More kudos for the Mediterranean diet

A new study came out showing the Mediterranean diet prevents numerous diseases, like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's and even Parkinson's. While the Mediterranean diet is not new and we've known that it's a healthy eating pattern, this study analyzed the diets of more than 1.5 million people - so it's conclusive.

Eating like our Greek and Italian friends means loading up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish and even olive oil and cutting back on red meat, dairy products and processed foods. The good news is that most of the those foods will also help you to lose weight since they are rich in nutrients and fiber so they fill you up without filling you out. The diet is really about eating whole foods that are either naturally low in all fats or high in only healthy fats, which keep your blood flowing smoothly.

To get yourself started on a Mediterranean style of eating, cut back your red meat intake to only once or twice a week and replace with a nice, healthy piece of fish, like tilapia or salmon, and a side of lentils. Get rid of the butter from your fridge and replace with olive and canola oil. You can order pre-filled olive and canola oil spray bottles that make portion control easy from Gourme Mist. This ensures you're not overdoing it on the added fat because even if it's the healthy kind, too much fat means too many calories.

Healthy snacking idea for you and the kids

I love my pediatrician! He was mine as a child and now he takes care of my children. The other day we were discussing healthy snacking for the kids and he had a great idea -- put several healthy snacks in a plastic container with each child's name on it and after school let them go and choose their snack from their container. I love it! My kids are always trying to be more independent (they are 7 and 4), so this is right up their alley. Now, I have taken this a step further -- in an effort to increase my (and my husband's) fruit and nut consumption, we now also have a container in the fridge. Believe it or not, this little trick has increased my fruit consumption by two fruits a day. By the way, here is what is currently in our containers - it changes each week.
Baggies of pistachios, almonds with semi-sweet chocolate chips, apple slices, strawberries, cherries, and whole wheat crackers with all natural peanut butter.
Next week I will probably include, pretzels with hummus, banana slices with choco syrup, high fiber cereal trail mix (I just mix all bran with low fat granola, honey roasted sunflower seeds and dried cranberries or raisins), watermelon slices and (for the kids) whole wheat crackers with cheese slices.
Try it and let me know how it goes.