Last Ten Pounds » Talking It Off

Paul Plakas on the 17 Day Diet

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May 272011

I love straight-talking Paul. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone was so unambiguous in their advice?

Paul,

I wanted to know what you thought of the 17 day diet? Is it something people who are overweight should look into?

Nichole from Winnipeg

Hi Nichole,

The 17 day diet is dumb. Let me explain to you the key to weight loss. Eat high nutrient dense foods specific to your metabolic rate, daily activity level and metabolic type. It is making the right choice for you as much as possible through your entire life time. Identify obstacles that prevent you from making the right choices.

Paul

YES! And no.

Here’s what I’m thinking. Paul is absolutely right because he actually wants to obliterate the “culture of diet”. Just eat well according to your age, size and activity level and you’ll weigh what you’re supposed to. I even wrote about it as a weight loss tool in The Maintenance Diet.

In fact, I think this three year journey has cemented both that intellectual fact and the practical ability to put it carry it out into my soul. When I eat like that, I keep off the weight I’ve lost. However, I didn’t ever manage to lose those last few pounds permanently. Why?

Because I don’t always eat like that (D’oh!) – and sometimes I need the motivation of a quick weight loss. My eating sometimes needs a shake-up and I need the structure of some plan or other to get back into good habits. That’s exactly what I’ve got from the 17 Day Diet.

Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet forced me to eat in a way that required more planning and food preparation than usual. I couldn’t just mindlessly reach for the peanut butter and Ryvita because I was too lazy to prepare something for lunch. Instead I had to think about making a big salad for the two of us or scrambling eggs for breakfast in addition to the normal supper prep.

I quickly got tired of all that planning and prepping and cooking but not before it jolted me out of my “usual” and into a diet where every calorie provided something my body needed. After a couple of weeks, I find that I’m naturally eating a little every couple of hours until my evening meal. In a way, snacking on healthy food has become the norm so there’s no time or room for snacking over and above my caloric needs. I’m craving a bowl of plain yogurt or a little piece of cheese or an orange or a carrot. By supper I’ve packed in a lot of nutrients but not a lot of calories.

So why have I stopped the 17 Day Diet? I got the jolt I wanted, lost a few pounds, and now feel able to go on without all the restrictions. The family budget was straining under the weight of all that protein and I much prefer the idea of eating a little meat and a little brown rice with a lot of veg. I must say that we’re not eating nearly as many carbs as before. Both the husband and I have learned that we can live without a FULL portion of rice or potatoes. In fact, we haven’t even had a potato yet – but there are some lovely little Jersey Royals in the potato basket.

I will certainly got back to Cycle 1 if I ever need to lose a few pounds again, but, for now I’m happily back to losing ounces and feeling energetic and enjoying food including healthy carbs and a bit of wine. But I’m very grateful to the 17 Day Diet for giving me that kick that I needed.

17 Day Diet ~Slacking

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May 182011

The 17 Day Diet is a hard task master, demanding perfect obedience.

And I’ve been slacking – by which I mean eating an extra serving of fruit here and extra milk in my coffee there. It’s not diet busting stuff but the “water weight” side of the 17 Day Diet means that any little deviance will show on the scales.

So I remind myself that it’s not fat and get on with it.

I’ve just found the following recipe in the Times and will adapt it for the 17 DD Cycle 1 by leaving out the olives and beans. Otherwise it’s fine for Cycle 2 and beyond.

White Fish and Borlotti Beans

Serves 6
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min

Ingredients
3 x 400g cans of borlotti beans – I’m going to use cannellini beans, I think.
½ chicken stock cube
Handful of basil leaves
Handful of pitted black olives
3 tbsp olive oil
6 fillets pollack, cod or other firm white fish, approx 200g each
6 sprays of cherry tomatoes on the vine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ lemon

Method
Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Tip the beans into a sieve or colander, rinse with cold water and shake dry. Place the drained beans in a medium-size saucepan. Dissolve the stock cube in 250ml boiling water and add to the pan with half the basil and 1 tbsp olive oil. Season lightly with salt and generously with black pepper, stir well and leave to simmer gently. Smear the fish with olive oil and arrange on an oven tray with the tomatoes around them. Sprinkle the fish with balsamic vinegar and squeeze the lemon-half over the top. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until the fish is just cooked through and the tomatoes are beginning to split and weep. Carefully drain all the juices into the beans and stir well. Add the olives and remaining basil. To serve, divide the beans and their juices between 6 large, shallow bowls, arrange a piece of fish on top and decorate with a spray of tomatoes. Serve immediately.

17 Day Diet ~ Calories

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May 152011

This has been the most interesting week. I know I’m on the 17 Day Diet – but really that just means I’ve been (successfully) eating a restricted number of very healthy calories. Just to make sure I’ve been getting enough, I’ve been running them through the Nutracheck journal and here’s what I’ve found it takes for me to lose 3 pounds in a week.

I’ve been eating between 1150 and 1300 calories per day and walking off between 100 and 200 calories per day.

I wouldn’t keep that up long term but will keep it up for the 17 days and then add in the carbs which should take me up to 1400 calories and get me back into running. (I wouldn’t have been running much in this jet lagged week, anyway.)

The best thing is that I’m not really weighing or measuring anything other than the berries. I can see why this is working for people.

I’m now officially on the “Last 6 Pounds”. Nice.

17 Day Diet C1D7

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May 122011

I’m bored.

Sorry.

The good psychology of short cycles became abundantly clear to me yesterday as I tried to imagine eating anything that was 17DD friendly.

What did I want? More flavour? No, I can get flavour by adding herbs and spices. Variety? Maybe, but we don’t have huge variety in out regular diet. Grains? Goes without saying, but rice won’t fill the emptiness I feel when I think about one more chicken breast with a pile of veg.

…..SAUCE! That’s what I want. I want sauce on my food at least once a week. Sauce with strong flavours. Sauce from a jar. Sauce that someone else has made.

So I chucked a jar of balti and a jar of tomato and basil sauce into my online trolley and am feeling like I might just make it through the next ten days.

First though – tomorrow’s champagne brunch…..

17 Day Diet ~ Quick Fix?

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May 102011

This diet has been sold largely as a very quick way to lose a substantial amount of weight. I don’t have that much to lose so my expectations for “quick” are pretty low. I’d be happy with 2 lbs the first week and 1-2 for the rest.

Sorry? Did I hear you say, “But that’s just like Weight Watchers!”?

Yes – I believe it is. The thing is, lately I haven’t been able to shift these last few pounds for any convincing length of time. If I can lose the last 8 over the next 6 weeks, I’ll be a very happy loser.

Also – keep in mind that I’m not following the 17 Day Diet to the letter. I’m not drinking the hot water and lemon or the green tea. I’m also substituting 1% milk for one of my yogourt servings. So I likely won’t lose as quickly as the all the promo materials say.

Anyway, even Dr Moreno (the author) admits that much of the Cycle 1 weight loss is water. From Chapter 1:

Q: But won’t a lot of the weight I lose be water weight?

A: Yes! And that’s awesome because water is weight too.

As I don’t suffer from any kind of water retention issues, I won’t/don’t/can’t lose any more than a couple of pounds of water. So that knocks down the numbers from the start.

I’ve been journalling my food at Nutracheck and, basically, I’m finally on track for losing 1.5lbs per week at my age and current weight – at least as far as calories go. Now I know that Dr Moreno says it’s more than calories but I’m a sceptic about weight loss being a result of anything other than reduced calories in and increased calories out. If 5 pounds magically disappears this week, will I be upset? Ha.

Until that happens, though, I’m happy that this is forcing me to eat so healthfully. I’m not hungry. The scale is inching down. The belt is loosening.

Here’s to under 140, healthy and fit – in what? 5 to 6 more weeks? Wouldn’t that be lovely…….

17 Day Diet C1D4

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May 102011

Day 4.

The Moroccan Chicken last night was a hit.

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 onion

1 tbs olive oil

400gm chicken breast meat cut in strips

1 400g tin chopped tomatoes

4 tsp Moroccan spice mix – I use the Schwartz

1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste – omit if you don’t like it hot

2 cloves garlic

I chopped the peppers and onion and sauteed them in the oil.

Added all the other ingredients and simmered for about 30 minutes.

Served over cauliflower cooked whole in the microwave.

Top with a dollop of yogourt.

Serves 2-3 (2 in our house)

I have to say that I’m feeling quite energetic today. Don’t know if it’s the clean eating or the fading jet lag.

Here We Go Again

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May 072011

Two months later. I’m 50. I promised myself that I need never think about my weight again.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Oh well.

I’m happy with life in general and being lighter isn’t going to make that better.

However, I just can’t leave aside the idea that I would be healthier if I weighed less.

I still want a healthy sized waist and my knees would like a lighter body for running.

the husband and I are embarking on the 17 Day Diet. YES, I KNOW.

Now that I’ve read the book, I see that it’s not so much a low carb as a low GI diet. I just need something that doesn’t leave any room for “faffing”.

Of course, I’ve already modified it for my own enjoyment – just a little milk in my tea and coffee – so we’ll see how it goes.

I wasn’t going to weigh myself but I did it without thinking this morning – after not doing so for almost 2 months!

So I’m starting at 148.6. Let’s see if this is the ticket to 139.

Two Weeks In

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Mar 072011

It’s the beginning of the third week and I’m wavering between encouragement and disappointment.

Weight: It’s all over the place between 146 and 148 – up and down and up and down and etc…..

I’m not used to this stubborn lack of downward trend – especially when I’m eating the correct input/output balance of calories that should lead to a loss. That’s discouraging – but I’m still down overall and I can’t possibly not lose a little given the way I’m eating and moving. So I’ll plough on.

Exercise: Yesterday I did my “accidental” 10k in 70 minutes.

Must explain the “accidental”. I run 5k with a group of women every Sunday and the group meets around 2.5k from my house. We are currently without a car so, if I want to run with the group, I need to cover 10k. Last week I walked down and back. This week I ran a bit and walked a bit down and back and ran most of the 5k in the middle. Result: a 70 minute 10k. I’m looking forward to improving on that next week.

So the “things to do by 50″ project moves forward. My hair is almost all grey, I’m into the New Testament on my read through the bible and I can now cover a 10k in a respectable time. If my weight isn’t exactly where I envisioned it, then I can hardly beat myself up.

If, on my 50th birthday, I wake up weighing 147lbs but able to run 10k in an hour, I won’t be disappointed.

But I still want to get that waist down another inch so I will keep working hard till the end of April to see if I can do it.

EDIT! I wrote the above in my dressing gown, went upstairs, put on my jeans and did up my belt. To the next hole. Just the motivation to keep going and show a quick 2 fingers to the scales.

Belly Fat

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Mar 022011

Last week I lost a couple of pounds and this week I seem to have put them back on – despite eating and exercising to plan.

So what am I going to do?

I’m going to keep pushing through until something happens.

I’m going to keep running and walking and journalling and being positive that my health is being improved even if the scale isn’t doing anything positive.

I’ve said it before but I certainly need to remind myself that this isn’t really the “last 10 pounds”. Mentally, I’m at the end of something but, physically, my body could lose another 25 pounds and still be healthy. So I just need to keep doing this – and do my best to ignore my projected weight loss figures for March. That kind of counting unhatched chickens only leads to discouragement.

I’m keeping this positive mindset because I’ve been reading up on the subject of visceral fat – the fat that sits inside your body and around your organs. Here’s what I’ve learned:

There’s no doubt that I have an “at risk” shape. Even though I have a healthy BMI, I should lose another inch or two off my waist to be really healthy in the body fat department.

Exercise will work on this kind of fat – even in the absence of weight loss – so I will keep moving whether the scales move down or not.

If you want to read more, look at these Obesity Panacea posts:

This one talks about how exercise reduces visceral fat even if it doesn’t have a large effect on weight.
This one talks more in depth about the relationship between exercise and weight loss.

Wine

Food, Last Ten Pounds 1 Response »

Feb 272011

Wine

It’s long been an angel/devil, love/hate thing but I’ve finally made a decision about the drink which is so much a part of my middle aged life.

I’m not going to have full bottles of it in the house any more. I’m happy to have a glass when I eat out. I can also buy those little single serving bottles once in a while as long as it’s for a social situation.

But it can’t sit by the bottle-full in my fridge and be just neutral in my life. It’s not neutral; it’s negative.

I don’t like how it makes me feel.

I don’t like how it makes me eat.

Judging from conversations with friends of a similar age, we’ve got to the point where alcohol in general has a swifter and harsher effect on our brains and bodies. Even a couple of glasses can leave us with headaches the next morning. And who needs that?

I’ll let you know how it goes

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