May is Mediterranean Diet month at Jenpennockmd.com. So far this month, I gave an overview of the Mediterranean Diet and reviewed the health benefits, I gave details about how to follow the meal plan, and shared 3 of my favorite recipes. In this post, I will give you a one week meal plan for the Mediterranean Diet.
Guide to Following this One Week Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan
When I’m following a new type of eating, I find it helpful to have a meal plan written out. I also don’t really like to cook a lot, so I get intimidated when a meal plan has lots of complicated recipes. For this meal plan, I chose some easy recipes and some easy to make meals.
This plan includes 3 meals a day and 2 snacks a day. If you don’t like to eat that often, you can eat the snacks at the same time that you eat your meals. I also include an optional third snack per day in case you are hungry.
You can have up to 1 ounce of nuts a day. Nuts are high in calories, so you don’t want to overeat the amount of nuts. I have the actual counts of nuts that are in one ounce, but you can eat less than the amount if it seems like too much for you.
Everyone is used to different amounts of food. This meal plan is about 1500 to 1800 calories a day. If this seems like too much food for you, you can eat smaller portions or skip some of the nuts, dairy and grains, however, try to still eat all of the fruits, vegetables and proteins.
The One Week Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan
Day 1
Breakfast
- ½ – 1 cup of steel cut or old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 cup of blueberries
Snack
- Up to 45 pistachio nuts
Lunch
- Salad with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and carrots. 1 packet of tuna fish. Feta cheese. Dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Snack
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 1 cup sliced peaches
Dinner
- 1 or 2 slices of whole-grain bread
- 1 cup of lentil soup
- Roasted squash
Optional snack
- 2 multi-grain wasa crackers topped with hummus and cucumber slices
Day 2
Breakfast
- 2 brown rice cakes topped with guacamole and air fried tofu nuggets – this is my favorite breakfast
- grapes
Snack
- Up to 24 almonds and an apple
Lunch
- Leftover lentil soup from yesterday’s dinner
- 1 cup or more roasted cauliflower (see roasted vegetable recipe below)
Snack
- banana chopped in ½ cup low fat ricotta
Dinner
- 4 ounces salmon (pan fried in a few teaspoons of olive oil or baked)
- Up to 1 cup couscous (I buy the packages that include seasoning, you can add olive oil instead of butter to complete the recipe on the box)
- 1 cup or more roasted broccoli
Optional snack
- 1 ounce low fat sharp cheddar cheese on whole wheat crackers
Day 3
Breakfast
- Breakfast smoothie – 1 cup milk, ½ cup greek yogurt, banana, frozen berries, 1 tsp honey
Snack
- up to 14 walnut halves
Lunch
- 1 cup or more of leftover roasted squash and broccoli (from days 1 and 2)
- Morningstar black bean burger with hummus
- Whole grain bun for the burger
Snack
- baby carrots dipped in hummus (hummus comes in single serve cups with usually 100 calories each)
Dinner
- shrimp sauteed in olive oil with garlic
- Farro salad with roasted vegetables
Optional snack
whole grain Wasa crackers topped with avocado slices
Day 4
Breakfast
- Leftover farro salad with one or 2 poached eggs
- 1 cup black berries
Snack
- ½ cup greek yogurt with 1 cup melon
Lunch
- leftover shrimp from day 3 dinner on salad of spinach, feta cheese, oil and balsamic vinegar dressing
- At least 1 cup of roasted eggplant
Snack
- up to 24 almonds and 2 or 3 apricots
Dinner
- Veggie and white bean stew
- 2 slices toasted whole wheat bread
Optional snack
- whole grain toast with hummus
Day 5
Breakfast
- 2 morningstar breakfast sausages
- 1 slice whole wheat toast
- 1 cup melon
Snack
- Cashews (up to 18)
Lunch
- leftover veggie and white bean stew
- ½ cup brown rice
- Leftover roasted eggplant
Snack
- ½ cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 cup blueberries
Dinner
- Healthy Broiled Striped Bass with Provencal Tomatoes and Olives
- Israeli salad (diced cucumbers and tomatoes tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and chopped parsley)
Optional snack
- rice cakes with ¼ of an avocado mashed with lemon juice and salt (or one guacamole cup)
Day 6
Breakfast
- 1 slice whole grain toast
- omelette (you can use one egg and several egg whites) filled with wilted spinach (use 2-3 cups of fresh spinach)
Snack
- walnuts (up to 14 halves) with 1 cup raspberries
Lunch
- leftover striped bass from dinner last night
- Greek salad (lettuce, olives, cucumbers and tomato with olive oil and balsamic dressing)
Snack
- ½ cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 cup melon
Dinner
- 2 chicken kabobs
- ½ to 1 cup bulgur wheat
- 1 cup or more of roasted brussel sprouts
Optional snack
- Whole-grain crackers
- 1 ounce low fat cheddar cheese
Day 7
Breakfast
- ½ – 1 cup of steel cut or old fashioned oatmeal
- 2-4 tablespoons of raisins
Snack
- pear
- 1 ounce cheddar cheese
Lunch
- leftover Israeli salad from dinner day 5
- leftover bulgur wheat from day 6 dinner
- 1 package tuna fish
Snack
- ½ cup low fat ricotta cheese
- 1 cup raspberries
- a few tablespoons of slivered almonds
Dinner
- Shakshuka
- whole grain toast
Optional snack
- carrots with hummus
I hope you enjoyed this month of the Mediterranean Diet blogs. If you want to get more information about healthy eating and weight loss, sign up for the newsletter at the banner at the top of the page.
