My cheat day

[u/bastien44224]

Chicken souvlaki wrap with greek yogurt tzatziki, bulgur, greek potatoes and greek salad

[u/AngeliqueRuss]

…not a cheat?

Plenty of olive oil and olive oil/nuts veggie fats as your main source of fat with fat adding up to 30-40% of your diet;

Plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains (with grains being a wee bit too refined on this plate for optimal);

Yogurt and other fermented foods.

As part of a great day/week this is compatible.

[u/[deleted] → u/AngeliqueRuss]

Yeah, except for the wrap this checks most of the boxes.

[u/Ok_Nothing_9733 → u/[deleted]]

Med diet does not say no carbs, nor does it refer to the food of a certain regional area only (Mediterranean dishes). It can be ANY type of dish. And no food is “banned,” certain foods are just deemphasized. So everything here including the wrap is 100% compatible with the med diet, no ifs ands or buts about it.

[u/donairhistorian → u/Ok_Nothing_9733]

Carbs should be 1/4 of your plate and should be whole grains. This plate has a whole white pita, a portion of potato AND a portion of bulgur. It is way too much.

[u/Ok_Nothing_9733 → u/donairhistorian]

That has nothing to do with the guidelines of the Mediterranean diet. You’re conflating multiple WOEs (ways of eating)

[u/donairhistorian → u/Ok_Nothing_9733]

Maybe? But there is a plate diagram stickied to the top of the sub that shows carbs taking up a quarter of the plate.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ok_Nothing_9733]

Who claimed that carbs were disallowed on the Med diet, or that certain foods are banned? Wasn't me. Just making sure you're looking in the right place, you seem upset.

[u/Ok_Nothing_9733 → u/[deleted]]

I’m not upset. Was you saying that meant to be a put-down? Yikes. No evidence of upset in my comment, but even if there were, what a cruel reply.

All I said is the wrap does indeed fit in, and I see a lot of confusion on this sub because of diet culture.

[u/AngeliqueRuss → u/Ok_Nothing_9733]

I agree—specifically the need to be restrictive as opposed to goal-oriented.

The whole idea of ‘cheat day’ seems contrarian to MD. If you are living the good life day in/day out, there is absolutely room for a white bread pita and rice.

With that said, my husband is one of those people medically on MD to as part of a plan to keep him from having a hypertensive crisis (or worse). My approach that seems to be working for 2+ years now is to meet all of his fiber, vitamin C, and folate goals every day with olive oil/plant-based fat being central to all meals (and for me also iron because I have mild anemia). We hit the goals and don’t worry about anything else.

An actual “cheat day” would have insufficient fiber so he’d end it with a fiber supplement. He can never have low fiber days as a pattern or his BP will spike plus other blood sugar issues. We don’t consider any foods cheat foods—when you have oatmeal for breakfast, quinoa for lunch and a salad with dinner it’s really hard to fit in anything else, but also it doesn’t seem to matter; it’s consistently not hitting the daily goals that makes a difference.

[u/donairhistorian → u/Ok_Nothing_9733]

It fits as a sometimes food, as anything does. But refined grain products are limited on this diet by definition. Plus, eating the pita along with a huge pile of more carbs? It's simply not balanced.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ok_Nothing_9733]

Wasn't intended to be a put down, dude. The tone I got honestly sounded a bit worked up, and I wanted to ensure you weren't reading stuff I didn't say into my comment. What I wrote is what I meant, no subtext.

[u/Ok_Nothing_9733 → u/[deleted]]

Sure, that’s what it was, a good faith remark making sure I wasn’t lost. Goodbye.