Day 81

Sorry I've not posted this week, it's been hectic. Trying to decorate my daughters bedroom, fit in visits with friends/family whilst making room for some quality family time with Tim & Amilee (which has been sadly lacking over the past few months).

It's been a good week diet wise, another 3llbs gone. I haven't been able to get my walk in every day but I am much more conscious of the need to keep active and moving around. It's been busy, busy, busy.....

I feel I am getting settled into the diet now, there is something comfortable about routine.
I have been toying around with the idea of changing my goal weight, but, haven't decided yet.
Ideally I would like to be 147llbs but have set my goal weight at 161llbs. I did this because I was unsure how my body would take losing too much weight (still don't know really) and because my Dukan true weight was well above this, so I thought I would go somewhere in the middle.
I will put this idea on the shelf at the moment and concentrate on getting to my half way point - 60.25llbs lost. I've set myself the task of reaching it by 28th January 2012.

I hope everyone has a fantastic start to 2012.

The only thing that will stop you reaching your goal is YOU!

2llbs - Day 74

I'm really pleased with my loss this week, I was hoping I would lose at least a pound so 2 is great, I'm sure it's the exercising that has done it. I suppose I'll have to keep it up now! LOL :@)

Thanks to Sandi - I had a great walk in the rain yesterday, http://flamidwyfe.wordpress.com/ can't wait to do it again, but decorating is calling at the moment. Painting my daughters new bedroom a lovely shade of pink, I love to be creative. I've got it all planned out, canopy over the bed, art work, light fittings, so exciting.

I'm so excitable at the moment, I'm tiring myself out! hehe.

Day 72 - Started Exercise!

I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 3/4llb so far this week. I knew I was in for a smaller loss this week but that's fine with me, I'm due a quieter week.

Exercise - 25 minutes on my cross trainer. I know it's not quite the 30 minutes Dukan suggests but something happened that's a little worrying, I seem to have developed an allergic reaction to something. (Not unusual as over the years I have suffered a bit with allergies of one kind or another).

I noticed it the other day when I was brushing the floors in my house, as soon as I started geting hot, my arms started burning / tingling and hives started coming up all over my arms and a few on my legs & feet, very odd.
It happened again today! As soon as I started sweating, exactly the same thing happened. I've tried looking on the internet and I think it's either a dust allergy / sweat allergy. (cross trainer is in the garage).

Advice I could find - stop exercising as soon as symptoms happen, take anti-histemine.

Oh well, I will just have to do 2 x 15 minute exercise sessions instead of doing it all in one go.

Positives - I surprised myself, it's not half as bad as I thought it would be. I really enjoyed doing the exercise, I had my music on and it went really quickly (only 5/6 songs).

IT'S SNOWING!

I love the snow! There is something very peaceful about watching snow falling. I must admit though that it's a nuisance if you've got to travel.
On the weight loss front, I don't feel like I've lost any weight this week, who knows, tomorrow is weigh day so we shall see. I don't feel too concerned though, I have decided not to take myself and my weight loss too seriously. That doesn't mean that I won't be sticking to the diet but it means I won't be obsessing about it. I know that as well as losing weight I need to change my thinking, it's not the end of the world if I make a mistake / can't do something, it doesn't make me a failure, it makes me human. It's how you act after the mistake that matters - if you can acknowledge the mistake and move on from it, then, that is what I think success is.

I feel like I'm walking on a slippery tightrope - that it the only way to describe how I feel at the moment.

I haven't cheated but my motivation is waning. I am a determined person but I feel miserable being on a diet, like I'm depriving myself (which I know is nonsense! You dont get to 280llbs+ depriving yourself of anything).
I've been trying to justify having a day / meal off the diet, but I know that if I do this, I will not be able to start again, as I will feel like I have failed and it will be a downward spiral from there.

Dukan said that this is the point when some will give up, when they should be kicking it up another gear they slip back into old habits.

My one bug bear so far has been exercise, in all honesty, I have not done any!

I can make loads of genuine excuses, I've been ill, my 20 month old toddler is having a horrendous time with teething, so I am sleep deprived. But I know that at some points in the last 2 months, I could have done some exercise but have been too lazy. I am determined not to give up, so I need to step it up and start. My husband is off work soon so that will give me a great opportunity to kick start my exercise plan - you can hold me to it - 22nd December, look out for my "I've started exercise" post.

I believe that exercise will really help me to get motivated again & push me forward. I know I will find it alot easier now (39llbs lighter) than I would have at the start of the diet.

D. DAY (weigh in) - Day 60

Another 3llbs gone.

Sorry I'm not feeling very enthusiatic today - It took me ages to get to sleep last night and when I did, I didn't sleep very well. Yesterday I felt really stressed out over my weigh in, weird, because it's not something that normally bothers me. Who knows?!?

Also TOTM. Maybe that's the answer.

You never account for the range of emotions that you will feel losing weight, ecstatic one minute, despairing the next! HAVE TO KEEP PLODDING ON.

It's the little victories that matter.......

I know this may sound silly to some of you, but, I feel really proud of myself.

I was eating my lunch (salmon & ratatouille) and I thought, I feel full now, so with a whole 6 / 7 forkfuls of food left on my plate, I decided to stop eating!!! (shock horror) I think that may be the first time in  alot of YEARS that I have done that.

I really feel that this diet is allowing me to get control back. It's very liberating to get away from the grip that food had on me. I felt like I didnt deserve any better than stuffing my face & being miserable. I pretended everything was fine and I didn't care about my weight, but really, I felt powerless.

The Dukan Diet makes you have a very singular way of thinking and this is just what I need, ALL OR NOTHING. So I will give it all I've got. No half measures.

Weigh Day - Day 53

I have lost 4.75llbs this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very happy!!!!!!!!!!

It has been a tough week though, you would think that 50 something days into a diet all have your cravings would have been conquered but NO.
A couple of days this week I have had terrible carb cravings - specifically biscuits, bread, onion rings & crackers. I have been very tempted to cheat but I managed to distract myself - I ate alot of the foods I could eat and drank loads (about 6 litres + on one day! bit much). My saving graces were sugar free jelly, laughing cow extra light triangles and asda's economy burgers (less than 10% fat) these foods made me feel like I was having a bit of a treat.

I also have swapped to having a green tea first thing in the morning instead of coffee/cold water. I read on one of the forums that this can help with water retention.
There was an interesting thread on the forums about drinking too much - this can also lead to some water retention - I was drinking about 5 - 6 litres + per day so I have tried to reign it in a little.

The scales are moving in the right direction - I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 1llb!

I was really worried that I was going to be one of those people who because of previous dieting would be immune to the Dukan diet after the initial loss. I need to remind myself to be proud of my achievement so far, I have lost 32llbs in 49 days! That by any standards is pretty fantastic.

I think at the start of the diet, because you can lose so much weight, you get a little spoiled and find it hard to adjust to losing 1 / 2llbs per week. But I need to remember that even 1 / 2llbs is a great loss per week.

The other day I found my weight loss record for when I was doing the Lighter Life diet (2004) and my weight loss was exactly the same! 31llbs in 42 days. Crazy when you think that doing Lighter Life you are only consuming powder sachets with minimal calories each day.

Note to self - Dont do another attack phase prematurely.........I saw a comment by Pierre Dukan on one of the forums and he said not to attempt another attack phase unless your weight loss has stalled for at least 10 days as it could put your body in panic mode and stop weight loss for longer.

Great information on all things Dukan.

I came across this site today and thought it was really good, Amber seems really well informed and keeps upto date with all the latest Dukan News / Forums.

http://thedukandietsite.com/

Dukan Forum

I've just been looking at the forums on the Dukan websites (UK / US). There are some really helpful hints.
I'm assuming the worst - my weight loss is stalling and may well be coming to a stand still! Im trying to collect information on the different ways to combat this. I may be over reacting but I'm trying to calm down and not panic!

1) Make sure you are doing the prescribed exercise (30 minute walk per day). Increase this to 60 minutes for 4 days of the week until weight loss starts again.
2) Make sure you are drinking enough 1.5 - 2 litres per day.
3) Make sure you are eating enough protein.
4) On the Protein & Veg days, veg should only amount to a third of your plate, 2/3 should be protein.
5) Dandelion tea / green tea can be a good way of getting rid of hidden water retention.
6) Cut out tolerated foods for 4 days.

I read an encouraging post on a forum:
Losing weight quickly means your body has to stop in its tracks for a short while in order to adjust to the weight loss process. Your body doesn't like to see its reserves melting and it takes it some time to adapt. Believe me, this stagnation occurs in every diet, especially when the weight loss is fast, but I assure you the weight will keep dropping at about 2 pounds a week now.

Weight Loss - Pure Protein (PP) Vs Protein & Veg (P&V)

This week I have only lost 1.5 llbs. I do alternate days PP / P&V. On the weeks where I do 4 P&V days I seem to lose less weight than when I am on a week with 4 PP days.
I may change things about slightly so that every week I do 3 days P&V and 4 days PP.

It's been a very stressful week & I've found it difficult not to turn to food as a comfort. I must admit that although I haven't cheated I probably ate too much veg, so note to self - WATCH YOUR PORTION SIZES!

Great Recipe - Delicious!

http://charlottesdukandiet.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/recipe-taco-mince/

I also added some worcestershire sauce at the end, gave it bit more depth of flavour and covered up the cornflour taste.

Update 4th Dec 2011. I have just read that despite worcestershire sauce being used in recipes in the Dukan Diet books, it is technically not allowed due to its sugar content (same with chinese plum sauce). I however have eaten both of these things (in ignorance) and it hasn't hindered my weight loss at all. Not that I'm encouraging breaking the rules, I guess it can affect everyone differently.

Massive Inspiration!

Just reading this blog is enough to inspire confidence and a determination to succeed!

Take a look!

http://beatlekitten.blogspot.com/

Tip if you reach a Plateau in your weight loss.

I read this on another blog and thought I would give it a go when / if this happens to me.

My method is to eat protein only. I eat only lean turkey sandwich meat, chicken breasts, and tuna. I drink only water and diet drinks. Do that for as long as you can stand, and your body will go into ultra fat burning mode. Be forewarned however that during the first 4 days or so you may experience physical and mental lethargy so don't attempt this ultimate attack phase during an important or intense time in your life like a major presentation or job interview or something. After the 4th day though you will feel much better and your appetite will be naturally decreased. The weight will drop amazingly fast. Be wary of salt intake though. Through seasoning the lean protein you sometimes end up consuming more salt than you think. Drinking plenty of water will counter that efficiently.

Dukan True Weight - Day 42

According to my true weight calculation my True Weight is 180.84llbs. This is above where I would ideally like to be (161llbs) but maybe this is more realisitic for me. Dukan says that you have to be happy at whatever weight you reach and it has to be realistic in order for you to be able to maintain that weight. I suppose I'll just have to see how I feel when I get there. I have had a baby at my heaviest weight so I cant expect miracles.
Despite losing over 5llbs last week I feel quite down, so far in the diet I have been very positive and cheerful, but I'm struggling now, I always knew that my mental struggle would be harder than my physical one. Nagging doubts start to creep in - what if you lose all this weight and you're still not happy? What if you lose the weight and you look awful with lots of sagging skin? All your hard work will have been for nothing (and the thoughts go on and on!)
However I know that I won't stop doing the diet and I am confident that I can lose weight so that is something to cling to until I start to feel better again.

Please Ask.....

If anyone has any queries about the diet, what I've been eating, etc, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK.

Or if anyone wants to share their experience or recipe ideas that would be fantastic!
Look forward to hearing from you x

Cruise - Alternating Pure Protein / Protein & Vegetables.

I decided to follow the books advice and follow the 1PP/1P&V alternating method (1 day of pure proteins / 1 day of protein & veg). I have alot of weight to lose so Dukan recommends this method as there is less chance of you tiring of it and suffering from the side affects of PP days, i.e. constipation / bad breath.

I started the Cruise stage on 22.10.2011. Since then I have lost another 12 3/4 llbs taking my total loss to 26 1/4 llbs (weight 15.11.2011).

Attack

I did a 10 day attack phase and lost 13.5llbs.

My weight loss history.

I suppose if I was to try and pinpoint a place where my weight issues started it would be following a period of bullying in highschool by my closest friends. This for me was literally life changing.

Over the years I have tried a variety of diets from calorie counting ones to Atkins, Lighterlife, Lipotrim and Slimming World. I'm 5ft 7 and I've weighed anything from 135llbs to 288llbs.

My husband read about The Dukan Diet in one of the national newspapers, he thought we both should give it a go. Quite reluctantly I agreed, he ordered the diet book/recipe book and we started to clear out all our food cupboards. We got rid of everything that wasn't in the book. I haven't looked back since!

No-one will lose weight unless they want to and are ready to.
This is true of me - as much as I resisted the idea when my husband suggested it, in my heart I knew that I was ready to do something about my weight.

I began the diet on the 12.10.2011.

My first post.....

I'll make this note at the start of my blog - I'm not that great at using a computer so you'll have to bear with me!

I'm hoping to update my blog at least once a week but more often if I can.

After seeing the blogs of others detailing their Dukan Diet experiences I thought that I should do the same. I believe that it will help me get my thoughts together / keep motivated so I can succeed in my weight loss journey and if it helps others in a similar position that would be great.

My Start Weight - 281.5llbs. (WOW I can't believe how difficult that was for me to put in writing!)