We all love to stay in shape, don’t we? But sometimes, a lot of us stop maintaining ourselves and gain too much weight. And just working out isn’t always enough! You need to also start with a good diet plan to maintain your weight-losing streak.
I followed such a diet plan, and it worked for me. It’s called the Dukan diet, and I am going to tell you all about it today.
What is the Dukan diet?
It’s a protein-based diet where you cut out carbs and fats from your meals and snacks and replace them with protein and vegetables. But there’s a catch! If you want to strictly follow this diet plan, you can only eat the specific 100 different foods this diet allows you to.
What Is this Dukan Diet?
A French physician called Pierre Dukan created a list of 100 different foods that included pure proteins (68) and vegetables (32). To follow this diet, you can only eat the foods from this list in any amount you like to lose weight.
This diet plan consists of foods high in protein that do not have many calories. So if you eat them, you will feel fuller and use up more energy to digest the proteins, which will burn more calories in your body.
Phases of the Dukan Diet
The Dukan diet plan has four phases that you should follow to reap the most benefits. I will talk about these phases in more detail.
Attack Phase
The 68 pure protein foods on the list that Dukan provides are what you need to eat for this first phase. And this is why it’s called the attack phase, as you can lose a lot of weight at once if you cut out all carbs suddenly.
What’s the theory?
Dukan’s theory here is that eating this much protein can kick-start your metabolism. You can lose a huge chunk of your weight just by cutting off most of your calorie intake. I lost about 15 pounds within the 2-5-day period of this first phase. Of course, I also worked out!
However, beware of dehydration!
When you start eating just proteins, the sudden decrease in calories can easily take out the water inside your body and dehydrate you.
According to this attack phase, you also need to eat 1.5 tablespoons (at least) of oat bran every day. As it’s high in fiber, you keep feeling full all day!
Cruise Phase
In this phase, you have to slowly introduce your body to the certain 32 vegetables to lose more weight. Even though you can eat all the 100 foods on the list, you should alternate between vegetables, pure proteins, and vegetables plus proteins every other day.
You keep on with this phase for 3 days straight every time you lose a pound. Don’t forget to eat your oat bran! In this phase, it’s at least 2 tablespoons every day. And remember to work out for at least 30 minutes.
Consolidation Phase
The goal of this phase is to maintain the lost weight. So don’t be sad if you don’t lose any! In this phase, you can have a bit of starchy food. And you get to eat as much of the 100 foods as you want to!
You can also eat a single piece of food each day during this phase. The best part for me was that I could eat about 1.5 ounces of my favorite hard-rind cheese. And about 2 slices of bread won’t hurt either, as long as it’s whole grain.
Stabilization Phase
The maintenance of your lost weight, in the long run, is what the stabilization phase is called. As long as you don’t gain any weight, you’re good to go! And now you can eat about 3 tablespoons of oat bran, do a bit of cardio every day, eat only pure protein once a week, and drink enough water every day.
This phase needs to become your lifestyle as it’s a long-term phase. Now you can even have sugar-free gum, vinegar, spices, and artificial sweeteners. Whatever you do, don’t forget to take some multivitamins and minerals to keep your body healthy.
Wrap-Up
The Dukan diet does work! I am living proof of this, to say the least. All you have to do is stick to the strict regime, and you will not regret cutting off all the delicious carbs from your meals and snacks.
Afterall, a healthier life is a happier life!
