Adopting a Mediterranean diet can help you prevent disease, lose weight and maintain weight loss. If you like flexibility and diverse options, the Mediterranean food plan should suit your lifestyle. However, its relative flexibility means you can underestimate the amount of carbohydrates and fats you consume. Devote some time to studying your portion sizes and nutritional information to ensure you consume the appropriate percentage of oils and grains.
Caloric Targets
If you follow a Mediterranean diet to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight, you need to have a general idea of your daily total caloric consumption as well as how to distribute the calories. You can eat unlimited fresh fruits and vegetables on the Mediterranean diet and should eat these foods with every meal. For women of average height, the total caloric consumption should be around 1,500 calories. For men of average height, the number of calories should average around 1,800. The Harvard School of Public Health's guide to the Mediterranean diet adds that no more than 35 percent of these calories should come from fat.
Healthy Fats
With the Mediterranean diet, you need to be attentive to the types of fat you consume. In general, as few calories as possible should come from foods containing trans fat or saturated fat. This means eliminating many prepared and processed foods. Avoid oil and fat from beef. Do not eat foods cooked in or containing coconut oil, palm oil, tropical oil or cocoa butter. Choose nonfat or low-fat rather than whole-fat dairy products. Use olive oil instead of butter on bread. Other healthy sources of the fat that makes up your 35 percent of caloric consumption include olives, nuts, seeds and avocado.
Grains
Unlike low-carbohydrate diets, the Mediterranean diet features many grains. Along with fresh produce and plant-based proteins, whole grains form the base of the Mediterranean diet nutritional pyramid. Recommendations on the percentage of grain you can consume are general, but Mediterranean diet food plans feature one serving of a whole grain at every meal. Consult nutritional labels or measure your food to ensure you use appropriate serving sizes of whole grains.
Types of Grains
The types of grains you consume make a significant difference on the Mediterranean diet. Eat whole grains such as oatmeal, unsweetened whole wheat pasta, wild rice, couscous and brown rice. Rather than fill your plate with pasta or rice, serve carbohydrates as a dish alongside fresh fruit, grilled vegetables, bean spreads like hummus, legumes, nuts and fish.
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