I started the Dukan diet after researching for a week on the internet all the different methods for losing weight...

My Dukan story

I was looking for a diet where you would not be starving and one that has a proper consolidation phase because for me this is THE crucial phase which protects you from falling under the food spell again, i.e. ending up "yo-yo" dieting...
I took time to take stock of the reasons why I had got up to 20 stone. It is important right from the start to understand what is driving you and to do this for yourself as this will ensure that your motivation is unshakeable.
I bought the book and read it in two evenings and then I was away!

I know that I can lose weight...but how many pounds? Will I keep up the same motivation throughout the diet? Isn't frustration likely to get the better of my resolutions? Won't I grow weary of it all?

My favorite support Dukan food:
My chocolate or coconut melt-in-the-mouth cake (thank goodness for flavourings)

My Dukan treat:
My tandoori chicken kebabs and baked chicory wrapped in ham with Dukan béchamel sauce

My favourite form of exercise:
Getting off the bus 3 stations before my stop and going up the stairs

The nicest compliment I've been paid:
Here... I am stumped!

What keeps me going:
my results - 4 stone 5lbs in 3 and half months and to have got under the 15 stone 10lb mark

The advice I'd give to others "Dukanians":
HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF, LOVE YOURSELF!!!

I had so many questions that I can only now answer after 3 and a half months of dieting!
What was a life-saver for me was that I set myself ATTAINABLE goals!
First lose 1½ stone then 3 stone then get under the 15 stone 10lb mark, and keep on losing a little more and a little more until you get the figure you want. I think above all there is the risk of putting yourself under too much pressure and getting impatient, whereas if you clearly stick to the rules and persevere, sooner or later the pounds give way! Getting through stagnation periods has turned into a game, I need to prove to myself that it's me and my head that decide what is good for me and no longer my stomach!
The weather is miserable, the unemployment figures have gone up, the coffee machine has run out of milk... all this tragic news not so long ago would have been a great excuse for me to make myself a little treat, a home made cake or a nice little dish of something, or ... both!
But today, I can enjoy eating with the foods from the list! I am crafty with them!
A little bran brownie with a gooey chocolate centre made with fat-reduced sugar-free cocoa, an enooOoormous oven- baked salmon parcel, tandoori turkey kebabs with a cucumber, fromage frais and mint salad, a little mullet cooked in stock with fresh tomatoes and sun-dried peppers...
I keep on trying out new menus, I don't get tired! I keep inventing to surprise my taste buds!
NO QUESTION OF FLAGGING! At the start it's a trial of strength with your old habitudes. Just for a moment I'd like to let you into my feelings so you can see how great it is not to give in to cravings caused by some annoyance which is forgotten a moment later, how good you feel when at last you are really satisfied with the results on your scales or when you haven't given in to those cravings that go completely against your deepest desires!
Once you've adopted these good habits you have to hang on to them: keep up the rhythm, and most of all remain positive, keep yourself going and get lots of little pleasures out of your daily life!
If you treat yourself badly by putting yourself down you'll put a spanner in the works all of your own doing!
When it's hard, the solution has been a little blog where I can put down everything I don't want to keep to myself, it's a sort of safety valve which let's me share my feelings with people who like reading what I write!
Until you start losing weight, you don't actually realize just how tiring being overweight is, the inconveniences it causes, and I'm not even talking about appearance here because personally I never had a problem with being large and curvaceous, no doubt because the people I'm with are just too nice!
Today I've got a body that fits with my determined, dynamic personality and I've got even more energy to bug the people close to me! Long may it last!!!
I like this saying, as Seneca wrote "An athlete won't be very motivated in a competition if he has never been put to the test."
May your tests give you the courage to fulfil your ambitions!