I saw a question about this buried in one of the other topics. I use (used) both of these products on a regular basis with 17DD and maintenance (all cycles), so I felt it deserved its own topic for consideration.

The 17DD Accelerate plan is VERY low in calories. You can eat unlimited lean protein and unlimited cleansing vegetables.

Even so, the calories come up way short if you take the 2500mg daily sodium limit into consideration.

I personally can only eat so many servings of raw vegetables. I'm pretty much at max on that. Anything cooked or canned, adds sodium.

Ditto the lean meats. Calories are fine, but the sodium gets bumped way up the more I add in.

And following the MFP sodium guidelines did make a difference to my progress.

To solve this dilemma and still have enough calories to function on, I added 100% whey protein powder (flavored) to my morning yogurt and added an Atkins Endulge or Advantage bar as a late afternoon snack.

These really helped me stay on target.

Yogurt by itself simply isn't heavy enough (I have a major morning appetite). I found that without it, I couldn't get through even an hour without a snack. I started by adding a whole scoop of protein powder, but then later was able to reduce it to 1/2 scoop. It adds little to your food diary except protein and some calories, it adds body to your yogurt, and it helps to fill you up.

Protein bars require more information. Just because a bar states it is high protein does NOT mean it is low sugar or low carb -- or healthy.

I chose Atkins bars because they are low-carb, low-sugar, and high-protein.

That said, I can only eat one per day because I have a sensitivity to the alcohol sweeteners that they use (Xylitol, Malitol, a couple others are actually used in many laxatives as an active ingredient!)

Protein bars are not unlimited with 17DD, but can be a good dessert or snack for those on the go for around 200 calories +/-.