17 Day Diet

So I'm starting a new diet called the 17 Day Diet.  I had seen it on the Doctors show a few times and my mom decided to order the book. (you can only get it on his website... http;//www.17daydiet.com) She let me borrow it and essentially i just took notes. There's a workout video you can buy with it, but I don't have it so I'm just gonna do my own thing. Basically, you have 3 Cycles of 17 days and a 4th cycle which is just a maintaining cycle.  They say it is expected to drop 10 to 15 lbs just in the first 17 days you're on this diet.  I thought it might be crap.  But I am now on Day 5 and I've already dropped 6 lbs ( it would probably be more if I hadn't cheated yesterday at lunch and ate at El Chico's).  I am shocked needless to say at the way the pounds are already falling off.  And on top of that, I haven't really been exercising much either.  (you are supposed to do at least 17 minutes of exercise a day though).  It's supposed to help you lose fat and also help you lose the visceral fat that is around all your organs in the body too. 

Here's a breakdown of what goes on basically:

 

The first 17 day cycle, you eat lots of lean proteins like fish, chicken, or lean turkey and eat lots of fresh veggies (broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, etc....), you can eat unlimited amounts of both of these things.  Then you can have 2 low sugar fruits (apples, pears, oranges, etc) and 2 probiotic servings (yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, etc) and 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive or flax seed oil a day.  You start each morning off with 8 oz of hot water with a half a lemon squeezed into it and drink an 8 oz glass of hot or cold green tea with each meal (3 a day). You also need to drink a total of eight 8 oz glasses of water also.  Those are the basics.  Then each of the other 17 day cycles, you slowly add more foods to them.  Like the second cycle, you add some natural starches in (2 servings a day) of stuff like brown rice, potatoes, corn etc.  And you can add some seafood like shrimp, mussels, clams, crab...etc. Oh, and you can add lean cuts of meat, like certain steaks or lean pork chops. On cycle 2, you alternate one day of these higher calorie meals with one day of the cycle one lower calorie meal days.  This should keep your body guessing your calories and help you keep burning fat faster.  The third cycle, you'll start to lose weight more slowly and start portion controls.  Instead of unlimited amounts of proteins from the lists, you have to start having a smaller portion.  You can also add in bread, high fiber cereal, whole wheat pasta, and some different kinds of milk like skim, soy, or almond.  You can add a few different fruits in too as long as you mostly eat the low sugar ones from the first cycle.  Then the last cycle, you basically follow your favorite meals from the first 3 cycles Monday breakfast through Friday lunch, then you can have 3 cheat meals on the weekend as long as you don't over do yourself and you start back up Monday morning.  

Well I started day one at 211....I'm at 205 on day 5 and I'll try to keep posted with updates at least after each cycle if I can.  I may post pics later but I'm not sure yet.  I'll let you know!  Wish me luck!!!