Mediterranean Diet for Beginners: A Quick Start Guide to Heart Healthy Eating, Super-Charged Weight Loss and Unstoppable Energy Book Review

 

Introduction

The title of Gina Crawford’s most recent book says it all. For an introduction to an exciting new lifestyle you need an easy to read quick guide delivering “no fluff,no filler, and going straight to the point” as Mrs Crawford would put it. This book is just that.

Mediterranean Diet for Beginners: A Quick Start Guide to Heart Healthy Eating, Super-Charged Weight Loss and Unstoppable Energy was released in January of 2015, and reveals the “healthiest, most well respected and scientifically documented diet in the world.”

The book is…

…available in both paperback and digital e-book formats, the Mediterranean Diet for Beginners runs 106 pages long. You will find denser volumes on the benefits of a Mediterranean based diet. However, this particular book is shorter than some others for a reason. The author believes that the last thing you need is to “tackle a 300 page book” on how to get healthy.

She adds nothing but relevant information, 30 minutes recipes and a 7 day diet plan as the basis of this instructional guide. It is nice that this is a straightforward, quick read, and easy to digest (pun intended).

As a free gift, your purchase includes a free 12 page report. Raw Food – the Top 10 Ways That Eating Raw Can Transform Your Health and Make You Feel Amazing is a bonus provided with either the digital e-book or paperback versions of the Mediterranean Diet for Beginners, and is a smart complement to it.

Meet the Author
Author Gina Crawford is not a doctor or licensed health specialist. That is probably why she is so popular in the weight loss, healthy living communities. She appeals to ordinary people who have had issues staying healthy in today’s fast-paced, fast-food society. That is because she conquered health problems which are common among many people. She did so with the help of a Mediterranean-based diet, and wanted to share her knowledge with others.
Gina Crawford has written several healthy lifestyle books. She calls herself a health and “all things natural” enthusiast, author, mother and wife. She has personally gone from being overweight, unhappy and unhealthy to full of energy, slim, trim and full of life. She began on her path to a new, healthy body and accompanying positive outlook on life when she started to research what was causing so many modern-day people to be overweight, unhealthy and out of shape.She will show you that anyone can also be helped to achieve a healthier lifestyle enjoyed with more natural energy,healthy body weight maintenance and a stronger heart.

Her new path led her away from processed foods and towards a plant-based diet for natural weight loss, better heart health and less disease and sickness.

How the book is laid out

The book is broken down into an Introduction, 13 chapters, several recipes and a final note by the author. The Introduction is just over 1 page long. Mrs. Crawford does not beat around the bush, and gets right to the point – her goal is to help you understand how the Mediterranean diet leads to so many health benefits, including natural weight maintenance, heart health and plenty of energy.

You discover that the Mayo Clinic calls Mediterranean-style eating a “heart-healthy diet”. Also, the author reminds you that in Mediterranean-based diet is the “most scientifically documented diet”. There are reams of medical and scientific information pointing to the positive health benefits that Mediterranean foods deliver.

Chapter 1 begins by answering the question, “What is the Mediterranean Diet?” The author explains that a Mediterranean based diet refers to the traditional eating patterns of 21 countries which border the Mediterranean Sea. This includes Greece, Spain, Israel and others. Characteristics of the Mediterranean diet are then covered.

Chapter 2 is titled A Brief History of the Mediterranean Diet. The origin of the diet as revealed to the Western world dates to the 1950s, with a 7 countries study conducted by American scientist Ancel Benjamin Keys. Chapter 3 discloses the easy to use Mediterranean Diet Food Pyramid. This will form the base of all of your healthy, tasty and flavorful recipes. Recommended weights and measurements of foods or calories is not important. Intentional variation delivers the most health benefits when different amounts and ratios of the Mediterranean diet food items are eaten.

Chapter 4 explains that the Mediterranean diet is more than just food. It is a way of thinking and living, which stresses slowing down and enjoying life. You are encouraged to share food and socialize with the important people in your life when you are eating. In the Mediterranean way of life, food is seen “… as both a delight and an important social act.”

In Chapter 5 you learn the difference between “good fats” and “bad fats”. A healthy Mediterranean diet includes a lot of good fat. This shows up in the form of omega-3 fatty acids, and healthy fats from nuts and olive oil. That is because as much as 30% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats, and monounsaturated fats can lower your risk of heart disease.

Following logically after the previous topic, chapter 6 functions as an olive oil primer. Everything you wanted to know about olive oil but were afraid to ask is disclosed. You learn exactly how to choose the “right” olive oil, and why extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the best of the best. (Probably the best single tip in this chapter concerns reading olive oil food labels. If you are using a recipe that requires your oil to be Heated at a very high level, you want a higher smoke point number, and a lower smoke point for sautéing.)

Chapter 7 teaches you how to slowly make the Mediterranean diet a part of your life, with Chapter 8 giving you some Mediterranean lifestyle tips which will “supercharge your weight loss.”

Chapter 9 explains how to restockyour pantry and refrigerator for Mediterranean diet success. Chapters 10 and 11 discuss tips on how to stick to your diet, as well as some Mediterranean diet myths and facts. Finally, chapter 12 reveals the 7 Day Mediterranean meal plan which will boost your heart health, begin healthy weight loss and revitalize your energy stores.

Some quick and easy recipes to enjoy

In chapter 13, the author reveals some quick and easy 30 minute recipes which are taken from her Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, a nice complementary purchase to this book. These include …

Mediterranean Breakfast Wrap with Spinach and Fresh Basil
Garbanzo Chicken Salad with Fresh Basil
Sam Panzanella with Capers and Olives
Mediterranean Creamy Panini
Roasted Bell Pepper and Artichoke Pasta Salad
Greek Salad with Chicken
Garlic Linguine
Mrs. Crawford then closes with a final note, a list of her other healthy living books, and a couple of bonus book previews.

Who benefits from the Mediterranean Diet for Beginners: A Quick Start Guide to Heart Healthy Eating, Super-Charged Weight Loss and Unstoppable Energy?

Gina Crawford believes that the Mediterranean Diet for Beginners can help anyone who is unhealthy, overweight, lacking energy and suffering from poor heart health. The many studies conducted on a Mediterranean based diet reveal that both young and old alike can improve their lifestyle, skin health, mental outlook, vitality and heart health with this diet, while also returning to their natural body weight.

If you have struggled with weight loss and poor health, just like the author has in the past, an instant e-book digital download or paperback book purchase of the Mediterranean Diet for Beginners: A Quick Start Guide to Heart Healthy Eating, Super-Charged Weight Loss and Unstoppable Energy might be just what the doctor ordered.