Looking to start the 17 day diet, any advice?

I am going to try that one too. In the book he recommends what looks like a good plan and does suggest exercise daily. If eat less and do more were the answer we would not need this site would we. Simple for some, but some of us need support and encouragement to succeed. Best of Luck!

I would say forget the diet. Any diet that makes you cut out certain foods is not a good diet in my opinion. There is no need to cut out a certain food or group of foods unless there is a medical need to do so.

I find I have much better luck when I eat fresh foods and drink a lot of water. I have much better luck keeping the weight off and losing weight when I do not deny myself. I don't see the point of denying yourself anything unless you medically have to.

I did the 17 day diet and enjoyed it, my only issue was that I almost passed out in the second cycle. Make sure you are eating enough! I ate until I wasn't hungry, but some days I am now realizing was only a total of 700 calories. It is a great way to ween yourself off of sugar and understand how to eat healthy, but please count your calories as you go.

I see any such fad diets (and really, if they are selling a book, that is the definition of fad diet) as the equivalent to paying off your debt with a one-time cash windfall. Yes there is a chance you take the immediate gains and live right going forward. But if you are like the vast majority of people, 6 months later you have gained it all back (or are heavily in debt again, to complete my analogy).

The real answer is you will NEVER be done monitoring what you eat. Never. As you begin to get a better feel for a healthy diet, you may not always need a MFP-type tool to count calories. But you will never be able to stop paying attention everyday. And if you do stop paying attention, you will gain the weight back every time.

I know a few people who have done it and lost tons of weight. One girl 35 lbs and she has kept it off. That being said I hear is very hard to sustain. She lost 25 in 17 days then started week 1 again.