The 17 Day Diet is quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon. In terms of marketing, the book has a lot going for it – a catchy name, promises of quick weight loss, and rave reviews from dieters. But what is revealed when we scratch below the surface?
Origins
The 17 Day Diet is the brainchild of Dr. Mike Moreno, who runs a family practice in San Diego. What is the relevance of the number 17? Moreno claims that changing up the composition of what you eat every 17 days ‘confuses’ your body’s metabolism and prevents it from ‘settling’. Many of us are familiar with the frustration felt when a previously successful dieting method becomes less effective over time. Moreno claims that he has found a way to defeat that common problem.
The Four Stages
The diet is actually made up of four 17 day cycles (arguably four mini diets), totaling 68 days. Each cycle is distinct from the next. Moreno goes into a great amount of detail as to what you should be eating – you will not be left guessing. The cycles are as follows.
First Cycle – ‘Accelerate’
This cycle promotes low-carb, low calorie intake. The focus is on lean meats and low-carb vegetables (e.g. not potatoes).
Second Cycle – ‘Activate’
Now you start cycling within a cycle. The key to this period, according to Moreno, is to ‘trick’ your body’s metabolism by varying your calorific intake day by day. In real terms, you will be eating much like you were in the ‘accelerate’ stage, with exception to the introduction of whole grains.
Third Cycle – ‘Achieve’
This cycle is essentially your garden variety low calorie diet. Processed foods are strictly prohibited, but you are now able to eat grains and more fruit. This cycle is intended to promote good long term eating habits.
Fourth Cycle – ‘Arrive’
At this stage you should continue cycling through the first three stages, with an allowance to let go on the weekends (although Moreno stresses that he does not intend you to “binge”).
Exercise
The book comes complete with a DVD featuring a 17 minute cardiovascular workout.
Does It Work?
“I think this diet is probably the only diet that is for everybody” ~ Mike Moreno speaking to ABC News.
In short – yes. If you adhere to the rules of the diet, you will lose weight. However, the same could be said of almost any diet that is followed strictly. So what does this diet offer that others do not?
When it comes to dieting, it can be difficult to find the willpower to stick with what you are doing. One great way to do this, in my opinion, is to set yourself short term goals whilst actively measuring your short term success.
For instance, you might set out to try a new way of eating for just 14 days, and not look beyond that time. At three times during the 14 days (on the 1st, 7th and 14th days), you might take measurements of your waist, hips, arms and legs, in addition to your body weight. After the 14 days, if you stuck to the short term diet, you would see positive changes in at least some of your measurements. This might provide you with the willpower to attempt another 14 day period of dieting. In this way, you can focus on short term goals, not your long term target, which may seem very far away.
In my opinion, the above points to the 17 Day Diet’s strongest selling point. With each cycle lasting just 17 days, you barely have time to get fed up with your diet before it is flipped on its head. And there are 1,000 testimonials out there that demonstrate how successful the diet can be.
And that is a good thing, because this diet is tough. The first cycle restricts intake to 1,200 calories per day and cuts out an enormous amount of food types. To get quick results, you have to take drastic action – and this is what the 17 Day Diet requires of you.
Who Isn’t This For?
This diet is not for the faint hearted – literally. It is not recommended that anyone who suffers from ill health or diabetes (check out diabetic diets here). Pregnant/nursing women are advised not to go on the 17 Day Diet.
In short – the diet is pretty drastic. It relies upon a dramatic calorific deficit and food-type restriction in order to get quick results.
Is It For Me?
It may well be. The 17 Day Diet, if nothing else, can be a great ‘kick-start’ to a longer term eating plan. It may well be that after going through the four cycles for the first time, you can find a a way to live with a diet that promotes pretty strict control for 5 days of the week. Of course, all of your hard work will be undone if you “binge” on the weekends. This diet can only be a long term success if you have the willpower to follow its requirements for the vast majority of the time.
Moreno has this to say himself:
I’m not going to ask you to probe your inner eater and uncover hidden emotional reasons for why you’re fat. (ABC News)
If you fear that your poor eating habits are due to deeper psychological reasons that a conquerable lack of willpower, Moreno seems to be the first to admit that his method may not be for you. But if you are looking for an effective way to kick start (or restart) a weight loss campaign, you could do a lot worse than the 17 Day Diet.