The Italian Diet

At some point every night after work you will find me on the little loveseat in the kitchen, all scrunched up watching some random TV show or doing some type of work on Mela Mia (my Mac laptop!). One day as I was in this position I noticed that all of my mom’s old cookbooks were neatly lined up on the shelves next to the TV. Know how something blends in until you remember it is there? That’s what the cookbooks were doing. Among them I found an article from Italy’s version of Self magazine, but it was dated 1999! I was really excited to see what diet it prescribed to the Italiane 10 years ago… Here is a loose translation into English.

Breakfast: coffee (or espresso rather) with a splash of milk and 2 digestivi (little digestive cookies)

Monday

Lunch: a small piece of roast, 1/2 hectogram prosciutto or chicken (no skin), salad with tomato & cucumber dressed with lemon juice; a glass of fruit juice
Dinner: vegetable soup plain, a well cooked piece of steak, 100 g corn + peas, cauliflower, grilled tomatoes, and a lot of salad dressed only with lemon juice

Tuesday

Lunch: a sandwich made with 2 pieces of multigrain bread with lettuce, lowfat cheese, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber. An apple
Dinner: fish cooked with lemon, tomato salad, french fries, green beans, broccoli, a tiny piece of tart

Wednesday

Lunch: a big piece of multigrain bread, a lot of beans, grilled tomatoes, salad with lettuce and cucumbers. a pear
Dinner: a piece of melon, a serving of lean beef (agnello o maiale), brussel sprouts, green beans, peas or corn, a small gelato

Thursday

Lunch: a lean beef burger, small portion of emmenthal cheese, a light yogurt, salad with watercress, lettuce, cucumber, carrot and tomato dressed with lemon juice. An orange
Dinner: grilled chicken thigh, 100 g of either peas or corn, salad with tomatoes, onion, cucumber and dressed with garlic and lemon juice. a banana

Friday:

Lunch: a big piece of melon, salad, 150 g of tuna, a small bunch of grapes
Dinner: braciola di maiale alla griglia (200 g), 150 g of tomato sauce, green beans, broccoli, grilled tomato. pear

Saturday:

Lunch: 1 fetta di pane biscottato, vegetable soup, 50 g of ricotta
Dinner: a grilled chicken breast, a huge salad, due panini al latte

Sunday:

Lunch: a small bunch of grapes, 150 g roast, 150 g roasted potato, green beans, cauliflower, carrots. a cooked apple
Dinner: 100 g of lean prosciutto with a big salad. A pear.

Interesting right? Lots of lean protein, vegetables and fruit, and a decent variety too. It is pretty far from the way I eat though. In comparison…. here’s a look at my food of today:

Breakfast:
hot tea. whole wheat english muffin with natural peanut butter & 1/2 banana

Snack:
1.5 adult carrots with 2 tbs hummus

Lunch:
bowl of Whole Foods hot bar lentil soup + multigrain roll
Seltzer

Snack:
Luna bar

Dinner:
2 oz grilled sea bass, 1/2 grilled baby eggplant, 2 cups salad dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (romaine, radicchio, endive, spinach, tomato)

What do you think about this Italian magazine diet from 1999??? How similar or different is this from your own daily diet?