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



  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 CafĂ© (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. 

  • 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.


Sonoma Diet - See Results in 10 Days!

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