Welcome back to The Diet Oracle! It is Friday and we are on Day Five of our little Mediterranean excursion. For the last several days, we have been taking an in depth look at The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution: The 28 Day Kick-Start Plan for Lasting Weight Loss by Julene Stassou, MS, RD. Putting on my Dutiful Dieter hat, I’ve been faithfully following Stassou’s plan in order to give you a little taste of what this diet is like and what sort of results you could expect.

Thus far, this book has a lot going for it! Many of the recipes have been delicious and worth making again. Yeah, there have been a few bombs, but I’ve tested enough diet and cookbooks to know this is really par for the course. Stassou has done a great job of putting together meal plans that are filling, nourishing, and (mostly) tasty all while keeping calories low enough for steady weight loss. Though my final weigh in for the week isn’t for a couple days, I can say with confidence even now that following her plan will help you drop pounds.

So let’s get into today’s food log and see how it went!

Breakfast: Whole grain bread with 1/4 avocado, 3/4 cup mixed blueberries and sliced bananas, 1 egg, and my usual coffee with half and half.

Lunch: Faki (Greek lentil soup) with chicken sausage and grapes.

Snack: Carrot and Bran Muffin (yes, I’m still eating those) with 1/2 cup Craisins and chai tea

Dinner: Shrimp Scampi with 1 cup Barilla ProteinPLUS spaghetti and green salad with Greek Dressing

Remember yesterday’s breakfast bust? Well after everything quite literally fell apart on the kitchen counter, I decided to give Stassou’s French Toast recipe a second chance. I whipped up the egg mixture once again, but this time I only gave the bread slices the briefest of dunks. Sadly, the French toast still ended up a burnt, soggy mess. (Paradoxical, I know.) I suspect the combo of too few eggs and the use of almond milk had something to do with it. In any case, I went with plan B and had the toast with egg, avocado, and fruit. Not a bad alternative!

The Faki was a new take on lentil soup for me, but a traditional recipe for many who observe Lent. Though lentil soup is something I make on a somewhat regular basis, Stassou’s recipe is meatless and had the unexpected flavor of red wine vinegar added just before serving. This not being the season of Lent, the Faki was served alongside chicken sausage and grapes for a cozy and filling lunch on a chilly day.

My snack was quick and easy–a Carrot and Bran Muffin with dried cranberries and a spicy cup of Chai tea. Fairly perfect for a fall afternoon.

Dinner today was simply delicious. Stassou’s recipe for Shrimp Scampi turned out beautifully and everyone around the table loved it! The Scampi had a nice balance of flavors between the garlic, lemon, white wine, and extra-virgin olive oil and no one minded the Barilla ProteinPLUS spaghetti, which is made with a combination of grains and legumes, such as lentils, chickpeas, flaxseed, barley, oats, and spelt. It’s an easy swap that makes pasta night even better (for you)!

So here are the numbers for Day Five. Calories came in at 1352 with 47% from carbohydrate, 34% from fat, and 19% protein with 25 grams of fiber. Stassou’s plan continues maintain a steady calorie range and though the macros vary a little bit, that is largely influenced by my snack choices.

I really appreciate how little I’ve had to battle hunger these past several days. Though I have consistently been in a calorie deficit of 500-700 calories per day, I have rarely felt it. Stassou’s ‘weight loss solution’ continues to deliver meals and snacks that keep hunger at bay–something any dieter can appreciate!

That’s it for Day Five! Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!

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Welcome back to The Diet Oracle! We are officially at the half-way point of our week-long test drive of The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution: The 28 Day Kick-Start Plan for Lasting Weight Loss by Julene Stassou, MS, RD. If you’re just joining us, be sure to check my previous posts for Days One, Two, and Three as well as more information about Mediterranean diets and their potential benefits!

So far the week has had its ups and downs, hasn’t it? Some of the recipes have been absolutely delicious–full of flavor and a feast for the eyes! Others? Not so much. So what will today’s menu bring to the table? Let’s jump right in and take a look at today’s food log!

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Day Three’s Meal Plan

Breakfast

• Greek Yogurt with Berries, Honey, and Mint (pg. 90)
• 1 slice whole wheat toast
• Coffee with half and half

Lunch

• White Bean Soup with Kale (pg. 118)
• 1/2 whole wheat pita
• 1/2 apple

Snacks

• Date Nut Energy Ball (pg. 202) with fresh strawberries and chai tea
• Carrot and Bran Muffin (pg. 93)

Dinner

• Hamburger made with 4 ounces extra-lean ground beef on a whole wheat bun with ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion (pg. 61)
• Easy Brussels Sprouts Hash (pg. 182)

My Thoughts

So we definitely had some winners and losers today, my friends. Though the day had a rough start out of the gates, it definitely ended on a high note!

Recipe Fail!

Let’s start with breakfast. I tried making the French Toast recipe found in the book and it was, I’m sad to report, a total debacle. I followed the cooking instructions to the letter and, despite my best instincts, soaked the bread slices for 10 MINUTES. If you’ve ever made French toast, you can probably guess what happened. One slice was so soggy I couldn’t even transfer it to the skillet! The others somehow managed to burn whilst remaining an uncooked mess within. Oh dear. I think I will try this recipe again, though only briefly dunking the bread slices prior to cooking. We’ll see what happens! Needless to say, I resorted to plan B and had the yogurt with berries again.

Keeping Hunger at Bay

Lunch was a significant improvement! The White Bean and Kale Soup was really tasty and satisfying on a chilly day. A colorful variety of veggies, creamy white beans, a bit of chicken sausage, fresh thyme and red pepper flakes come together to make a filling soup full of flavor–not to mention good nutrition! I would certainly make this again.

Snacks were repeats from earlier in the week, so nothing new to add there except to note that I had a bit more difficulty with nagging hunger throughout the afternoon today. I suspect that’s likely due to the fairly low calorie count at lunch. Instead of ignoring my hunger cues, I went ahead and added a second snack. Problem solved.

Dinner for the WIN!

The family definitely appreciated the dinner menu tonight and I have to admit, it felt good having an honest-to-goodness hamburger. We buy our beef from a local rancher and love it! Such high quality meat and we know how the cows are being raised and processed.

The Easy Brussels Sprouts Hash went over fairly well with the crew. Believe it or not, my boys actually like Brussels sprouts, though I usually just steam and toss them with a dab of butter and salt. My husband liked this new recipe with its tangy Dijon vinaigrette; the boys only gave it a middling rating at best. For an otherwise widely despised member of the cruciferous vegetable family, I’ll go ahead and call that a win.

Nutrition Breakdown

Alright! So, let’s look at the numbers. Today’s calories came in at 1248 with 55% coming from carbohydrate, 25% from fat, and 20% from protein and 24 grams of fiber. A slight change from the usual breakdown, but this is no surprise given that my snacks of choice today were a bit higher in carbohydrate. As all previous days, this is once again a calorie level that, by all calculations, would create about a 1 pound weight loss per week–perhaps a bit more. My weigh-in yesterday certainly confirms that.

Aside from the French Toast fail this morning, Day Four went pretty well! I enjoyed most of today’s meal plan and added an extra snack when I needed something to keep hunger at bay. I do still feel like I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but that comes with the territory when fresh, unprocessed food is on the menu.

I hope you’re enjoying this review of The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution! I know I have enjoyed the chance to test new recipes and taste new flavors! Tomorrow we’ll be taking another look at that French Toast and for dinner? Shrimp Scampi! You don’t want to miss it!

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It is Day Two of our seven day trial run of The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution! This is a weight loss plan that promises to help you ‘kick-start your new diet and lose weight in just 28 days’ with Mediterranean-style fare. So let’s put that promise to the test! For the next seven days, you’ll get a front row seat as I follow the meal plan, test the recipes, and log every bite so that I can share with you, dear readers, my honest-to-goodness opinion of this plan.

Day One was full of flavor (and time spent in the kitchen); how will Day Two go? Let’s get right to the food log and see how it went!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you shop with these links, which helps to make this blog possible. Thanks for your support!

Day Two’s Meal Plan

Breakfast:

• Whole wheat toast with 1/4 avocado
• 1 egg
• Coffee with half and half

Lunch:

• Leftover One-Pan Tuscan Chicken
• 3/4 cup cooked whole wheat pasta
• Mixed greens with Greek Dressing

Snack:

• Carrot and Bran Muffin

Dinner:

• Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki
• 1 whole wheat pita
• Parmesan Zucchini Sticks

My Thoughts on the Day

The Carrot and Bran Muffins

I have to admit that after yesterday’s deliciousness, today was a bit of a letdown. Breakfast was fine, though nothing particularly exciting. The Carrot and Bran Muffins, though moist and spiced, were otherwise lacking in any amount of reasonable sweetness. My muffin-loving 5-year-old was both confused and disappointed.

The Gyros

The gyros were also, sadly, a bit disappointing. The chicken gyro meat had an over-powering amount of herbs and yet still lacked flavor due to the absence of any fat content and a meagre usage of salt. The Tzatziki was also so very bland. Tzatziki is something I make several times a year and everyone at the table was pretty underwhelmed with this recipe. Bummer.

The Zucchini

And finally, those misleading Parmesan Zucchini Sticks. I mean, just look at them. They look fantastic, don’t they? DON’T BE DECEIVED. Despite the promise of crispy broiled parmesan and sizzling herbs atop the fresh zucchini, these were awful. Like, comically so. Despite appearances, the zucchini retained zero of its structural integrity and had the mouthfeel of a slug. And, to add insult to injury, the herbed-parmesan veneer did nothing in the flavor department, which really is a mystery in and of itself.

The high point of the day, then, had to be lunch, which was yesterday’s leftovers–the One-Pan Tuscan Chicken with whole wheat pasta and Greek salad. Still tasty the next day.

Crunching the Numbers

Moving on! Let’s take a look at today’s nutrient breakdown. Calories today landed at 1285 with 53% coming from carbohydrate, 30% from fat, and 17% from protein with 28 grams of fiber. Today’s protein came in a bit low, but I’m not surprised given that today’s snack was more starch-based and I also wasn’t able to eat a full portion of that chicken gyro meat. Otherwise, today’s calorie level of <1300 is once again appropriate for weight loss and should produce some results by the end of the week.

Living the Lifestyle

For exercise today, I did my typical weight lifting routine and felt like I had a good workout. Nothing amazing, but I didn’t get stuck under the bar, either. I also did fine with my water intake, getting in an extra liter. I’ve found that it really helps if I make a batch of infused water, adding sliced lemon, oranges, or strawberries for a touch of flavor and sweetness. We’ll make a water drinker out of me yet!

And that’s it for Day Two! Tomorrow we’ll be taking a look at Day Three and hopefully we’ll have more hits and fewer flops! Steak with a Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce is on the menu for tomorrow, so let’s keep our fingers crossed!

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