Summary:

This diet is physician-approved and was created by Dr. Mike Moreno. It provides visible results in 7 days and weight loss of up to 12 pounds in the first 17 days. It’s not a fad diet, but a balanced eating plan that adjusts every 17 days so that your metabolism won’t slow down and you won’t get bored. This diet is great as a jumpstart to living a healthy lifestyle as it teaches you what is good for you and allows only foods that are healthy.

On this diet you will eat mostly lean proteins, vegetables, low-sugar fruits, probiotics, and “friendly” fats that are heart-healthy and promote fat loss. Gradually you will add a greater selection of foods, including natural carbs. Eventually you will even be able to enjoy alcohol and your favorite foods again, though in moderation. You won’t just be losing weight, you’ll be moving away from refined, processed foods to cleaner foods that are friendly to your digestion system.

There are 4 cycles to this diet:

• Cycle 1, Accelerate: This cycle is the most restrictive so that you see results right away and stay motivated.
• Cycle 2, Activate: The Activate cycle resets your metabolism so that you don’t plateau and keep burning fat. Every other day, you will alternate Accelerate cycle with the Activate cycle. Natural starches are added during this cycle giving you more carbs and more variety to your meals.
• Cycle 3, Achieve: The goal of the Achieve cycle is to establish healthy eating habits and steady weight loss while adding even more variety such as breads, pasta, snacks, and even alcohol into your diet. Your weight loss won’t be as rapid, but you can offset this by exercising more and avoiding alcohol and snacks when possible.
• Cycle 4, Arrive: Arrive is simple: during the week, you will eat from any of the meal plans on the Accelerate, Activate, or Achieve cycles. On weekends, you will increase your calories and enjoy favorite foods like pizza, hamburgers, or cheesecake. To prevent yourself from gaining weight, you should have no more than 3 favorite foods each weekend.

Rules:

1. Eat mostly lean proteins and vegetables; fruits, probiotics and fats are allowed in limited quantities. Starches are not allowed until cycle
2. Only 2 servings of fruit a day and no fruit after 2pm.
3. Drink 64 ounces of pure water a day. You are also allowed coffee, tea & diet soda. These do not count towards your daily water requirement.
4. Eat only foods that are on the allowed foods list for that specific cycle. See below for a quick idea of what is allowed per cycle.

Exercise:

For the first 2 cycles start off with walking for a minimum of 17 minutes a day. You could also double this amount and walk 34 minutes, or split it up and do 2 walks throughout the day- 17 mins each. You could also try jogging, riding a bike, dancing or any exercise you like. Try not to overdo it during these cycles because you are taking in less carbs at this time.

For the rest of the diet push yourself to go longer and harder in your exercise routines. This is best considering you are taking in more different types of carbs and once on the 4th cycle you are allowed to eat your favorite foods such as pizza or cheesecake, so exercising more is best. It will also be good for you to train for an active and healthy lifestyle.

Rating:

Short-Term Quick Fix:
Lifestyle Change Diet:
Simple Diet to Follow:
Good For Your Health:

Positives:

• Encourages eating a healthy diet of whole, unprocessed foods.
• Changing what you can eat each 17 days allows for variety which helps the dieter not get bored of the diet as easily.
• Changing what you can eat each 17 days allows for variety which helps the dieter not get bored of the diet as easily.
• Aside from the book, there is a large amount of information online as well as in mobile apps for this diet.

Negatives:

• First cycle might be a little daunting for many because it cuts out a lot of carbs and sugar.
• Curbing cravings is hard in the beginning for many, but gets easier as the diet goes on.
• Menu planning can become time consuming.
• Keeping track of serving amounts might be slightly difficult at first; luckily there are apps for helping you do this. (see below for app recommendation)

Recommended Resources:

BOOKS:

DVD:

APPS:

17 Day Diet Complete – Has all the tools you need to do this diet. Tracking weight, tracking food, tracking exercise and tracking water. Also has tons of recipes and a personal support chat feature where you can ask any questions you have about the app or the diet and you’ll get answered directly through the app! A must-have app for this diet!