tina48, that is just so amazing! I'm just starting the 17 day diet on Tuesday (getting groceries tomorrow) and I'm excited by all the good reviews I'm seeing on it. It's not rocket science; there doesn't seem to be any gimmick (the repetitive use of 17 seems to just be something easy to remember) and best of all it's (from what I can see) very nutritionally sound. I have anywhere from 80 to 100 pounds to lose (depending on if you want to follow the BMI or just what you think looks good), so close to what you've done (and are doing). All I can say is way to go! Keep up the GREAT work!
sandcar150, I hope I don't de-rail tina48's thread but in case she doesn't respond for a while, I thought I'd answer your question!
Don't we all wish to lost 52 pounds in 17 days? lol!!
Cycle 1 is really restrictive (not really calorie-wise) on what you can eat, so don't be scared by this menu!
A sample menu for any day on the cycle 1 part is like this:
Wake up:
Cup of hot tea with lemon (to help stimulate your digestive juices into action). You should drink 8 cups of water daily.
Breakfast:
2 scrambled egg whites
1/2 grapefruit (or other fresh fruit that is allowed on cycle 1; cycle 1 has "low-sugar fruits" allowed. The book gives you a great list, too).
1 cup of green tea (be prepared to drink a lot of this; as in, with each meal. There are lots of studies that show that green tea helps you lose weight even if scientists don't know why).
Lunch:
Large green salad topped with tuna, drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive or flaxseed oil and 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (salad includes any and all lettuces, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and many other allowable vegetables; again, a huge list). Make the salad as big as you want.
1 cup of green tea.
Dinner:
Plenty of grilled chicken with liberal amounts of any vegetable from the list, steamed or raw (basically, as much as you can eat).
1 cup of green tea
Snacks:
6 oz. sugar-free fruit-flavored yogurt OR 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt, sweetened with Truvia/Stevia/Splenda or a tablespoon of sugar-free fruit jam
1 serving of fruit (from the allowed-fruits list).
Basically, cycle 1 breaks down like this:
As much lean meats as you want: chicken, fish (salmon, tuna, etc, although there are some exceptions) and eggs, plus plenty of vegetables (as much as you can handle).
2 probiotic servings a day (yogurt, kefir, yakult, or acidophilus milk)
2 low-sugar fruit a day. Dr. Moreno does stipulate that you should eat the fruit before 2 p.m. but I'm not sure I 100% agree with this thinking.
Another menu for a cycle 1 day could look like this:
Wake up:
Hot water with lemon.
Breakfast:
2 hard-boiled or poached eggs
1/2 grapefruit or other fresh fruit in season
1 cup green tea
Lunch:
1 large bowl of chicken-vegetable soup (the book comes with a recipe for it; no noodles or rice!)
1 cup of green tea
Dinner:
Plenty of roast turkey breast or turkey tenderloin, steamed carrots and steamed asparagus
1 cup green tea
Snacks:
6 oz. plain low-fat yogurt, sweetened with Truvia/Stevia/Splenda, or a tablespoon of sugar-free fruit jam.
Kefir smoothie (1 cup kefir, 1 cup frozen unsweetened berries, sugar-free jam, and 1 Tbsp flaxseed oil).
The second cycle (after 17 days of the first) has you eating a bit more. You start to add in more types of protein such as shellfish (clams, crab, mussles, shrimp, oysters, scallops) and other types of lean cuts of meat (flank steak, top sirloin, top round, eye of round, beef round tip, pork tenderloi, pork sirloin chops, etc), and natural starches. Grains: 1 serving = 1/2 cup (amaranth, pearled barley, brown rice, bulgur, coucous, cream of wheat, grits, basmati, millet, oat bran, old-fashioned oatmeal, and quinoa - my fave) plus legumes, 1/2 cup serving (black beans, black-eyed peas, etc.). Starchy vegetables: breadfruit (1 cup), corn (1/2 cup), potato (1 medium), sweet potato (1 medium) etc. (full list is in the book).
On cycle 2, you alternate days with cycle 1 menus. For example: Even days are cycle 1 days, odd days are cycle 2 days.
Cycle 2 menu looks something like this:
Wake up:
Hot water with lemon.
Breakfast:
1/2 cup hot whole grain cereal OR 2 eggs OR 4 egg whites, prepared without oil; 1 Dr. Mike's Power Cookie, OR one probiotic serving
1 fruit serving
1 cup green tea
Lunch:
Liberal amounts of protein in the form of fish, shellfish, meat, chicken, or eggs, or vegetables plus 1 probiotic serving.
1 natural starch serving
Unlimited amounts of "cleansing vegetables" (the vegetables allowed on cycle 1)
1 cup green tea
Dinner
Liberal amounts of protein in the form of fish, shellfish, meat, chicken, or turkey.
Unlimited amounts of "cleansing vegetabls"
1 cup green tea
Snacks
2nd fruit serving
2nd probiotic serving.
Additional:
1 "friendly fat" serving (1-2 Tbsp olive or flaxseed oil to use on salads, vegetables, or for cooking).
The next day, you would do a cycle 1 menu. The day after, a cycle 2 menu; alternating for a full 17 days.
Cycle 3 adds in breads, high fiber cereals, more vegetables, more fruits, more types of probiotics, more "friendly fats" and a list of optional snacks (such as Babybell low-fat cheese, frozen fruit bars, etc). Cycle 3 is also where you start portion controlling your proteins, fruits, and starches. Unlimited veggies are still allowed though.
The way I see it, it is re-training your body to view food for energy, rather than for celebration/companionship/entertainment, etc. It's a slow ease into learning portion controls too because by the time you reach cycle 3, you may have already figured out how much salmon you want to eat, or how much chicken you want to eat, and you won't end up gorging on it when you're now allowed more of it.
Hope this helps.
I'll be starting my own thread in the 100 Plus Club, and I'll start blogging on it here on my under-used blog. Feel free to follow me here and there
52 Pounds Down - 31 pounds to Go!
