Tuesday, March 11, 2014

My Dukan Experience (Well I have never done a blog before but here goes.) Key lime Dukan Muffins, Meat chips, Dukan Brownie with chocolate frosting

     I have been doing the Dukan Diet for 49 days now and have lost 28.5lbs so far.  I am on the cruise phase of the Dukan Diet. For me it is the frustrating part of the diet now because my weight keeps bouncing up and down right now.  Also being a woman and having water retention doesn't help either.  But overall it is going rather well, especially since I can not do the exercising part (even if it is just 30mins of walking) due to back issues.  

How the Dukan Diet Works

The diet is based on the intake of high protein, low carbohydrate and low fat food. With protein one gets the energy to perform the daily activities, and simultaneously the fat also burns. The diet caught the fancy of people because of its simple working. There are not too many restrictions, and one can eat the 'prescribed high protein foods' at any time of the day, and in any quantity. The list of foods is quite huge, and there are more than 100+ protein rich foods, which can be eaten during the diet. The diet works for both vegetarians and non vegetarians, as protein is found in both. The diet is also not very strict, and one is also allowed to gorge on whatever food they want to eat in certain phases. And above all, the diet works for weight loss. Let's understand the four phases in detail now.

4 Phases of the Dukan Diet

#Phase 1: The Attack Phase
The attack phase is the first phase of the Dukan diet, and it is basically a preparatory phase for the person for weight loss. Within a week of this phase, the person can experience weight loss of up to 2-3 kilos. People find this first phase quite difficult to deal with, as it completely changes the food habits of a person. A person can eat only the specified high protein foods, in any quantity. Protein rich foods should be cooked without oil or butter, and to improve the taste one can add condiments, spices and sauce. Beverages like tea, coffee, and soda without sugar are permitted during the attack phase. Oat bran is also a good option which can be considered, as it is very rich in protein, and also has fiber. Also one should drink lots of water, as the person experiences dry mouth during this phase of the diet. The common foods that can be had during the attack phase are lean beef, low fat chicken, turkey, lean ham, cottage cheese, skimmed milk etc,. As one cannot add extra fat while cooking, roasting or grilling the food is the best option.

#Phase 2: The Cruise Phase
The duration of any phase is not fixed. The attack phase lasts for about 1-10 days depending on how much weight the person has to lose. After the attack phase is completed comes the cruise phase. The goal of this phase is helping the person to reach the target weight. In the cruise phase one has to include vegetables along with the protein rich foods. Thus there are two diet plans that can be followed during the cruise phase. One is, having only the high protein foods and the next one is having a combination of high protein foods and vegetables. The best way is following both these diets on alternate days. For best results one should boil the vegetables or just eat them raw. Broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts are some of the best vegetables one can have during the second phase. As the aim of the cruise phase is achieving the target weight of the person, the phase continues till the ideal weight loss is achieved.

#Phase 3: The Consolidation Phase
Now that the ideal weight is achieved, the next step would obviously be maintaining the weight. And, this is what the third phase or the consolidation phase targets. This one can be called the least strict phase of the Dukan diet. This is because one can have some initially banned fatty foods like pastas, pizzas, etc. But don't stop eating the high protein foods and vegetables. The fatty foods should only be had in moderation (once a week). Also do not expect weight loss during this phase, the aim of this phase is only weight maintenance and not weight loss. For how long this phase should be continued depends on the weight the person had lost in the previous months, and the duration thus differs from person to person. One can have a high protein fruit like banana, orange in a day, but the high sugar dry fruits should be avoided.

#Phase 4: The Stabilization Phase
This is the last phase of the Dukan diet. You have now lost weight and also managed to maintain it. So now is the time that you can go back to your old food habits (to some extent). But don't take it literally, on one day of the week (preferably Thursday) you have to eat only the high protein meals. On the other six days one can have whatever one desires. Certain modifications are expected to be made in the lifestyle. One should do any form of exercise daily to maintain the weight, and follow certain measures to maintain the weight like chewing the food slowly, and using the staircase. But for breakfast stick to the protein rich oat bran, it is the best food
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/4phases-of-dukan-diet.html
 
    My husband created a spreadsheet to help keep track of our progress. Seeing the results helps with  the motivation, at least for me it does.
    See the picture below.  Please be nice to me about my weight.....I know I am morbidly obese.
The brownish area was the Attack phase (where you eat nothing but lean protein: turkey burger, chicken, egg whites, fat free cottage cheese, etc).  The attack phase is where I lost ALOT of weight!!!!  Once I started the Cruise Phase (which is what I am on now still) I started to bounce up and down more but have still lost overall. 

Tonight for Dinner I made Ranch Bison burgers.
  • Bison burger
  • Ranch powder seasoning
I just mixed the bison and the ranch together and cooked it in a frying pan till well done. Very tasty!!!


I also made Key Lime Dukan Muffins.
    for this I used the recipe from this site: http://mydukandiet.com/recipes/oat-bran-cookies.html
    and just tweaked it.  I used Key lime Greek yogurt and added lime juice.  I also doubled the batch and just made 6 muffins like cookies.
 

I also made a Dukan Brownie with Chocolate Frosting.  
   For the Brownie I followed this recipe: http://mydukandiet.com/recipes/chocolate-brownies.html
This was so good my mom also wants a copy of the recipe!!!!!
 


 
     The last things I made today was meat chips.   I made two kinds.  Ranch and BBQ flavor.
for the BBQ I made a dry rub I used this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bbq-spice-rub/   but just Dukanized the ingredients, example splenda brown sugar instead of real brown sugar.
For the Ranch I used the same seasoning I used as for the ranch bison burger. 
 
Meat chips:  (I basically used this recipe just tweaked it again myself)  http://mydukandiet.com/recipes/meat-crisps.html
   I just used thick sliced fat free turkey (or fat free ham) and cut them into chip pieces. Then I sprinkled the seasoning on them and baked them at 425 for 15minutes.
 
Above is the BBQ Meat Chips

Above is the Ranch Meat Chips
 
I have a long way to go but believe that I am doing good so far.  If you have any question please let me know and I will try to answer them.  I also plan on posting more recipes when I find or tweak them.  I am open to suggestion you may have also. 

 










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