Consolidation Dukandebut's Trying to Stay the Same Diary

[anjuschka]

wow DD - I wish I was you (in a way)!

But: don't panic! I'm sure it will sort itself out. I think the conso rations may be quite tightly calculate to allow for OOT-style blow-out Galas full of fat & sugar. I was losing about 1lb a week on Phase 1 too, and quickly took that as an excuse to introduce extra fruit and treats to deal with that ;-), not necessarily the BEST approach but it worked....

As for the fitnesspal I can't comment really, but it shows that it does not just come down to calorie numbers, but where the calories come from. And the Dukan approach has show that protein calories are less likely to result in weight gain than carb calories. Or something like that, don't quote me on this! But you can with Dukan quite easily consume well over 1000 cal a day and still be losing at the rate of 2lb a week.
My personal reaction would be to ditch the fitness pal, or at least don't let it restrict your intake just because you think you ought to stick with 1300 which seems low to me, but you are tiny compared to me I know . At the moment you ought to be watching the reintroduced carbs but not worry about the rest as long as you stick with Dukan-friendly food. I sporadically use 'my daily plate' on Livestrong.com, and it tells me that I need 1663 to maintain my current weight given my current age and height, I gave 'sedentary' for activity level. I suppoe it also shows that we are all different and you must burn more than that despite the average calculated figures that fitnesspal can give.

Enjoy your Pizza - I certainly enjoyed my pork sausage tonight and the dessert wine after dinner last night! We had saved that little bottle up since way before Christmas.

 

[Emmma]

DD, sorry to hear about another unwanted loss for you, but I think your musings on it all are spot on. Get straight onto phase 2 conso like you said and enjoy the extras that will afford you. I'm sure you can't keep on losing weight week on week, so it will have to even out and stabilise at some point, and you're right - perhaps this means that it will be easier than you thought to move onto stab and stay there without issue.

 

[dukandebut]

Anja - You are so right. All those years when people thought that calorie counting was the correct way to diet, when it's actually the type of food (and the way in which the body uses it) that is the most important thing!

Thank you for the livestrong.com link. I'd never heard of that before. I input my height and ideal weight for maintenance, rather than my current too-low weight, and it advised me to eat 1,563 calories per day. Now this doesn't take into account my smaller than normal frame, but it's still considerably more than the myfitnesspal calculator came up with. Both of them using a sedentary level of activity. I think I could manage an average of between 1,500 and 1,600 quite happily - sometimes lower, sometimes higher, but achieving a mean target of that level.

I think I'll keep up with fitnesspal, ignoring the recommended target levels, for the simple reason that it's proving to be a good educational tool. It has certainly shown me the level of damage that can be inflicted by a chocolate binge! ;-)

Thanks, as always, for your lovely words of wisdom, Anja.

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your sausage meal. We'll be having a sausage casserole next weekend, so we're not quite in synch with our sausages upon this particular occasion! ;-)

Em - Thank you, too, for your encouragement. I really appreciate all of the support you lovely people give!

 

[dukandebut]

Feeling much more positive today, I'm glad to report.

Last night's gala was absolutely delicious, one of my favourites. It's a nice feeling to know that I'll be allowed to have 2 galas this week. Hurray!

Today, though, is normal PV, and here's my menu:

B Yoghurt with oatbran and medium glass of orange juice
L Cheese, mushroom and spring onion omelette with bread, followed by yoghurt
D Dukan-friendly beef stew, followed by crème au chocolat

 

[scrumper]

nice menus as ever hun
glad the galas are appealing

 

[dukandebut]

nice menus as ever hun
glad the galas are appealing

Thanks, scrumper. And yes, I am most definitely making the most of my galas.

 

[robinhood]

Sorry you've had another big loss, DD. I would imagine your reaction was similar to someone who had a 3lb gain while sticking to plan, a bit .

Plan of action sounds good - hope it works. I'd personally add in a bit more carbs too this week - friendly ones (root veg, wm pasta, pulses) and see where that gets you because I imagine you now not only want to maintain your weight but also put a little on?

 

[dukandebut]

Thanks, Laura. I nearly followed your advice about carbs last night and almost added a couple of small potatoes to my meal, but refrained in the end. I'll see how I go this week with my 2 carb and 2 gala meals, and will start adding extra carbs if any more weight is lost. I don't want to do too much at once as the jump to double to number of galas and carbs is quite a big step for this first week of full Conso. Must admit that it would be nice to be able to add in a bit of parsnip or a few lentils every now and again.

Upon reflection, I'm not too worried about the extra weight loss for the moment (although I will be if I lose yet another pound!) as I know for sure that I'll more than make up for it when I go on holiday.

 

[dukandebut]

Today is Carb Day 1, so I'll be having:

B Yoghurt with oatbran and medium glass of orange juice
L Cheese and spring onion toasted sandwich, followed by yoghurt
D Chinese stir-fried pork with veg and wholemeal noodles, followed by crème au chocolat

 

[jaqys]

Sorry about the loss. Enjoy having an extra gala.
How much longer are you in conso?

Hope you find a good balance this week.

Are you feeling hungry at all? Just wondering if you are one of the lucky ones with a highish tolerence for carbs, and so will keep losing until they're higher.

 

[dukandebut]

Thanks, jaqys. I have 70 days of full Conso to go before Stab looms into view.

I'm feeling hungrier on Conso than I was whilst on Attack and Cruise, presumably due to not eating so much protein. However, I'm not feeling ravenously hungry.

It would be really great if I do turn out to have a high carb tolerance, but being on Dukan seems to have cured me of my carb addiction and I don't feel as though I actually want to eat them with every meal these days. In fact, I think I'll probably continue to have some carb-free meals even during Stab; not feeling bloated and heavy is a good feeling! ;-)

 

[dukandebut]

Looking forward to my dance class today as I missed last week's due to a fall whilst in London at the weekend. My knee is still looking pretty colourful, but at least I can use it properly now. To think that I was originally incredibly dubious about taking this class, and now I absolutely love it.

Today is my second gala day, albeit a hastily thrown-together one, rather than particularly well planned. I'll be eating the following:

B Yoghurt with oatbran, medium glass of orange juice
L Cheese and spring onion toasted sandwich, followed by yoghurt
D Veg broth (will also throw in a bit of meat - probably either chicken or ham) with half a cheesey garlic pizza, followed by a few of my favourite local handmade chocs

 

[Maintainer]

searching desperately for the gala factor... oh 1/2 a pizza?

 

[anjuschka]

searching desperately for the gala factor... oh 1/2 a pizza?

Chocolate!

 

[Maintainer]

I'd go more wholeheartedly for a REAL gala if I were 8lbs under goal (that's my problem!!)

 

[dukandebut]

I'd go more wholeheartedly for a REAL gala if I were 8lbs under goal (that's my problem!!)

This was a last minute thing, Jo, as I weighed myself on Saturday morning and only found out that I'd lost weight again then, but I had to rush out to various appointments, then dash around the supermarket for the weekly food shop before going to yet more appointments. Next week should be different as I'll have more time to plot and plan what delicious goodies I'll be cramming into my gob.

Besides, I've been craving one of these cheese garlic pizzas for weeks! Also, as Anja pointed out, I will be having some of my favourite local chocs for pud. (Sea-salted caramel truffles, anyone? )

Having said that, I don't want to get into the habit of going completely off the rails for my galas (although I am very tempted to do so! ) because I want to be eating proper balanced meals in Stab, rather than expecting to eat fabulous feasts 6 nights a week.

 

[dukandebut]

Chocolate!

Now there's a woman after my own heart!

 

[m-mouse]

My mouth is watering............

 

[Brownie_Earthquake]

Hold the celebration meal - I like the sound of your toasted cheese and spring onion sandwich!

 

[dukandebut]

My mouth is watering............

Mouse - I am not going to torture you by describing exactly how delicious it was. I've been dreaming about that cheese garlic pizza bread for a while now (seriously, I really have!)

Brownie - They're one of my favourites, and I've found a fab way of cooking them. I don't have a sandwich toaster, but these taste better than any made in one of those as far as I'm concerned.

I just get my 2 slice bread ration and pop some sliced cheese and spring onion inside, leaving a little room around the edges. Then I carefully put it into a heated non-stick frying pan with a cereal bowl on top to weight it down. After a little while, when the cheese just starts melting and the bread is nicely browning on one side, I carefully turn it over and do the other side - again, with the bowl on the top.

The toasted sandwich comes out perfectly and the filling isn't frazzled away to nothing, it's still unctuous and fabulous.