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aimeesuzara · 6 years ago

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How We Learn to Hate Our Skin or, a Late Blossom into Self-Love, When Growing up Brown in a World that Makes You Want to Be White (For A History of My Body Blog Series)

In the summer of 2016, I arrived in Santiago de Cuba with a dance group, and the first thing we attended was a performance by Danza Del Caribe. There, in a dark theater, with very few people in attendance, emerged the lithe, dynamic dancers -- the music, driving and sensual, the bodies, athletic and slim —the dance, modern, though there was something distinct about the movement that was very Cuban, its expression, the undulations of their torsos and hips. Soon, there was another dance featuring traditional drummers and singers and all in costumes, reenacting a fiesta in the streets, and now, I could see the Afro-Cuban roots, the movement beneath the movement. The music and the dance immediately seized us, a welcome that was neither superficial nor subtle. Outside in the night, we piled into cars where Jacob Forever's song "Hasta Que Se Seque el Malecon" blared, and I realized I was listening to this song for the first time in Cuba. I realized: I am IN Cuba! That I had taken Cuban dance, from folkloric to Cuban salsa, and had become nearly addicted to dancing casino to Salsa-Timba, needing to dance at least once, if not three times, a week, faithfully attending class at my gym taught by one of the leaders of this very trip -- had always seemed strange if I were never to come here. Of course, it was a privilege to travel, a privilege that is very “American.”

As a person whose culture has not quite suffered the amount of co-opting that other cultures have (what comes to mind is yoga-fied Indian, anime-ed Japanese, kitschy or cutesy Chinese, boy-band Korean, luau'd Hawaii, cigar-and-salsa Cuba – to name just a few)-- I always wonder, "when and if this happens to us, how will I feel?" for example, how would I feel if I went to a Filipino tribal dance class from, say, Mindanao, and all of the attendees were white? Sure, they could learn the language and the gestures, but could this be right? And what if the consumers of such traditions had never been interested in my country nor never attempted to know and understand and have true relationship with not only the symbols of, but the actual inhabitants or descendants of my islands? I always imagined entering a class like that and basically losing my mind, giving everyone a piece of my mind. And yet I, too, have done my fair share of being fascinated by and borrowing and romanticizing cultures other than my own -- I am guilty of it, certainly -- I do not deny that living in India in college, studying Buddhism and Hinduism and an extended stay of 9 months, then returning here to attending yoga classes where few if any people were actually Indian -- that I was participating in the consumption of culture. I also do not claim that my fascination with Cuban culture, spirituality, history, are entirely devoid of romanticism, idealizing. And yet, there is something here to consider. I do not consider myself a part of the (at least racial) dominant class. That I have grown up with economic comfort, an excellent education, and two parents who lived together and were committed, raising me with everything I needed -- that I grew up with at least some semblance of identity connected to a homeland -- I do not deny the privileges I have inherited.

But as I've gotten older, I realize that my suspicion that we were always second-class citizens in many peoples' eyes, in the system's eyes; that we are dispensable, as labor, as intelligence, as optional colors to throw into a melting pot that somehow was and should be neutral, in other words, white; that I have never nor ever will experience whatever it is to feel I was neutral or normal or the regular, that things were made and meant for me; though I strove for, and lived at times under the illusion that I could be, a part of it. As a child, I wanted my mom to have m & m's and pizza and popcorn around like the other kids; not soy sauce, fish sauce, hot peppers and rice. I wanted us to sit down to an “American” Thanksgiving Dinner, since that's what everyone else did. This became instated, at my insistence at the age of eight or nine: we had turkey, canned cranberry sauce, powdered whipped potatoes. I was content to be like the other kids, not realizing that what was being replaced was whatever Filipino we had left. For a mother who was not that into cooking, those small symbols were what we couuld and should hold onto. My Dad's Adobo; my mom's pancit; the ginataan that I half-loved and half-was disgusted by; the odd sweets and bottles and jars filled with sugary beans and coconut jelly for making Halo-Halo. Instead, I opted for the can-shaped gelatinous cranberry sauce, not knowing how easy it was to make fresh sauce from scratch; the microwaved dinners like Hungry Man's potatoes and gravy and meatloaf, also not realizing that these were the easiest foods to make from scratch; popcorn and eggs, likewise, easy to to make and inferior when made in our enormous microwave oven. I fought hard to lose our culture in order to be part of the crowd, only realizing later that I would never the part of the crowd. I would always be different, exotic, cute. I would always stand out, could not really hide behind my hair like I thought I could; wearing black as a teen probably made me stand out more; I could never be "goth" -- my melanin prevented this.

The illusion of belonging to a dominant class was broken at moments of my parents being talked down to; or my mom being called "cute" --my lunchbox food called weird, and people fascinated by my hair and eyes. At a point in fifth grade the adoration turned to a silent segregation, and I distinctly remember sitting, as though on a faraway island, looking at my increasingly distant best friend, freckles and blue eyes, and her other newer best friends, blond and red-haired, all pale like Strawberry Shortcake and Barbie and Madonna; all perfect American little girls, as they became a click and left me with Jasmine and Keisha, whom I liked and got along with but also resented because they reminded me of my darkness; somehow being with the two black girls made me feel that all together we were just this big blotch of ink; a shadow on the playground; invisible and disappearing while the rest of the world marched on. A child of ten does not invent such a feeling, and especially not in a small town like Pasco, given that race or racism was never directly talked about by my parents nor in school, that my friends were all oblivious to the subtle ways in which racism was being perpetuated and carried on by their parents. I remember Luis and Juan and some sense about them being just weird or less-than; I remember Pedro who broke his arm doing antics on the slide; they were Mexican and were seen as the comic relief; they were the jokesters, the pranksters, and so they were loved. But in a sort of adorable, little-brother way, not to be taken seriously, and certainly not to be the object of a crush. There was my Indonesian friend, also adorable and smart but never to be the object of a crush; crushes would be reserved for the classically white-cute Jeff or John. (*all names have been changed)

I probably had picked up on or heard snippets of my fathers' frustration, when he was deflated or downright angry about the dynamics at the hospital. It seemed that the Filipinos were helping the Filipinos but not enough (and what was it they need to help each other for, I wondered?) and the Indian doctors had to leave; and the white doctors all supported one other were not supporting him. We left the Tri-cities nearly losing everything, in debt and abandoning the beautiful house on the hill; I disappeared for years from the scene and moved like a nomad across the country five times before I was a sophomore in high school.

But that is another story. Let's begin with the body here and see where it all changed.

In Houston, Texas, I learned, as abruptly as you could at the age of 11 in sixth grade, that yes, we were second class citizens, people who should go back "home" (and what home was that?) and who smelled (this being the Indian slur applied generically). Or it was "ching chong" which really got me because immediately the sound summoned the most slanty-eyed cartoon I could imagine, someone who couldn't even see through the slits of their eyes; and I was proud to have large, almond eyes, eyes my father and others said were due to my Spanish ancestry. Deer eyes, round eyes, eyes that were expressive. And I loved to sing, and talk and dance, so how could anything be Ching Chong from my lips --what a bunch of gibberish; I knew nothing about Chinese culture, but I knew no one spoke like that.

I remember, too, that in Texas, my two best friends and I clung to one other, protecting one another from the harsh slurs and taunting and just plain stupidity of the typical hormonal 6th-grader. We created a fortress by linking arms and always walked together in the narrow halls. I remember being conscious of Shalini, our Indian third, being made fun of for her hairiness and/or her odor. Grace was nearly perfect, I thought, but her being Vietnamese and me Filipina, still, we were Asian and this was something, apparently, bad. Our biggest steretotype was perhaps to be too smart (how terrible). But this also had to go hand-in-hand with, or mean, not-attractive. God forbid you could be brown, smart and pretty at the same time; that idea was only a fantasy.

There is something that extends beyond the number of incidences that I may be able to name that were "racist" -- micro-aggressions, and simply systematic and historical realities that, once you are aware of them, you could not become unaware. It was only much later, after college, that I became aware that we live in a society built upon slavery, and exploitation, and the murder of brown-skinned people who lived here before. Then I learned that in my islands there were indigenous people before came the Spaniards, and the Dutch, and the British, and the United States, before capitalism and westernized culture infected the minds and hearts and bodies; I learned that people in my islands wished to lighten their skin and go to great lengths to be light, to appear or be white, to speak white, to be Western, and to look down upon their own even before coming to the USA-- the exact process described by Fanon and Cesaire as internalized colonialism, internalized inferiority. I inherited the internalized inferiority complex: I wanted blond hair and blue eyes; I wanted a tall nose; I wanted to lose my melanin and tried to hide my shadow in the brightness of light-skinned people for much of my childhood and teenager-hood. I bought into believing my parents were less-than with their strong accents and "foreign” ways. If I did not -- how else would I ever belong?

It had to be systemic: how could a 10-year old invent the kind of complex that I recall dawning upon me like a heavy mist, a poisonous web, that I breathed into my lungs, that permeated my body. To be ashamed of my parents' tongue, our skin color, our bone structure, our food, our culture, to be ashamed.

To be ashamed as a woman may be something very universal, and especially under Catholicism, the gift of the conquistador to the natives of our islands and the other islands they descended upon. But to be ashamed to also be brown, to also hail from what I learned later were islands resembling, no, are actually, Paradise? Why and how could we feel ashamed of this? Why and how could we feel ashamed to come from Paradise, where people are warm, loving, communally-minded, resilient, culturally rich, creative, how can you possibly hate the place you came from that was Paradise?

The shame of our own bodies as brown and Filipina is a sad and shared experience. And now there is the irony that while in most of the world, it's more superior to be light, but there is also the fascination, the desire to be darker, to nearly consume, our golden skin. The irony that while lightness gains privilege, those same privileged envy – no, desire -- our melanin, our eyes and hair. To be envied yet to be looked down upon at the same time. To feel invisible in one moment, unimportant, seen as part of the help or someone who cannot speak for herself; and then in the next, seen as extremely intelligent, eloquent, and exotic. I never really knew how to accept the "compliment" of being exotic; was I a fruit? Was I something to eat? Why not be beautiful, like a fully-conscious and complete and (in my mind, neutral or standard) person could be? Couldn't I be complex and whole, too? Could we focus on normal things like ice cream flavors and what we liked to do, rather than dwell on the uncomfortable differentness of our bodies? I would have preferred to be smart, interesting and cool than to be exotic, any day. The journey of loving this body and this skin has been many years in the making. People are often surprised, because they see me as very Pinay proud, embracing my heritage and loving my body and brown skin. It’s been an evolution. For those of us who have lived outside of the liberal or progressive Bay Area, we’ve been exposed to different messages. Even IN the liberal Bay Area, we have to fight to drown out the noise; to make our own voices of self-love even louder.

#ahistoryofthebody #selflove

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able-2 · 7 years ago

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Nu’est AU JRen Fanfic

This is going to be Fluff and Angst, but it may change in the future. It is my first fanfic that I will upload, so I’d appreciate any feedback. I also apologize for any grammar or spelling error for I did not have someone proof read it before hand.

Chapter 1

“Why won’t he text message me back?”

“What’s up with him?” Minki asks turning to Aron who was in the middle of reading his textbook. Aron may be 2 years older than the rest of the group but when he came to Korea from American seven years ago, he became close friends with his neighbor Minhyun and has been part of their circle ever since.

“Minhyun isn’t responding to him, so he is feeling a bit lonely.”

Dongho and Minhyun have been dating for the past five years, since high school. However, Minhyun got a scholarship to study abroad and Dongho is missing his boyfriend. Even though they talk and text all the time, Dongho gets lonely if he doesn’t get a message within the hour.

“I’m not lonely,” Dongho states, “I just want to talk to him.”

“You know what’s a good way to distract yourself?” Aron asks. Dongho looks confused and shakes his head. “Studying! You are failing two class and it’s not even halfway through the semester.” Since Aron is the oldest, he would always look out for everyone else. He even helped them all improved their grades so they could all they into the same university. “You too Minki. Stop looking photos of cute guys, and finish your homework.”

“But I’m not failing any classes.”

“But you don’t have an ‘A’ in every class.”

“Fine, but I need another coffee before I do anymore,” Minki says as he walks away from their table. They always get the same table, in the back corner of the coffee shop. The coffee shop is just two blocks away from their university and its nice a little place that not many of the other college kids come to. It’s not as quiet as a library but it isn’t noisy either. Everything just acts as a white noise for Minki.

“Hey Seungcheol,” Minki says walking up to the counter, “Can I get another of the same thing?” Seungcheol was the guy in charge of the coffee shop, his parents own the place but they never come around, only if something goes wrong. Minki and his friends found out about this place because of Seungcheol. While he and Minki were the same age, they never had classes together in high school. They knew of each other but never talked.

That was until Minki’s twin brother, Jeonghan, introduced Seungcheol to Minki as his boyfriend three years back. Once they all went to college, Seungcheol told Minki that his parents owned a coffee shop near the university and that they should stop by whenever they wanted. Since then, the coffee shop has been a hangout for Minki’s friends. Of course, most of the other customers were all friends of Seungcheol.

“Wants some whipped cream too?” He asks while getting the coffee ready.

“Sure,” Minki says with a smile. There was something different about the whipped cream that was used here, it had a sweeter taste than others. Just how Minki liked it.

“How long are you guys going to stay today?” Seungcheol askes, handing Minki the coffee.

“I don’t know.” Mink responds as he takes out his wallet. “Why? You don’t like us?” He asks with a smile.

“Nothing like that, and no need to pay. This one's on me.” Seungcheol laughs with his wide smile.

“Aw, thanks. But why do you ask?”

“I just hired my friend to start working here and he will be here tonight. He needed a job and I needed someone to help out when i’m gone.”

“You going to have this stranger here without you?” Minki questions, raising his eyebrows as he takes a sip.”

“He’s been a friend for a while. He went to school with us. Kim Jonghyun, remember him?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.” In truth, Minki didn’t talk much to others. He liked having a small, tight group of 4 other friends. Unlike Seungcheol and Jeonghan, who always had a groups of ten friends who were in multiple different grade levels. Plus, Seungcheol was really popular in high school, everyone knew him. When he announced he was dating Jeonghan, it was the talk of the school and every girl was quite sad. Except, Nayoung who was the most popular girl in school. She was Seungcheol closest female friend, Minki has only met her a handful of time but he saw her all the time in the coffee shop.

“I figured as much. I wonder if you have ever even seen him. He was really shy, more so than you. I knew him since elementary school, but he never wanted to hang out with us. He would always play video games right after school and that's how we stayed friends since he was quite opposite of me.”

“I’m guessing that's why Jeonghan started playing video games a few years ago.” Mink remembered Jeonghan never like video games until he started playing them for hours a day a few years back.

“Ya, the only time I would really talk to Jonghyun was when we were playing video games. So your brother started playing with us so we could spend more time together.”

“But did you want us here when he came?” Minki asks, still never getting an answer.

“Oh, right!” Seungcheol starts laughing, “I wanted him to meet you guys since you are here everyday.”

“We’ll see. I still have a lot of work to do so I might be here late.” Minki looks back at all the work waiting for him and see Dongho and Aron going back and forth. Probably still trying to get Dongho get off his phone.

“If you guys stay late, you can eat with us. After I show Jonghyun how everything works, your brother is going to come and were were going to order pizza.” Seungcheol says, turing Minki’s attention back to him.

“Sure, none of us has anymore classes for the day.” Minki sighs, “Time to do homework for me.”

“Goodluck!” Seungcheol cheers as Minki walks away. You have a good man brother, keep him close, Minki thinks to himself as he walks back to the table.

As the sun was lowering, the coffee shop was now at its low point. Only Minki, Aron, Dongho, and Seungcheol were there. It was good for them all. Seungcheol got to relax as he waited for Jonghyun, relax as in text his boyfriend with s stupid smile on his face. Minki was able to finish an essay and catch up on his reading for two classes. Still, he had more to do. Aron was helping Dongho with English. Dongho was great at math and sciences, everything, not so much. However, that's where Aron was the best in.

“Seungcheol?” A voices says. The three boys at the table turn to see this cute and hot guy entering the shop.

“Jonghyun! Over here!” Seungcheol waves down.

That’s Jonghyun? Minki thinks

“A friend of Seungcheol? I never seen him before.” Aron says as he stares down the boy.

“H-he said that his friend was going t-to st-start working here.” Minki stutters, face turning slightly pink

“Are you okay baby?” Aron asks. Minki had a thing for cute nicknames, causing he blush to deepen.

“Aw, does little Minki think the guys is cute?” Dongho teases, making Minki’s pale face turn crimson. Cute? Minki thinks, he looks stunning! Not only does the guy have great facial features, Minki can tell that he has a great body under his fitted clothes.

“Still, I’ve never seen him before.” Aron says, sounding a bit defensive. While Aron may not be the closest with Seungcheol, he still acts like an older brother to him as well. Since Seungcheol is dating Minki’s brother, Aron gets super defensive when ever a random girl comes in and tries to flirt with Seungcheol.

“He went to our high school.” Minki says as his face calms down.

“What’s his name again?” Aron still staring down the guy as he talks to Seungcheol.

“He told him,” Minki thinks for a moment, “Kim Jonghyun.”

“That’s the same Jonghyun?” Dongho whispers to them.

“Ya, why? You know him?” Aron asks quicky.

“He was one of the smartest our class. He was quite though, I never knew he had friends, especially someone like Seungcheol.” Dongho states.

“I don’t recognize him.” Minki says, turning back to his work.

“Well ya, he isn’t wearing glasses right now, his hair is actually cut since he grew it out in high school and he looks like he works out now.” Dongo smiles at Minki, “He looks like your type.”

“W-What? No!” Minki yells causing Seungcheol and Jonghyun to turn and look at them.

“You okay there Minki?” Seungcheol asks with a confused but amused laugh.

“Yes. He is just being Minki,” Dongho calls back.

“Shut Up!” Minki punches Dongho in the arm.

Seungcheol leads Jonghyun over to the three, “Hey, guys. This is Jonghyun, he will be working from now on. Jonghyun, this is Minki, Jeonghan’s twin brother. They don’t look alike but both are beautiful,” this gets a chuckle from both Dongho and Aron, and causes Minki to blush and slap him playfully in the arm.

“Remember which twin you are dating,” Minki says with a smile.

“This is Dongho, who is Minki’s bestfriend. His boyfriend is studying abroad for the semester. And this is Aron, he is older than all of us and for this reason his is like our big brother. He is bestfriends with Dongho’s boyfriend.”

Jonghyun gives a small bow, “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a bit about you Minki. Seungcheol says you guys are here often. I guess I’ll be seeing you guys around.”

Minki can’t stop looking at Jonghyun who is just smiling.

“Okay,” Seungcheol interjects the weird feeling going on, “I’m going to show Jonghyun the back room and how the machines work. After that, I’ll order the pizza. Sounds good?” Dongho, Aron and Jonghyun nod but Minki is still staring at the man in front of him.

Once Seungcheol and Jonghyun go into the backroom, Dongho turns to Minki and says with a smile, “Someone has a crush now.” Minki, for once in his life, had no sassy in him and puts his head down.

After twenty minutes passes, Jeonghan walks into to the shop. “Hey baby brother,” he says as he walks over to the three boys at the back table, “Where is Seungcheol?” noticing that he wasn’t behind the counter.

“In the back with someone name Jonghyun,” Aron says as Jeonghan walks over to hug him.

“Jonghyun is here already? He is here early.” Jeonghan says walking over to Dongo.

“Is he early or are you just late?” Dongo comments as they hug.

“Jeonghan is late, that's nothing new,” Minki smiles as he and his brother hug, “You dyed your hair blonde now.”

“Ya, I liked your blonde or I decided, I wanted to try it out.”

“Looks good on you. All nice and long, I miss my hair!”

“Then you shouldn’t have cut it. Oh, that reminds me. Jun got new exetions delivered at the shop. He says he has long black extensions that match your hair. He would like it if you went in to see it.” Jeonghan says as he sits on the table, crossing his legs.

“Do you think he would dye my hair?” Dongho asks.

“Of course, with a discount that is. I’ll make sure you get one,” Jeonghan says give him a wink. While Jeonghan and Minki were both feminine compared to other guys, they had different personalities. While Minki was shy and liked being praised and hit on with a sassy attitude on top, Jeonghan was outgoing and was a massive flirt but anyone close to him knew he always got what he want; he had his ways.

“Hannie!” Seungcheol yells running over to Jeonghan. As soon as Seungcheol gets close, Jeonghan jumps up into Seungcheol arms. Wrapping his arms around Seungcheol’s neck and his legs around his waist. Seungcheol holds him by his thighs and spin around as they give soft kisses.

“Cheolie, I’ve missed you!” He says letting go of his boyfriend.

“I’ve missed you too Hannie.” Seungcheol says as he kiss Jeonghan’s cheek.

“Hey, Jonghyun. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in person. Have you been working out,” Jeonghan says as he pulls Jonghyun closer to the group buy wrapping their arms togther, “Oh, these muscles! I wonder what you have under that shirt,” earning a quite a few looks from the other, but just a smile from his own boyfriend. Jeonghan whispers into his ear, “Maybe you’d like to show me and Cheolie someday?”

This gave Jonghyun quite a blush, “I just might take you up on that offer you vixen.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Jeonghan questions as he walks to Seungcheol, where he is seated between Aron and Minki. “I’ve been training him quite well haven’t I Cheolie?” He asks kissing his boyfriend on forehead while sitting in his lap.

“Enough with the teasing.” Seungcheol smiles as he places a kiss on this his neck.

“Ugh!” Dongho groans, “I want to do that too!”

“You can always join us Dongho, I don’t bite much,” Jeonghan smirks as he gives him a wink.

“Not with you! My Minhyun!” He says with a slightly disgusted face.

“Are we going to order now? All this work is making me hungry!” Minki looks over to Seungcheol.

“Sure, I’ll order now. But no pineapple this time Minki, you are the only one who eats that.”

“I’ll eat it with him,” everyone turns to see Jonghyun pull up a seat next to Minki. He slightly blushed as he notices Minki smiling with his large eyes looking straight at him.

“You like pineapple pizza too?” Minki asks looking every happy. Jonghyun can’t help but feel warm inside seeing him all happy. This is what Seungcheol must have meant when he said nobody can resist Minki’s charm, Jonghyun thought, Definitely a different charm than that his brother’s.

“Ya, my girlfriend made me try it one day and I kind of like it,” Jonghyun smiles.

With that, Minki felt sadness wash over him.

#nu'est #jren #loveznet

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lindafrancois · 6 years ago

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The Beginner’s Guide to the Mediterranean Diet. Opa!

If there was a high school yearbook of diets, The Mediterranean Diet would certainly win “most popular:”

U.S. News tied it #1 in their “Best Overall Diet” category.

They also ranked it #1 in the “Easiest Diet to Follow” race[1].

Fitness Magazine calls it the “The World’s Healthiest Diet” [2].

WebMD flat out said they “love” the Mediterranean Diet [3].

As far as mainstream media goes, you can’t get much better coverage than that.

Impressive? Absolutely.

Accurate? Maybe.

Here at Nerd Fitness, we love nothing better than digging into popular trends to give you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And LEGO photos and cute animal gifs.

So you’re here full of questions, which I bet go something like:

Steve, what is the Mediterranean Diet?

Can I lose weight on the Mediterranean Diet?

Why is this diet so popular?

Can I do the Mediterranean Diet wrong?

Can I eat pasta and pizza on the Mediterranean Diet?

Will you buy me a plane ticket to Santorini?

These are all great questions (though maybe not the last one), and I have no doubt I can help you make sense of this and start changing your nutrition today.

Let’s get weird.

What is the Mediterranean Diet?

The Mediterranean Diet is a way of life that involves eating real food: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes (beans), some fish, and a whole lotta “healthy” fat. Plus a little red wine.

It gets its name from a few key countries on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and studying the dietary patterns of the people who live long lives in that area.

When experts discuss the Mediterranean Diet, the words “heart-healthy” will almost certainly be attached. It’s the reason the Mediterranean Diet shines like a crazy diamond, because who DOESN’T want a healthy heart?

So why does this diet make your heart healthy, and why do people tend to lose weight on it?

Simple: Every item listed above falls into the REAL food category. When I say real food, I mean stuff that came from the ground, grew on a tree, grazed on a field, flew through the air, or swam in the water.

Here’s another way to put it: If your great grandma from the old country wouldn’t recognize it as food, it probably doesn’t fit into the Mediterranean Diet.

Sorry Pop-Tarts, Big Macs, and Coca-Cola.

Logically, the reason this diet gets good grades makes sense. Of COURSE a diet composed of REAL food like the Mediterranean Diet would have REAL health benefits.

And those benefits are awesome! The diet has been linked to a plethora of benefits, including a reduced risk of heart attack[4], and even the retention of cognitive abilities to help stave off dementia[5].

At this point you might be wondering:

“Steve, I like the cut of your jib, and this diet sounds pretty good. So, just eat real food, got it. But what about all these benefits I hear about olive oil? And I thought pasta was unhealthy. That’s a crucial part of the Mediterranean Diet too, right? Tell me more.”

I got you, boo.

Where did the Mediterranean Diet Come From?

Believe it or not, this diet wasn’t created by a goat herder in the Greek countryside.

It was actually theorized by an American scientist back in the 50s, and started gaining popularity in the 90s.

Have you heard the name, Ancel Keys?

He’s a doctor from back in the day (think 1950s) often credited with popularizing the idea that saturated fat leads to deadly heart attacks, a la high cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. We went in-depth on this very controversial subject in “A Beginner’s Guide to Cholesterol,” so I won’t rehash it here.

The reason I bring Keys up is because he was one of the early founders of the Mediterranean Diet.

Keys formulated this diet after pouring over data and research and identified that people in Greece and Italy statistically lived longer than other populations he studied. Farmers working until the age of 100 wasn’t uncommon on the Greek island of Crete.

So what was the big secret?

Are the people of Crete actual descendants of Atlantis with special DNA and olive oil running through their veins?

Not really.

Keys noted these Mediterraneans had low saturated fat intake, getting fat instead from olives and fresh fish. He also noted low instances of heart disease, and thus declared something like, “low saturated fat consumption causes fewer instances of heart disease and leads to a longer life.”

Now, if you’re a nerd like me, you are hopefully aware that “correlation does not prove causation,” that even though two variables are correlated, it doesn’t mean that one causes the other.

But it was a great story, backed up by logically sounding data from an accomplished researcher, and the hypothesis became “fact.” Thus, the hypothesis of the “Mediterranean Diet equals long life” continued to gain steam, and Keys work went on to define a huge portion of America’s nutritional guidance over the past 60 years.

Fast forward to the 1990s, and the Mediterranean Diet story reached the mainstream media with the help of a group of researchers, who decided it was time to popularize and proselytize its benefits.

In a controversial and complicated part of the story that’s much lesser known, these researchers focused on Greece and Italy, ignoring data from any other Mediterranean population that didn’t fit their narrative. Together, under Walter C. Willett from Harvard School of Public Health, they came up with the ‘Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.”

I know what you’re thinking. Yes, this DOES look just like the food pyramid you were taught in grade school! But with more real food. And wine. And dancing.

I told you Keys’s work was very influential in the guidelines we all grew up with! So that concludes today’s history portion of the article.

Back to getting weird:

What can I eat on the Mediterranean Diet?

As I already pointed out, the Mediterranean Diet focuses on REAL food that’s found in the Mediterranean (duh).

It’s one of the things I love about it!

Below are our recommended types of food, examples of each, and substitutes in case you don’t happen to live on Sicily or Santorini:

Vegetables. Common Mediterranean Diet staples are artichokes, arugula, Brussels sprouts, celery, and peas, but seriously any vegetable you enjoy is good enough! So go wild. Hate veggies? I got you.

Fruit. Figs, mandarins, tomatoes (yeah it’s a fruit), and pomegranate are common to the area, but fruit like apples and oranges works too. Just don’t eat 5,000 calories of sugar-filled fruit and wonder why you’re not losing weight!

Whole Grains. Barley, buckwheat, oats, rice, and wheat, in the form of fresh made wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, and pitas. Whole grains are encouraged in just about every article on the Mediterranean Diet. When we say “whole” we mean minimally processed, and are consumed in significantly smaller portions than you’re probably used to.

Legumes. Think beans and lentils: a great sources of protein and fiber that also happen to be delicious. Hummus, a dish from the Mediterranean, is made out of the chickpeas (a legume).

Dairy. Remember that pyramid from a moment ago? You’ll see that dairy is higher up, meaning to consume in smaller quantities. Why? because researchers were concerned about saturated fat. With the Mediterranean Diet, dairy tends to comes from cheese like brie, feta and parmesan, and Greek yogurt (though I assume there they just call it “yoghurt,”).

Fish. Fish are packed full of Omega-3 fatty acids (good!), which tends to be deficient in most American/Western diets and has been linked to health ailments[6]. Fish like cod are found in the Mediterranean, though you could go with options like tuna or salmon too.

Poultry. Factoid: Did you know there are roughly three chickens on Earth to every person? Roughly 20 billion fowl share the planet with us. I’ve been sitting on that statistic for a while and was antsy to share. Anyways! Go ahead and eat your preferred poultry, which could also include turkey and duck.

Healthy Oils. Olive oil. If there is one specific food linked to the Mediterranean Diet, it’s olive oil. Olive oil is touted for its monounsaturated fat, unlike the saturated fat of say butter. Personally, I think both are fine. But I encourage people to eat plenty of healthy fat, as demonstrated by our “Beginner’s Guide to the Keto Diet.” So go ahead and use olive oil.

How much of each category should you eat? That’s a good question, and depending on your quantity of each categories, you may or may not lose weight (I’ll cover all of this in a section below).

In addition to that, everybody does the Mediterranean Diet differently:

Some argue that dairy shouldn’t be in the Mediterranean Diet at all, because it contains saturated fat.

Others would say red meat should be listed above, because Mediterranean dishes often include lamb.

Depending on which country in the Mediterranean you pick, your “diet” will be very different.

You’re never going to get a straight answer on this, and that’s okay! This diet is loosely based on a region, in a moment in time, as interpreted by researchers with an agenda.

The reason I’m telling you this: I don’t care where the diet came from, or the story told around it. The same is true for Paleo (I don’t care about cavepeople!) – we don’t care about the story; we only care if the story helps people make healthier food choices.

Don’t get bogged down in the details or the dogma or the history, Instead, look at the list of food above. Shift your eating and go for big wins, by eating protein and real food as listed above, and you’ll be much better off than you are currently.

Which brings me to my next point…

What foods should I avoid on the Mediterranean Diet?

Yup, there are definitely “you’re doing it wrong” foods when it comes to the Mediterranean Diet. I know, easier said than done. If you’re gonna go Mediterranean, please cut wayyyy back on the following:

Added sugar. This. If all you did to improve your diet was cut out added sugar, you’d be well on your way to improved health. Ditch the candy, soda, and ice cream and you’ll make me very happy. I’m generally pretty happy, but this will really put things over the top.

Refined grain. Oh Mediterranean Diet, you do get me. The second thing I would tell people to do to improve their diet would be to cut out refined and processed grains. Your body’s blood sugar can react to it almost the same way it does to sugar.

Refined oils. Dump out all rapeseed oil, soybean oil and canola oil. When they’re heated, like they do when undergoing refinement, they create free radicals. Which aren’t as fun as they tend to sound, because of the whole “not good for your health” thing[7]. Science, you should really think of a less awesome name here.

Processed meat. High quality meat will have better nutrients and fatty acid profiles than its processed counterparts. So cut back on uber processed deli meats and hot dogs. As for bacon, that’s your judgment call, partner.

Now, the above shouldn’t too much of a shocker. Are you starting to see why the Mediterranean Diet is popular and reputable? It keeps things simple!

Eat real food.

Avoid unhealthy food.

Use olive oil.

Of course, this is ALL easier said than done, and whether or not you’ll lose weight on the diet is juuuuust a bit more complex than the above.

Will I lose weight on the Mediterranean Diet?

Short answer: It’s certainly possible.

Longer answer: If you currently eat a standard American diet full of processed food and sugar, the Mediterranean Diet will probably help you shed body fat if you can stick with it consistently and follow it intelligently.

I’ve talked about this extensively in our “Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Eating,” but the trick of any self respectable diet rests on eating REAL food and eliminating the bad food.

That’s it.

It’s why the Keto Diet and the Paleo Diet both work – for people that can stick it. The same goes for Intermittent Fasting. These diets all focus on cutting out all the processed garbage, consuming real food, and keeping total calorie consumption under control. They just do it with different rules to follow.

The Mediterranean Diet is no different.

It focuses on real food that people in Mediterranean Europe have been eating for generations. Fresh vegetables, fruits, and fish are nothing new to the people of Greece! If you went back into the days of antiquity, after slaying a minotaur, you’d bask in a feast of fish, olives, and berries.

Of course, ALLLLL diets come with a big fat caveat:

Knowing you should eat fresh veggies, fruit, and fish is VERY different than actually sticking with it when life gets in the way, your kid gets sick, and you have to pick up a second job.

We all know we should eat better. But HOW to eat better, consistently, permanently: that’s where lasting weight loss and decades of healthy living happen.

This is the big reason why we put such an emphasis on nutritional planning for each person in our 1-on-1 coaching program: you have to make the diet work for YOUR specific life situation!

So, the reason the Mediterranean Diet works is the same reason other diets work: eating real food makes you more likely to consume fewer calories on a consistent basis, and you can’t defeat thermodynamics. Eating 5,000 calories of pasta and fish, though technically allowed on the Mediterranean Diet, will still result in weight gain.

So yes, if your current eating habits aren’t great, moving towards a Mediterranean Diet would be a solid move, especially if it helps you change your relationship with food and teaches you about portion sizes!

I’ll admit there’s controversy on how the Mediterranean Diet was formulated, but it ALSO encourages people to eat more real food, in smaller quantities, and has a good chance of weight loss if your changes are permanent.

Just remember: temporary changes create temporary results. If you follow a Mediterranean Diet to lose a few pounds and then go back to how you eat now, you’ll end up right back where you started!

We want small wins, permanent changes, and momentum!

Should I eat whole grains, dairy, and legumes on the Mediterranean Diet?

I have absolutely no problem if you choose to eat grains, dairy, or legumes. I certainly do, and I consider myself a healthy, well-informed individual.

So what gives? For starters, we’re not a Paleo Blog – we’re a “help people get results in the way that works for them” blog.

For some people, that’s Paleo – their stomach doesn’t process dairy well, they have gluten intolerances, or they like the idea of eating like a caveperson.

For others, it’s Keto. They eat a LOT of cheese and healthy fat but minimize carb consumption.

For the majority of the planet, however, these diets are FAR too restrictive, so they instead are looking for a strategy that fits into their healthy lifestyle. That’s cool.

So should you eat grains, pasta, rice, etc, as allowed on the Mediterranean Diet? If you can keep your portions under control, sure. Just be careful, as grains can cause issues:

Grains are high in carbohydrates and calories. Somebody could technically be “Mediterranean” and consume 5,000 calories of whole grains every day. They’ll gain weight and wonder why it’s not working.

Some people have gluten intolerances. Grains have only been consumed for the past few thousand years of our existence as a species, and some people have challenges consuming them, or feel bloated afterward.

You don’t actually need grains. Yes, you need vitamins like B1 and B2, plus magnesium and potassium. But vegetables have these too, with less carbs and for some, less digestive issues. When you start to calculate the risk to reward ratio of grains, you need to make sure the juice is worth the squeeze for your situation.

You can apply similar “concerns” to both legumes and dairy. Both can be high in caloric content or introduce digestive problems for certain people.

My recommendation: treat yourself like a scientist and treat this like an experiment:

If you are following a Mediterranean Diet and consuming dairy, grains, and legumes and you’re getting results and a clean bill of health from your doctor, GREAT! Keep doing what you’re doing.

If you are following a Mediterranean Diet with dairy, grains, and legumes and NOT losing weight, try minimizing your consumption of some/all of these things to see if that changes things.

I know how tough it can be to eat just HALF of something on your plate, or eat a smaller portion of a food you really enjoy, so I’m gonna share with you a diet that is picking up some steam, and might be a good experiment for you to consider.

Should I Consider a Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet?

What happens when you cut out the grains and dairy from a Mediterranean Diet?

You end up with a low-carb Mediterranean Diet.

This diet has actually been tested and named, in what is referred to as the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet or Spanish Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet (SKMD). The fat mostly comes from olive oil, there’s still red wine (I swear I’m getting to this), with plenty of green vegetables and salads for carbohydrates. Plus fish for protein. Lot’s of fish. In Spain, fish is a main component of diet, hence the Spanish in the SKMD.

And who would have thunk it, it works!

The SKMD has been shown to help improve fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome[8]. Not to mention the SKMD is effective for weight loss and waist circumference shrinkage[9].

I’ve already covered the ketogenic diet extensively, so I won’t get into it (seriously, go read that post – it also has cute animal gifs) here. If you are going to pick a modified version of the Mediterranean Diet, the SKMD would be the optimal choice in my opinion.

Overwhelmed with Mediterranean, saturated fats, keto, or SKMD?

I hear ya.

Navigating all of these diets can be really tough. And maybe you’ve even tried the Mediterranean Diet before and couldn’t get the results to stick. That’s because diets are challenging, and life gets in the way.

If this is you, and you don’t have time to figure out how to make food work for your busy lifestyle, Nerd Fitness has a pretty sweet 1-on-1 Coaching Program to create custom solutions for each client that fits their life!

You can schedule a free call with our team to learn more by clicking on the image below!

Easy Mediterranean Diet Recipes

Need some help figuring out what all this will actually look like on a plate?

After all, just having a list of foods is like having the ingredients of a cake. It’s definitely not the same as having a cake.

Sorry for making you think about cake. I’ll go do 10 push-ups as punishment.

And I’m back.

Because I like you as a person, I did some research and found some super simple recipes for the “standard” Mediterranean Diet:

Arugula salad with chicken

Avocado hummus

Egg and Brown Rice Breakfast Bowl

Pasta with Tuna and Tomatoes

Tomatoes Stuffed with Peanut Quinoa

If you are an overachiever, here are some recipes for the Spanish Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet:

Greek Shrimp Salad

Greek Fish Foil Packets

Rosemary Roasted Brussel Sprouts

That should get you started.

If you have other favorite recipes or resources, leave a comment below so I can add them here to this list!

Other Key Reasons Why Mediterranean People Live Longer

So far in this article, we’ve only focused on what to eat. Which is logical, because the Mediterranean Diet is first and foremost an eating regiment.

Whether you live in midwestern Ohio or Timbuktu, you can mimic the nutritional strategies of a centenarian Mediterranean (a 100 year old Mediterranean woman!) thanks to global markets.

However, I’d be an idiot if I didn’t also mention all the other lifestyle benefits certain Mediterranean people have that ALSO factor into their longevity:

Meal time as a social event. In a traditional Mediterranean household, friends and family come together over food as an experience. This allows conversation to integrate into the meal, which extends the amount of time spent consuming food. The faster you scarf down food, the more of an insulin response you’ll create, and the more likely you’ll be to overeat when more food is available[10]. It takes your body time to realize it’s full, which happens too late when you are scarfing down food mindlessly in front of a screen.

Smaller servings. When comparing Western meals to those of Europe, one thing becomes plainly obvious in most situations: we tend to eat more food than our friends across the pond. Our plates are bigger and our servings are larger. And all other things being equal, the bigger the portion placed in front of you, the more you’ll probably eat[10]. Want to eat less to help drop some body fat? Eat smaller servings by using smaller plates! You can trick your brain into eating less food. Here’s the study where they demonstrated just that[11]. Boom, science.

Move naturally. Think of life in the Greek islands back in 1950s – how many of these people spent an hour in a car commuting to a desk job where they worked 60 hours a week? Probably not many! Instead, it was a LOT more walking and local living. You can replicate this by spending more time walking and less time sitting! Every step starts to add up to a lot of physical activity. Plus, wine can add to spontaneous dancing like Zorba the Greek (seriously, the next section is about wine, you’re almost there).

Take a nap. It’s not uncommon for people in the Mediterranean to take a nap after lunch. This could help with their waistline. I know this is common knowledge, but getting plenty of sleep is important in your weight loss journey. Lack of shuteye has been shown to interfere with insulin responses after meals[12]. That’s right, you could be eating well, but still wreak havoc on your blood sugar by sleeping poorly.

Okay. You made it.

I’m proud of you.

You waited patiently, through this whole article and now we are at….

Can I drink wine and alcohol on the Mediterranean Diet?

Yes, you can enjoy a little wine on the Mediterranean Diet.

Hip hip hooray!

But seriously, let’s chat about this because I too enjoy adult beverages.

Drinking wine is customary throughout the Mediterranean: it’s served during dinner, to be paired with food and to encourage good conversation. Is it the wine itself that leads to better health? Or does wine add to the experience of dinner, creating an event to be remembered?

(It’s totally the latter.)

Real talk on alcohol: so many people consume alcohol that any diet that says “you cannot drink any alcohol ever” is doomed and nobody would stick with it. So in this made-up diet that claims to mimic old ways of eating, it recommends consuming wine in moderation.

I see this in every diet:

Paleo dieters drink tequila.

Keto dieters drink whiskey.

And Mediterranean dieters drink red wine.

We’ve talked about alcohol extensively here at Nerd Fitness, and one of our preferred drink recommendations is red wine. As long as you are keeping your calorie consumption under control, occasionally enjoying adult beverages can be part of your strategy.

We cool? Cool.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Mediterranean Diet

1) “Steve, I had a grand father who grew up on the Mediterranean and he ate differently than this. Henceforth, this diet is null and void. GOOD DAY, SIR.”

Okay that’s not really a question. And kind of rude. But I’ll address it. I want to stress again that the Mediterranean Diet may or may not be exactly what people in the Mediterranean back in the 1950s actually ate.

And I also want to stress again that it DOESN’T matter!

We only care about results, and that comes from permanent changes to somebody’s relationship and decision making with food.

So if the idea of “Eating like a Mediterranean person” makes sense to you, great!

And if your grandfather ate differently, great! Eat like him and let me know how it goes!

2) “Steve, Italy is on the Mediterranean. Pasta and pizza come from from Italy. So I can stuff my face with pasta and I’m gonna lose weight and be really good looking, right?”

Solid question. Sure. Consume whole grain pasta while on the Mediterranean Diet, but do so in a MUCH smaller quantity than you’re used to consuming if you are trying to lose weight.

Pasta is generally a side dish in the Mediterranean. It won’t be served to you in a huge giant bowl like it is in the United States. If you do decide to eat things like pasta, do what they do in the Mediterranean, and use it to complement a dish, not BE the dish.

3) “What’s up with goat milk?”

Goats are badasses in the Mediterranean, with their ability to travel over rocky terrain. Sorry cows, step up your game. This explains why goat dairy is quite common in the Mediterranean.

If you are deciding to consume dairy, a goat might be your new friend[13]. The milk generally contains more fat than from a cow, which fits into our SKMD strategy. Also less lactose, ie sugar. Structurally, some people have an easier time processing goat’s milk than traditional dairy.

Granted, some people find the flavor of goat’s milk off and don’t like it. But Steve can only solve so many problems. I try.

4) “Will olive oil make me live forever? The future is gonna be rad.”

Yes. It will also give you superpowers. Okay, not really. But extra virgin olive oil is great. It’s my go to for salads. Add in some vinegar and you’re crushing it in the “flavorful, healthy salad” department.

However, I don’t think it’s the secret ingredient of the Mediterranean Diet. Most praise of olive oil comes from the fact that in contains no saturated fat. Which is one of the main reasons the Mediterranean Diet became so popular. But it’s still very high in calories, so pouring tons of healthy olive oil on everything could be the reason why you’re not losing any weight!

I personally enjoy and use olive oil, grass fed butter, and/or coconut oil depending on the meal. So, if you love olive oil and put it on everything, great. Just know that it won’t do your laundry, wash your dishes, or tuck you in at night. Or make you live forever. It’s oil from olives.

5) “Steve, can I use canola oil instead of olive oil?”

Despite what other sites suggest with the Mediterranean Diet, I would advise minimizing canola oil consumption and seek out other solutions where possible. Canola oil is a vegetable oil mostly derived from rapeseed, it’s often heavily processed, and actually creates a small amount of trans fat. Bad news bears. If you need a substitute for olive oil, go with avocado or coconut oil.

6) “Do I HAVE to eat seafood? I don’t enjoy the taste of fish, and I believe that “fish are friends, not food.”

I get it. Fish isn’t for everyone. I actually don’t like fish myself, despite growing up in a fishing town on Cape Cod.

I know, sacriligious.

No, you do not need to eat fish to follow the Mediterranean Diet. The reason seafood is recommended on the Mediterranean Diet is because it’s generally low in saturated fat and plentiful in that region. But again, I’m not a big supporter of reducing saturated fat intake at all costs. So if consuming fish makes you gag, don’t torture yourself. Stick with chicken or turkey. Or…

7) “Should I really limit red meat on the Mediterranean Diet?”

I may be summoning the wrath of the Mediterranean gods with this one (forgive me Zeus), but limiting red meat may be a goal without merit. I know. I can see the clouds and lighting bolts forming now.

But as Rule #8 of the Rebellion states, question everything. Even “wisdom” from the old countries.

And that includes the conventional wisdom of limiting red meat. Yes, I remember that Harvard study that says red meat causes cancer, and I disagree with the fear-mongering that resulted [14].

If you do decide to partake, go with good quality sources for your red meat (grass fed wherever possible).

Also, as we’ve mentioned earlier, diet differs quite a bit throughout the Mediterranean, and meat can actually be pretty prominent in the form of lamb, goat, and beef. Even pork. Again, the Mediterranean Diet as opposed to what people in the Mediterranean actually eat.

So be true to yourself and do what feels right for you.

My advice: everything in moderation. Including moderation.

However, I apologize in advance if you get struck by lighting after eating lamb chops.

Resources to help you start the Mediterranean Diet

You’re convinced you want to start the Mediterranean Diet today – congratulations!

Need more help?

William Willett, who helped create the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid I showed above, has a book where he lays out all his thoughts on why the diet works. Check out Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy for his argument.

The organization Oldways is more or less responsible for the modern way we understand the Mediterranean Diet, and you’ll never run out of their recipes. I’m still not entirely convinced the organization doesn’t solely exist to sell more olive oil, but that could be paranoid Steve being paranoid. Let me adjust my tinfoil hat…

Also, I’d be remiss not to mention our own Nerd Fitness Academy. 6+ months of at-home workout routines, a whole nutrition model, and a mindset model to help you make sense of everything. If you’ve never stepped foot in a kitchen outside of grabbing milk from the fridge to drink out of the jug, we’ll help!

And if you’re just looking for basic nutritional guidance, we have a free 10-level nutritional blueprint that you can download, print, stick on your fridge, and start leveling up right now.

You can get it when join our Rebellion mailing list below:

Download our free weight loss guide

THE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life

Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace

What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating

3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Want To Try the Mediterranean Diet? Here is your mission

Just in case you skipped to the end of this article, or you’re looking for a quick recap, I hear you.

Pros of the Mediterranean Diet.

A focus on REAL food. All of the recommended food choices of the Mediterranean Diet are minimally processed. This is most of the battle on the war on diet. If you minimized the processed food on your plate, you’d be doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to healthy eating.

Plenty of veggies, fruit. Eating vegetables is the least controversial recommendation on diet that has ever existed. No one questions the advice. This is less true on fruit, but come on. If all the sugar in your diet came from fruit, you’d be in rockstar mode.

Lots of healthy fats. The Mediterranean Diet is not a low fat diet. This is great. You need fat in your diet. Olive oil and fish are a great way to get there.

Cons of the Mediterranean Diet:

Saturated fat may be limited unnecessarily. Without saturated fat, there’s really only a handful of sources left to get fat intake. Granted, as addressed a few sentences ago, fish and olive oil are solid choices. But still, meals will need to be quickly rotated without saturated fat as an option.

Grains, even whole, might not be the greatest idea for some. They are high in calories and can derail even the best laid plans, so only eat if it fits your goals and lifestyle.

Dairy isn’t exactly a homerun if you over consume. Like I mentioned earlier, not everyone handles dairy well, it can contain plenty of lactose (sugar), and calories.

Doesn’t address portion size or calorie amounts. People can DEFINITELY gain weight on the Mediterranean Diet if they eat 5000 calories worth of pasta each day. You have to be smart about portion sizes and not just eat all day every day (which is true of every diet).

It doesn’t address overall lifestyle changes or human psychology. We all know we need to eat healthier – the problem is actually sticking with it! So having a list of food to eat is great. But learning how to make it fit into your lifestyle is even more important.

If you have been nodding your head at the Mediterranean Diet and are planning on going all in with it – you have my permission!

If you are already eating a keto or paleo-ish diet and were wondering if you should switch to this diet, I’d only suggest it if you were struggling with compliance, not losing weight, and not getting results.

YOUR MISSION THIS WEEK: cook a Mediterranean meal for a friend or loved one this week, and make the dinner an event!

Send them this article and explain that Steve gave you direct marching orders to make a meal for a friend or loved one. Together, you can complete this mission. You can even have a little wine if it suits you. And make a toast. OPA!

I suggest making the Avocado Hummus referenced earlier. It’s seriously just cutting up three ingredients, adding lemon juice and olive oil and mixing them in a bowl. Serve them with whole grain pita chips, or sliced veggies if I scared you off grains forever.

If all of this is overwhelming, or you need help on making better food choices, you are not alone!

Like I said earlier, we have a community of people who are busy and looking to live better, and a whole team dedicated to helping those people!If you just want to be told what to do, and want help staying accountable, consider checking out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program if you want to take it to the next level.

You schedule a free call with our team to see how we can create a custom workout program and nutritional guidance for your specific situation by clicking on the button below!

So let’s hear from you: After you’ve completed your mission, leave a comment below and I’ll buy you a plane ticket to Santorini. Okay not really. But I will give you a high five if we ever meet on a fishing boat off of Crete. Deal?!

If you started the habit of cooking for company, you’d make Steve a happy camper.

Let me know if you have any more questions, and I hope you can get started on your Mediterranean lifestyle today.

Now pass me the corkscrew!

-Steve

PS: I want to give a shoutout to Nina Teicholz and her book The Big Fat Surprise, whose chapter “Selling the Mediterranean Diet” served as a reference for this post.

ALL Photos Sources can be found in this footnote here[14].

Footnotes ( returns to text)

Yeah, I know the US News isn’t a scientific journal, but we’re dealing with reality here folks. Here’s the link to the best overall, and here’s the link for “easiest to follow.”

Here’s the link to Fitness Magazine

Here’s the link to WedMD

Here’s one study on the reduced risk of heart attack, and here’s another

Here’s the link to the dementia study

Here’s the link to the Omega-3 study

Here’s the link to the free radical study

Here’s the links to the fatty liver disease and the metabolic syndrome studies

Here’s the links to the weight loss and the waist circumference studies

Here’s the link to the insulin study

Here’s the link to the serving size study

Here’s the link to the smaller plates

Here’s the link to the study on sleep

Seriously email me if you develop a friendship with a goat

If you’re curious, this article takes a closer look at that study in a way that I trust and respect

Photo: lego shark, Italian coast, lego scientist, mediterranean dish, bear lego, time to lose weight, Arugula Salad with Chicken, lego newspaper, bird with fish, avocado pasta, greece, red wine, green hoodie lego, goat, bank robbers, mediterranean coast

The Beginner’s Guide to the Mediterranean Diet. Opa! published first on https://dietariouspage.tumblr.com/

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joshuabradleyn · 6 years ago

Text

The Beginner’s Guide to the Mediterranean Diet

If there was a high school yearbook of diets, The Mediterranean Diet would certainly win “most popular:”

U.S. News tied it #1 in their “Best Overall Diet” category.

They also ranked it #1 in the “Easiest Diet to Follow” race[1].

Fitness Magazine calls it the “The World’s Healthiest Diet” [2].

WebMD flat out said they “love” the Mediterranean Diet [3].

As far as mainstream media goes, you can’t get much better coverage than that.

Impressive? Absolutely.

Accurate? Maybe.

Here at Nerd Fitness, we love nothing better than digging into popular trends to give you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And lego photos and cute animal gifs.

So you’re here full of questions, which I bet go something like:

Steve, what is the Mediterranean Diet?

Can I lose weight on the Mediterranean Diet?

Why is this Diet so popular?