Sander's Dukan Diary

[Didi M]

Hello there!

Well, I am new to Dukan but not new to nutrition and medicine. I was wondering if you are eating enough. I am not sure you are even hitting 1100 calories as per your menu. At your current weight you should eat more, in my opinion, so as not to slow or shock your metabolism. You have worked so hard to get it all going again!

DISCLAIMER: Now, I am only a lawyer with a medical scientist background [first career] not an MD. My background is in protein and cellular level research, etc.... But, I understand the basics and completely agree with Dr. Dukan. From a scientific viewpoint, he does make sense.

Overall, I think you could eat a bit more and quell that hunger. Good Luck! Didi

 

[Sander23]

Thanks Didi - I actually eat a lot. I am hungry for fruit, bread, candy, all the things that aren't on the Dukan plan. Since I can't tolerate the milk products I am meat and veg all the time. I go down to the fridge and grab slabs of whatever meats I have prepped for the day ahead and eat them about every 2 hours. I don't bother posting my portions any more because I don't count them any more, I just eat as much as I want of the allowed foods - which is why my menu will end up looking like, gallette, chicken, shrimp, roast beef on a PP day Today is a PV day, which is slightly more interesting. I had my omelette - 2 eggs, 1/2 tomato, handful of spinach, handful of chopped green onions, 3 slices of extra lean ham chopped up fine and crisped (tastes like bacon bits that way), grilled chicken breast, 1 cup tuna fish with 1 tsp minced dill relish, 2 cups tomato bisque soup, 1 cup vanilla soy yogurt (new addition this week for trial) - that's it so far and I still have tea and supper to prepare. The plan is for sliced roast beef and celery sticks for tea and salmon, sauteed broccoli, and green salad for supper.
I know that when I am stressed, bored, or tired I interpret that emotion as hunger. So I keep in mind what I can have and if that doesn't sound good then I decide I must not really be hungry. But I still feel "hungry" and have to fight against it otherwise I will end up grabbing one of the plentiful non-dukan food choices that I have in my house for the rest of the family!

 

[Sander23]

Went to the market and replenished my stock of oat bran, YAY~ Today is a boring PP day, so the gallette is the treat of the day The rest of the day will be filled with roast chicken breast, roast sirloin, and perhaps a few shrimp. It's 105 degrees here today - I really don't feel like walking - even with the air conditioning going it feels hot! Family is getting grumpy from the heat. But at least it take the appetite way down!

 

[Sander23]

Weigh-in day - lost another 3 pounds - I am almost halfway to goal. It is unreal to me to watch the numbers come down so consistently every week after struggling to lose just 10 pounds for the 6 months prior to starting Dukan. My top weight was 252 when I decided I had to go back to consciously trying to lose weight instead of just trying to eat healthy and naturally. I know that the next month will be challenging for me as I am travelling for work for the first week (flying out Sunday), having extended family come to visit the second week, and then on vacation for the last 2 weeks. I figure I will just keep on the cruise plan as much as possible doing the 1/1 variation.

 

[Maintainer]

You talk a lot of sense Flori . The consolidation plan is actually a good one for life for people like me who've never really eaten "normally" and haven't a clue what normality is. There are restrictions, and I need them. As you say, we tried healthy eating before. I did however lost my 71K with a healthier programme but quitting smoking messed me up, and my metabolism is probably all over the place anyway.

This forum helps a lot to share things with others who understand.

How's it going Sander?

 

[Sander23]

Not going so well, being back at home, back to my daily 4 hours of commute and working in an office plus afterwork socializing gave me way too many temptations and excuses and I quickly was susceptible to my old behavior patterns - My resolve to stay on path started eroding at day 2 and by day 4 I justified pasta as an acceptable dinner choice (the rest of that days food was pure protein). Back home now and trying to return to my Dukanian habits, but finding it hard to recommit with all of the family celebrations going on for my mother-in-law's and my son's birthday (75 & 15 respectively) - My stomach complaints are starting to return and I feel poorly, so I think my poor body is crying out for me to get back on the program correctly. So I am definitely not being a good Dukan role model right now and am even very ashamed to come online and post. Sigh....

 

[Sander23]

I wrote a long post yesterday and then it wouldn't post and was lost - so I took that as a signal to quit over-analyzing and whinging. I am feeling frustrated at myself still, but I just need to get over it and move on. I get to go get weighed tomorrow:-( I have some big deadlines coming up this Friday - so I am really focusing on work stuff for the most part, so I am not on here as much. I'll be back to my normal chatty self in about a month

 

[Sander23]

Made it through yesterday successfully - YAY! Was very grumpy and out of sorts - I think my hormones are starting to go through that change you are supposed to see in your forties....

 

[Sander23]

Went to my weigh in and lost another 4 pounds. Clouds of depression are evaporating. Getting ready to leave on vacation monday, so they next 2 weeks of challenge are coming up, but am feeling much more positive that I'll make it through without too much incident!

 

[Sander23]

I'm back from vacation - and I am exhausted! Piles of work and all I want to do is crawl into my own bed and sleep for a week.... My scales say I lost a pound - I go to weigh in tonight so we'll see what it is officially. I ended up going to conso on holiday - there were just too many temptations to stay on the cruise plan and I didn't want to have a major binge episode. I'll be doing a couple of PP days tomorrow and Saturday and then going back to the 1/1 rhythm of cruise. I might not make my Christmas target, but I will hopefully make it by new years!

 

[Sander23]

Well, by the end of the day yesterday I had gained weight - I am hoping it is just water retention. But my official weigh in was +3 pounds after my 3 week vacation. Made my first gallette in 3 weeks - I missed them! I lost a bit of the touch so it didn't turn out as good as they used to, I was reminded of my first week on attack when I was trying to figure things out. Went for a super long walk this morning - about 4 miles instead of my normal two, and it felt really good. I did keep up my walking while on vacation and upped it a quite a bit, so my fitness improved! Lunch today will be roast beef, shrimp for tea, and chicken for dinner. Pure protein is such an easy day to plan! I was so tired of it before vacation and now I am so happy to get back to the routine. Even my son has been asking for more protein rich meals the last couple of days. It was funny -- on the last day of vacation we went out for lunch and I got my grilled chicken breast and green salad and he ordered just the grilled chicken appetizer (I do that often, but that day I wanted a salad) - I laughed at him and said - "You can't be Dukaning along with me!" and he laughed and said, "No, it just is what I wanted, I didn't feel hungry for carbs", so even skinny teenagers can get more in touch with their bodies needs through this process!

 

[Maintainer]

I sense your disappointment in your weight gain, particularly after the scales giving you false hope, but 3lbs up after three weeks' holiday off Dukan is pretty good going.

I can share your almost "relief" at getting back at the protein, and back in control.

Good luck!

 

[Sander23]

Thanks Jo! I think its not too bad either - in the past vacation would normally net me an extra 15 pounds - so I am content. I wish I could have kept up the 2 pound a week loss, but it really does require quite a bit of dedication. I tried to build it up before I left and get all puffed up with willpower - but it deflated pretty quickly in the face of limited choices, other people, and just general hungriness My mother-in-law kept on saying how good I was being and how little I was eating and what great healthy choices I was making, but I knew they weren't the right choices for the stage I was at. After 3 days of failure, I decided to go the conso route, which at least kept me in a framework where I could feel like I was doing the right thing.... But it is hard to go back a stage, so I wish I had tried harder

 

[Sander23]

Back on track and feeling much better! Tiredness is gone, digestive issues gone, attitude improved
My gallette making is back to its normal standard and I am munching through the day on my proteins and watching the weight drop again. It's nice to know that the diet still works, I was worried that I would have become "resistant" to this approach as well and since I had switched to conso, switching back to cruise wouldn't result in weight loss like it did before. Nice to know my worry was unfounded!

 

[Sander23]

Its official weigh-in day again. Hope I weigh as well on their scales as I do on my own Been shopping for some new clothes as my old ones are falling off, but I am not quite down enough - I want to get to a US 14 pant and size "L" shirt before making the purchases. My current pants are US 16 and very baggy, but the 14s are just a wee bit too snug to wear comfortably. Same with the tops - I can get into them and they don't look "bad" but still like clothes that I've outgrown, rather than shrunk into! But the weather is starting to change and all of my fall clothes are size 20 and 2XL, so I'm rather happy at the progress over the summer, but I look like I'm wearing a billowy tent when I put them on! I probably have 2 more weeks where I can get by in shorts and t-shirts, but then I'm gonna have to give in and get something. 2 weeks might make all the difference though!

 

[Sander23]

Lost 5 pounds last week - it was a good week and good to be back on cruise! This should be a good stretch for me as I have nothing much on the calendar other than work until Thanksgiving. No visitors, no trips. One birthday, but it should be rather quiet - its my hubbys birthday in October, but he doesn't like big events or cake, so it shouldn't be a hard event My son is back in school, so his activities are school-based and don't require the mom chauffeur and eating out as much.

 

[Sander23]

I bought the clothes! Size 14 with no pain or over tightness - Hopefully should get me through the next 3 months! I have just committed to another trip, this time to see my parents. They have been talking about coming to visit all spring and summer, now we are moving into fall and I finally have figured out that they just don't feel up to travelling, so I'm going to go see them for a week. My mom is 88 and my dad is 80, so they can be given some leeway. Of course, my dad and I aren't very close -I've been working on my issues - but I haven't spent more than 45 minutes with him at a time since 1989. I am worried about actually being in his house for a couple of days. My mom normally comes and visits me so that we don't have to figure out that issue, but I guess it's finally time for me to face it...

 

[Sander23]

Weigh in day today - + TOTM <sigh> hoping for -1. Trying to get caught up on work projects, but having a hard time staying focused. My brain keeps on saying hungry, but I know its not really, it just doesn't want to work!

 

[Sander23]

I didn't get my -1 - I stayed the same. Oh well, another week. Still feeling really positive thanks to the new clothes and just generally feeling better about myself - I don't cringe away from the mirror anymore. I am really hungry for chicken, which is strange because I have been eating it regularly, but other proteins just don't appeal right now. Made chicken for dinner yesterday and going to do it again today- Lunch will be tuna. Snacks will be leftover chicken Breakfast was porridge and turkey ham. Yes, its a PP day!

 

[Sander23]

So - I checked on my own scales this morning to see how I was doing and "unofficially" I am down to 198 - I am under 200 lbs for the first time in 7 years! Just gotta keep from gaining 2 pounds of water weight between now and Thursday ;-) I needed a boost as my motivation was flagging. Fighting off urges for chocolates and chips as I make my way through the grocery store and congratulating myself on making it home without stopping and sneaking a snack. Overeating on my Dukan foods, and just generally fighting with myself. Took myself and my dogs on several long walks and spent lots of money on things I didn't need by going and walking through the shops and was still feeling that inner turmoil that normally leads to over-eating. I think its probably the impending trip to see my parents that is wreaking havoc with my subconscious.