Well, motivation is low, energy is high, and maybe we are no longer following the diet 100% but trying to make up for it with extra excercise.
Day 5, May 5th 2011
Weigh-in:
Diane (D)-72 kg, (158.7 lbs); Down 2.2 lbs or 1.37%
Erik (E)-101 kg, (222.7 lbs); Up 1.1 lbs or .5%
Our scale is so crappy and cheapy that I don't know if we're even going to weigh ourselves anymore (that's what you get for $5). If I get off and back on, the weight will change. BUT, I put on my skinny jeans today and they fit pretty good, even right off the drying rack, when they are usually a nightmare to put on.
Also, energy level is definately up and i'm not starving anymore.
Day 5 excercise:
-We also always take the stairs and we live on the 3rd floor so that can't hurt either. The kids like to take the elevator but most of the time we make them walk too. (like 5 or 6 times a day)
-I also park at least an 1/8 of a mile from Kada's school. I don't know why, it's just an easier place to park, not necessarily for the walking. :o) kids played around at school afterwords and i kept walking around the whole time (bout 40 min).
-Was getting into the usual 6pm slump so I put my shoes on and told Alex we're headed out ot play soccer. We all went and it was fun. I ran a total of about 1 1/2 laps but broke it up a bit more (field is probably between 1/8 and 1/4 mile around) and did not get hives, only red itchyness. Also we walked to the nearby park and let the kids play while Erik and I kicked the ball back and forth. Good excercise cause you're more worried about getting the ball than thinking about excercising and since we can't kick it to each other to save our lives, this works out better for the excercise part of things.
Day 5 food:
E breakfast: pancake, protein shake
E lunch: took carrots and ham to snack on at work and some change for diet cokes, ended up going out to eat and had something on a bun, hmmmm
breakfast: glass milk & yogurt
snack: 1/4 pancake
lunch: ham slices, 1/4 cucumber
snack: chicken pieces (leftover from roast ckn)
dinner: pepper steak (WOW, really peppery), custard (BAD, not really bad for you but def not on the diet), 1/2 pancake
snack: 3 gummy bears, left over from son's ice cream cone (BAD), 1/4 pancake
Diet notes:
I'm liking the results (i think, our scale is really sucky so maybe we havn't lost what we think or maybe we've lost more, who knows. I wore my stretchy pants today and I think I'm feeling a bit better about things but it could be everything is in the head right now.) I'd hate to quite when its working but protein really sucks. Where is the diet that tells you to eat icecream and chocolate all day? That's the one for me!!
Plus, if we want to excercise (recomended in teh book to do both of course) who has the energy for excercising when they feel like they might pass out from lack of nutrition? (that's how erik felt this morning).
BUT, as I've said, now that i've gotten over the starvation hump (stomach must've shrunken up by now), I do have more energy. We saw a bit of 'the devil wears prada' last night and i remember one part where a secretary is on a diet and she says it's perfect "well, i don't eat, and when i feel like i'm going to faint, i eat a cube of cheese" I feel like that's pretty good. If I feel weak, i eat some protein.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
You Can Dukan: Day 4
Day 4, May 4th 2011
Weigh-in:
Diane (D)-71.5 kg, (157.6 lbs); Down 3.3 lbs or 2.05% (yesterday i may have typed 71kg, but meant 72..since our official weigh in time is 6pm. 71 kgs was in am)
Erik (E)-98.5 kg, (217.2 lbs); Down 4.4 lbs or 1.99%
Day 4 excercise:
Played soccer outside with alex. Not too much excercise involved. He mostly runs around falling on teh ball teh whole time. Erik does pushups and other stuff in teh morning when i'm asleep.
Day 4 food:
Erik came home sick form work today. The diet is not working well with him. When he came home he ate a piece of bread with peanut butter on it and slept for 3 hours.
E-breakfast: Pancake and protien shake.
snack-peanut butter and bread (not in diet!), yogurt, carrot & piece of cheese (not in diet!)
D-breakfast: 1/2 pancake (see below, doesn't look great but tastes realllllly good!)
lunch: 1/2 pancake (not feeling hungry today) and snacked on some leftover roast chicken
Dinner: shrimp sauteed with lemon, lemon chicken from teh book. So far the only recipe from teh book that I've liked is the pancake (or Gallette as he calls them).
snack- i was putting the clothes away and found a bag of gummy bears and a roll of rolos that i had hidden before easter. Craving something but not having it in the house is a little different then really craving it and staring right at it. I ate 3 gummy bears and an hour later i ate 3 more. I tried to stop myself with gum but the one i tried was disgusting. So i cheeted with a total of 6 gummy bears so far!!
diet notes:
Erik is sick to his stomach. I'm feeling ok, a little shocked about the being allergic to excercise but not feeling hungry at all. Still wanted candy (chocalte reisins and gummy bears) but that has nothing to do with being hungry.
So we don't think we're going to follow the diet as 'prescribed' by teh book. We'd like to eat more and excercise more but the whole breaking out in hives thing has me worried a bit.
****Cold**** According to the book, drinking and eating cold things (cold water, ice cubes, skinny dippeers that my mom has in her freezer) actually burns calories because your body has to warm it up. This is the opposite for warm things, you're body can actually steal energy (calories) from teh warmth of your coffee or tea. Also works for taking a cold shower (your body uses most of its calories regulating body temperature so a cold shower makes it work harder...pretty cool).
Tomorrow we are adding in vegetables to make this diet more barable.
Weigh-in:
Diane (D)-71.5 kg, (157.6 lbs); Down 3.3 lbs or 2.05% (yesterday i may have typed 71kg, but meant 72..since our official weigh in time is 6pm. 71 kgs was in am)
Erik (E)-98.5 kg, (217.2 lbs); Down 4.4 lbs or 1.99%
Day 4 excercise:
Played soccer outside with alex. Not too much excercise involved. He mostly runs around falling on teh ball teh whole time. Erik does pushups and other stuff in teh morning when i'm asleep.
Day 4 food:
Erik came home sick form work today. The diet is not working well with him. When he came home he ate a piece of bread with peanut butter on it and slept for 3 hours.
E-breakfast: Pancake and protien shake.
snack-peanut butter and bread (not in diet!), yogurt, carrot & piece of cheese (not in diet!)
D-breakfast: 1/2 pancake (see below, doesn't look great but tastes realllllly good!)
lunch: 1/2 pancake (not feeling hungry today) and snacked on some leftover roast chicken
Dinner: shrimp sauteed with lemon, lemon chicken from teh book. So far the only recipe from teh book that I've liked is the pancake (or Gallette as he calls them).
snack- i was putting the clothes away and found a bag of gummy bears and a roll of rolos that i had hidden before easter. Craving something but not having it in the house is a little different then really craving it and staring right at it. I ate 3 gummy bears and an hour later i ate 3 more. I tried to stop myself with gum but the one i tried was disgusting. So i cheeted with a total of 6 gummy bears so far!!
Erik is sick to his stomach. I'm feeling ok, a little shocked about the being allergic to excercise but not feeling hungry at all. Still wanted candy (chocalte reisins and gummy bears) but that has nothing to do with being hungry.
So we don't think we're going to follow the diet as 'prescribed' by teh book. We'd like to eat more and excercise more but the whole breaking out in hives thing has me worried a bit.
****Cold**** According to the book, drinking and eating cold things (cold water, ice cubes, skinny dippeers that my mom has in her freezer) actually burns calories because your body has to warm it up. This is the opposite for warm things, you're body can actually steal energy (calories) from teh warmth of your coffee or tea. Also works for taking a cold shower (your body uses most of its calories regulating body temperature so a cold shower makes it work harder...pretty cool).
Tomorrow we are adding in vegetables to make this diet more barable.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
You Can Dukan: Day 3
Day 3, May 3rd 2011
Weigh-in:
Diane (D)-71 kg, (156.5 lbs); Down 2.2 lbs or 1.37%, ...sweet!
Erik (E)-99.5 kg, (219.5 lbs); Down 2.2 lbs or 1.00%
I havn't been including our excercise notes:
Day 1 exercise:
Erik, the kids, and I ran about in the field in front of our building. We played soccer with the kids and had a fun time.
Day 2 excercise:
Erik played with the kids in the field again and I could see them from teh window as I finished my shopping list. I counted my 1 hour of shopping as a 20 min walk although I agree that that is cheating a bit and hope not do that again. :o)
Day 3 exercise:
Went and played soccer with the kids again. I jogged 2 laps around the field and broke out in massive hives and it turns out I'm allergic to excercise. Who ever heard of something so ridiculous? No wonder I'm getting fat & lazy!
Notes and thoughts about the diet:
Astonished about the 2.2 lbs. I'm inclined to think there might be something wrong with the scale! (I did buy for about $5) I don't look like I lost any weight and that is what I usually use to judge myself. I hardly ever use a scale because I've always figured I can look in a mirror and know if I like what I see or not, I don't need a scale to tell me I do or don't like what I see. BUT, in the interest of keeping motivated long enough to make the diet work, weighing ourselves every day or 2 is a must to show that we are indeed making progress.
However, Erik and I have both found ourselves being very hungry. We are obviously both big snackers and like to raid the cubbords for nuts, chips, cereal bars, cereal, fruit, cookies and milk, etc. It has been really hard on me because I don't usually ever give food a 2nd thought. i eat when I'm hungry and don't when I'm not!
I remember during my AF training being very hungry at night because we had set eating times and we'd get an apple or banana at before bed as our snack. I remember thinking that that apple was such a welcome sight I wanted to hug it and cuddle it before eating it but I was too hungry. There was a cadet on my floor who had vitamin C tablets with him and shared them with me. It was the best tasting orange candy i'd every had in my life!
I can now say (& Erik says it too) that a vegetable has never looked so good! I always have cucumbers and green peppers or carrots out on the table for the kids to snack on. Celery with peanut butter is a big favorite of my son and I like tomatoes when I'm included in the snack. I put these out for when they want to snack while watching TV or from boredom, or on the table while i'm cooking and they don't think they can wait another second, these foods keep them happy until dinner arrives and they refust to eat any of it. :o) I might have drooled on teh cucumbers before putting them on teh table last night!
I know its an 'eat as much as you want' diet so you're not supposed to be hungry but ham and eggs are just not that appetizing to me as far as snacks go. I'm looking forward to adding veggies although the day is still supposed to be full of protein even on veggie days.
Day 3 food: Protein day, JumpStart
Erik breakfast-he had his Oat Bran Pancake and a protein drink that he reported he was not a fan of. The nice part about the oat bran is that it is really filling as it expands considerably (up to 20 times its size) when in your stomach. I believe it will also help with the constipation likely to come with a protein only diet.
Erik lunch-he took some ham slices and chicken to work with him and I'm assuming he'll be vending some diet cokes while at work.
breakfast-I made scrambled eggs with the egg whites I had left over from my pudding recipe the night before. They were edible but not great. I definately prefer at least one yoke in there. This was made more difficult as I toasted a waffle for my son's (3) breakfast and my daughter (5) had cookie crisp cereal. She left some in her bowl as she left the table and I was very (VERY) tempted to finish it off as I usually do with their food but I was still woozy from the shock of being down 4 lbs after only 2 days and was able to use that to motivate me to skip the cereal and leftover waffle w/ syrup bits. (making myself hungry just writing about it!)
snack-I bought 4 different kinds of fat-free yogurt in the hopes of finding one I really love. Today I tried the Activia Fat Free Vanilla. It's not gross but I don't see myself craving it anytime soon.
lunch-ham slices again, diet coke, more snacking than an actual lunch, maybe I should try Erik's protein shakes? I'm trying to save my oaty pancake for this evening but I might have to eat it soon.
Dinner-meatloaf.
Erik says he feels like a vampire because whatever we eat is not satisfying. Protien will fill you up but not satisfy you! I agree. Wasn't hungry last night so that is good, I even forgot to eat my pancake.
My evil generalization: fat people are lazy.
Let's face it, I wouldn't have an extra 20 lbs to lose if I wasn't a bit lazy. I've been very lucky in my life in that my genetics have been very nice to me. I ate all I wanted through highschool, college, and afterwords. This is not the case for everyone. I played sports and was generally very active but my best friend has almost always been a lot more active than I am. She's definately in better shape and has even run marathons but she has always been thicker than me. So I know genetics play a big part in the size of a person and I'm not talking about being at your 'true weight.' For some people their 'true weight' can be a lot more than another person. But it's that extra weight that I'm talking about.
When I had my daughter I kept working but switched to part time. I lost all the baby weight while just keeping busy on my job, and I was an engineer, not a manual labor job. But I did run about the whole plant talking with people and fixing various problems so I wasn't at my desk all day either. I may have even lost a bit extra. Then my son and a very stressful pregnancy came along and the weight did not all go away this time. I had gone back to full time before the birth and switched again to part time. I lost all but about 5-10 lbs (didn't weigh myself so not sure on the amount). This little extra didn't bother me. Then I quit my job to work for myself and was still doing ok.
Then I left my business to follow Erik to CA (from NH) for a job opportunity. I didn't know anyone and the kids and I were hanging out just the 3 of us quite a lot. My daughter started school and we started getting into a routine. I started to put on a bit extra weight without the daily work and busyness of getting the kids ready for daycare. My daughter had 1/2 days of school and it didn't start until 9:40am. And the weight kept coming. I wasn't really doing anything different but it no longer went away on its own. Maybe because I wasn't working but I didn't change my diet, I'd always been a pig and gummy bear fan so why was it piling on now?
We went back to NH to visit family and I weighed myself for the 1st time in years...165! My eyes bugged and I couldn't believe it, how depressing! but I shrugged it off as the price of being a mother, no time for reliving the old days when I was a competitive snowboarder or summer river rafting guide. I had lived in Maui for 2 years and rowed outrigger canoes with a team for fun, best shape of my life! Not as skinny as I was after AF training but I had great tone in my arms and back. Plus it was awesome, who wouldn't love rowing a canoe type boat in the ocean, chasing dolphins? There I go reliving again.
Anyway, so i'm tired of thinking about all the fun things I used to do and ready to start doing those fun things again! The fam and I went hiking at an amazing park (Bradgate park) near our home in Glenfield, UK. It is a beautiful 1200 acre park that has a tower to hike up to. I was exhausted. I was sweating and feeling pooped and we weren't going very fast (my 3 year old was keeping up!)
Pretty soon my kids will be old enough to do fun and active things and I want to join them, not sit on the lawn with the other mothers, spreading out the snacks! Mostly I want the energy I used to have. I can't stand being exhausted all the time. bleck!
So it's time to stop being lazy and stop being fat. I don't look at myself and say 'wow look how fat you are' but I know I'm out of shape and I don't like that at all. When I started running in teh AF I hated it. I'd never been a fan of running. But after a while it became relaxing. You're body gets used to it and your breathing becomes less labored. I want to reach that point again and this diet is my way there. We're not starting the running part yet because I think the lack of food would be really tough if I was also hungry from running but we're going to use this diet to get the extra pounds down and then increase the activity as summer comes on. For now though, we're strictly putting the diet part on test, will the Dukan diet give us the happiness with our bodies that we used to have? Will that happiness be the flame we need to light the torch of our fitness regime? Or will I be a lazy gummy bear eating mommy again in no time?
I think this diet lets you be pretty lazy and still keep the weight off. That's what I'm hoping for, we'll see!
Weigh-in:
Diane (D)-71 kg, (156.5 lbs); Down 2.2 lbs or 1.37%, ...sweet!
Erik (E)-99.5 kg, (219.5 lbs); Down 2.2 lbs or 1.00%
I havn't been including our excercise notes:
Day 1 exercise:
Erik, the kids, and I ran about in the field in front of our building. We played soccer with the kids and had a fun time.
Day 2 excercise:
Erik played with the kids in the field again and I could see them from teh window as I finished my shopping list. I counted my 1 hour of shopping as a 20 min walk although I agree that that is cheating a bit and hope not do that again. :o)
Day 3 exercise:
Went and played soccer with the kids again. I jogged 2 laps around the field and broke out in massive hives and it turns out I'm allergic to excercise. Who ever heard of something so ridiculous? No wonder I'm getting fat & lazy!
Notes and thoughts about the diet:
Astonished about the 2.2 lbs. I'm inclined to think there might be something wrong with the scale! (I did buy for about $5) I don't look like I lost any weight and that is what I usually use to judge myself. I hardly ever use a scale because I've always figured I can look in a mirror and know if I like what I see or not, I don't need a scale to tell me I do or don't like what I see. BUT, in the interest of keeping motivated long enough to make the diet work, weighing ourselves every day or 2 is a must to show that we are indeed making progress.
However, Erik and I have both found ourselves being very hungry. We are obviously both big snackers and like to raid the cubbords for nuts, chips, cereal bars, cereal, fruit, cookies and milk, etc. It has been really hard on me because I don't usually ever give food a 2nd thought. i eat when I'm hungry and don't when I'm not!
I remember during my AF training being very hungry at night because we had set eating times and we'd get an apple or banana at before bed as our snack. I remember thinking that that apple was such a welcome sight I wanted to hug it and cuddle it before eating it but I was too hungry. There was a cadet on my floor who had vitamin C tablets with him and shared them with me. It was the best tasting orange candy i'd every had in my life!
I can now say (& Erik says it too) that a vegetable has never looked so good! I always have cucumbers and green peppers or carrots out on the table for the kids to snack on. Celery with peanut butter is a big favorite of my son and I like tomatoes when I'm included in the snack. I put these out for when they want to snack while watching TV or from boredom, or on the table while i'm cooking and they don't think they can wait another second, these foods keep them happy until dinner arrives and they refust to eat any of it. :o) I might have drooled on teh cucumbers before putting them on teh table last night!
I know its an 'eat as much as you want' diet so you're not supposed to be hungry but ham and eggs are just not that appetizing to me as far as snacks go. I'm looking forward to adding veggies although the day is still supposed to be full of protein even on veggie days.
Day 3 food: Protein day, JumpStart
Erik breakfast-he had his Oat Bran Pancake and a protein drink that he reported he was not a fan of. The nice part about the oat bran is that it is really filling as it expands considerably (up to 20 times its size) when in your stomach. I believe it will also help with the constipation likely to come with a protein only diet.
Erik lunch-he took some ham slices and chicken to work with him and I'm assuming he'll be vending some diet cokes while at work.
breakfast-I made scrambled eggs with the egg whites I had left over from my pudding recipe the night before. They were edible but not great. I definately prefer at least one yoke in there. This was made more difficult as I toasted a waffle for my son's (3) breakfast and my daughter (5) had cookie crisp cereal. She left some in her bowl as she left the table and I was very (VERY) tempted to finish it off as I usually do with their food but I was still woozy from the shock of being down 4 lbs after only 2 days and was able to use that to motivate me to skip the cereal and leftover waffle w/ syrup bits. (making myself hungry just writing about it!)
snack-I bought 4 different kinds of fat-free yogurt in the hopes of finding one I really love. Today I tried the Activia Fat Free Vanilla. It's not gross but I don't see myself craving it anytime soon.
lunch-ham slices again, diet coke, more snacking than an actual lunch, maybe I should try Erik's protein shakes? I'm trying to save my oaty pancake for this evening but I might have to eat it soon.
Dinner-meatloaf.
Erik says he feels like a vampire because whatever we eat is not satisfying. Protien will fill you up but not satisfy you! I agree. Wasn't hungry last night so that is good, I even forgot to eat my pancake.
My evil generalization: fat people are lazy.
Let's face it, I wouldn't have an extra 20 lbs to lose if I wasn't a bit lazy. I've been very lucky in my life in that my genetics have been very nice to me. I ate all I wanted through highschool, college, and afterwords. This is not the case for everyone. I played sports and was generally very active but my best friend has almost always been a lot more active than I am. She's definately in better shape and has even run marathons but she has always been thicker than me. So I know genetics play a big part in the size of a person and I'm not talking about being at your 'true weight.' For some people their 'true weight' can be a lot more than another person. But it's that extra weight that I'm talking about.
When I had my daughter I kept working but switched to part time. I lost all the baby weight while just keeping busy on my job, and I was an engineer, not a manual labor job. But I did run about the whole plant talking with people and fixing various problems so I wasn't at my desk all day either. I may have even lost a bit extra. Then my son and a very stressful pregnancy came along and the weight did not all go away this time. I had gone back to full time before the birth and switched again to part time. I lost all but about 5-10 lbs (didn't weigh myself so not sure on the amount). This little extra didn't bother me. Then I quit my job to work for myself and was still doing ok.
Then I left my business to follow Erik to CA (from NH) for a job opportunity. I didn't know anyone and the kids and I were hanging out just the 3 of us quite a lot. My daughter started school and we started getting into a routine. I started to put on a bit extra weight without the daily work and busyness of getting the kids ready for daycare. My daughter had 1/2 days of school and it didn't start until 9:40am. And the weight kept coming. I wasn't really doing anything different but it no longer went away on its own. Maybe because I wasn't working but I didn't change my diet, I'd always been a pig and gummy bear fan so why was it piling on now?
We went back to NH to visit family and I weighed myself for the 1st time in years...165! My eyes bugged and I couldn't believe it, how depressing! but I shrugged it off as the price of being a mother, no time for reliving the old days when I was a competitive snowboarder or summer river rafting guide. I had lived in Maui for 2 years and rowed outrigger canoes with a team for fun, best shape of my life! Not as skinny as I was after AF training but I had great tone in my arms and back. Plus it was awesome, who wouldn't love rowing a canoe type boat in the ocean, chasing dolphins? There I go reliving again.
Anyway, so i'm tired of thinking about all the fun things I used to do and ready to start doing those fun things again! The fam and I went hiking at an amazing park (Bradgate park) near our home in Glenfield, UK. It is a beautiful 1200 acre park that has a tower to hike up to. I was exhausted. I was sweating and feeling pooped and we weren't going very fast (my 3 year old was keeping up!)
Pretty soon my kids will be old enough to do fun and active things and I want to join them, not sit on the lawn with the other mothers, spreading out the snacks! Mostly I want the energy I used to have. I can't stand being exhausted all the time. bleck!
So it's time to stop being lazy and stop being fat. I don't look at myself and say 'wow look how fat you are' but I know I'm out of shape and I don't like that at all. When I started running in teh AF I hated it. I'd never been a fan of running. But after a while it became relaxing. You're body gets used to it and your breathing becomes less labored. I want to reach that point again and this diet is my way there. We're not starting the running part yet because I think the lack of food would be really tough if I was also hungry from running but we're going to use this diet to get the extra pounds down and then increase the activity as summer comes on. For now though, we're strictly putting the diet part on test, will the Dukan diet give us the happiness with our bodies that we used to have? Will that happiness be the flame we need to light the torch of our fitness regime? Or will I be a lazy gummy bear eating mommy again in no time?
I think this diet lets you be pretty lazy and still keep the weight off. That's what I'm hoping for, we'll see!
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
You Can Dukan: Day 2
Day 2, May 2nd 2011
Weigh-in: Diane (D)-73 kg, (161 lbs); Erik (E)-100.5 kg, (221.5 lbs)
Oatbran: 1 1/2 tablespoons per day
Bonuses (take it easy): coffee, tea, spices, pickles, lemons, mustard, little bit salt. Basically drinks with no sugar and less than 1 calorie per serving are ok, this mean diet soda is a yes! :o)
Step 3:
I realized I would need to do some shopping (again) if this diet is going to work. The book is very European with french recipes and ingredients. I knew I'd find them in the UK stores here, but would I like them?
major ingredients: dijon mustard, fromage frais (available in the US from: www.vermontcreamery.com/ ), vinegar, eggs, spices, non-fat yoghurt, non-fat cottage cheese, not fat (skimmed) milk.
Diet Coke (I'm not generally a coke person but when your sweets are limited to zero, you take what you can get!)
Spices and herbs, vanilla, low sodium soy sauce (Erik's been putting it on everything), cornflour, lemon juice, sugarfee GUM (really helps with the snack attack), bouillion cubes, vinegar, garlic (ground and pieces), vanilla pod (used a lot here in england recipes), nutmeg, and ginger. (We're only in England for a few months so we did not have these basics with us).
Weigh-in: Diane (D)-73 kg, (161 lbs); Erik (E)-100.5 kg, (221.5 lbs)
I forgot to mention I also had a can of sardines as a snack yesterday. It was disgusting! I still ate the whole thing because I was hungry but they won't be on my list again!
Jump Start Phase:
Protein (as much as you want but only in these categories): lean beef, chicken, ham, (no pork shops), non-fat dairy products, fish & seafood, and the ever popular eggs.
Water: at least 6 cups per day. This really isn't much so don't skip this!
Walking: 20 min per day. Oatbran: 1 1/2 tablespoons per day
Bonuses (take it easy): coffee, tea, spices, pickles, lemons, mustard, little bit salt. Basically drinks with no sugar and less than 1 calorie per serving are ok, this mean diet soda is a yes! :o)
I realized I would need to do some shopping (again) if this diet is going to work. The book is very European with french recipes and ingredients. I knew I'd find them in the UK stores here, but would I like them?
major ingredients: dijon mustard, fromage frais (available in the US from: www.vermontcreamery.com/ ), vinegar, eggs, spices, non-fat yoghurt, non-fat cottage cheese, not fat (skimmed) milk.
Day 2 food: Protien day
breakfast- 3 egg (2 yoke) omelette for Erik with a bit of skimmed milk, dash onion, some garlic and spices, and ham. 2 egg (2 yokes because I tried to separate and failed) version for myself. (we don't have cholesterol problems but since we're probably going to be eating a ridiculous amount of eggs, I figured it couldn't hurt to reduce the yokes a bit.)
SHOPPING (below)
lunch-i brought back 2 roasted chickens and if they had had feathers on them, I probably still would've ripped off a peice and started eating! I pulled off the skin, put a bit on some plates for the kids (with their corn and butter) and then just ripped off a chunk and started stuffing face, I was feeling very hungry!
snack-Oat bran pancakes
appetizer- shrimp cooked with 2 lemon slices. I squeezed the lemon into the pan since i couldn't use butter and it tasted really good, even without any sauce on it.
dinner-Salmon baked in oven at 200c (350F) for 25 min. I put some herbs on Eriks, some garlic and onion salt on the rest and it turned out ok. I usually cook salmon with lemon pepper, wrap it in foil, and put a huge splotch of butter on top before closing the foil...yummm. I couldn't find and lemon pepper here but I did add lemon juice (both from a lemon i bought and some bottled lemon juice.)
snacks-ham slices
Shopping-
Grocery shopping in England is like an adventure every time. I don't know where to find things (the eggs for example are in a regular isle, not refrigerated) and even if I'm in the right place, the foods are not the same. I diligently made my list (using the book as a guideline).
The big items were the Oatbran (found near the healthy cereals and pictured above)
Aspertame (sweetener. I bought Splenda for Erik's coffee and Granulated sweetener for cooking)Diet Coke (I'm not generally a coke person but when your sweets are limited to zero, you take what you can get!)
Spices and herbs, vanilla, low sodium soy sauce (Erik's been putting it on everything), cornflour, lemon juice, sugarfee GUM (really helps with the snack attack), bouillion cubes, vinegar, garlic (ground and pieces), vanilla pod (used a lot here in england recipes), nutmeg, and ginger. (We're only in England for a few months so we did not have these basics with us).
I began cooking some of the recipes as I was getting hungry again after tearing the lunch chicken apart. First I made the Oat bran pancakes and these were quite yummy. I did not take pictures and plan to alter the recipe so I will do that the next time I need to make them (in a couple days). I figured out how to separate eggs repetitively and was pretty proud of myself.
I made a chocolate pudding type thing (chocolate creme) and it was disgusting. I hoped it would taste better after setting in the fridge but it was still disgusting.
I tried the non-fat cottage cheese I bought, also disgusting. I threw the whole container away after the first bite.
I made the mayonaise in teh book and it just tastes like Dijon mustard to me. I guess the french love it but I sure don't and if I"m going to be eating tuna and egg salad (with no bread) then I need to alter this one big time.
I made the dressing and again it just tasted like Dijon mustard to me. Not something I'd look forward to rewarding myself with on future vegetable days. Another alteration is in teh works!
I was getting a bit discouraged but then I fried up the shrimp with lemon and it was really yummy so that is a hit.
My mother has some 'skinny dip' (I'll get the real name later) that is a zero sugar, zero calorie (therefore allowed in this diet) ice treat that would be great for filling the night time snack time. But I didn't see anything like that here and believe me, I looked through the entire icecream isle with hopeful and determined eyes! Erik and I were still hungry and I was feeling fat when I went to bed, even after snacking on the ham. :o(
Peeing.
I'm not sure how much I've been drinking but I've always loved water and I guess am drinking more to try to fill the snack hunger. Everytime I pee, which is often, I feel like I'm peeing for 5 minutes. I've been telling myself that it is all the extra body junk juices that are now flowing out of me! Look, there they goooooooo!
You Can Dukan: Day 1
Date: May 1st, 2011
Weigh-in: none, we didn't have a scale yet!
Step 1:
The very first step in this diet, and I guess any diet, is deciding where you want to be? How much do you want to weight? Or, in my husbands case, what size pants do you want to wear? Erik is pretty muscular and is more concerned with reducing fat than reducing weight. He works out so may be gaining muscle as he loses fat. (or vice versa!)
My ideal weight was an easy one for me. When I went to Field Training for the Air Force (2002) I was in pretty descent shape and I weighed 142 lbs. After Field Training, I was super skinny, more muscular, had no boobs and looked like a boy and I weighed...... 142 lbs. Apparently this is my weight. (or course that was 2 children and nearly 10 years ago but hey, if you're goin for it, go for it!) I entered my info on the Dukan diet website and rounded off to say that I wanted to weigh 140 lbs. It came back and said my ideal weight should be 142....weird, and very specific!
Agian, Erik doesn't have an ideal weight but he did say he wanted to lose about 20 lbs so we'll put his goal at 201 lbs.
We also took pictures but I promised Erik I would not post them (at least not until we had better ones to compare them too!) so we'll have to wait on those!
Step 2:
How long do you want to be in the Jump Start section of the diet? The website reccomended 2 days, the book reccomended 5 days. Erik & I opted for the 5 days because we want the biggest bangyest (?) start to or diet so we lose some weight and get really excited about it. Plus we are gluttons for punishment.
When we bought the book, we also went grocery shopping and bought what I thought was good Protein food: Salmon, steak, steak, and eggs. I also bought cucumbers, mushrooms, and other healthy feeling foods that I hadn't found out would not be allowed yet.
Day 1 food: Protien day w/ 20 min walk (required every day)
breakfast- 2 boiled eggs with salt each
lunch-missed it while we were out shopping
early dinner-steak with pepper and onion seasonings
late night snacks as we were both starving at this point (not what you're supposed to do on this diet). The big plus of this diet is you can eat as much as you want, but it has to be proteins. I hadn't read the book yet so steak & eggs were really all i knew about protein! We snacked on ham slices while we watched TV and ate some more eggs.
Unless I dug into the book and learned more about this diet, I didn't think we'd make it just eating eggs and steak!
Weigh-in: none, we didn't have a scale yet!
Step 1:
The very first step in this diet, and I guess any diet, is deciding where you want to be? How much do you want to weight? Or, in my husbands case, what size pants do you want to wear? Erik is pretty muscular and is more concerned with reducing fat than reducing weight. He works out so may be gaining muscle as he loses fat. (or vice versa!)
My ideal weight was an easy one for me. When I went to Field Training for the Air Force (2002) I was in pretty descent shape and I weighed 142 lbs. After Field Training, I was super skinny, more muscular, had no boobs and looked like a boy and I weighed...... 142 lbs. Apparently this is my weight. (or course that was 2 children and nearly 10 years ago but hey, if you're goin for it, go for it!) I entered my info on the Dukan diet website and rounded off to say that I wanted to weigh 140 lbs. It came back and said my ideal weight should be 142....weird, and very specific!
Agian, Erik doesn't have an ideal weight but he did say he wanted to lose about 20 lbs so we'll put his goal at 201 lbs.
We also took pictures but I promised Erik I would not post them (at least not until we had better ones to compare them too!) so we'll have to wait on those!
Step 2:
How long do you want to be in the Jump Start section of the diet? The website reccomended 2 days, the book reccomended 5 days. Erik & I opted for the 5 days because we want the biggest bangyest (?) start to or diet so we lose some weight and get really excited about it. Plus we are gluttons for punishment.
When we bought the book, we also went grocery shopping and bought what I thought was good Protein food: Salmon, steak, steak, and eggs. I also bought cucumbers, mushrooms, and other healthy feeling foods that I hadn't found out would not be allowed yet.
Day 1 food: Protien day w/ 20 min walk (required every day)
breakfast- 2 boiled eggs with salt each
lunch-missed it while we were out shopping
early dinner-steak with pepper and onion seasonings
late night snacks as we were both starving at this point (not what you're supposed to do on this diet). The big plus of this diet is you can eat as much as you want, but it has to be proteins. I hadn't read the book yet so steak & eggs were really all i knew about protein! We snacked on ham slices while we watched TV and ate some more eggs.
Unless I dug into the book and learned more about this diet, I didn't think we'd make it just eating eggs and steak!
Getting started: the Dukan Diet
My husband, Erik, and I have finally decided that our gradually expanding waistlines need action. After seeing Princess Kate (we are from the US but currently staying in England for a few months) at her wedding with her tiny tiny waist and beautiful dress, I was inspired to take the action we need. I saw an article that mentioned she had used the Dukan diet to slim down before the big day.
How do we start?
After looking for the general idea on line we learned that the diet is broken down into 4 sections:
Section 1: the Jump Start
During this phase you will lose weight fast which should get you excited enough to feel good about your progress and want to stick with the diet. (This is the section my and I are currently in.) You can only eat Protien during this phase of the diet. What does that mean? Can we only eat meat all day? For how many days?
Section 2: Rolling along
You can now add vegetables to your diet and you will alternate between protien days and protien + vegetable days. Again there were many questions left unanswered by the net and I was loath to pay the 100 pound coaching price offered on teh diet website.
Section 3: Gradual Stop
At this point in the diet you are now at the weight that you set out to be at and also at your most likely to give up and start pigging out again (face it, that's how we all got to where we are!) During this time you start to introduce other foods back into your diet and you even get one or two normal meals a week. More questions: which foods, how much, etc, etc?
Section 4: The Promise
Now there are a few (easy when compared to having to diet again) things you need to do to keep the weight off for good. You there would be, you just don't know what it is yet!
How do we start?
After looking for the general idea on line we learned that the diet is broken down into 4 sections:
Section 1: the Jump Start
During this phase you will lose weight fast which should get you excited enough to feel good about your progress and want to stick with the diet. (This is the section my and I are currently in.) You can only eat Protien during this phase of the diet. What does that mean? Can we only eat meat all day? For how many days?
Section 2: Rolling along
You can now add vegetables to your diet and you will alternate between protien days and protien + vegetable days. Again there were many questions left unanswered by the net and I was loath to pay the 100 pound coaching price offered on teh diet website.
Section 3: Gradual Stop
At this point in the diet you are now at the weight that you set out to be at and also at your most likely to give up and start pigging out again (face it, that's how we all got to where we are!) During this time you start to introduce other foods back into your diet and you even get one or two normal meals a week. More questions: which foods, how much, etc, etc?
Section 4: The Promise
Now there are a few (easy when compared to having to diet again) things you need to do to keep the weight off for good. You there would be, you just don't know what it is yet!
Knowing that day 1 was a protien only day, Erik and I ate the hard-boiled left over Easter eggs for breakfast and we set to the store to find protien meals and hopefully the Dukan diet book. We found the book: The Dukan Diet by Pierre Dukan, the french medical solution for permanent weight loss. Would this book have the answer to our questions?
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