The Dukan Diet

At beginning of January, I was invited to a friends place for dinner and during general chit chat he revealed that he had recently been undertaking the Dukan Diet and had had more success and it had also helped with food digestion as he is a lap bander.

He gave me a copy of the book to read and I do admit it took me a while to open it, but once I did I couldn’t put it down. It was very informative and opened me eyes to nutrition and the way that we currently live.

So I decided to undertake the diet.

The diet consists of four phases.

The Attack Phase

This phase is a low fat protein phase. Dairy such as Greek yoghurt or zero fat yoghurt can be eaten. 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran is to be eaten daily and spices can be incorporated onto your low fat choice of protein.

This phase is to last between 2 – 10 days. The book suggests to go to the Dukan Diet website to figure out the amount of time this phase should last by calculating your true weight.

It is recommended that at least 30 minutes of walking is done on a daily basis.

The Cruise Phase

This phase consists of incorporating complex carbohydrates back into your diet such as green vegetables and low in sugar vegetables. The Cruise phase works on an alternating pattern of having one day of protein and vegetables followed by a day of protein only foods. This is repeated until you reach your true weight.

Oat bran consumption is to be increased to 2 tablespoons and exercise in the form of walking is to be increased up to an hour.

The Consolidation Phase

This phase is all about maintain your true weight for a certain amount of time so that your body adapts to the weight loss you have undergone.

Here you can incorporate simple carbohydrates back into your diet by having it once a week. For example, pasta can be eaten once a week. One piece of fruit can also be eaten once a day. A celebration meal can also be had (this is an anything goes meal so knock yourself out) twice a week.

Oat bran is to be eaten daily and exercise in the form of walking to be kept up.

The Stabilisation Phase

This phase is similar to the consolidation phase but there is a mandatory all protein day to be eaten on Thursday as well as continuing eating your oat bran daily.

Below is the length of time that I would have to spend per stage as per the Dukan Diet calculator.