The 17 Day Diet (14 page)

•
1 medium orange

•
6 oz. sugar-free fruit-flavored yogurt

Day 12

•
Accelerate Cycle menu

Day 13

Breakfast

•
1
Dr. Mike’s Power Cookie

•
1 medium peach, sliced

•
1 cup green tea

Lunch

•
Low-Carb Primavera Delight

•
1 cup green tea

Dinner

•
Plenty of London broil

•
Large tossed salad with 1 tablespoon olive oil mixed with 2 tablespoons vinegar and seasoning

•
1 cup green tea

Snacks

•
Yogurt Shake (blended with fruit)

•
2nd probiotic serving of your choice

Day 14

•
Accelerate Cycle menu

Day 15

Breakfast

•
1 cup
Lean Granola
mixed with 6 oz. sugar-free fruit-flavored yogurt (
Note:
1 cup of Lean Granola gives you your 2 servings of natural starch for the day)

•
1 cup green tea

Lunch

•
Fruit salad: ½ cup LiveActive Breakstone cottage cheese with diced fruit (½ cup diced strawberries and ½ cup diced peach) served on a generous bed of lettuce

•
1 cup green tea

Dinner

•
Grilled pork chops

•
Steamed or boiled cabbage

•
Large tossed salad with 1 tablespoon olive oil mixed with 2 tablespoons vinegar and seasoning

•
1 cup green tea

Snacks

•
1 medium apple or pear

•
2nd probiotic serving of your choice

Day 16

•
Accelerate Cycle menu

Day 17

Breakfast

•
2 cooked eggs (scrambled, poached, etc., without oil)

•
1 cup fresh berries

•
1 cup green tea

Lunch

•
Grilled chicken breast

•
1 medium sweet potato or ½ cup mashed butternut squash

•
½ cup cooked corn

•
1 cup green tea

(
Note:
The servings of sweet potato and/or squash plus corn gives you your 2 servings of natural starch for the day)

Dinner

•
Grilled or boiled shrimp

•
Steamed green beans

•
Large tossed salad with 1 tablespoon olive oil mixed with 2 tablespoons vinegar and seasoning

•
1 cup green tea

Snacks

•
1 medium orange or nectarine

•
2nd probiotic serving of your choice

LEAN 17
: Lost in Spice—17 Ways to Make Veggies and Other Foods Taste Great

W
hen you’re on a diet, you’ve got to get creative. Here are some suggestions to get the most flavor from your food, without using added fat or sugar.

1.
Basil. Basil adds loads of flavor to tomato-based dishes. It’s also great with poultry.

2.
Broth. Use low-sodium, low-fat chicken and beef broth to sauté meats and cook flavorful rice without adding oil.

3.
Cayenne pepper. Just a pinch livens up chili, spaghetti squash and salad dressings. Consuming cayenne may help suppress your appetite. When a group of men and women took 900 milligrams of cayenne pepper a half hour before meals, they felt fuller and reduced their calorie and fat intake, according to a study appearing in the June 2005 issue of
International Journal of Obesity
.

4.
Chives. Add 1 part chopped chives to 3 parts spinach and boil or steam for 3 minutes.

5.
Cinnamon. Sprinkle this sweet spice in oatmeal, hot cereals or coffee. A 2003 study published in
Diabetes Care
reported that as little as one gram of cinnamon reduced blood glucose and cholesterol levels in type 2 diabetics.

6.
Dill. Known mostly as a pickle herb, dill is delicious on fish, carrots and salads. For an easy dip, mix it into plain yogurt and serve with cucumber slices.

7.
Garlic. Stir it into mashed potatoes or salad dressing.

8.
Horseradish. Ditch the gravy and go for horseradish to enliven meat. Or puree it into Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese, along with some garlic and pepper, for a healthy vegetable dip or potato topping.

9.
Italian seasonings (generally a combination of oregano, rosemary, savory, marjoram, basil and thyme). Sprinkle it on chicken, spaghetti squash, vegetables and tomatoes.

10.
Lemon. Squeeze fresh juice on salads, vegetables and fish. Grate the rind to create the zest (flavorful outer rind). This gives a tang to poultry, vegetables and salads.

11.
Mint. You can’t beat fresh mint from your garden, but dried mint is tasty, too. Good in tea, with fruit, and in plain yogurt.

12.
Mustard. Dijon mustard adds zip to many dishes, from turkey burgers to roasted potatoes.

13.
Rosemary. The fragrant, needle-like leaves of this woody herb are especially good with lamb and seafood, and in any dish with beans, tomatoes, onions, potatoes or cauliflower.

14.
Sage. This Mediterranean herb is especially good in tomato-based dishes, beans, tuna, chicken or turkey.

15.
Tarragon. This wonderful seasoning makes salads and chicken taste delicious. For your salad dressings, try tarragon vinegar mixed with olive oil or flaxseed oil.

16.
Thyme. A member of the mint family, thyme is great on carrots, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and beef.

17.
Vinegar. Try cider vinegar on cooked spinach, herbed or raspberry vinegar on salad greens, rice vinegar on chicken salad and malt vinegar on broiled fish.

SCIENCE SAYS: The Truth about High-Fructose Corn Syrup

M
aybe you’ve seen the pro-high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) ads running on television. First, the ads say that HFCS is no worse than sugar. Well, that’s like saying cigars are no worse than cigarettes. Second, the ads say HFCS is natural because it’s made from corn. C’mon, so is ethanol, and I’m not slurping down that either.

Let me set the record straight. HFCS is a cheap gooey sweetener used in soft drinks, meats, cheeses and dozens of other foods. Recent studies have raised many health concerns about the syrup. HFCS:

•
Is linked to obesity. A steadily rising consumption of HFCS parallels closely with a rise in obesity. Also, HFCS very quickly turns into body fat, in some cases never even yielding energy for the body to use. One can of soda a day (the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar) can lead to a 10-pound fat gain in just one year.

•
Increases triglycerides, recognized risk factor for heart disease. Also, people with elevated triglycerides overproduce a chemical component called the superoxide free radical. This molecular pickpocket can damage a variety of cell structures, including DNA, and is thought to promote aging.

•
Raises blood pressure, another risk for heart disease.

•
Causes the body to over-produce insulin. High insulin is one of the earliest signs of type 2 diabetes.

•
Is linked to the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. This is the most prevalent form of progressive liver disease in the United States. In this disease, the liver gets inflamed and scarred. At that point, it can cause cirrhosis or liver cancer and ultimately liver failure.

•
Was shown in a small study to make pancreatic cancer cells proliferate. Scientists put these cancer cells in lab dishes and fed them glucose and fructose (fructose is a sugar in HFCS). The cells gobbled up the fructose and left the glucose alone.

Should you be consuming less HFCS? Yes! Limit your intake of all added sweeteners, including HFCS, fructose, sucrose (table sugar), glucose and corn syrup. In fact, as a doctor, I’d also suggest you skip soft drinks and fruit juices altogether.

Sources:
World Journal of Gastroenterology 2010; and Cancer Research, 2010.

Activate Cycle Worksheet

It may help you to plan your meals using the following worksheet. Using the food lists, simply fill in what you will eat each day.

Activate Day

Breakfast

Protein or probiotic serving:___________________________

Natural starch serving:_______________________________