For some reason, starchy foods are the hardest for overweight people to remove from their diets. I think, for me, that I associate them with comfort, convenience, taste, and relaxation (think popcorn, chips, cold cereal).

On the 17 Day Diet, the Accelerate phase permits NO starches... at all... period.

If you adhere to this tenet, you will see incredible results within the first 17 days.

Follow Accelerate with another Accelerate for 17 days -- and you will see even more results.

I experimented with this for myself. I was moderately overweight, right on the line between overweight and obese, and I really wanted to get at least the first 15 lbs off IMMEDIATELY. As we all do.

During my first Accelerate cycle, I lost 9.7 pounds. I lost 4 of that within the first 3 days.

As the book recommended, I proceeded to the Activate cycle, where I added in two healthy starches every other day, making sure I ate them prior to 2pm. Everything else stayed the same.

Much to my surprise, my weight loss ceased entirely. My calories were still really low (net around 1050) and I was still working out an hour each day. So what was the problem?

I went back on Accelerate. Again, spectacular results. I decided to stay on Accelerate until I met my first goal of 23 pounds lost.

I started this diet on April 16th. I reached my first goal weight of 160 on June 15th. Not bad, considering that one entire 17-Day cycle was a complete waste for me, progress-wise.

Apparently, I am one of those "carb-sensitive" people Dr. Moreno writes about in his book. The first time I read it, a bell went off in my head that perhaps that was the key for me. I have tried low-carb, low-cal, high-workout, etc. and just couldn't get the results I wanted.

When you eat complex carbs (starches -- yes, even the "heatlhy" ones!), the starch absorbs fluid as it moves through your system, slowing down the digestion and absorption of the food.

This provides slow, regular energy production to fuel your body.

Which is great if you are a marathon runner or are at a perfect weight already!

But if you are overweight, having that steady flow of carb energy inhibits your body from turning to your fat stores for energy. Only when you burn fat, do you see any real weight loss.

I found that I literally had to rob my body of all the cheap and easy energy sources to force it to turn to fat.

And it worked.

I experimented with those all through the summer and into the fall. I went off the diet for various vacations, then back on. Then school started and things got hectic, then it calmed and I went back on.

Each and every time I removed the starches for at least 3 days in a row, I dropped pounds immediately. Yes, some of it is definitely water, but at least I can compare my current weight more easily to my weight from June 15th. I can see where I stand.

I have not given up complex carbs forever. But I do know that as a routine thing, I need to severely restrict their place in my daily diet.

For those of you just starting out on this diet, I strongly urge you to adhere to the no-starch rule to see what results you get from it. I believe you will be most pleasantly surprised.