The 17 Day Diet is a unique diet plan that is great for people looking to lose weight who often tire of the same routine that is common with other diet plans.
The 17 Day Diet is three phases long, each consisting of seventeen days. It is not one diet that only lasts for seventeen days.
There is also a fourth phase to the 17 Day Diet, but that is a long-term maintenance phase and more of a lifestyle change than a diet plan. The goal of breaking up the diet into three different seventeen day phases is to avoid the dreaded plateaus that are common with other diet plans.
How does it Work?
The first phase of the 17 Day Diet is called “Accelerate.” This phase consists of dramatically reducing your daily diet to the bare essentials and approximately 1,200 calories per day. During this phase you can expect to lose 10 – 15 pounds, most of which will be water weight. This phase will cleanse, hydrate, remove unhealthy carbs, improve bad eating habits, and stimulate your metabolism.
The second phase of the 17 Day Diet is called “Activate.” During this phase you will introduce higher-calorie meals into your diet. Alternating between low calorie and high calorie meals will keep your body’s metabolism guessing and help prevent boredom. During the “Activate” phase you can expect to lose another 5 – 6 pounds.
The third phase, known as “Achieve,” is where you will start to stabilize your diet and prepare for a continual rate of weight loss. Evening out your diet between a low calorie and high calorie diet will help your body get over the shock it went through during the previous two phases and get back on track to normalcy. Dieters can expect to lose 2 – 3 pounds during the “Achieve” phase.
The fourth and final phase of the 17 Day Diet is called “Arrive.” During this phase you are supposed to arrive at your desired weight and take the proper measures to ensure you maintain that weight moving forward. The meals during this phase can be the same from one of the previous phases along with a few splurges on the weekends to prevent boredom with your diet.
Along with changes to your daily meals, the 17 Day Diet requires a bit of physical exercise as well. During the first two phases you will need to exercise at least seventeen minutes per day. It is recommended that you start with a light exercise such as walking because of the low calorie intake. In the later phases, you will need to increase the amount of your exercise to 150 – 300 minutes per week. This additional exercise will help promote additional weight loss and allow you to maintain your goal weight.
What can I Eat?
One of the best parts of the 17 Day Diet is the freedom you have when it comes to your menu. This diet allows a great deal of variety, which keeps dieters happy and reduces the chance of boredom with the food which is why many people quit a diet.
A typical day during phase one will consist of unlimited lean protein, unlimited non-starchy vegetables, 2 low-sugar fruits, 2 low-fat yogurts, green tea, and 64 ounces of water. During phase two, you can eat the same types of food but you will limit the fat intake to one serving while increasing the healthy carbs to two servings. This will bring your daily calorie intake up to 1,500.
It is during phases three and four that dieters really start to see an improvement in their food choices. Phase three allows for more healthy food choices to promote good lifetime eating habits. Phase three food options are pretty similar to phase two except protein is restricted to portion sizes equal to the size of a sponge. Dieters are allowed to add one alcoholic drink to their diet as well as a 100 calorie snack, greatly improving the variety of their daily meals.
Phase four assumes you have lost all of the weight you were looking to lose and gives you even more freedom when it comes to your diet. During this phase you are encouraged to follow the daily plans from all of the first three phases to maintain your current weight and lead a healthy lifestyle.
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