The Dukan Diet: My Daily Play by Play!

The Dukan Diet was created by a French medical doctor, Pierre Dukan.  The diet is unlike any other diet, in that it is supposed to help you permanently keep off weight for the rest of your life, as long as you actually follow the diet through to the end.  When the diet was introduced in France in 2000, it quickly gained attention and praise.  Since it's release, it has been the number one diet in France and has gained popularity throughout Europe and the UK.  It was also just recently released in the US and is said to be the cure for obesity.

Now, I have never truly dieted before - never! I love chocolate way too much and I also like to have my cocktails!  With that being said, this past year I have put on some pounds.  I have never been a large person at all, in fact, I am actually fairly thin.  I have always been active and have danced my entire life.  However, although I am still thin, I have not been dancing as much anymore, and boy did I notice the impact that had on my body... I cannot believe I am going to admit this (since no woman ever likes to share her weight), but I went from weighing 120 to 140 in under a year.  Again, if you look at me and see photos of me, I am still thin, and I am very thankful for that, as I know many people do truly struggle with weight.  However, I have just been so upset with myself that I really want to shed a few pounds - just a few though.  I run about 2 miles every other day and work out in between, and no matter how much I have worked out, I just cannot lose those pounds.  People are not lying when they say the last 5-10 pounds are the most difficult to lose!

Enter the Dukan Diet.  Like I said before, I have never dieted, so I was very apprehensive about trying this, but after reading up about it on the Dukan Diet Website and reading other people's experiences with the diet (this guys blog gives a pretty good play by play and illustrates his own experiences with the diet - Dukan Diet Blog), I decided to just go for it!

In sum, the Dukan Diet consists of 4 phases: The Attack Phase, the Cruise Phase, the Consolidation Phase, and the Stabilization Phase.  I know the chart below is in kg, but it illustrates how the phases flow together.

The Attack Phase (aka the pure protein attack) can last anywhere from 2-7 days (differs for everyone), and you can only eat protein! I repeat, only protein.  This means no veggies on the side or any fruit.  On top of the protein you have to have 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran a day and 1 1/2 quarts of water.  My attack phase is only supposed to be 3 days since I am not trying to lose too much.  You can find out what your "true weight" should be and how long each phase should last for you by clicking HERE.

The Cruise Phase allows you to add vegetables to your diet again and ups the amount of oat bran intake from 1 1/2 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons per day.  Although you can still only eat the pure protein from the attack phase, you can at least jazz things up a little more by adding vegetable to the mix again.  The length of this phase is 3 days for every pound that you want to lose.  Therefore, if you want to lose 20 pounds, then you should be in the cruise phase for 60 days.

The Consolidation Phase allows all of the foods from the attack and cruise phase, but you can add 1 serving of fresh fruit per day, except for bananas, cherries, and grapes.  You can also add 2 slices of whole grain bread per day, 1 1/2 ounces of cheese per day, 2 servings of starchy foods per week, and lamb, roast pork, and ham once or twice a week.  The amount of oat bran remains the same from the cruise phase (2 tablespoons).  Furthermore, you are allowed 1 to 2 "celebration meals" per week! That means you can eat anything you want, including chocolate! Just DO NOT binge and have several helpings.  You should also still have one day a week dedicated to a pure protein attack day.

Finally, the Stabilization Phase.  In this phase, you can go back to eating whatever it is that you want for 6 out of 7 days of the week.  Just make sure that you up your oat bran intake to 3 tablespoons a day for the rest of your life, as well as reserve one day a week for a pure protein attack day.  Dukan recommends every Thursday as your attack day.  Additionally, walk as much as possible and try and act as if escalators and elevators do not exist so you will take the stairs more frequently.  Working out while dieting will produce the best results.  However, DO NOT exercise too much or play an intensive sport while dieting (especially during the first half), as you will tire easily and it will be dangerous since you will not have carbs in your system.

Now, with my summary complete, I am going to give all of you a daily play by play to let you know how I am doing and how I feel about this diet! So let's start...

Attack Phase:


Day 1: 
This sucks!!!!!!! I'm freaking hungry! Proteins are supposed to fill you up but I am craving carbs so bad! A box of chips ahoy cookies are currently staring me down.... I want to cave in, but I refuse! In the Dukan Diet book, Dukan states that you will feel tired and hungry the first 2-3 days, but that it will go away... I hope he is right because I want chocolate! Unfortunately I still have 74 more days until I can have chocolate again.

My menu for day one of the attack phase consisted of a hard boiled egg for breakfast, plain non-fat Greek yogurt with my oat bran for a snack, leftover flank steak for lunch, a couple slices of low-fat ham for an afternoon snack, and scallops, salmon, and a little piece of steak for dinner.  I was still so hungry though.  Part of the problem was that I did not pack enough for lunch.  Now that I have learned my lesson I will try to do better tomorrow.  I also hated the plain Greek yogurt.  I'm going to just use that for cooking instead from now on and eat my oat bran in the form of oatmeal (I just mixed it with a little nonfat milk, heated it up, and actually enjoyed it)!

Day 2: 
Today was a little bit better then yesterday.  I wasn't as hungry until later on in the day.  I had eggs and coffee for breakfast, went to the gym (but could not work out as much because I was worn out).  For lunch I ate my oat bran via oatmeal, snacked on chicken between lunch and dinner, and had lemon pepper chicken and shrimp for dinner.  For dessert I made a coffee cream that was listed in the Dukan Diet book.  Overall, aside from having to pee a lot due to all of the water consumption, today was much better.  I really just need to go shopping for more variety so that way I will have more to eat, especially around lunch time (my danger hour). 

Day 3:
Today was much much better! I wasn't starving like the first day and a lot of my cravings have gone down.  Don't get me wrong, I would still devour a piece of chocolate if I could, but I am staying strong! I'm also getting better at figuring out what to eat and when to eat it so that I don't starve at different points throughout the day.  Plus, the beauty of the Dukan diet is that you can eat as much as you want, as long as it's on the protein list for the first phase.

So for breakfast, I had an egg white omelet with ham and coffee.  I had a Greek yogurt mid morning to hold me over, and for lunch, I had the Dukan pancake, or "galette."  Dinner conisted of a mini steak with mussels, clams, shrimps, and scallops in a white wine sauce! The Dukan pancake though was key because it actually held me over very well! The recipe is as follows:

Dukan Pancake:
-2 tablespoons of oat bran
-2 tablespoons of plain, non-fat, Greek yogurt
-1 egg white, slightly beaten until foamy
-1 teaspoon of splenda or sweetening of choice

Directions:
In a bowl, slightly beat the egg white until just frothy.  In another bowl, mix together the oat bran, yogurt, and splenda (if using).  Once combined, add the egg white and stir together.  Pour the batter into a lightly greased pan and cook like you would a normal pancake (a few minutes on each side over medium heat).

Oh, and guess what?? I've already lost 4 pounds! Most of it is probably water weight with the amount of water that I have to drink on this diet... but hey, 4 pounds is 4 pounds! :)

To continue reading more about the Dukan Diet and to see my progress in the Cruise Phase, CLICK HERE. Pin It