Deals of the day!

The Desi (and vegetarian except for eggs) dietplan of the 17 days diet

Hi all.

Getting down to business. Weigh yourself (preferably in pounds) before you start! You can weigh in daily or every 2 days if you like.
Remember you NEED to exercise atleast 17 mins every day as per the Dr. Mike. Lets make that a round figure of 20 mins -brisk walking/jogging,etc. 

The diet plan:

This diet was created by a famous doctor- Dr. Mike Moreno. The diet is centered around four 17 day cycles:

Cycle 1: Accelerate- the rapid weight loss portion, which helps remove sugar and fat storage from your system

Cycle 2: Activate- the metabolic restart portion, with alternating days of accelerate and activate day diet plans that keeps the body guessing and you dont reach a plateau.

Cycle 3: Achieve- a phase that involves learning to control portions and introducing new fitness routines

Cycle 4: Arrive- a combination of the first three cycles and learning good habits that last a lifetime.

Dr. Mike’s 17 Day Diet consists of specific food plans for each cycle. In my earlier experience with the diet a few years back I had lost around 7-8 kgs and kept it off till I became pregnant with my little girl.

One important thing --if you are not averse to eating a variety of non veg food items, then do try the actual diet which involves eating a lot of animal based protein like chicken, fish, turkey, etc. You can get a copy of it here 

http://smile.amazon.com/The-17-Day-Diet-Thorndike/dp/1410441490/ref=as_sl_pd_tf_sw?&linkCode=wsw&tag=jasbl089-20

However, even in that case, please do join us so we can try and reach our weight loss goals together. To encourage others, do write in your starting weight and final weight in the comments.

Now, the meal plans that I've come up with are for ethical vegetarians who also eat eggs basically an eggetarian.

Cycle 1

Day 1 

Gen goal: to drink 10 glasses or 8 eight oz glasses of water. This is a daily must.

Some other minor things:

1. Eat as much veggies and protein as you want. For us it translates to lots of egg whites as too much egg yolk can get your bad cholesterol up.

2. Two servings of probiotics a day are allowed -i.e. yogurt 

3. Two fruit servings are allowed. 

Breakfast : 

Start with a glass of hot water with lemon in it when you get up.

Take 2 egg whites and make an omelette by adding lots of chopped vegetables like carrots, spinach-be creative! Use olive oil as up to 2 tablespoons of it daily is allowed in the diet! 

My personal favorite is -1 crimini (or any other)mushroom chopped in to tiny pieces and sautéed in olive oil. To this I add chopped spinach and then pour in the egg whites. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and fat free parmesan cheese (this is actually allowed!). I have it with a tablespoon tomato ketchup.

While coffee and regular tea are best avoided to let your body detox, if you just cant resist it like me, then drink almond milk coffee. The taste takes getting used to but its healthy.

I guess a small cup of regular tea could work but its best to have green tea as recommended in the book. No sugar and No artificial sweeteners except stevia based ones are allowed (if you must. Try and avoid this too if you can, I cant).

Pre-lunch snack: 1 orange.

Lunch :

Take a big bowl of yogurt (दही ), peel and chop an apple finely and add to the yogurt. Sprinkle some sunflower, flax and chia seeds on this. I love this and can have it everyday! Trust me -its very filling. You can sub other fruits like strawberries or blueberries (bananas NOT allowed in this phase). 

Evening snack: 

another small bowl of yogurt. A cup of green tea at least an hour after the yogurt.

Dinner :

Legumes (दालें) and even राजमा /छोले (kidney/garbanzo beans aka chickpeas) are not allowed on this cycle but a small bowl of dal might be just irresistible at this stage (make sure that a very little or no ghee घी is used in tarka.) 

Soup made of tomatoes -try this http://www.veggiebelly.com/2013/02/quick-healthy-tomato-soup.html

Or from one of my favorite chefs (avoid the corn flour as its not allowed)- http://nishamadhulika.com/hot_and_soft_drinks/mixed-vegetable-soup-recipe.html

Or this soup by substituting chicken broth with vegetable broth - http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/17-day-diet-recipe-17-day-slimming-soup

Day 2

You survived Day 1. Come on to day 2 now by first weighing in!

Breakfast :

2 whole eggs scrambled away with onions, tomatoes and all other veggies that you can think of. A cup of green tea.

Pre-lunch snack: 

An apple.

Lunch :

Salad- my DIY home salad is a lot of greens from the Costco Spring mix, topped with sunflower seeds, chia seeds, an egg white omelette, dried cranberries, chopped strawberries, chaat masala and a little lemon. You can make any combination.

If at work, try the Subway Veggie delight salad with an extra egg white and a couple of fat free dressings like Honey Mustard and Sweet Onion. These do have sugar though and are technically not allowed in this phase but a very little bit should be ok.

Chai time :

A cup of green tea. 
A little sugar free yogurt (obviously not with the tea).
Any fruit like strawberries/blueberries/orange/apple/plums/pears/peaches/red grapes/prunes post lunch is ok but it should be before 2 pm. (save the fruit list -these are the only fruits allowed on Cycle 1).

Dinner: 

At least one serving of probiotics a day is a must in this phase. So I am making kadhi without pakode. बेसन (gramflour is not allowed in this recipe) but a little bit of it spread over the whole kadhi is a cheat we'll have to allow. Dont have more than a bowl though.

A big big bowl of steamed veggies (I use the Costco frozen mixed veggies after removing corn as its not allowed in this phase) with salt. You can add soya or other sauces in moderation to make it taste better.

Day 3

Breakfast :

Smoothie time : Check which ingredients you have on hand and make a smoothie from this. 

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_smoothie_recipes

Mangoes to be avoided for these 17 days though :( 

One egg white omelette with this.

Pre- lunch snack :

Apple or 1 cup of blueberries. A cup of green tea an hour after this.

Lunch :

An egg white omelette with spinach and onion. Use lots of spinach from the Costco organic spinach box. The last time I did the diet around 4 years back, I used to make this in the morning and take to work. While the onions became a little purple, it still tasted ok at lunchtime. 

Evening snack: 

Green tea and yogurt spread over time. 

Dinner: 

Any veggie that you are cooking for your family. You can have any amount of veggies throughout this cycle. Cook with a little quantity of olive oil. Potatoes are NOT allowed so just take them out of your plate. I'm making cauliflower गोभी आलू  रसे वाला .   

http://nishamadhulika.com/en/127-gobhi_masala_curry.html

If you still feel hungry, eat a boiled egg. I poach it in the microwave in a minute's time. Basically take around 3/4 cup of water, pour out the egg on top of it and then keep in microwave for around 1 minute. Take it out when it looks done and use a sieve (छलनी )to get the egg.