Mediterranean Diet Challenge

Join us in a 30 Day Mediterranean Lifestyle Challenge. This is no fad diet, it's a healthy way you can eat and live for the rest of your life. We hope you will try it on for 30 days and see how it fits. 

With the information below, you can kick off your own campaign whenever you are ready. The posts have been contributed by many guest bloggers -- our partners at Lifework Strategies, ASHA staff and others -- so you'll have the benefit of many perspectives. 

In a nutshell, this table shows what science supports. You'll find it gives you tons of options. We printed this note card size and printed it for participants in our challenge. For recipe ideas, check out our Pinterest board. 

  Med Tip Card by Janet Zimmerman McNichol on Scribd

1. 30 Day Mediterranean Lifestyle Challenge
2. 9 Tips to Create Your Own Blue Zone
3. Will Our 30 Day Mediterranean Lifestyle Challenge Make You Healthier and Happier?
4. Are You Ready to Go Mediterranean? -- Guest Post by Cyndi Fales
5. Live Well. Be Well. -- Kickoff with Tony Robbins
6. Finding Your Motivation -- Guest Post by Laura DeFilippo
7. Mediterranean Diet in the News
8. Satisfying and Delicious -- Accept the Challenge and Take the Pledge 
9. Goals and Good Friends -- Guest Post by Sara VanDenHeuvel
10. Make it Vegetarian -- Guest Post by Deedee Moxley
11. Drop Those Extra Pounds -- Guest Post by Cyndi Fales
12. The End of Diet Thinking -- Three Tips to Coach Yourself Thin
13. Wave 1 -- Guest Post by Lydia Lui
14. Mediterranean Diet for the Family …. Hip, Hip … Hooray? -- Guest Post by Kellie Rowden-Racette
15. Kitchen Cleanup -- Guest Post by Diane Paul
16. Wave 1 Tips and Recipes from Cindy Mann
17. Stocking Your Kitchen for Healthy Eating -- Guest Post by Deb Dixon
18. The Mediterranean Café (Sonoma Diet Menu included)
19. Measure Your Progress with Biometric Screenings -- Guest Post by Cyndi Fales
20. Nix Those Cravings -- Guest Post by Terry Harris
21. Table for One -- Guest Post by Jeanette Janota
22. Walking, wellness and a German shepherd named Mimi -- Guest Post by Gary Dunham
23. The Thursday Veggie Box Delivery -- Guest Post by Terry Harris
24. Unprocessed Schunprocessed -- Guest Post by Kellie Rowden-Racette
25. Salt Savvy -- Guest Post by Kellie Burkinshaw
26. Eggstravaganza
27. What should I drink? -- Guest Post by Lydia Lui
28. Wave 2 -- Guest Post by Cyndi Fales
29. Wave 2 Tips and Recipes from Cindy Mann
30. New Ideas for Desk Top Lunches -- Guest Post by Deb Dixon
31. 23 Mediterranean Diet Tips from a Blue Zone (includes recipes)
32. Eating Out on a Mediterranean Diet -- Guest Post by Kellie Burkinshaw
33. A Sonoma Passover -- Guest Post by Leslie Katz (includes recipes)
34. Salads that Satisfy -- Guest Post by Laura DeFilippo (includes links to recipes)
35. Passover Mediterranean Style -- Guest Post by Diane Paul (includes recipe)
36. Infusing Herbs and Spices -- Guest Post by Pam Leppin
37. Enjoy Breakfast -- Guest Post by Kelly Velasquez (includes recipes)
38. Sleeping Beauty or Beast -- Guest Post by Cyndi Fales
39. Stark Raving Med -- Guest Post by Kathleen Halverson
40. Good Fats -- Guest Post by Aryeh Hirsch
41. How to Wash All Those Vegetables (and fruit) -- Guest Post by Eileen Lewis
42. Go Fish -- Guest Post by Laura DeFilippo (includes recipe)
43. Reading Food Labels -- Guest Post by Lydia Lui
44. Great Grains -- Guest Post by Aryeh Hirsch
45. Guiltless Sweets -- Guest Post by Peggy Savage
46. Eating Mediterranean on a Budget
47. Wave 3 -- Guest Post by Cyndi Fales
48. Move More! How to Incorporate Exercise and Activity into our Busy, Busy Lives -- Guest Post by Kelly Velasquez
49. Confessions of a Backslider -- Guest Post by Gennith Johnson
50. Mediterranean Potluck
51. Building Better Bento 
52. Mediterranean Challenge Results
53. Keep Your Friends and Family Safe from Foodborne Illnesses
54. Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health -- Challenges in Contemporary America and Scientific Evidence
55. Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health -- Best Practices from the Field
56. Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health -- The Evidence Behind the Recommendations

Our October Unprocessed Follow-Up

During the Mediterranean Diet challenge one of the things we focused on was eating whole, unprocessed food. We found that can be a challenge with the food choices we face day-to-day, so we spent October exploring unprocessed food. It was truly an exercise in awareness. Read on to learn more about eating unprocessed and try it yourself for 30 days. 

Hesitant to commit? Here are a couple things that might ease your concerns. 

1. The 80/20 rule. Make a commitment to eat unprocessed foods 80 percent of the time and don't worry about the rest.
2. The deliberate exception. This could be that you'll drink Gatorade on runs over 6 miles or that you'll indulge in a piece of chocolate cake on your son's birthday. Just establish your exceptions before starting the challenge so they are a deliberate choice and not a default reaction to a habit. 

Many thanks to Kellie Rowden-Racette who introduced us to October Unprocessed in her Unprocessed Shunprocessed post during our 30 Day Mediterranean Lifestyle Challenge. 

• October Unprocessed -- Guest Post by Kellie Rowden-Racette
• Do's and Don'ts of October Unprocessed -- Choosy Moms Choose Jif No More
• Day 1 of October Unprocessed (includes Spa Cookie recipe)
• In Search of Unprocessed Chocolate Bars

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October Unprocessed Resources

• Eating Rules -- This is the site that started it all. 
• 100 Days of Real Food -- Great source of tips for taking the unprocessed plunge with your family. Includes lots of recipes, meal plans and practical ideas.