I haven’t been posting a lot of recipes this week because my husband and I started the 17 Day Diet on Monday.  I’m not usually a fan of fad diets, but we’ve known a few people who have had a lot of success with this diet plan.  Between the two of us, we have already shed eight and a half pounds!  I have not been following the plan to a “t,” but it has been good way to focus on choosing healthier meal choices.

For the first 17 days, the diet mostly consists of lean proteins, cleansing vegetables, low-sugar fruits, friendly fats, and two servings of probiotics a day.  One of the probiotics that Dr. Mike Moreno recommends is kefir (my husband keeps thinking that I am saying “cat fur.”)  I had never heard of this before, but it’s a cultured milk product with the consistency that is a cross between milk and yogurt.  It has several different strains of friendly bacteria that are not found in yogurt so it’s a healthy item to introduce into your diet.  I’ve made a smoothie with it almost everyday this week.

Kefir 17 Day Diet Smoothie

Ingredients:
-1 cup lowfat kefir
-1 cup ice
-1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
-1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
-2 tablespoons orange juice
-1 tablespoon raw blue agave nectar

Directions:
Place all items in a blender and blend until smooth.

The cup seen in the photo above is one of my birthday gifts from sister K.  I love it!  I may have to get another one because I also like to drink ice water out of it.  I am also planning on using it when I make iced coffee this summer.  It’s available for $7.99 in our Amazon store.

I also wanted to share a few outtakes from my smoothie photo shoot (and kind of explains why my smoothie picture is not even that great.)  Remember my theory that Baby T would stop climbing up on tables if I just got him his own little table?  Yeah, not so much…

Have you tried kefir before?  Are there any diet books/plans out there that you swear by?

Have a great weekend!