The Dukan Diet: Attack Phase Over and Weight Loss Update!

This is a long post about my first experiences with the Dukan diet. If you are interested in weight loss or the Dukan diet, please do, grab a cup of tea with skimmed milk and sweetener and read on.

Also, there is no way I am suffering without carbs for a week and not talking about it on here, so here goes. (I’ll reveal the total weight loss for the last 5 days at the end!).

Sob story time…

Me = Way porkier than I should be.

Whilst I have never been skinny (I have always been big boned, have big boobs etc.) I am probably the biggest I have ever been now.

I wear a UK size 14 pushing to size 16 (certainly any coat or jacket I buy at the moment is a size 16) which I don’t think any woman in my family has ever worn O.o

(I know that size 14/16 is not by any means obese but for me personally, I feel like I am carrying a lot of padding).

I know what my weaknesses are; rich food, large portions, staying up very late and snacking, eating away at the desk.

Let’s get personal…

My goal weight, or “ideal” weight according to the Dukan website (taking into account my height and bone structure) is 9stone 10lbs.

I wasn’t far off that a few years ago, and yet I used to moan about how chubby I was then – I’d love to be back there! (the grass is always greener….)

Anyway, so I need to lose 1 st 8lbs exactly(Do the math!) which is not as bad as I thought as I thought I had 4 stone to lose…

Motivation?…

I want a Elie Saab wedding dress. Elie Saab doesn’t cater for porkers (they probably do, but that sounded good!).

Let the de-porking begin!

Enter Mr Dukan…

So I bought the Dukan Diet book, which there has been much hype about just to see if I can do it.

I have tried many diets although my will power is EXTREMELY low, so I don’t last very long.

Shake diets don’t work for me (have tried Celebrity Slim, Slim Fast, Herbalife and Tony Fergueson) as I need something to chew on and I can’t stand drinking that amount of milk; cow, goat, soya, rice – doesn’t matter, it turns my stomach. Nor do I want reliance on a company’s brand of substitute food or be using tablets and supplements every day and be too scared to start eating real food again.

I have tried some other diets like the Harcombe diet but without tea and coffee, forget it.

I have tried Weightwatchers, but really, that’s just the same as counting normal calories except they used points, which I found quite annoying (having to look up values for this and that).

Having said that you get support from other people when using Weightwatchers as you do with Herbalife so if you work well that way (having some support and peer pressure) these diets may suit you.

I considered joining Slimming World too but I just don’t have time to go after work.

I have taken various diet pills in the past, and tried drinks like ‘Kilo Off’. They’re ok, nothing major.

Note: Plenty of people have success with the above diets – everyone is DIFFERENT.

Me personally, I seriously have a low attention span and if I need pleasure of some sort with my meals. I can’t be bothered with fussy bits of detail I have too much to think about and do day to day to be tied to super restrictive complex rules and entering what I’ve eaten into the computer or diary.

I need coffee and tea and cola. I do not want to feel ill or be sick because of an overload of supplements or milk. I want quick results and something sustainable.

I had a feeling the Dukan would suit me because I get to:

1. Eat Real Food
2. Follow clear rules but without having to fuss over things like specific calories
3. The first period, at least, is only 5 days – I get to see some results quickly

The Dukan diet works in phases to help you lose weight then sustain the weight loss. I’m going to talk about the first phase which I have just completed (“Attack”).

The Attack Phase

In the Attack phase which can last for 2 – 7 days (average is 5 days, which is what I have done), you can only eat proteins. No fats, no sugars, no carbs, no vegetables or fruit. You can eat as much of the proteins as you want. Sounds easy? It really isn’t!

The book covers it in all the detail.

Another thought: In the supermarket…

I realised that this was going to be expensive.

Let’s face it, carbs are cheap and filling (Pasta, Bread, Cakes etc.) followed by vegetables followed by meat and fish, which is expensive in the UK (as I’m sure it is all over the world).

For example, there was a four pack of chicken breasts in Sainsbury’s (which they only plump up with water anyway) for £6.99! How is that not ridiculously expensive? Remember all I could eat was protein so I could easily finish 1 pack per day!

Turkey I found cheaper – you can’t have PORK or LAMB as these are both two fatty, which is a shame, I love pork! You can’t have Bacon either, by the way, this is not the Atkins!

I bought a selection of lean cold meat like chicken and ham, you do have to buy the dearer stuff cos the cheap packs of ham wafers are too fatty.

Fish, actually works out better. I went to Morrisons where they have a fishmongers and have prepackaged fish. Mixed seafood was on offer for £2, and about 2 big pieces of various fish was about £1.30.

But overall, it does work out expensive! For example when I got hungry I would eat a whole pack of smoked salmon (£4) then snack on a pack of lean ham (£3) then have some fish with some eggs etc…etc….if Mr C was doing the diet too, our food bill would double.

(That’s the other thing – when you go on a diet if your other half isn’t he/she needs to buy separate food from you).

Even free range eggs aren’t that cheap and I don’t do barn eggs…

The dairy (cottage cheese and 1% fat yoghurt) makes things a bit cheaper I guess. I’ve never actually eaten cottage cheese before this diet because it reminds me of sex education lessons at school….erm…..I digress….

Cookie Temptation

I have to add here, Supermarkets are terrible for pushing unhealthy fatty sugary foods our way.

Because I was totally avoiding anything carby and sugary I became aware of how much there is – at the front of every isle was something unhealthy, as in fizzy drinks, cakes, pizza, ready meals and there’s always something naughty at the front of the shop on special offer, always tempting us. No wonder obesity is on the rise.

How hard was it only eating proteins?

Erm, a lot harder than expected. I never want to see a hard boiled egg again.

It wasn’t the carbs I missed amazingly enough, I missed vegetables! I also missed having sweet things but Pepsi Max really helped (you can have 1 calorie soft drinks). You can make biscuits though (thanks to Mr C!) and the first batch were good.

However – I bought Dr Dukan’s Recipe book and tried three of the desserts, they were disgusting (how much can you do with egg, sweetener and cornflour!) so that was a real waste of eggs.

Anyway what kept me going in that this was ONLY 5 DAYS and that there would be a rapid weight loss.

Also being ill and tucked up in bed helps.

The Rules (Basic Outline)

Please check the book if you want everything outlined in detail and the science explained.

Basically I followed this guide for 5 days. There other things you an have like Offal and Veal but I wouldn’t touch them personally, so this is just my list of what I would realistically eat:

Lean pieces of Chicken or Ham

Chicken, Grilled

Lean Beef

All kinds of Fish are allowed, I ate tuna, smoked salmon, sea bass, misc. white fish!

Crab sticks

Mixed Seafood (Mussels etc.)

Eggs

Oat Bran (1 and a half tablespoons per day for fibre!)

Water (you must drink 1.5 liters a day. I bought a multi pack of 500ml water and drank 3 per day. Choose a low sodium brand).

Cottage Cheese

No fat (usually its actually 1% fat) yoghurt and fromage frais

Sweetener

To taste:

Minimal salt
Pepper
Herbs
Vanilla Pods
Lemon
etc.

You can’t have an added fat, oils, butters, sugar at all. You can dry fry meat by wiping the pan with some oil but I just used the George Forman grill!

You must go for a 20 minute walk. This is easy if you are near shops…well for me anyway. I admit I only did this on 3 of the days.

My Diet Diary

Notice how I ate and ate and ate on day one, then my interest in food waned!

Day 1

Scrambled Egg and 4 x Crab Sticks
5 x Coffee with Skimmed Milk
2 x Tea
2 x pieces of low fat ham
2 x pieces of low fat chicken
3 x Pepsi Max
5 gobfuls of Fromage Frais
Oat Pancake (Galette)
Grilled Chicken with Cottage Cheese and 2 Eggs
2 x Tea with Sweetner
6 x pieces of chicken
- Water

Day 2

5 x Crab Sticks
4 x Coffee
2 x Teas
2 x Pepsi Max
3 x pieces of White Fish, and tablespoon of cottage cheese
2 x Hard boiled eggs
4 x Slices of Chicken
Oat Biscuit
- Water

By this point I actually hated food, all kinds of food so the amount I ate reflected that…

Day 3

2 x Pepsi Max
3 x Coffee
1 x Tin of Tuna is spring water
1 x Pack of smoked salmon and cottage cheese
Bowl of fried chicken breast chunks fried in soy sauce and garlic
3 x Strepsil
- WATER

In the afternoon I started to get quite a bad pain in the back of my throat, then a headache. By about 10pm every part of my body was shivering, but I wasn’t cold and all my muscles ached. It felt like a bad fever – I went to bed with some paracetemol. No idea if I caught a bug, if the diet was beating down on my immune system – god knows – but I feel like crap. Not craving carbs mind you, I just feel horrid.

Day 4

Woke up at 2pm, really sore neck and headache but at least the shivers have gone.

2 pieces of Grilled Turkey
Tub of 1% fat yoghurt
Large bowl of Chinese marinated chicken
Spoonful of Oats
4 x Pepsi Max
4 x Coffee

- Water

I er, had a chocolate biscuit. What it was, I thought they were melting so I had one just in case, Filipinos, from Portugal in case you are wondering.

Day 5

2 Pieces of grilled Turkey
Chicken soup (cheated, there was some veg in it)
2 x Coffee
2 x Tea
2 x Pepsi
1 x Lemonade

Ok I had an almond croissant. Or two. I was ill. It just happened. Grrrr. I made up for it by pacing up and down the flat for an hour.

Side Effects

I had a horrible horrible sore dry throat by the end of day two. I also had extra smelly BO which is a sign it’s working…or so I like to think.

I had a bit of a headache, but nothing major. Felt a bit hungry but the thought of eggs made me feel so sick I chose to eat nothing rather than have that.

I didn’t suffer from tiredness though.

My skin looked better after the FULL five days is looking rather perky!

Also…I’ve had a lot less gas. Let’s just say before this diet I could clear a room in 10 seconds but I’ve pretty much zero gas.

On the scales?

So like Tiger Woods, I had my trangressions, but only because I was ill! If I was going to die, I may as well have a chocolate biscuit!

Weight loss = 9.5lbs.

Yes really. In a week. And yes I reweighed a few times to be sure.

Let’s be realistic here, I certainly am – a lot of this is water weight, this is not fat, but it’s given me a ton of motivation to keep going.

I do NOT miss carbs. I occasionally crave a sweet biscuit. I smelt a McDonalds and it made me feel sick. I am very happy to eat meat but WITH vegetables (which is stage 2 of the diet, the Cruise Phase).

The Cruise Phase is the longest and will consist of alternating days where I can have proteins only, followed by a veg & protein day. Other rules about sugar, fat and carbs apply, as well as the water and oat bran one (but you now take 2 tablespoons of it instead).

Obviously, no vegetables that are starchy like Potatoes…

I’ve really missed tomatoes and peppers!

Weight loss is far more moderate in the Cruise Phase but I’m ok with this, I want to do more walking and generally eat better for the rest of the weight loss, it’s far more sustainable this way.

I bought the and the (which I think the desserts are pants but the mains are ok. It is quite good for basic ideas).*

Oh, One more thing…

Some exercise is vital, food controlled diets for me, in the long term for me, are not sustainable, I love food too much, I just need to moderate it once I am at my goal weight and EXERCISE!

I have a few good friends who lost a lot of weight doing Weightwatchers but they didn’t exercise at all. Yes, they looked a lot lot slimmer but also a bit gaunt and they were still thin but ‘wobbly?’ Unfortunately, only exercise can help you with toning up.

I can’t run, my knees are quite bad and my boobs make it hard so I might take up power walking with Mr C (since we live near some scenic areas) and I want this machine:

It’s called an Ab Circle Pro! It will go next to my…erm…exercise bike!

Well, so that’s all for now! I will carry on with this diet and try to be more active, let’s see how it goes! Wish me luck!

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