Jumping Back on the Bandwagon!

I am going to go through the cycles of the 17 day diet again, but a little differently than before. I am going to follow Cycle 1.5 rules. I made them up myself.

In cycle 1 of the diet you eat all the lean protein you want form a very restricted list, along with all the veggies you can eat from a slightly restricted list, 2 servings of fruit from a restricted list, and 2 servings of probiotics.  No starches.  I found this cycle hard to follow. I felt I was starving to come off the sugar and starch that I was overdosing on every day.

In cycle 2 of the diet you can eat liberal amounts of protein from an expanded list, all the veggies form the first cycle, 2 servings of the fruit from the first cycle, 2 servings of the probiotics from the first cycle, and every other day you get to eat 2 servings of a natural starch form the approved list of foods. The list of starches does not leave me wanting for carbs although 'natural starch' means no processed carbs like bread and pasta. This cycle was better, but I found it hard to switch between no starch and starch days. I usually ended up eating one serving of starch on accelerate (cycle 1) days and two servings on activate (cycle 2) days. It worked well.

So what does cycle 1.5 entail? Well, I'm hoping after the first few days it will entail less hunger and jittery feelings once I re-adjust to eating less carbs and get back off some of the sugary stuff. What will I eat? To give others a bit of variety I have left on a lot of the ingredients from the second cycle even if I won't eat them. I did take out some of the harder to find probiotics or the ones that I don't care for. I left all the proteins alone even though I won't eat salmon, flounder, catfish, or any of the shellfish because it's just not my taste. 

PROTEINS- LIBERAL AMOUNTS

Fish

•       Salmon

•       Sole

•       Flounder

•       Catfish

•       Tilapia

•       Canned light tuna

Poultry

•       Chicken breasts

•       Turkey breasts

•       Ground turkey, lean

•       Eggs (2 eggs = 1 serving)

•       Egg whites (4 egg whites = 1 serving)

Shellfish

•       Clams

•       Crab

•       Mussels

•       Oysters
•       Scallops
•       Shrimp

Lean Cuts of Meat

•       Flank Steak

•       Top Sirloin Steak

•       Top Round

•       Eye of the round

•       Beef round tip

•       Lean Ground Beef

•       Pork Tenderloin

•       Pork sirloin chops or Top/Centre loin chops

•       Pork boneless loin roast

•       Lamb shanks

•       Lamb sirloin roast

•       Veal cutlet

NATURAL STARCHES- 1 SERVING DAILY!

Grains (1/2 cup= 1 serving)
•       Amaranth

•       Barley, pearled

•       Brown rice

•       Bulgur

•       Couscous

•       Cream of Wheat

•       Grits

•       Longer grain/Basmati rice

•       Millet

•       Oat Bran

•       Old fashioned Oatmeal

•       Quinoa

Legumes (1/2 cup= 1 serving)

•       Black beans

•       Black eyed peas
•       Butter Beans

•       Garbanzo beans/chickpeas

•       Great Northern beans

•       Kidney Beans

•       Lentils
•       Baby Lima beans

•       Navy beans

•       Peas/split peas

•       Pinto beans

•       Soy beans

Starchy Vegetables

•       Breadfruit (1 cup)

•       Corn (1/2 cup)

•       Potato (1 medium)

•       Sweet potato (1 medium)

•       Taro (1/2 cup)

•       Winter Squash (Acorn, Butternut, Spaghetti, etc.) (1 cup)

•       Yam (1 medium)

CLEANSING VEGETABLES- ALL YOU CAN EAT

•       Artichoke

•       Artichoke hearts

•       Asparagus

•       Bell peppers, any colour

•       Broccoli

•       Brussels sprouts

•       Cabbage

•       Carrots

•      Cauliflower

•       Celery

•       Cucumbers

•       Eggplant

•       Garlic

•       Green beans

•       Green, leafy vegetables (beet greens, turnip greens, collard greens)

•       Kale

•       Leeks

•       Lettuce, all varieties

•       Mushrooms

•       Okra

•       Onions

•       Parsley

•       Scallions

•       Spinach

•       Tomatoes

•       Watercress

FIBROUS FRUIT- 2 SERVINGS DAILY- Before 2 pm!

•       Apples

•       Berries, all types

•       Grapefruit

•       Oranges

•       Peaches

•       Pears

•       Plums

•       Prickly pear cactus

•       Prunes

•       Red grapes

PROBIOTIC FOODS- 2 SERVINGS DAILY

•       Yogurt, any type, including Greek-style, sugar-free, low fat (6 oz. container = 1 serving)

•       Kefir: similar to a drinking-style yogurt; great for making smoothies (1 cup = 1 serving)

•       Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese (1/2 cup= 1 serving)

•       Reduced salt miso dissolved in low-fat, low-sodium broth (1 tablespoon – 1 serving)

•       Tempeh (4 oz. = 1 serving)

FRIENDLY FATS: 1 TO 2 TABLESPOONS DAILY

•       Olive oil

•       Flaxseed oil

CONDIMENTS

Condiments and seasonings are allowed in moderation:

•       Salsa, low-carb marinara sauce, lite soy sauce, low-carb ketchup, fat-free sour cream, Truvia (a non-caloric sweetener made from natural ingredients), sugar-free jams and jellies, vegetable cooking spray, fat-free cheeses (i.e. Parmesan), fat-free salad dressing, salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard, herbs, and spices.

Substitutions for vegetarians:

·         One-half cup of tofu (any type)

·         1-2 vegetarian or black bean burgers (made from textured vegetable protein)

·         2-4 ounces any vegetarian cheese, including soy cheese

·         2 vegetarian “sausage” links (great substitute for eggs!)

·         Any type of vegetarian meat substitute made from textured vegetable protein (see package for serving size)

What do I want to get from this? I am hoping to continue towards my weight loss goals. I will also be exercising at least 17 minutes each day and hopefully more. I don't know how long I will stay on this revised cycle. Maybe 17 days. Maybe 20. But I will probably switch it up eventually and go to cycle 2 or 2.5. I will, with any luck, keep you posted with results (hopefully positive ones!).