The Dukan Diet has been devised over many years by a French doctor, Dr Dukan, who has spent his career helping people to loose weight permanently. The diet is designed in four phases to help you loose weight fast and then help you maintain your weight when you reach your goal. I have just completed the second week of the Dukan Diet and so far have lost 8.3lb’s. But is this diet a fad or does it really work?
As a girl in my 20’s I was very active and never weighed more than 7 stone. However, with each child (I have three) I put on more weight and my lifestyle had become more sedentary. When I had my third child in my mid 30’s the weight did not shift! A story common to all of us I am sure.
The largest size I think I have been is a large size 16, which over the years I got down to a size 14 where the weight remained stable with exercise.
A year ago I became very anaemic and as a result was unable to climb stairs easily let alone exercise! My weight also accelerated and I felt very uncomfortable and very lethargic.
As soon as I had my anaemia under control (which has taken ten months) I decided to try and improve my fitness however, to do this I felt I needed to loose some weight first. For the first time in my life I decided to go on a diet and buy some scales.
I chose the Dukan Diet when I came across the Dr Dukan book whilst browsing Amazon where there was the option to “look inside” and preview the contents. The diet made sense to me. I have not got the patience to calorie count or weigh things out. I was also interested to note that the book claims doctors believe that a protein rich diet increases resistance to infection for anaemia (p39).
The Dukan Diet works by eliminating carbohydrates from your diet so that energy is taken from the fat, thus reducing it. The diet has four phases, two of which are designed to help you loose weight and two which are designed to help you maintain the weight you have lost.
Phase 1 – Attack
During the attack phase you shock your body into loosing weight by only eating as much protein as you like from the list of 72 protein rich foods devised by Dr Dukan. This phase can last from 2 to 7 days and you can expect to loose up to seven pounds.
Phase 2 – Cruise
During the cruise phase you continue to loose weight however the amount of weight you loose tapers off towards the end of the phase. The length of this phase depends on how much weight you want to loose. The cruise phase alternates with one day eating only proteins and the next day eating protein and allowed vegetables, and so on.
Phase 3 – Consolidation
The consolidation phase should only be started when you have reached your target weight. This phase allows you to add fruit, bread, cheese, and starchy foods to your diet, with two celebration meals a week and a protein only day. It should be followed for five days for every pound lost.
Phase 4 – Stabilisation
This phase allows you to eat what you like without gaining weight as long as you include a protein day once a week.
During each phase you must eat oatbran daily, drink 1.5- 2 Liters of water a day and exercise daily.
My advice to anyone thinking about starting the Dukan Diet, and what I did, is to get the book and read it first. I researched the foods that are available in my area and thought about menus for the week. I also had a blood test to ensure that my kidneys and thyroid function correctly and to see what my cholesterol level was. I also had tests for diabetes and of course iron. Because I take iron, I do not take it at the same time as taking the oatbran as the oatbran stops the supplement from being used by the body.
The official Dukan Diet website at www.dukandiet.co.uk (or if you speak French visit the French site as it has more information) has a free calculator which works out your ideal weight and how many weeks on each phase it will take to reach the weight. This helped me plan my diet. And here I am in nearly into week three and over half a stone lighter!
The attack phase was easy to start with however by the 6th day my body was craving vegetables. The diet has become a lot easier in the cruise phase. According to the calculator I should reach my ideal weight by December. Can I keep it up that long? The Dukan Diet Facebook group is an excellent support and has already been a great help to me. The group consists of mainly women trying to loose weight sharing their struggles and success. Whenever I ask a question on the wall I always get supportive responses. The discussions are also very helpful.
Diet pros
Loose weight quickly
Loose inches quickly
Long term solution to keeping off the weight
Diet cons
Bad breath, dry mouth, and constipation
Raised cholesterol levels
Malnutrition due to a lack of necessary vitamins and minerals
Kidney or liver damage.
Diets can be stressful
For more information about the diet visit the official Dukan Diet website and the Facebook group. You can also follow my success and struggles on my diet journal.
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