Trip to Sprouts

Image courtesy of Almogaver/morguefile.com

Well, I got to Sprouts Farmers Market to pick some of their great bargains on fresh produce, but haven't made it yet to the grocery stores to complete my list.  As I shopped, I felt an excitement about starting up the accelerate cycle again.  Am I weird or what?



What did I buy and why? (All of these were on sale at Sprouts):



Cucumbers - I eat them sliced as a snack and also pile tuna salad on top, using them like crackers.



Red Bell Peppers - They were 49 cents, so I bought a bag full! I love them in stir fry, sliced to eat as a snack in the evening with fat free sour cream dip, and I grill them whole, along with zuchinni squash and eggplant, for dinner. The outside of the peppers roast quickly and are very juicy grilled).



Zuchinni Squash and eggplant - They both are good on the grill and in stir fry, but my favorite way to fix these vegetables is to slice, coat with egg white and then dip each piece in low fat parmesan cheese, and pan "fry" them on both side in a pan coated with spray olive oil plus 1 tablespoon olive oil (using one of my allowed fat servings). I spoon low sugar marinara on top of the eggplant. (I like it this way better than the eggplant parmesan recipe in the book)!



Celery - for snacking and the vegetable soup.



Head of Cabbage - for the vegetable soup, or steamed.



Lettuce - Iceberg and Red Leaf for salads.



Berries - Blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.  I eat these plain and also freeze some for the Kefir Smoothies. See previous posts for more on this.



Jicama - I don't think this veggie is listed on the 17 Day Diet's accelerate cycle, but it should be, since it is low on the glycemic index.  If you haven't eaten jicama, it looks similar to a potato, is crunchy and great for snacking.



Nectarines - 77 cents a pound! I love Sprouts Farmers Market!



Watermelon - I know this isn't supposed to be okay for cycle 1, but I did research when I lost weight on the medi-weight loss plan and the volume of water in watermelon brings down the glycemic load. (For info on the importance of the glycemic index when trying to lose weight, read my article "Understanding the Glycemic Index 101") I ate watermelon the whole 3 months during that diet and lost 40 pounds! (One of my blog posts on my Medi Weightloss Blog explains the low-glycemic qualities of jicama and watermelon.  You can read it here.) Up to you whether to include watermelon, but I am.



I need to finish my shopping and then I am ready to go tomorrow! This cruise vacation weight is coming off! Bye bye chocolate melted cake!



Note:

For my experience with the Medi Weightloss Program you can either go to "My Medi-Weightloss Tips and Recipes" blog or read the following articles (You'll find some good recipes that will work for the 17 Day Diet there):



"How Does the Medi Weightloss Program Work?"



"A Review of the Medi Weightloss Program"

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Vacation's Over!

Well, I'm back from my Cruise to the Mexican Riviera and yes, I need to go back to the first cycle of the 17 day diet to bring my weight back in line. (All that wonderful cruise food is too tempting!) I've finished off items in my kitchen that would be taboo on the diet and will be grocery shopping tomorrow. Additionally, my neighbor and I are looking at exercise classes to join too.  I'm thinking Zumba...that looks like a fun workout!

There's nothing wrong with taking a vacation from your fitness routine every now and then if you can restart once it's over.  So, if you're in a similar situation, join me!

Want to see a slideshow of Cabo San Lucas? Click Here: Tour of Cabo San Lucas in Photos

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A 17 Day Diet Recipe Idea: Apple French Toast without the Toast?



Image courtesy of Cohdra/morguefile.com

 I'm always searching around the net for recipes that will work on this 17 day diet.  I ran across this 'almost french toast' idea and thought I'd share.  It involves apples, eggs, cinnamon and sweetener. Perfect for every 17 Day Diet cycle!



Let's see who tries it out first!



Here's the link:  http://www.weightloss-hq.biz/weight-loss-forum/17-day-diet-recipes/index.php?option=com_fireboard&func=view&catid=26&id=68085&Itemid=46



Update: Today (2/27/11) I made this recipe and it was good!  I would recommend, however that if you make it, use two eggs for a large apple, and only one egg if the apple is smaller.  I'm going to try it next adding a 1/2 slice of whole grain bread torn into chunks to the cooked apple before I pour the egg.  (Of course, wait to add the bread until you've gotten to the activate cycle!) I'll report back how that goes.

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The Joy of the 17 Day Diet's Accelerate Cycle - Fast Weight Loss!

Image courtesy of hotblack/morguefile.com

I'm happy to report that today, my 55th day on the 17-day diet, I have lost a total of 18 pounds, losing 2 pounds since I decided to repeat the accelerate cycle on Monday (today's Friday).  I'm repeating this cycle since Dr. Moreno's book suggests that if you haven't reached your goal weight, to repeat a precious cycle.  I chose the accelerate cycle for these reasons:

• The weight came off fastest on this cycle


• It's easier to get into the daily groove


• The low carb menu on this cycle works like an appetite suppressant for me and I gain incredible self control.

Also, I was wiser this time, having found out mid way the first time that there were some items I could be eating (check page 46 in the book under condiments) that I didn't know about .  Last time I didn't realize I could have fat-free cheese and salad dressings on my salad (I like Kraft fat-free cheddar). I didn't realize I could have lowcarb marina sauce (top eggplant with it!) Also, this time I know that I can make a dip using fat free sour cream or yogurt and dip my cleansing veggies in it as as a snack.  If you use the yogurt it counts toward one pro-biotic serving.



Over the past 55 days, I have learned to absolutely LOVE eating raw bell peppers.....green, yellow, red and orange and nibble on them every day now.  I cut out the seeds and slice them into strips and crunch on them whenever I need to.  I've been watching the sales and buying bags of them.  Sprouts had green peppers for 49 cents each and the red, orange, and yellow peppers for 88 cents last week.  I was in Heaven!



I would have never guessed that I could lose 18 pounds in less than two months using pure will power. I'm now within 13 pounds of my goal weight.  Thank you Dr. Moreno for your 17 Day Diet Plan.

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Low Carb Cauliflower Rice



Image courtesy of jeltovski/morguefile.com



I ran across a video tonight and had never heard of using cauliflower as a rice alternative. I'll be trying it for the accelerate cycle!



Watch the instruction video on turning this head of cauliflower into rice here: "Low Carb Cauliflower Rice"

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Return to Cycle 1 of the 17 Day diet

Well I finished up three cycles of the 17 day diet 16 pounds lighter and only 15 pounds from my goal weight.  I'm returning to the accelerate cycle to try to get as close to that goal weight as possible. I plan to kick the exercise into high gear to speed up the weight loss this time (I lost 10 the first time).  Hopefully 17 days to where I want to be...

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Turkey Salad Recipe





Turkey Salad with Wasa 7 Grain Crackerbread







  

Since I cooked my turkey yesterday, today I chopped up some of the white meat to make turkey salad.  Here's my recipe which would work for any cycle of the 17 Day Diet.  Once you've reached the 3rd cycle, Achieve, you can eat it with whole grain bread or if you are dying for a cracker, try Wasa brand Crisp'n'Light 7 grain crackerbread. 20 calories per slice, 0 g fat, 15 g carbs, 2 g protein.

Turkey Salad

 Recipe



Light and slightly sweet salad made with home cooked turkey.  Substitute canned or poached chicken if preferred.

2 cups turkey

1/3 cup craisins (use halved red grapes for cycles 1 and 2)

1/4 medium apple

1 stalk celery

3 tablespoons light mayonnaise

1 green onion

1 Teaspoon Orange Zest (optional)

Directions: Chop baked turkey and apple into bite sized chunks. Dice celery and slice green onion. Mix all ingredients together and add salt to taste. Chill for 1 hour. 

Serving size: 1 cup (I only ate 1/2 cup for lunch today)

Calories: 188

Fat: 6.1 grams (1.3 g saturated fat)

Carbs: 11.8 grams

Protein: 21.2

For the full breakdown, visit the recipe I entered into Calorie Count: Turkey Salad

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Chicken Pot Pie Soup



Image courtesy of Gina's Skinny Recipes Blog

 I just tried another Recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes that fits into the Activate cycle of the 17 Day Diet. 



Today was one of the coldest days this year and soup sounded good, so I made the "Chicken Pot Pie Soup" from the many recipes on this awesome blog.  It is filled with chicken chucks, portabello mushrooms, celery, potatoes and other veggies.



I used cornstarch as the thickener and made two changes to the recipe: 1) I only used 4 ounces of the mushrooms and I added one idaho potatoe and one sweet potatoe. 



This recipe is delicious! 250 calories, 1.8 grams fat and 31 grams carbs.  Too bad we can only eat this soup every other day on this cycle! :)

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