Mediterranean breakfast, dinner and lunch

There are hundreds of Mediterranean recipes and cooking tips available on recipe websites like www.taste.com.au, www.lifestylefood.com.au and www.eatingwell.com, and an extensive number of healthy Mediterranean recipes are also to be found in books like
Ultrametabolism
by Dr Mark Hyman and
Belly Fat Weight Loss
by Claire Wheeler and Diane A. Welland. Below you’ll find a sample menu of recipes suitable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each recipe serves 1 person, unless otherwise stated.

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs and toast

A good Mediterranean breakfast is scrambled eggs on whole-grain toast. Butter or margarine should not be used on the toast. Going without butter may be difficult, but coconut or nut butter can be used as a healthy substitute. This meal can be followed by whole fruit such as an orange or a slice of melon. Drink unsweetened Sencha green tea, black tea, coffee or water; do not drink fruit juice as it contains high concentrations of fructose.

You will need:

2 eggs

1 tablespoon low-fat or skim milk

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or spice of your choice

Method

1. Beat the eggs with the milk and freshly ground black pepper
   
2. Pour mixture into a heated non-stick fry pan. As the egg at the edge of the pan sets, pull it back to the centre and allow the uncooked egg to move to the edge of the pan so the egg scrambles.
   
3. Serve scrambled eggs on whole-grain toast.
   

Fruit, nuts, and yoghurt

This breakfast is quick to prepare and can contain a range of fruit and nuts. The yoghurt should be non-fat or low-fat Greek.

You will need:

½–1 cup fruit of your choice, such as banana, melon, berries, mango, apple or pear

½ cup low-fat, low-sugar yoghurt

½ cup chopped raw, unsalted nuts of your choice, such as almonds, cashews or hazelnuts

Method

1. Chop larger fruit into smaller pieces but keep fruit whole whenever possible. Place fruit in a cereal bowl.
   
2. Cover fruit with yoghurt. Sprinkle chopped raw nuts over the yoghurt.
   

Cereal and fruit (serves 2)

As most commercial cereals contain high levels of sugar, it is best if you make your own. Adding blueberries, chopped bananas and peaches to a healthy home-made cereal creates a great breakfast. Use low-fat milk, but if you don’t like cow’s milk, try a non-dairy milk such as coconut, rice or soy. If you don’t want to consume any form of milk, then add fresh fruit and yogurt to the cereal as per the recipe on above.

You will need:

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

4 tablespoons sliced almonds

2 tablespoons chopped nuts of your choice, such as almonds, cashews, or hazelnuts

1½ cups rolled oats

2 tablespoons sultanas or your preferred dried fruit

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

1. Place sunflower seeds, sliced almonds and chopped to rolled oats in a bowl and mix well.
   
2. To sweeten, add the sultanas and cinnamon.
   
3. Serve with low-fat milk or yoghurt and top with the fruit of your choice.
   

Lunch

Curried vegetables

Any vegetable can be used in this recipe, however harder vegetables such as carrots and potatoes should be precooked.

You will need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped mixed vegetables, such as asparagus, onion, potato, carrot, broccoli, peas or capsicum

2 eggs

1 teaspoon curry powder

Method

1. Place olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add vegetables and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
   
2. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add curry powder.
   
3. Add eggs to the vegetables and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until the eggs are cooked.
   

Spicy burrito (serves 4)

Beans are extremely healthy (if you buy the canned, no-salt variety) and quick to prepare. Multiple toppings can be used to generate many different flavours and this burrito can be spiced up by adding chilli powder and cayenne pepper.

You will need:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 red capsicum, chopped

400g tin no-salt kidney or mixed beans

1 clove garlic, crushed

¼ teaspoon chilli powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cabbage, shredded

1 tomato, diced, seeds removed

½ red onion, diced

1 teaspoon chopped coriander

1 teaspoon lime juice

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon low-fat sour cream

4 tortillas

Method

1. Put olive oil in a frying pan and place over medium heat.
   
2. Sauté onion and capsicum for 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until soft and onion is transparent.
   
3. Add beans, garlic, chilli powder and cayenne pepper and sauté for another 10 minutes.
   
4. Meanwhile, place cabbage, tomato, red onion coriander, lime juice, black pepper and sour cream in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Heat tortillas in the oven.
   
5. Divide the bean mixture between the tortillas and top with the cabbage salsa, then roll each tortilla to create the burritos.
   

Dinner

Roasted salmon with asparagus

This meal combines healthy salmon with asparagus.

You will need:

2 tablespoons macadamia nuts, crushed

2 tablespoons coriander, chopped

1 tablespoon coconut butter

1 teaspoon lemon zest

170 gram piece of fresh salmon

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 asparagus spears

1 tablespoon Parmesan shavings

Lemon slices, to serve

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 230°C.
   
2. Combine macadamia nuts and coriander in a bowl. Add the coconut butter and lemon zest to the macadamia and coriander and mix well .
   
3. Place salmon on a tray, skin-side down and season with freshly ground black pepper. Spread macadamia and coriander mix thickly over the salmon flesh. Place in the oven and roast for 12–16 minutes, until just cooked.
   
4. While your salmon is roasting, preheat the grill to medium. Place asparagus spears on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and place under the grill for 3–4 minutes.
   
5. Place asparagus spears on a plate and cover with parmesan shavings and freshly ground black pepper. Place the salmon fillet on top of the asparagus spears and garnish with lemon slices.
   

Lemon caper chicken

Serve this meal with sautéed whole greens of your choice.

You will need:

1 small chicken breast, trimmed of all fat

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

zest and juice of half a lemon

¼ cup chicken stock

½ cup couscous

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 clove garlic, crushed

65g cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 tablespoon drained capers

1 spring onion, sliced

Method

1. Place chicken breast, pepper, garlic and olive oil in a shallow dish and mix to combine.
   
2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and then add the chicken mixture. Cook for 2–3 minutes while tossing the mixture until almost cooked. Transfer to a plate and keep warm by covering the plate with foil.
   
3. Increase heat to high and add lemon juice and stock. Cook until the liquid comes to a boil and then remove saucepan and add couscous. Make sure none of the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan. Cover and let stand for 2–3 minutes.
   
4. Now add the chicken, tomatoes, parsley, green onion, capers and lemon zest. Combine and serve.
   

How to switch to the Mediterranean eating plan

Beginning the Mediterranean eating plan is simple and will soon become habit if you follow it for 6 weeks. First, stop consuming all junk and fried foods and soft drinks and only consume fruit juice in moderation. Replace red meat with white meat, such as free-range chicken and fish, and with tofu. Drink only filtered water and green tea. Cut down saturated fat so it forms less than 8% of your total calories, although you can use coconut oil occasionally as it is a healthy form of saturated fat. Use the good fats, such as olive oil and those containing omega-3s more frequently – they should be about 20–30% of your daily calories. Use a fish oil supplement – one that gives you about 1.8 grams per day is best – if you are not eating lots of fish or seafood or are concerned about toxins. Replace sweets and sugary foods with fruit and low-fat, low-sugar yogurt. For example, an orange contains only 77 calories of energy but provides over 4 grams of fibre and lots of other nutrients, such as vitamin C. In contrast, a typical chocolate bar contains no fibre or helpful nutrients but contains about 238 calories – over 3 times more energy than the orange. Drink wine in moderation, consuming only 1 glass per day for women and 2 glasses per day for men. Replace milk chocolate with an extra-fine dark chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa, and eat it sparingly. After 6 weeks you should have more energy and vitality, and for most people there will be no need to count calories.

Although changing eating habits can be challenging, following the 4 steps below should increase your chance of converting to a healthy Mediterranean eating plan. And if all this sounds complicated, consult a dietician.

• Identify Mediterranean foods. Read the previous section and seek out more detailed information from the resources mentioned.
  
• The majority of your eating plan should involve consuming healthy fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and beans. Processed foods such as fried chips and meat, soft drinks, margarine, cakes and biscuits should be eliminated.
  
• Replace red meat mostly with fish and some free-range chicken and turkey. Limit your consumption of red meat to 2 portions per month.
  
• Use olive oil as your major fat. This is a healthy fat and should be used liberally.
  

How to keep the fat off

Let’s say you lose body fat by adopting the Mediterranean eating plan and the interval sprinting program described in Chapter 3. How do you then keep it off? Unfortunately, keeping fat off is more difficult than losing it in the first place. As mentioned, over 90% of people who lose body fat by dieting will put it back on again after 5 years.
15
The difficulty in maintaining body fat loss is that continuing with dieting and exercise is extremely challenging for most people. A tiny percentage of people, however, don’t regain the fat they’ve lost. Not much was known about keeping fat off until the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) was established in the US in the late 1990s. The NWCR is a database of over 5000 people who have lost a minimum of 13.6kg of weight and have kept it off for at least 12 months. Average weight loss in the NWCR is 30kg, and the average period of weight loss is greater than 5 years.
16
This group of people volunteered to be monitored to help show what really is important for long-term weight control.

The NWCR study discovered that those people who were successful in keeping body fat off shared 6 healthy habits:

• They had an healthy eating plan and exercised regularly;
  
• They ate breakfast every day;
  
• They stayed clear of fast food;
  
• They reduced their energy intake by eating a low-saturated-fat diet;
  
• They followed a consistent eating plan; and
  
• They reduced their TV watching hours.
  

As we can see, people who are successful in keeping fat off eat healthily, exercise regularly and always eat breakfast. An interesting characteristic of the NWCR people was that they averaged less than 1 fast food meal per week, including restaurant meals; even in restaurants that provide healthier food, there are still concerns about salt levels and overheating and repeated use of cooking oils. As would be expected, most people in the NWCR had a diet that was low-calorie with low-saturated-fat content. Reducing energy intake, however, does not mean eating less food. Staying away from energy-rich foods allows you to enjoy more of the delicious, healthy dishes contained in a Mediterranean eating plan.

Those who followed a consistent, structured eating plan maintained more weight loss. This is because flexible, spontaneous eating plans offer more opportunities to eat highly processed, unhealthy foods. The NWCR study and a number of others have shown that those who watch a lot of TV are typically overweight. Therefore, substituting some TV time with physical activity would be helpful for maintaining fat loss.

Nutrients that enhance or impede fat burning

Our studies have shown that nutritional patterns make a difference to how successful losing belly fat through interval sprinting is: what you consume when attempting to lose fat by exercising may decrease or enhance fat burning. Some individuals may have an eating plan that includes lots of healthy, unprocessed foods, such as fruit, vegetables and fish, which enhance fat burning, while others may consume processed foods, such as soft drinks and sweets, that contain high levels of fructose or other refined products, which suppress fat burning.