SCALE CHECK TIME

So there’s nothing more discouraging than following a diet plan to the T, stepping on the scale too soon and finding it’s not budged. I stepped on it—and I wasn’t disappointed! Three days, and four pounds down! And just when you get really happy—someone says, “Yeah, but its all water weight.” If you said this to me—don’t worry; I still love you and you weren’t the only one. But what about it? Is a loss in water weight legitimate weight loss?

According to Dr. Mike it is! Water weight is weight. It’s what’s making your pants feel tight. It’s what makes you look and feel puffy; it’s perpetual PMS bloat 360 days a year from toxins and unhealthy eating habits. With the reduction of carbs, my weight loss is also likely a good share of fat as my body switches from a sugar burning to a fat burning machine.

A GLIMPSE AT YOUR FUTURE

But you can’t maintain this kind of eating forever, people will rightly say to you. That’s true. That’s why I love this book. It doesn’t ask you to. But neither does it advocate reaching your weight goal and then returning to “business as usual.” If you do that, you’ll be right back where you started again sooner or later.

In the “ARRIVE” cycle (the fourth 17 day phase), Dr. Mike says this on page 103: You fought the battle of the bulge and won! Now it’s time to keep the bulge at bay. But how? …At this point in the book I have to be really, really honest, and talk about a big unmentionable thing, something no one wants to acknowledge. You will be on some kind of diet. You will not be able to return to your former eating habits and keep the weight off, because those very habits…created the weight in the first place.”

Look at how the book suggests you live the rest of your life once you’ve reached your weight goals:

• · Monday breakfast through Friday lunch: Enjoy meal plans from one of your favorite Cycles: Accelerate Activate or Achieve.

• · Friday dinner through Sunday dinner: Enjoy your favorite foods and meals in moderation over the weekend.

• · Enjoy no more than one to three favorite meals over the weekend. DO NOT BINGE. Eat slowly and enjoy your food.

• · If desired, enjoy alcoholic drinks in moderation over the weekend (1- 2 daily): 1 ½ oz. hard liquor, 5 oz. wine or 12 oz beer.

• · You may include soups in your daily menus as long as they are broth based. Avoid soups made with milk or cream. Having soup prior to a meal will help curb your appetite and help you feel full.

• · Continue to use condiments in moderation. Choose nonfat, low-calorie seasonings, such as reduced fat dressings, spices, herbs, lemon or lime juice, vinegar and hot sauce.

• · Exercise on weekends as well as weekdays.

Can you live with that to keep the new you? Here I have to advocate that you consider purchasing this book—particularly if you are planning on following me through the first and second cycle. There are reasons why: I can’t communicate to you in a blog all the medical reasons this diet works. Nor can I convey to you the complete philosophy of eating that’s presented. I understand that, right now, purchasing anything is a killer. But can you put away 10 bucks a week somewhere for the next three weeks? Can you forgo a movie or choose to do something differently (maybe the lack of junk food or eating out is already reducing your budget.) If you can save $30 in three weeks, go the website and order www.the17daydiet.com.

You’ll benefit from ALL his recipes and meal plans. You’ll read chapters on how to eat out at a restaurant. You’ll read a chapter on the PMS diet exception that you can switch to when you begin feeling the urge to take a ride on a brook stick during that special week in the month.

Okay, infomercial over. I promise you that I own no shares in Moreno’s books sales. I just care about you

MEAL PLANS AND RECIPE TIPS

So in the last three days, my girls have gagged a lot! They’re not digging fish and asparagus. But at least they are seeing Mom and Dad eat healthy meals--and in the meantime, I'm not pushing it with them. I make sure they get their favorite carbs. But following this diet plan to a T, dinner ALWAYS looks and smells wonderful to me because by then, I’m pretty hungry.

As I said, this cycle provides 2 fruits and 2 dairy (probiotics) a day. Usually one of each is reserved for a snack (see earlier post.) Yesterday I chose to eat a cup of frozen blueberries for my afternoon snack and save my nonfat, plain Greek yogurt with Stevia for after dinner munchies. Dr. Mike suggests not eating carbs (other than your green leafy veggies, which are not limited) after 2 p.m. I’ve found this difficult since I get ravenous at around 3 p.m. So I eat the fruit then and save the low carb snack for evening.

BREAKFAST

IF you can take veggies in the morning, add some onion, garlic, peppers and tomatoes to your eggs or egg whites, along with spices. I like to alternate how I prepare my eggs as well, in order not to grow bored and, as the menu suggestion in the book goes, I switch it up with 6 ounces of yogurt mixed with a fruit every other or two days.

ENTRE

For dinner, salmon is excellent baked for about 20 minutes in a shallow dish dressed with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a generous portion of dried dill. If you still have a Tablespoon of olive oil allowance, drizzle it overt the fish with lemon. Remember, you can have “liberal amounts of lean protein” for lunch and dinner. Butter is off limits, but you can make veggies tasty with lemon, lemon pepper, garlic salt and/or vinegar.

Dr. Mike shares a chicken vegetable soup recipe, which precludes the old way of boiling the snot out of a carcass (and absorbing all the chicken fat). Instead he suggests you make a vegetable broth first with fat-free chicken broth, 1 large onion, 1 ½ c of cabbage, 1 large carrot, 1 cup of okra, 2 celery stalks, 1 15 ounce can of crushed tomatoes 1 ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Simmer for one hour. From there, add chopped, baked chicken breasts and heat through.

NAN’S FAT FREE CHICKEN SOUP

I didn’t have many of his ingredients. So I proudly present NAN’S FAT FREE Chicken soup, which ROCKED … and not just because I was hungry.

Chop up and combine

1.5 large onions

3-4 cloves of garlic

2 celery stalks

2-3 tomatoes,

1 large carrot

Fresh parsley

Basil1

3-4 Bay leaves

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

1.5 tsp salt
Pepper

1 can of low fat chicken low sodium broth

Simmer covered for one hour. Add about 3 – 4 chopped chicken breasts and cook for 20 more minutes. Voila.

Eat this for lunch or dinner. It makes about 4 servings—and since it does, consider sharing it with someone else you know is on the diet!

WEIGHT LOSS BUDDIES

Use this blog or the links on face book to find out who else is doing this—and offer to share recipe ideas or cook for each other and share food. Exchange cell phone pics at dinner time to stay accountable and feel like you are not in the alone. Pray for each other, particularly if you will be alone with unsympathetic friends at “high carb” social gatherings!

You can do this! If you’ve been following the plan for more than two days; go ahead and take a chance like I did. Step on the scale already. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised—and I’m here to tell you that the early pounds count…every one of them!