Dukan diet: Diet discussion & weight loss forum

If you are experiencing things with your body while on the diet, you can talk about it here.
We all have our differencies but at the end of the day we're all the same! So let's hear!

Hello all,

It is the first time I try to stick rigourously to a diet and I knew I would need coaching with it. I tried some things in the past but somehow my good intentions always slipped. Having said that, I managed to lose 5 kg in about a month with a home made low carb/GI diet (basically cutting out the starch and as much fat and sugar as I could bring myself to and exercising more). I was thrilled, it was the first time in decades I visibly lost weight but then the dreaded plateau hit and I got stuck on what I thought was 90 kg but, now with digital scales, turned out to be 91.5kg. Never mind what I tried, stuck I was. My body had decided this was quite enough thank you and it was time for something else!

I must say I found the 3 days Attack PP phase incredibly hard. I love meat, dairy and eggs but Lord did I miss my fruit and veg! What didn't help was that my weight stubbornly stuck to where I started: 91.5kg. By the end of the 3rd day I was ready to throw the towel in. Everybody was talking about how fast they lost weight in that phase and all I experienced was slight shakiness when exercising and a miserable mood!

Funny enough, the start of the Cruise phase saw the first weight loss and it has been slow but steady since. I find it hard to drink at least 1L of water - never done and not thirsty - and with shift work and a young child at home a diet without lapses is simply impossible. But I try to be a good girl and I hope to see the day where the fat apron on my stomach is visibly less! I certainly feel better for it and I hope my bloodsugar levels are behaving better as well. My bloodpressure has definitely improved over the last several weeks!

Today was not a good day. I woke up feeling miserable and stressed (am also in the process of organising a house move) and my stomach felt upset. A warm bath made me feel slightly better and after lunchtime my appetite returned. We walked the 3 miles round trip to the pony but I felt sluggish, very sweaty and am glad to be sitting down again. No idea why, no water retention (possibly rather the opposite I would guess). Hope tomorrow will be better!

Hi Lerato,

Well you don't need to worry; We all have stressful days sometimes it happens.... I sincerely hope that you will feel better tomorrow. Also try to drink herbal tea like camomilla to help you, I do that and it works. You are doing very well with the diet, keep going and again don't worry try to relax, you did have the good reaction to have a walk and change your mind. Let me know if you need any help.

Hi Loumodo,

I had a secret weapon: I hadn't used my 'Fruit Joker' yet, the one where I was allowed to eat 800 grams of low sugar fruit. Once I was allowed to add vegetables the need wasn't that great anymore so I kept it for a treat or an all-low emergency. I used it now and I feel a bit better. Will brew my favourite fennel tea in a minute, I find it very soothing. I will take it easy for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully, by the end of the week most emotional stress will be dealt with!

Well, luckily I feel a lot better today, even though apparently I somehow 'gained' weight yesterday! I think that can be contributed to me feeling not well, not moving around as much, not drinking enough and also unmistaken signs of constipation!

Today my energy has returned though, helped by a lovely sunny day. Gardening work to do, bye bye!

A.

HI girlies

Just reading what one of you wrote about not loosing weight and not liking to drink water.

I hate drinking water. i would drink maybe 4 glasses at most a day, if that and maybe a cup of tea or two. so i decided to try drinking bottled water. Bingo!!!  ( Volvic is my favorite, and there is a slight taste difference with bottled waters)

I now drink 3 litres and then top up coffee and tea by another litre. I actually crave drinking water now. I never suffered from thirst, so this was a new experience to me.

The more you drink the more you loose, the first two weeks are hard, you spend all day and all night up and down to the loo, but it settles down the body finds its own rhythem in no time.

If you are not loosing weight, it may be that you are not eating enough. the body needs to be sent into a a state of Ketosis, and there for needs to be stripped of sugar and carbs and blasted with protien, and lots of it. so large meals are good, and grazing a must. 

If you want a good sweet treat. Try Onken (Dr Oetker) Vanilla yog, its fat free and sugar free. It comes in pint pots and is divine and full of vanilla seeds and very creamy. I eat probably 2 a day.

I also tried making a fab dessert for some girl friends when they came for lunch. I made sugar free strawberry jelly, and shared out the pint of jelly into 5 glasses. set to chill .

Then i mixed a carton of Quark soft fat free cheese with 0% greek yog, 2 caps of vanilla extract, and grated rind of one orange. Mix all this together and plop ontop of jelly . I topped with Onken vanilla yog. It was sooooooooo tasty and very very filling, and a huge success.

Hope that helps a bit, good luck and i look forward to reading your next instalment

MMxxx

And all totally allowed on this diet. 

Hello Hannah,

What exactly do I do with the rhubarb?

A.

First of all, mummymouse all excellent suggestions there, you only have to be careful not to drink too much water if you suffer from water retention.

Next for rhubarb, you can cook it in a pan with some water and a squeeze or orange juice until it is soft, or you can bake it in the oven.

Let me know how it helps.

Hannah

Dukan Diet Team

Hi Mummymouse,

Well either the 3 days were not long enough for me or other things were going on but it didn't have any effect during those days!

I hardly ever eat dessert to be honest, even now I simply eat the main dish and a snack and that is it.

Today I had a yoghurt with a tbsp oatbran for breakfast plus a small drink. A cup of coffee followed, 2 large glasses sparkling water with a flavour, a cup of herbal tea, a cup of fat free instant chicken bouillon, a fromage frais with some splenda, 3 slices of turkey waverthin ham, 2 boiled eggs, a tin of tuna flakes with fromage frais and will have salmon for dinner with another cup of coffee afterwards.

According to the scales that gains me just over a kg at the end of the day which will have gone by the morning but I doubt there will be any weight loss!

Thanks Hannah, will chase the rhubarb tomorrow, definitely needed ;-)

A.

YEEEOOUUOOOOCCH! you forgot to tell the poor woman to put lots of SPLENDA in it!  It needs to be chopped into 2centimetre lengths and stewed slowlywith a little water (1 centimetre in bottom of pan) and it's lovely.  Mix 100g (about 3 Tablespoons) into my oatbran porridge in the morning, plus vanilla yoghurt, oreaten with the galette + vanilla yoghurt.

Enjoy Juliet!

Hi MM - does the body actually go into Ketosis on this Attack phase?  Doesn't the oatbran negate that?  I am a nurse but I haven't actually managed to locate any urine dipsticks to check it out? Does the Dear Doctor have any info on this?  I am curious to know.

Juliet

Hello

I am enjoying the diet very much and have followed it without too much trouble. But I do get frustrated when my body goes into stagnation which seems to happen a lot. It was particularly depressing when I read the enormous weight losses some Dukaneers have managed. I do not have a huge appetitie anyway and I was interested to read the 'not eating enough quote' because this rang a bell with me as my family and friends are always saying they don't think I eat enough!!! The problem I have is that I cannot eat all the food in the daily instructions because I feel too full. And my frustration comes because I expect the scales to show bigger weight loss than it does.

Anyone got any suggestions?

glynis

Hi glynis,

I know it can be very frustrating to go through periods of stagnation but it is normal especially if you have messed around with diets in the past. I am wondering are you suffering from constipation? If so then please try eeating some stewed rhubarb, you can have up to 200g a day. Avoid all tolerated foods and make sure you are eating and drinking enough as you don't want your body to think you are starving it!Make sure you are doing lots of walking and drinking enough. Please come back to us in a few days to let us know...

Hannah

I am confused, Hannah, I wonder whether I should be avoiding all tolerated foods too but if I look in the 'cupboard' that includes just about all spices, garlic, flavoured water (Vulvic??), mustard, gherkins, basically all the things that give a food flavour?????

A.

Hi Hannah

I am not constipated and I walk for 11/2 hours every day with my dog and also do a lot of walking if I am out and about without the dog. I also did 1 hour of aerobics and upper and lower body work today ...................so I am pretty active. But I have tried every diet in the world and so maybe my body is rebelling??? I actually feel ok other than the usual perimenopausal annoyances that we women have to love with but I would like the scales to reflect the fact that I am following the diet closely.

Glynis

1Juliet1, I don't know which side of the pond you are on, but in the US, I just ask the pharmacist for "Keto-Stix."  They keep them behind the counter.  There aren't perscription, but they are about for 20, and the container is small.  So I think it is a security thing.

Hi lerato1uk,

No spices and garlic etc are not tolerated you can have them freely, for a list of tolerated foods please look in your kitchen in your slimming apartment

Hannah

Hey,

I'm on day six af the attack fase and I follow the diet strictly. Since the start I've already lost 3 kg, but when I weighed myself this morning I saw that I've put on 1 kg :-( I didn't have any lapses and did a lot of physical activity yesterday... Any ideas???

Hi morgaine,

It sounds like you may be suffering from constipation, please take the advice on the FAQ and let us know how you are getting on from your slimming apartment email.

http://www.dukandiet.co.uk/en/345,59,23,the-community/frequently-asked-questions.html#Answer59

Kind regards

Hannah

Hey,

thank you for your answer, but it seems to have solved itself overnight. I dropped 1.6 kg since yesterday :-)