Day Nine: Veggies Cruise

It was a rough day, I forgot to weigh this morning, I was in a hurry and just didn't get on the scales.  And then it seemed like I was craving food all day, I know this was a mental issue I've had it before I call it head hunger, but it about got the best of me today!  I didn't go off the plan, but I sure came close and it seemed like I was eating all day.  NOT GOOD. 

Tonight I had a wonderful dinner; lean pork loin chops, and grilled veggies (asparagus, zucchini, onions and carrots).  They were delicious but I added a little pepper infused olive oil to them and a bit of parmesan.  So I guess the olive oil was a small fat over load, I guess the scales will tell how much I hurt myself today.  I am still trying to get in all my water.

I am craving chocolate and something crispy like crackers.  Tomorrow I plan on having pizza (legal - found the recipe on DukanItOut.com recipe for "white Pizza" and if all else fails I have a chocolate protein powder that is zero carbs that is chocolate it's called Nectar, it comes in lots of flavors, my favorite is Fuzzy Navel, but the chocolate is in the cupboard and might be the answer to this craving.  I hope the scales are good to me tomorrow or it will be tough to not have an "off day".

Day Eight: Pure Protein Cruise

Well, adding veggies yesterday slowed me down to 0.2 pounds.  So my total weight loss so far is 7.4 pounds.  No complaints there.

The only part of adding veggies that I really liked was eating tomatoes, other wise I am not sure that I miss veggies at all.  We had Filet Mignon and Zucchini, Onions, Peppers and Tomatoes, all of it grilled except the Tomatoes.  It was all delicious, but the tomatoes were the best.  I also grilled some hamburgers to eat for lunches.  Also am still enjoying the galettes and the cheesecake. 

Today is a gorgeous day, I stayed home from work sick.  I am going to work on a quilt for my granddaughter Liliana and I am setting up my Apple TV.   If I am feeling better tonight I am going to go for a bike ride.  I found some great recipes one for pork chops and I think that is what we are having tomorrow night. 

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

Day Seven: Recipe idea

OK I have a recipe that I really like for Pepper Steak, decided that lunch today is pepper steak, oh my gosh it is good!!! Here is the link for my Pepper Steak recipe.  Now, for the record I had mine with no rice or course and I cut the oil down to just a tiny splash, maybe 1/2 Tbsp and then wiped the pan to spread it over the pan and soak up any excess, it worked perfectly and it was delicious.  I also added a small bit of finely chopped jalepeno to the peppers when I added them to give it just a little kick.  Give it a try on a veggie day, it is wonderful.

Day Seven: The Cruise

I am so excited for today, I get to have VEGGIES!  There is a tomato in my future, I love tomatoes! So I got on the scales this morning once again expecting a low number and oh my gosh I lost 1 pound, that brings my total to 7.2 pounds in 6 days!!!!  I couldn't be happier with that number.  I am nervous about the veggies today, but I realize that this is where the weight loss slows down and I am OK with that, in theory, I am sure that mentally I will be really sad when it slows down... 

I had my typical galette and an over easy egg for breakfast and as usual it was extremely filling and satisfying.  I discovered another thing that I hope is legal (did it last night as a midnight snack).  A little fat free cream cheese, a little vanilla carbmaster yogurt (you can get it a krogers and smiths) a little splenda and a teaspoon of sugar free hot cocoa mix, blended all together until smooth.  Really kicked my chocolate craving and it was quite tasty.

We are having filet mignon for dinner tonight grilled with zucchini and hopefully sliced tomatoes and grilled onions too and possibly a carrot or two out of the garden.  I can't believe I am saying this but I am really looking forward to some veggies.  I think I will buy some asparagus tomorrow and have that on tuesday night.  I have green beans in the garden as well that really need to be picked and eaten so maybe that will also be on the menu for tuesday, or maybe I will cook them on monday for David and just have them as left overs on tuesday for lunch.  The possibilities are endless.  Only 13.8 pounds to go until I reach Dr. Dukan's goal or "True" weight for me, I can't lie, I am excited to see that number on the scale but I also am struggling with the idea of stopping at that point, I really want to lose about 5 pounds more than that... we shall see.

Day Six: The Attack

So 0.6 must be my special number!  I think I like that number.  Today when I weighed in I really thought my number would be 0.  I tried a recipe from the My Dukan Diet website (see my list of favorites for the link).  It was for something called Amazing Ricotta Cheesecake, I didn't have quite enough fat free ricotta cheese so I substituted 8 ounces of fat free cream cheese.  It made quite a large Cheesecake and it was quite good.  I think I cheated a little by buying a tub of sugar free fat free coolwhip and had about 1 Tablespoon on top of my cheesecake.  It was the most delicious treat.  So I am going to try a couple of the other cheesecake and "dessert" recipes.  Now we need to find out how badly that Cheesecake treat is going to slow me down.  Bought a roasted chicken for lunch today and it was delicious, of course I skipped the skin and only ate the breast meat, even with 2 of us eating it we had tons left over for tomorrow.  Had steak and salmon kabobs for dinner and of course they were delicious.  I will be anxious to see what the scales say in the morning.  I don't think I drank enough water today, will vow to do better tomorrow.  

Day Five: The Attack

I lost 0.6 pounds this morning, pretty amazing to see the scales continue to go down so regularly, especially after the first day being such a low number.  I can admit it now, but I was really ready to quit after day one.  Today I walked for 20 minutes and took the stairs instead of the elevator (my new goal is to never take the elevator, we shall see).  Still loving the oat bran galette, it is delicious.

Another, great day with this diet, I am sure that it will slow down soon, but for now this is quite exciting.

Day Four - The Attack

Well, things are going pretty good, I am in love with the oat bran galette, had one for breakfast again today and it was delicious, better than the first one because it was cooked at a slightly lower temperature.  On the scales this morning I had lost another 0.4 pounds which means I am at 5 pounds lost, not too bad.  I don't think todays will be as good, not sure what I did wrong, but I feel like I somehow ate too much today???  I discovered a new website today that has lots of recipes it is called My Dukan Diet and has lots of information for anyone starting this diet.  I explored the possibility of joining the Dukan Diet website but I am waiting for a few weeks to see how things go without the support of the website.

My cravings are subsiding, but I still have weak moments when I am truly not sure if I will cheat or not.  I read a biography of someone on the Dukan Diet Website and their comment that really stuck out with me was that this diet is very forgiving, if you stray off and jump right back on it will only be a minor set back.  I am pretty determined to finish the Attack phase really I only need 1 more day although I am seriously considering doing 6 or 7 days, but that kind of depends on what the scales say over the next 2 days.

Today I walked for 32 minutes, it was a nice walk, but the weather is very humid here and I was very sweaty when I got back.  I haven't been riding my bike for the last week and a half and I know I need to get back in the saddle, my husband was going with me but he hasn't been feeling up to it the last few weeks which makes it hard for me (I am a little dependent on his moral support to keep me riding regularly), I know it makes no sense but I will be trying to get back into that this weekend!

I have done so many diets in the past that I really worry that I have dieted myself into a position of not being able to bump my metabolism back up.  My body always seems to put on the breaks unless I cut the calories down to almost nothing...basically at 800 calories I lose weight, I hope that this diet will fix that and bring me back up to being able to eat normally and not gain.

Day Three: The Attack (Part 1)

Well, I know I am a little early today!  But I had to get on here and say I am excited!  I lost 4.6 pounds this morning!  Oh my gosh, that was fun!  Also, this morning I tried a recipe from the book, the Galette.  This was great, so here is the recipe:
1 egg white, beaten
2 Tbsp Oat Bran
2 Tbsp fat-free yogurt (they say Greek Yogurt, didn't have any so just used vanilla fat free yogurt)
1 tsp of splenda

Beat the egg white.  In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients until well mixed then add the egg white and mix well.  Pour into a non-stick pan (don't have one so used a regular one with a little Pam) cook on one side for 4-5 minutes on medium low heat, flip it over and cook for another 3-4 minutes.  Instead of splenda you can use seasonings such as garlic and onion to make a savory pancake.
This was delicious, I had it for breakfast with an over-easy egg.  It was extremely filling.  I will be making this a lot it really fulfilled my sweet tooth. 

For the record, I forgot to mention in my first post, Fat Free Sugar Free Yogurt is legal and you can have it as much as you want if it has no fruit in it (so vanilla or plain) and all the other fat free sugar free yogurts once a day.  I think tonight I will try to do a blog with the actual lists of foods for the Attack and Cruise Phases.

This day is going great!

Day Two: The Attack

OK, well that was depressing, just got off the scales, I lost 0.2 pounds, not sure that was worth it, I felt like I lost more.  I will try 1 more day but there had better be at least a pound.  The doctor says that during this phase you should lose 2 to 7 pounds or something like that, my plan was to do at least 5 days of this phase so I shouldn't get to discouraged.  Last night I got smart and made a bunch of proteins that I can eat today.  I made tuna salad (fat free miracle whip, just a tiny bit and sugar free pickle relish, a chopped hard boiled egg and about a teaspoon of chopped onions I discovered that this is legal as a seasoning), seasoned tilapia filets, hamburger (95% fat free) patty and boiled eggs.  David (my very supportive and adorable husband) got up extra early this morning (4 a.m.) and made me an egg over easy, which is my favorite way to eat them and he makes them perfect!  The egg was wonderful, it was really weird eating this early in the morning, but we are not supposed to miss breakfast so...  Mid-morning I had some Tilapia.  For lunch I ate about 4 ounces of my tuna salad.  About 2 I had another 2-3 ounces of tuna.  Went for a 20 minute walk to Sunflower Market (where I proceded to covet the fruit and veggies).  I hope the cravings go away SOON!  Got home and mowed the lawn and then had to run an errand, while we were out decided we didn't have time to fix the chicken I had gotten out to grill so Dave decided we needed to go to Texas Roadhouse.  Can I say at this point I was terrified, a part of me was pretty sure I was going to eat the entire basket of rolls with cinnamon butter!  But I didn't, Dave had one roll and then told the waitress to take them away.  Since I can't eat a lot at any one sitting, Dave and I usually share a meal.  I was nervous, we decided on Steak and Grilled Shrimp, I told Dave to order what ever sides he wanted.  The waitress came and Dave ordered the Ribeye with grilled Shrimp and NO sides.  So it was simple, the food came it was delicious and I didn't cheat.  Bonus, the bill came and the manager had taken $6 off our bill because we didn't order sides!!  So no idea what the outcome of today will be but it was a little bit easier and I feel really good about how it went.  The scales will tell tomorrow I guess.

Day One: The Attack

Hi Everyone.  Well, here goes.  Day One was hard!  I should preface that with the fact that of course, Sunday July 31st, I ate everything that I thought I would miss and that included my favorite food - "Chocolate with any kind of nut".  Yep, that's right, I ate chocolate, jelly belly's (another favorite candy that I shouldn't be eating anyway), zucchini bread that Katie (my brilliant daughter) made, pretty much everything bad for me.  I paid the price, got on the scale in the morning and well, that was an eye opener, not going to give you that embarrassing number but suffice it to say that currently I need to lose 20 pounds (according to Dr. Dukan) and to make me happy maybe even 25.  I ate exactly what I was supposed to eat, I can honestly say I wasn't hungry but I sure wanted a delicious piece of chocolate or maybe a cute little Jelly Belly, I struggled through and was pretty happy with myself.  Can't wait to get on the scales in the morning and see what happened.   Stick to it, Cathy

The Dukan Diet - a little background!

The Dukan Diet (book by Pierre Dukan, MD)

There are 4 "phases" of the Dukan diet: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation, Stabilize (the forever after phase).  For just a little background I will describe how I understand these phases, for more detail check out the websites or check the book out of the library (or buy it - I did on my iPad).  The book is The Dukan Diet - 2 Steps to Lose the Weight - 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever by Dr. Pierre Dukan.

Phase 1 - The Attack:  The Attack Phase last 2 - 7 days dependent on how much you need to lose and your past dieting history, in other words how resistant to weight loss you have become.  Basically in this phase you eat only protein and preferably meat!  You also get to eat 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Oat Bran each day.  Add to that at least 1 1/2 liters of water that translates to at least 50.72 ounces of water...Simple!  I drink at least 64 ounces so this seemed pretty simple to me.  In this phase you absolutely can NOT cheat, even a tiny cheat will throw you off course.  The protein should be low fat, but that being said you can eat steak, eggs, fish, chicken, shrimp (my favorite), tuna, venison, etc as long as it is a low-fat cut.  Most fatty fish is OK due to the fact that the fat in for example Salmon is loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids.  You can also drink diet sodas, crystal light type drinks and lots and lots of water.  No sugar, no added fats.  They recommend that you use your grill as much as possible and use seasonings as much as you would like.  Lastly, 20 minutes of exercise every day, go for a walk!

Phase 2 - The Cruise:  The Cruise Phase will last until you reach your goal.  This phase consists of alternating Attack Phase Days with Protein/Veggie Days.  There are basically 2 thoughts on this phase, either you do 1 day of Protein/Veggie followed by 1 day of Attack OR 5 days of Protein/Veggie followed by 4 days of Attack.  It is really up to you, according to Dr. Dukan it works the same whichever way you choose.  Now that being said, I have been reading some of the info on the web and there are some people that swear they do better on the 5 day alternating diet.  On a Protein/Veggie day you continue to eat like the Attack phase only you add Veggies.  Veggies are from a list you can not have Potatoes, corn, peas or any High Carb veggies, my favorites to name a few are:  Tomatoes, Cucumbers, any lettuce type veggie, asparagus (exciting side note about this veggie - it's a diuretic), mushrooms, celery, zucchini, summer squash, peppers, etc.  You can also have a serving of carrots, beets and artichokes (just don't eat them at every meal).  You can make a great dressing using flavored vinegar and fat free yogurt and that is totally legal.  Lastly, up your exercise to 30 minutes.

Phase 3 - Consolidation:  OK you have reached your goal.  Now it is time to make it stick.  This phase lasts 5 days for every pound that you have lost!  In this phase you get to add 1 fruit per day, this includes all fruits except bananas, grapes, cherries, dried fruits and nuts.  You can add 2 slices of 100% whole grain bread per day.  One serving of cheese per day and are you ready?  Two servings of starchy foods per WEEK.  I am going to have corn on the cob.  During the first half of consolidation you are allowed 1 "Celebration" meal per week, this is just a meal not a day, go crazy, enjoy yourself this is a celebration, eat what ever you want including dessert.  In the second half you may have 2 Celebration meals per week.   A little hint for the celebration, never have second helpings.  Use common sense, don't get off track here by making your meal turn into days.  Don't forget to exercise, this should be habit by now, but don't slack off.

Phase 4 - The Rest Of Your Life:  This phase is the rest of your life.  Eat the things you want every day except Thursday (yep, he picked a day and it is set in stone!!).  Thursday is an Attack day, every Thursday no exceptions.  I know this sounds crazy, but his argument is that if you don't pick a specific day you will continually put it off until you just forget it all together and if you want to maintain this great new body weight you need this day each week.

So there you have it, The Dukan Diet in a nutshell!  So on August 1, 2011 I am going to start this so we will see what happens...