Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

here's the link
http://www.oldwayspt.org/med_pyramid.html

okay, so...one of the biggest changes I made that I think helped me get weight off the most was following this food pyramid. My dad died of a heartattack at age 42, and my grandmother died of colon cancer. There has been so much research published about how this way of eating is so healthy for you and is the way to fight these types of diseases and maintain your health. A lot of diets like Atkins just didn't work for me, I can't give up pasta or bread! Check out The Oldways website. They explain this lifestyle of eating very well. You can also google it...there are a TON of websites out there about the mediterranean diet. My children eat all of this stuff too by the way. Now, they do eat more red meat than I do..but other than that we all eat the same stuff. I limit myself to red meat once a month. Our main diet is fruits, veggies, whole grains, eggs, some chicken, fish, and the once a month red meat splurge. I cook with olive oil (or peanut oil with chinese or thai dishes)...I don't use butter at all..if I did use a little I would use a little smart balance. The idea here is saturated fat is bad...but monounsaturated fats (olive oil) and polyunsaturated fats are actually good for you and your body needs them. Yes, FAT can be good! For example, to get the lycopene out of the tomato you have to eat it with a little olive oil or another monounsaturated fat because the lycopene binds with the fat to stay in your body. This was something I didn't know prior to learning all of this. SO, you want some olive oil on your salad my dear!!!!
Anyway, if you are interested in persuing this way of eating further let me know and I can steer you in some good directions online recipe wise and books and such. We end up eating a lot of indian food, chinese, spanish,thai, italian, greek etc etc
I'll post some recipes that are inspired from this way of eating that you can try as well. :)