17 Day Diet Cycle 3

Today is the first day of Cycle 3 for me. I haven't lost as much as I was hoping in the first two cycles but I think part of that is that I am already pretty close to my goal weight and the last few pounds are always the hardest.

So on this Cycle (Achieve), you are allowed to add multigrain items to the Natural Starches list but are still limited to only 2 servings a day and both before 2pm. This means that I can have multigrain bread, whole wheat pasta, corn tortillas, and several other options for starches. The dairy section also expands to include lowfat cheeses, and milk (which is nice, now I don't have to consider the nonfat milk I have been adding to my coffee each day as a cheat).

You are also allowed to bring in almost all veggies out there (even the more starchy ones) and almost all fruits as well, so I can have a banana once in a while again. At this point, though, you have to start eating normal portions sizes of proteins rather than as much as you want.

This Cycle doesn't mandate rotating between two different cycles, but I think I am going to stick to that for now so I will continue to see weight drop off. It also wants you to up your exercise from just 17 mins a day to 30-60 mins a day which shouldn't be hard since I have been working out at least 40 mins a day most of the time I have been on this diet.

The idea is to get you closer to a regular diet while teaching you how exercise and portion control (and not eating crap food) are all part of a lifestyle requirement meant to maintain or lose weight. I think if I do the alternate thing, I will continue to keep my metabolism on its toes while still allowing me to enjoy some of the fun stuff added back in during Cycle 3. This will also prepare me for Cycle 4 which is basically Cycle 1 or 2 during the week and then whatever you want (within proportion) on the weekends.

Part of the reason, I think I am not losing weight as fast as I would like is that I already eat pretty healthy, so I don't have a lot I can cut out and if I just drop my calories too far, I can't function and it isn't good for me. So I have to just be happy with the fact that I am losing almost 1 1/2 lbs per week. I only have 9 more to go before I am at my goal weight, but I am already so much happier with how I look and feel in my clothes.