A Traditional One Week Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan
By Bill Bradley, R.D.
Updated March 22, 2018
The traditional Mediterranean Diet has been shown to be one of the healthiest ways of eating in the world. The problem is that many Mediterranean recipes found in cookbooks or on the web are not traditional. We interviewed the Mother of a local restaurant owner on the Island of Crete to find out what a typical week of eating would have looked like 30 years ago. This is a true Mediterranean Diet meal plan from the island. There were no fancy kitchens and people ate mostly off their own land. Dishes were simple and delicious peasant foods.
A Traditional Week of Eating Like a Cretan:
Breakfast
Goat’s milk, olives, bread with olive oil and an occasional egg
Lunch and Dinner
- The same food is eaten for lunch and dinner.
- Bread and olive oil is served at every meal.
- Wild mountain greens (horta) are served often.
- Red wine is served with lunch.
- Raki (Cretan grappa) is served after lunch or dinner with a sweet or fruit (orange or apple).
- Bread with olives is served between meals for kids.
Monday
Mountain greens with fish (boiled or fried)
Tuesday
Eggplants with feta cheese
Wednesday
Pulses (lentils, butter beans, white bean soup)
Thursday
Vegetables (zucchini with potatoes, stuffed tomatoes or stuffed peppers, all without meat)
Friday
Pulses or spaghetti in zucchini sauce without meat
Saturday
Fisherman’s soup
Sunday
Large sunday dinner with meat, salad, appetizers
Mr. Bradley,
I’m a 72 year old male, who’s morbidly obese. I’ve been doing a lot of research on the internet, over a 3 month period, about who has the best diet available. Having dealt with cancer 3 different times, and other serious health concerns, I figured it was time for me to find a diet I could stick with, lose weight, and keep it off PERMANENTLY. I guess it would be more of a way of eating the right kinds of foods, in the right amounts, that an actual diet. I now know that the fast food and junk food, was taking it’s toll on me. I had zero energy, limited flexability, and NO motivation to do anything about it. However as of Oct. 1 2019, I freely became a vegetarian. I’ve noticed in week 1, that I had a better energy level, a little more strength, and my thoughts seemed to be a little clearer and more precise. After having watched your video, I purchased your book and am very excited to get started. I’m very confident that this will work. Thank you for all your research.
Thank you Dennis. Good luck and let me know if you have any further questions.