Hi lovelies,

I am back in France after a lovely summer in New Zealand but unfortunately the weight I had planned to lose over there is still in place and I didn’t stick to any diet or workout regime over there. I had visions of running every day and becoming a healthier version of myself but I was in constant holiday mode so I never really got around to it haha. Oh well, I am ready for the challenge now and more motivated than ever!

Righto, so here is what happened in New Zealand. After living in France for the last 3 and a half years, I have missed sliced bread. Sounds crazy but you can’t get a decent sliced pan of plain bread here! There are so many and varied breads to choose from and boulangeries on every street corner that the old sliced pan never really took off here. Growing up in Ireland, we ate white sliced bread every day. Toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and toasties whenever we felt like it. So I basically missed that, being my comfort food for so long. Needless to say, once we arrived sliced pans were abundant and we were munching on white sliced bread daily. Our local shop was quite expensive over there so vegetables were really over priced. Unfortunately, being in holiday mode ( ah feck it, I’m on holidays! ) I ended up buying sugar-laden muesli bars every time I went to the shop and became hooked on them. I was probably eating 2 a day, thinking they were better than chocolate bars and a healthier option. At least thats what I told myself!

Another thing I was doing, thinking I was all healthy and everything, was eating a Greek yoghurt with granola muesli for breakfast. You can imagine my shock when I found out the granola I was scoffing down every morn was as sugary as coco pops or crunch nut cornflakes ( very high sugar content )! I was reeling after I read the nutritional value on the back. You should have seen my face. I was annoyed at myself for not taking more notice of the ingredients and I tell you, I definitely check the labels more carefully nowadays. I might as well have just ate a chocolate bar for breakfast and be done with it! Anyway, I just needed to point out that some foods we may think are ‘safe’ in terms of calories and nutrition aren’t always how they appear. Especially breakfast cereals.

Another thing I noticed about my eating habits while there was that the more bad carbs I ate, the more I seemed to crave. The toasted bread and butter was something I had given up years ago but as soon as I started down that path, there was no going back. Both of my babies were addicted to the toast with butter too and wanted it day and night. The problem was that even though it is filling at the time, it is empty carbs and provides no real nutritional value. I decided to change to wholemeal bread after a while, which tasted a little bit bland but when the butter went on we were wolfing that down daily too. Then I began craving other carbs like pasta and rice and we started having those for dinner most nights. The more I ate, the more I craved and we even ended up having them for lunch too! Yikes. Now that I think of it, I really became obsessed with the carbs. They weren’t the wholemeal kind but the white pasta and rice so again, empty carbs that provide little value.

During all of this I would tell myself I was going to stop eating the wrong foods and start a healthy eating diet plan. The cravings would take over and the shop was quite limited as well as being over-priced so I was buying less vegetables and the kids were eating all the fruit so I kind of just let myself go. I have to admit, I was feeling like I was on holidays ( not really – I was living there for 4 months! ) so I was entitled to live a little and just eat what I like! Actually I was quite stressed out being with both babies all day long too. I didn’t have access to a creche or babysitters and my partner was working long hours. I was comfort eating to make myself feel good. The feeling good after eating whatever I wanted was always short-lived and I was doing myself no favours. In fact, I was left feeling sluggish and exhausted. I now realise, it was probably because I was eating all the wrong foods, not exercising nearly enough and mentally stressed from having no break from the kids day and night.

I was also drinking a fair amount since I was in ‘holiday mode’. For me it was a stress relief and a kind of self-medication. By the time the kids were going to bed ( if I was lucky! ) I would be crying out for a wine. After a couple of drinks I would finally feel ‘back to normal’ and relaxed. That was another quick fix because sometimes that would lead to a couple more drinks. Next morning the hangover would kick in and I would be in another vicious circle of craving carbs, feeling sluggish and eating whatever made me feel better. It seemed I was self-destructing and sabotaging myself over and over.

Before I knew it, Christmas had been and gone and New Years was my excuse to get back on the wagon. I decided I would go running and I did! Sadly, it rained the next few days after and my legs were in agony. As much as I so desperately wanted to get back into it, I lost my motivation and started making excuses like ‘I’ll go tomorrow’ but I would end up sleeping in or being too busy with the kids. The excuses were sometimes real but if I had been really motivated I would have made time. I would have loved an accountability partner to go running with but I didn’t have anyone else to motivate me so I just took the easy route and continued as I had been. I was too scared to stand on a weighing scales but when I did, I realised I had put on a few kgs. I was ashamed but I wasn’t going to beat myself up about it. I was going to face up to why I had put on the weight and make a plan to lose it.

I decided to replace the white carbs such as pasta and rice with wholegrain versions and try to cut out bread completely. I was apprehensive about the pasta tasting horrible as pasta was my fave food. We ordered our groceries online and had them delivered since the nearest supermarket was an hour away! We were living in a coastal village with the one small shop which was very limited. To my absolute joy, the wholegrain pasta tasted great and you only ate half the portion size so I was chuffed with that. We ordered lots of fresh veg and fruit and decided not to order any sugary items. It is the same for sugar, the more you eat the more you need so best to avoid as much as possible. Out of sight out of mind. It was cold turkey on the muesli bars as I really was addicted to those.

I began researching the best diets online. Every year they rate and survey the best and worst and I figured I needed the healthiest option. As you may know, I have tried the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet by Michael Mosely and was successful but I felt like I needed something a bit less restrictive in terms of calorie intake since I had been really struggling with comfort eating, being stressed and that. Eventually I would love to hop on board with the 5:2 but for now I am delighted to be on the Mediterranean diet. It is voted the best diet by Doctors year after year and is definitely the healthiest.

I am trying to cut down on meat and would love to follow a plant-based diet but I could never give up meat completely. Firstly, I love the taste and secondly, my partner is a chef. Living in France, my options would be very limited as there are not many vegetarians here. Restaurant menu options are really quite boring when it comes to meatless options. There are always fish options though so I can still stick to this diet easily here an I love that it doesn’t exclude dairy since I am a massive cheese fan and love dairy. Butter is however, not recommended on the Mediterranean diet. That is fine by me since I have given up butter in the past and swapped for olive oil, no problem.

Here are the Mediterranean diet basics –

Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains.

Cut down on red meat ( only once or twice a month ) and instead eat plenty of fish/seafood and poultry at least twice a week.

Flavouring food with herbs and spices instead of salt.

Replace butter with other healthy fats such as olive oil and avocado.

Eat local produce and organic food wherever possible.

Don’t starve yourself, eat regular meals and eat until you are full.

Drink plenty of water and feel free to have a glass of wine if you like.

Eggs are on the menu and also unrefined cereals such as oatmeal and bran, so those are a good breakfast choice

1-3 servings of dairy are allowed, preferably natural yoghurt, cheese and milk. Cultured milk products such as ricotta and kefir are promoted.

Almonds, chickpeas, green beans, cashews, lentils, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts are some examples of Mediterranean diet staples.

You can stock up on dry goods such as those above and have them in your pantry.

For the rest, the fresher the better, so try to find local produce, shop in the bio section or go to farmers markets if you can.

Eat olives and or use extra virgin olive oil from a reputable source as the Mediterraneans do, if possible.

Bread is allowed but in moderation. Choose wholegrain options such as buckwheat bread.

Enjoy sitting down with friends and family at meal times. It helps lower stress an improve digestion.

 

Here is a handy pyramid chart you can use as a guide –

Grains. The majority of grains should be whole grains, such as wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley, and corn. These grains are best consumed in whole, minimally-processed forms, because refining and processing can remove many valuable nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Grains and grain products common to the traditional Mediterranean Diet include: barley, buckwheat, bulgur, farro, millet, oats, polenta, rice, wheatberries, breads, couscous, and pastas.

Vegetables. Vegetables are an important staple of eating patterns of peoples in all the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, providing valuable nutrients and satiety. These benefits are amplified because the vegetables are normally cooked or drizzled with olive oil. Raw vegetables are also a healthy vegetable option.

Vegetables common to the traditional Mediterranean Diet include: artichokes, arugula, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, celery, celeriac, chicory, collard greens, cucumbers, dandelion greens, eggplant, fennel, kale, leeks, lemons, lettuce, mache, mushrooms, mustard greens, nettles, okra, onions (red, sweet, white), peas, peppers, potatoes, pumpkin, purslane, radishes, rutabaga, scallions, shallots, spinach, sweet potatoes, turnips, zucchini.

Fruits. Whole fresh fruit is ever-present in the Mediterranean. No-sugar-added fruit juices provide only some of the same nutrition benefits as whole fruit, and attention to portion control and total calories is wise. Fruit “drinks” do not have the benefits of fruit juice.

Fruits common to the traditional Mediterranean Diet include: apples, apricots, avocados, cherries, clementines, dates, figs, grapefruits, grapes, melons, nectarines, olives, oranges, peaches, pears, pomegranates, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes.

Taken from Oldways Traditional Med Diet

 

Hopefully this provides you with the necessary info to start your healthy eating plan. I rather call it my healthy eating plan than a diet as I will be trying to use this as my healthy lifestyle plan and not a quick fix. I intend on continuing this healthy eating plan indefinitely as there are so many health benefits involved. Apart from maintaining a slim figure, it brings a whole host of amazing health benefits.

Health Benefits of the Mediterranean diet –

• Maintaining a healthy heart
• Reduces the risk of cancer
• Reduces the risk of developing Alzheimers
• Reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease
• Reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes
• Enhances your mood
• Promotes healthy weight loss
• Reduces and protects against inflammation
• Promotes healthy skin, hair and nails
• Lengthens your life span

Exercise is to be included in this healthy lifestyle plan. Aim for a minimum of 30 mins a day, whether it is walking, cardio, cycling, jogging, hitting the gym or at home exercises. It will make you feel fantastic and you will soon see and feel the results.

Drinking is allowed but in moderation. A couple of drinks is fine but excessive drinking is not. Just remember, as goes for sweet treats and red meat, everything in moderation. It is by no means strict but we do have some rules to stick to.

So those are the simple Mediterranean diet basics to help you get started if you want to join me on my weight loss journey. I will be updating regularly as to how it is going and adding some Mediterranean recipes along the way.

I am so incredibly motivated about the Mediterranean diet and moving on with my new healthy lifestyle. I have set up a free account on myfitnesspal.com

I will have a few accountability partners to help me stay motivated and if you would like to join me I can add you on there – it’s free, just send me a message through the contact form and we can help cheer each other on and keep up momentum. I think this way of life is sustainable and the Mediterranean diet is not strict so it is perfect for a happy lifestyle where you can still eat foods you love and enjoy the benefits of Mediterranean life wherever you are!

My ‘holiday mode’ has swapped to ‘Mediterranean holiday mode’ now so stay tuned!

Chat next week!

Love,

Ciara x