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Meal plan 1500 calorie plant-based, olive oil diet 

A plant-based diet means most of the foods in the diet are from plants – fruits, vegetables, and grains – and there is little animal product.  Olive oil is the juice of the olive so it is a plant-based food. The basic components of the diet for each day are:

extra virgin olive oil            3-4 tablespoons        120 calories per tablespoon

Use olive oil at least at lunch and dinner. Other acceptable fats are nuts, especially walnuts.  1 Tablespoon of chopped nuts is about 50 calories.  Nuts are a healthy fat for breakfast but should not be used for snacking, if you are trying to maintain your weight.

Vegetables    4 or more servings   (about 15 calories/serving; 1 serving = ½ cup or 1 cup salad greens)

Try to have a large a variety of vegetables as possible.  Please select vegetables with deep color, especially broccoli, spinach, tomatoes; include canned and frozen vegetables.  You can cook your vegetables in extra virgin olive oil.  Add vegetable salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil at lunch and/or dinner.

Fruit               3 servings      (60 calories/serving; 1 serving = ½ cup or ½ piece)

A serving is smaller than most pieces you would buy.   Use as large a variety as possible; try to select ones with deep color; best fruits are grapes, apricots, peaches, berries, raisins.

Starch             6-7 servings   (80 to 100 calories/ serving; 1 servings = approximately 1 oz. dry weight)

This group includes bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans (legumes), and some starchy vegetables.  Please check the exchange list for serving sizes.  Try to use whole grain as often as possible.

Dairy 8 oz. plain non-fat yogurt can be substituted for 1 starch. You are allowed up to ½ oz. cheese per day to be used on your sandwich or dinner.  Using shredded or grated cheese lets you use less cheese so the calories do not go too high. Two tablespoons or ½ ounce of shredded cheese = 40-50 calories

Eggs can be consumed as often as you like.  Eggs are a very healthy, economical food and have never been related to heart disease.

I recommend that you limit your meat/ poultry/ seafood intake.  You do not need the extra protein and weight maintenance/ loss will likely be easier if you limit them.

Recipes for plant-based meals that include extra virgin olive oil can be found at:

www.medfooddiet.com
                                                                                                                                       

 Breakfast on a plant based olive oil diet

• People who eat breakfast tend to control their body weight better than those who do not.
• People who eat breakfast are more productive in their morning work.  If you do not eat breakfast, your blood glucose will not be optimum.
• Try to delay eating your breakfast as long as you can.  When you wake up in the morning, your insulin is as low as it will be for the day.   Low levels of insulin mean that you are releasing fat from your fat stores for energy.  This means that exercising in the morning will draw on your fat stores for energy.  Do not have any food before you exercise or this will stop the release of fat as the food will cause insulin to be released.

Food items in a healthy breakfast:

1 – 2 servings of starch (whole grain, if possible)

2 tablespoons of nuts /nut butter or 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 – 2 serving of fruit (or you can also have all your fruit at breakfast)

Optional: non-fat dairy (milk or yogurt for cereal), egg

A breakfast for a 1500 calorie diet should have about 400 calories.

Quick breakfast:

1. Whole grain / whole wheat toast + peanut butter.  Try to use a natural peanut butter (look at the ingredient label for types of oils; avoid peanut butter that lists partially hydrogenated fat, which is what makes trans fatty acids).
2. cold cereal with milk, 2 tablespoons of nuts and 1-2 serving of fruit.  Look for cold cereals higher in fiber and unsweetened; these should have about 110 calories/oz.

Requires slightly more time:

Egg and vegetable sandwich:  heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a small pan.   Add about 1 cup of vegetables and cook 3 to 5 minutes.  Move the cooked vegetables to the side of the pan and add an egg.  Cook egg as desired (i.e., sunny side up, over easy).  Eat between 2 slices of whole wheat toast.

Lunch on a plant based olive oil diet

Making your lunch will help you to manage your body weight.  The more meals you eat out, including lunch, the harder it is to control your weight.  Making your lunch will require some advance planning, like grocery shopping in advance and having containers to transport your food, but with a little practice it will become an easy habit.

Tips:

Many lunches are easier to prepare the night before during or after dinner prep as there is seldom time in the morning.

Purchase plastic containers for sandwiches and/or salads.  If you are planning to make soup then you should purchase a thermos or glass containers with tight lids that hold about 2 cups.

Cook vegetables in extra virgin olive oil in advance of needing for packed lunches.  They can be frozen until you need to use them. Also, soups can be cooked on weekends or a night and left to cool overnight and then portioned into containers.

Food items in a healthy lunch:

2 servings of starch (whole grain, if possible)

2 (or more) servings of vegetables

1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (to cook vegetables, use for salad dressing)

1-2 servings of fruit (deep color)

Optional:  legumes (beans), egg, nuts (substitute for olive oil), some of your poultry/ seafood for the day

A lunch for a 1500 calorie diet should have about 500-600 calories.

Basic sandwich:

1 cup of vegetables can be cooked in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Cook on medium low heat.  Cover the pan to minimize loss of the healthy components in extra virgin olive oil. The longer you cook the vegetables, the sweeter they become.  I try to cook them at 10-15 minutes.  You can also add some shredded cheese (2 tablespoons = 55 calories; 1/4 cup = 110 calories).  You can pack the cooked vegetables and the bread separately as the oil might make the bread soggy if left until lunch.  Whole wheat wraps, pita or Lavash bread are less likely to get soggy.  Check nutrition labels for calories as not all bread products are the same size so calories can differ.

Dinner on a plant based olive oil diet

The dinner recipes on the plant-based, olive oil diet require less time than ordering out food.  Just make sure that you keep the groceries from the food list in your home and you can easily make a dinner is less than 15-20 minutes.  And most of that time is not food preparation – it is waiting for the starch to cook.  You can also cook up vegetables in extra virgin olive oil in advance and freeze them for later use.

Food items in a healthy dinner:

3-4 servings of starch or what is left from daily total (whole grain, if possible)

2 (or more servings of vegetables)

1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (to cook vegetables, use for salad dressing)

Optional: grated cheese, legumes

 A dinner on a 1500 calorie diet should have about 500-600 calories (depending on your lunch)

Dinner recipes for a plant-based, olive oil diet can be found at www.medfooddiet.com.

Food exchange list for plant-based, olive oil meal plan

The hunger obesity paradox

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