Lots of catching up to do

Day: 7
Phase: Attack
J. Weight: 184
D. Weight: 292

It's been a full week and we've seen a lot of progress, and Dameon and I are on track with the estimates that we've found for average weight loss during the attack phase. I am going to end my attack phase after 7 days, and Dameon will continue until he hits 10 days. As you can see, we started by losing a few pounds each daily and it's seems to have hit a plateau. I am still losing but the pace has slowed down, and since I'm on track with our estimates, I'm feeling okay about moving into the Cruise Phase and adding some veggies into my daily routine. Dameon would like to get himself under 190 before he officially ends the attack phase, so he will continue for another few days. I am really excited by the idea of some delicious cucumbers, and I can't wait for some variety much longer, so I'll wuss out early.

We've experienced some fatigue, as was expected, but the hunger cravings are dropping significantly for us both. It's weird to feel full after having a single chicken breast for lunch, but it makes sense to lose weight like this, because we're simply not eating as much food each day.

As mentioned before, the daily pancakes make a nice dessert at the end of the day, and that is helping  me get my fill of simulated sweets. I have also found a few flavors of non-fat, non-dairy creamers that can turn my coffee into a drinkable dessert, if you will. It's not much, but it's all I've got. I and I will not lie, the cravings for chocolate are daily. I do miss food, but seeing such obvious progress after only one week is encouraging. I built a handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet to track out weight loss and make some fancy charts, because visualizing progress makes a nice little boost for one's efforts.

And since I keep going on about the pancakes, here, they are:

Cinnamon Pancakes

1 egg
2 tbsp. vanilla yogurt

3 tbsp. oat bran

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. no-cal sweetener

(I am using Truvia)

Beat the egg, then beat in the vanilla yogurt. I whisk it with a fork and it comes out fine. Add in the oat bran, cinnamon and sweetenr and whisk some more until it's all mixed.

  

This recipe works out great for Dameon and I because we need 1.5 tbsp. pf oat bran each day, so one bowl makes dessert for both of us. We're thinking about cooking up a large batch early in the  week so we have some after dinner munchies. In the cruise phase you can double your daily oat bran, so this might be worth it. Once everything is mixed, the pancakes are easily cooked in a pan with a light coating of non-stick spray. They come out just like any other pancake, so they are pretty easy to cook.

I've been serving them up with an extra dollop of vanilla yogurt for sauce, and it comes out nicely.

Tonight we have some marinaded New York Strips, and I'm very excited by that. We have gotten some broccoli for steaming along with cucumbers and tomatoes, so tomorrow's dinner will be a nice change from the all meat diet. I'm stoked.

Morning check-in

Day: 2
Phase: Attack
J. Weight: 192
D. Weight: 298


This morning's weigh-in was a little surprising, since everything I've read tells me I should be shedding pounds this week. But that was only day one, so I will be patient. Breakfast was scrambled egg whites and diced ham - not bad.

Last night I made cinnamon pancakes to get my daily does of oat bran. They turned out quite good and made for a nice dessert. I served them with a dollop of raspberry yogurt on the side for dipping. I will take some photos when I make them again tonight.

After a whole day without carbs it was a good to have a treat. I am a person who is used to eating multiple sweets throughout the day, so this diet will be a big change for me. If I can continue  finding ways of making my small does of carbs into a dessert I think it will work out better. I am a person who always goes for sweet over savory, who knows how to bake better than how to cook, who believes in a few ounces of chocolate a day. I wonder sometimes if all that will change after 6 months of strict dieting. This journal will help me to track how things are changing physically and mentally; I am optimistic and fascinated to see what the outcome ultimately is. 

Shopping list

Having checked out a few recipes, it looks like zero calorie sweetener will be important for getting a little dessert into the mix. With this diet it is important to have a few tablespoons of oat bran a day to, um, keep things moving, as it were. One website has some good recipes for making cookies and muffins out of this daily dose of oat bran, and no cal. sweetener and vanilla show up in almost all of them. I am not a big fan of the "fake sugars" out there, so I got Truvia and Sweet n' Low to see what I like best, or at least what I can tolerate most.

Another important part of this diet (like so many others) is to drink plenty of water. The recommended daily allowance is at least 1.5 liters per day. Dameon and I are tracking this by marking how many bottles of water we drink each day. Today I bought tons of the flavor packets of zero cal. drink mixes to enliven the old taste buds. We are also planning on brewing up a pitcher of green tea for the fridge. 

Lastly, I stocked up on plenty of flavors of yogurt. There's not a lot of variety for food choice in this first week. Tonight we find out how many ways we can grill chicken breast.

Just beginning...

Day: 1
Phase: Attack
J. Weight: 190
D. Weight: 299


Hello! This blog will be built more thoroughly soon, but I want to get a first post up as early as I can here on day one. This morning marks the turning of a new leaf, as Dameon and I embark on the Dukan Diet. We have marked our starting weights above and we will be tracking our progress as we attempt to lose 40 lbs. each by the summer. Today marks the first stage of the diet, an all-protein week called the Attack Phase.

Dameon started our morning with soft-boiled eggs and fried ham steak, and coffee with skim milk to drink. Ugh. Coffee with skim milk. I will be honest, that will be one of the hardest parts about this diet. I am going to grab some non-dairy creamer at the store and see if a little of that added to my morning joe will simulate a creamier morning coffee experience.

For lunch I am just going to munch some sliced turkey. We have to marinade some chicken breast and cook up a bunch for dinner and this week's lunches tonight. We have gotten several spice rubs for grilling meats, too. Our best best is will be firing up the grill and getting a lot of chicken cooked at once. I think that pre-planning food that I can eat at the office will be really important in making this diet work. Time to add some tupperware to the shopping list.

There are a ton of great recipes for this diet out on the web, but this week is pretty simple, what with being  restricted to meat, eggs, and low-fat dairy products. I will add recipes as I discover what works for us, and I'll try to remember to get my own photos up, too.
-jennvon