Hallelujah, oatmeal!

Cycle 2 of the 17 day diet has allowed us to add some additional foods to our menu every other day.

Can I just say how ecstatic I've been to make oatmeal again?! Don't get me wrong, I love eggs but, throwing some overnight crock pot oats together makes mornings so much better!

As for the other additions to cycle 2, we made Some Summer veggies (zucchini, summer squash, onion, asparagus) and topped it with some big juicy shrimp we sauteed in olive oil with some herb and garlic seasoning. My husband still craves sandwiches and I still long for something sweet after dinner. We had been at this nearly three weeks and decided we've done so well it was time to allow ourselves a "cheat meal". I'm aware that the 17 day diet doesn't have "cheat meals" until you've hit your goal weight and only need to maintain. However, we both vowed that moving forward we would continue on the plan. We discussed our bad habits that caused us to gain the extra weight and noticed a pattern. We ate dessert every night! For some, that's ok. Dessert could be berries with a little whip cream or a scoop of frozen yogurt. Our desserts we a bit more decadent. We were always making cookies or brownies and you know, Ice cream always makes brownies and cookies better. Then, chocolate syrup because, well, chocolate syrup!

We realized that those desserts aren't horrible, they are just better when you only have them every once in a great while. Plus, you don't need heaping bowl fulls! We're making changes moving forward. I'm loving that we can cook together again, we aren't eating out 3-4 times a week (between quick stops to the coffee shop and grabbing a quick meal out).

Our cheat meals were a bit different. The hubs ate half a sub and then just ate the the veggies and meat from the other half. I decided that ice cream would be my cheat meal. A small blended custard with Reese's cups. It.was.Divine!

If you are following the 17 day diet or another healthy eating plan, tell me, do you allow yourself an occasional cheat meal?