When I was a little girl, I wasn’t overweight. However, when I reached my teens I started to gradually gain weight. I didn’t really notice it at first, as it was creeping on. However, when I was sixteen, I started working in my local McDonalds, which was obviously a bad idea...

My Dukan story...

As time went by, the weight started to creep on, and my clothes started to get tight. I kept an eye on the scales, and even though the weight was going up (as was my clothes size!) I wasn’t too bothered. I tried a few different diets, with the help of my family, but to no avail. My weight stopped at a steady 15stone 7lbs, which was very overweight for my small height of 5 feet 4 inches.

I met my current partner just before I went to university, and even though I said “oh I’m so fat!” he still thought I was beautiful. However, when we moved to Aberdeen and went to University, the weight began to creep on for both of us.
It wasn’t something I really noticed in either of us, as the weight gain was small but steady. I tried more diets, including one where all my food was sent to me each week, but again, I fell off the dieting wagon! I eventually hit my heaviest weight of 17stone 4lbs at this point and I was a size 22/24, even though I lied to myself about it.

My favorite support Dukan food: Homemade turkey sausages, onion gravy and carrot and swede mash

My Dukan treat:
Low Fat Dukan Ice Cream from the recipe book

My favourite form of exercise:
Wii fit and pole dancing

The nicest compliment I've been paid:
I went into a takeaway place that I used to go to all the time to pick up an order for my celebration meal for myself and my boyfriend and the guy behind the counter looked at me and said “is this order for your sister?” I hadn’t been in so long, he recognised the order but he didn’t recognise me!

What keeps me going:
Looking forward to the protein and veg days, it gets me through the harder pure protein days! Also, seeing the scales going down!

The advice I'd give to others "Dukanians":
If the weight loss stalls, take the advice from the book and up the exercise and do some extra pure protein days. Also, if you have a slip up, don’t see it as a failure! Just see tomorrow as a brand new day!

During the summer of 2010 we had an extension put on the house we were living in, and my partner and I stayed at his parent's house temporarily. It was during this time that I decided to give up gluten and dairy as the rest of his family didn’t eat it, and in those three months my weight dropped to 15stone 10lbs. I still wasn’t happy with the way I looked and felt, and I knew I had to do something about it.

Around September of 2010, my partner’s mum told me about someone at work who had started the Dukan diet.
She bought a copy of the book for me and I gave it a read.
I was sceptical at first, and I was really unsure about the way the diet worked. I couldn’t see myself living without carbohydrates, but my partner was really enthusiastic about it. So, grudgingly, I decided to start the diet as part of my New Year’s resolution and had my first day of attack on the 1st of January.

I struggled through that first day, as everyone else in the house (apart from my partner) ate what they want but the next morning I had already lost a pound!
I decided to give the attack phase a go and see what happened and by the end of the seventh day I had lost 5lbs. I thought that this diet must be good and moved into cruise and by the end of the first month I had already lost a stone!
That fantastic loss gave me the encouragement I needed to push through.

I reached my true weight of 11 stone on the 1st of July this year.

I lost a total of 4 stone 10 lbs. in 6 months, and I was a full month ahead of my estimated date of completion of the Cruise Phase.

I couldn’t have been happier and everyone congratulated me.
Everyone at work and all my friends on Facebook knew I was doing the diet, and had been following my progress throughout the 6 months. The encouragement I received from them was definitely something that has kept me going! It has been such a success for me that people I know have started the diet too!

I am now two weeks into consolidation and things are still going well. Another 2lbs have come off, but I am hoping it will level out now. I am now a size 12/14, and I can’t remember the last time I was this happy!

Also, for those of you wondering how my partner has done on the diet, he has lost 2 stone 2lbs, and we are both very proud of each other!