17 Day Diet Cycle 2

So today is Day 1 of the second Cycle of the 17 Day Diet for me. In Cycle 2 (called Activate), you can add 2 servings of a natural starch to your diet but you need to consume it before 2pm...so it has to be part of breakfast and lunch basically. You also add in very lean cuts of beef, pork and lamb as well as shellfish to the protein section.

The Natural Starches include grains like brown rice, coucous, quinoa, cream of wheat, and basmati rice or other longer grain rices. They also include almost every type of bean, and some starchy veggies. These are in addition to what you were already allowed on Cycle 1.

The trick to this Cycle (to keep your metabolism guessing) is that you alternate a Cycle 2 day with a Cycle 1 day. I have decided to make my Cycle 2 days on the days that I have circuit training to give me a bit more energy on those days. I circled my Circle 2 days on my calendar on the fridge so I can keep track and I always have a copy of the details of the Cycle clipped to a magnet on the fridge for easy referencing.

One note outside of this diet, is that I might start using my Hydroxycut drink mix before my runs on Cycle 2 days like I was doing last year. It gave me a bit more energy when I was working out and I really saw results from it. It will depend on how much exercise I am getting if I do it or not as I don't want to feel like I am dipping my blood sugar too low at any point during the day. I didn't use it at all during Cycle 1 because my caloric intake was pretty low and I didn't want to push it. Now that I am feeling more accustomed to the diet and will be bumping up the calories a bit on the Cycle 2 days, I might give it a try...we'll see.

I am really hoping to meet my goal weight by losing 12 more pounds soon....it would be an awesome gift to myself. I know I would feel terrific to accomplish something like that, when I have been trying for so long to get there.