17 Day Diet Review

A best-selling book authored by San Diego physician Dr. Mike Moreno, “The 17 Day Diet” has generated a lot of buzz – including enthusiastic features on daytime talk shows “Dr. Phil” and “The Doctors.”

First things first – the 17 Day Diet is actually 68 days long. The program is broken up into four phases, 17 days each, of different meal cycles. You will exercise every day of every phase for 17 minutes.

Like other diets that operate in phases (South Beach, etc.), your first 17 days on this plan will be the most restrictive – 1200 calories a day – while the succeeding phases offer a bit more flexibility. Moreno is of the school of thought that by switching up your diet every couple of weeks – the nutritional content and calorie intake – you can jumpstart your metabolism and keep it humming. Bear in mind that there is no scientific evidence to support this theory.

The details:

The buzzword for your first 17 day cycle is “Accelerate”. This is a low-carb, 1200 calorie affair. No processed food, sugar, booze or fats. Lots of lean protein, no-starch vegetables, two low-sugar fruits, two fat-free plain yogurts, green tea, and 64 ounces of water per day. This is not easy. You’ll surely see results on this plan, which will undoubtedly keep you motivated – but bear in mind that it is water weight.

The second cycle is called “Activate”. This is where Moreno starts you on a calorie cycling program - your daily calorie intake will shift from low to high, and start over again, over the course of days. Whole grains are added to the diet, with a max of 1500 calories per day allowed. As noted above, there is no scientific evidence to support the theory of calorie cycling as an effective way to boost metabolism. But if you’re continuing to eat healthily, maxing out at a very low 1500 calories per day, you’ll be losing weight.

The third cycle - “Achieve” – aims to groom the dieter for good eating habits for life. An expanded version of the activate phase, you’ll see the addition of more grains and fruit, an optional serving of alcohol and a 100-calorie snack to your daily intake. On a balanced low calorie diet like this, you will continue to lose weight.

The final cycle – the rather spiritual sounding “Arrive” – is your eating plan for life, which is a rather unfortunate sounding continuous cycling through phases 1, 2 and 3, with splurging allowed on the weekends.

The nutrition of this diet is, on the whole, pretty balanced, making it a better option than some of the exclusion (no carbs, no fruits, etc.) diets that are out there. The calorie maximums are very low, and in the first two phases you may well introduce some nutritional deficiencies, so it’s advisable to take a multivitamin supplement at that time. Will this diet – if adhered to as instructed – make you lose weight? Of course. But will you be able to live on it? In all likelihood, no. This diet is unsustainable for eternity. So your best course of action would be to use a diet like this as a one-off – a springboard to significant weight loss and healthier living that you will have to construct and maintain on your own terms.

A few things about the 17 Day Diet we take issue with:

- -Moreno instructs that you eat no starchy carbs or fruit after 2:00 in the afternoon, citing the theory that the body digests certain things better at certain times. This is, basically, hokum. There is no scientific evidence to support this.

- -The gimmicky nature of the 17 minute per day exercise routines. This is silly. You will lose weight on this diet merely from the calorie reduction. 17 minutes a day of exercise is negligible. However, if that 17 minutes a day is the first exercise you’ve committed to in a long time – it’s a good start. But the key here is that once you have transitioned to a more normal (read: not on an extreme diet) lifestyle, you need to be exercising regularly for significantly longer than 17 minutes a day to maintain weight and health.

- Touting weekend splurging is a bad idea. It’s too easy to become psychologically dependent on the release – the freedom – of going bonkers when it is literally booked into your calendar. Can you treat yourself from time to time for special occasions, rough patches, etc.? Yes. But you can’t keep the weight off if it’s set in your mind that every weekend is a free pass. Because it’s not. You’ll just undo the good work you did during the week. And you already know that it’s a lot easier to put the weight on than it is to lose it.

There are a whole host of 17 Day Diet branded foods that Moreno pushes, but they are not necessary to do this diet effectively. Or, you can help yourself to meal plans, recipes and a 17-minute exercise CD for $29.00. Meal delivery is also available via partnership with Bistro MD.