Okay folks, here’s the skinny: (no pun intended)

After three weeks on the Dukan Diet, I have lost right around 10 lbs. Over the past week, I’ve “cheated” a little here and there.

Each cheat has been a healthy food (with the exception of one candy bar) and has been only throughout the course of the past few days. I had some air popped popcorn, which is decidedly not carb-free, but was still fairly low carb, about 2% I think.  I also had a 6 inch Subway sandwich today out of sheer desperation. I had to eat something or I was going to faint, and I was in Floydada with the Husband.

These items did NOT set me back too much. I lost almost three pounds this week, and I think that, with more exercise, I could still continue to lose weight and give up on the strictly protein diet.

For the record, the only actual exercise I have been getting these past three weeks is walking every three or four days, and working on closing down the local video store. While the latter has been somewhat strenuous, I feel that I can still do an actual workout and eat other food.

Bottom line: I’m tired of this diet. I love the results, but I’m sick of eating nothing but chicken breast and broccoli. Also, this diet has definitely taken its toll on my wallet. Meat is expensive around here.

What do you guys think? Can I keep losing weight by exercising more and eating a healthy VARIED diet? I still have exactly 30 pounds to go before I reach my goal.

Weigh in on this in the comments! (pun totally intended)

-Katie

As of this morning, I have lost 10.2 lbs!

This week of the Cruise Phase has been most difficult. I have sincerely wanted to quit this diet, mostly because I miss cooking beautiful, varied meals for my husband and myself. I like to experiment when I cook, and lean proteins and veggies do not lend to this very well.

I also feel like my social life has suffered from this diet. I turn down going to coffee shops or Chinese food restaurants with friends solely because I still crave carbs and greasy food. 

It’s been very difficult, but I’m still going strong. Losing 10 lbs in just under 3 weeks has really helped motivate me to stay on the diet.

Numbers for this week:

10.2 - Number of pounds lost so far

154.8 - My weight as of this morning

29.8 - Pounds left til the Magic Number

1,000,000,000 - Times I have wanted a big, fat bowl of pasta since starting this diet

1,000,000,000 - Times I have resisted that big, fat bowl of pasta.

I just spent precious sleeping time writing a post, and when I went to submit it, it deleted itself. So…let me give you the highlights.

I cheated on my diet today. Macaroni and cheese, along with broccoli and a steak. The mac n’cheese serving was about 1/4 the suggested serving size….just FYI.

I’ve lost 2.2 on the first week of the cruise phase. Awesomeness.

That means I’ve lost 7.2 pounds in two week’s time. Hooray!

I can no longer drink sodas to quench my thirst. It must be water or tea. The soda just leaves a weird taste/feel in my mouth.

I have 32.8 pounds to go to reach my goal weight. 

I’m tired. Good night!

-Katie

The Attack Phase is over. Hooray for veggies!! I began the cruise phase on Sunday, August 7. As of that morning, I have lost 5 lbs total! Not too shabby, I may say. 

My husband and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Sunday and Monday morning. We went to an interactive science museum and saw a movie. For lunch, I ate a sirloin steak with steamed broccoli. For dinner, we went to a salad place, where I had all the leafy greens I could eat. 

Also, I’m sorry to say, I cheated on my diet for the first time. I had a slice of cornbread with honey butter. Granted, the slice measured approximately 1”x2”, and the spread of butter was so thin it was almost nonexistent, but it was so darn good.

There I was, eating my delicious salad, but I was surrounded by pasta, potatoes, tacos, and soup.  I figured the cornbread was a better option than the strawberry shortcake.

Anywho, the cornbread didn’t set me back too much, as I gained less than a pound from that day, and some of that can be attributed to the veggies I ate, too.

Today was a Pure Protein day, so we’ll see how the weigh-in goes tomorrow. 

My goal now: I have to alternate Pure Protein and Protein-Veggie days until I get down to my goal weight. I’m 5 pounds closer now, though!

Numbers!

165: What I weighed at the beginning of this diet

8: Number of days I’ve been on the diet

160: What I weigh as of yesterday morning

5: Number of pounds lost so far! :)

Until next time,
Katie 

I have been with the Attack Phase for five days now, and I am pleased with the results. My results haven’t been as dramatic as some of the other blogs I’ve read (some people have lost upwards of 10 lbs!) but I have lost quite a bit of weight.

I lost .8 lbs on the first day, and 2.3 lbs the second day. I actually gained half a pound the third day, but more on that later. I lost a pound the fourth day, and as of this morning, I was down to 160.4! 

This means that, in total, I have lost 4.6 lbs!! This is purely water weight, which is why I’m okay with losing that much in just 5 days.

I have stuck to the diet pretty well, eating a lot of beef, chicken, and shrimp. I also eat a lot of nonfat yogurt to break up the monotony of just eating meat.

Now, I mentioned that I gained weight on the third day. This is, I discovered, directly related to the amount of sodium I had. My husband had a rough day at work and wanted to meet some friends at IHOP. Since I obviously couldn’t eat pancakes or anything, I opted for a serving of balsamic chicken. It was pretty salty, even though I asked them to not add any. Sodium causes water retention, which is why i didn’t lose any weight the third day. Also, since I’m drinking about 3 quarts of water a day, I gained weight because I retained the water from the salt I had.

Moral of the story? Watch your sodium when you are trying to lose weight. Watch your sodium anyway. The recommended daily intake of sodium is somewhere around 2300 mg per day. Take a look at the nutrition facts on your favorite snack and see how much you eat every day. Probably not the healthiest number, eh?

Okay. Off my soapbox now….

I craved carbs a lot on the first two days, but I expect that’s from being accustomed to eating 1-3 servings of carbs per day before I started the diet. I also wanted a soda more than words can express. Again, I was used to drinking 1-2 sodas a day, so it’s a habit I had to break.

Now, 5 days later, I have had only water to drink, and the only major source of carbs I get is from the prescribed amount of oat bran. I feel great. I have energy to get through my day without a major crash (previously alleviated with a soda or candy bar) and I find that my moods are actually improved as well.

I still have today and tomorrow for the attack phase, and I’m going strong. On Sunday, I will get to have veggies and begin my Cruise Phase. More on that at a later date.

Numbers, once again:

165: Starting weight

160.4: Weight as of this morning.

5: Days I have been on the Dukan Diet, specifically the Attack Phase

4.6: Pounds I have lost in just 5 days.

Until next time,
Katie 

I bought a digital scale today, rather than use the dial scale I used to measure my starting weight.

According to the digital scale, I actually weigh 164.2, so I’m using 165 as my starting weight. My dial scale told me that I did indeed lose almost a pound, so the math works out.

Just an update. Have a great one!

Okay. While I canNOT promise that I’ll be posting every single day, I would like to document my progress on my new diet. It’s the Dukan Diet, and to put it simply, it’s a low-carb, high-protein, ultra-structured diet. 

It’s my first day, and it hasn’t been that hard. I think my greatest weakness is that I truly enjoy foods of convenience. If I can get it already cooked, I’ll take it. That being said, these foods are generally carb-laden. 

To lay the structure of the diet out for you, it is in 4 phases.

Phase 1: Attack Phase. 3-10 days. Nothing buy lean proteins (chicken, nonfat dairy, lean beef/pork), 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran, and TONS of water. More on the water later.

Phase 2: Cruise Phase. One week for every 2 lbs you’d like to lose, or until you reach your goal weight. More lean proteins, only this time you alternate days where you can add unlimited “good” veggies. No potatoes or corn here. Oat bran. Water

Phase 3: Consolidation Phase: One week for every lb you’ve actually lost. You still do pure protein days, but start incorporating foods you’ve been without.

Phase 4: Stabilization Phase: You pretty much eat like normal again, but must still do oat bran every day, and one day a week is a pure protein day. This is for the rest of your life.

As you can see, it isn’t a diet to be taken lightly (no pun intended). But I stepped on the scale this morning and basically wanted to crawl back in bed and restart the day. Not a pleasant number to see for my 5’4” height.

I had nonfat yogurt with oat bran for breakfast, sprinkled with some cinnamon. It was filling, and I wasn’t hungry until about 5 hours later. I had a smoked turkey leg for lunch, which is actually NOT a lean protein, but I had no other options as I had no time for a lunch today. I think it was a better choice than anything else I could have eaten.

I’m posting this before dinner, but I plan on having some pan-roasted tilapia and egg drop soup made with just the whites. We’ll see how that goes. 

Here’s some numbers for documentation sake:

160 lbs: Weight this morning. This was as soon as I woke up. 

140 lbs: The weight I told myself I’d never surpass. Notice the difference?

125 lbs: Weight I hope to be at by the New Year. Goal Weight. The Magic Number.

35 lbs: The amount of weight I need to lose in order to be at my goal weight.

I’m hopeful. I’m worried. But mostly I’m ready to be healthy.

I have a confession. I have been using this blog to write about all my whims, such as “not eating out”, which admittedly only lasted two weeks, or doing bento (which lasted for a long time, but is on hold for the summer).

Truth is, I’m on an everlasting quest for some sort of project that I can work on over time. I want to have a project that I can work on and document through trendy-looking photos.  However, I’m not very good at committing to long-term projects (my marriage aside) and I don’t want to have to commit to blogging about something I’m straining to do.

So I’m going to just hang out, live life, and blog about it.  I still lovelovelove cooking and food, so this blog will probably still be mostly about that.

More on my awesome life to come!

-K

I have officially given up eating out.

Let’s rewind to the day it started…

I recently read a book, “The Art of Eating In” by Cathy Erway, and was amazed at this woman’s story.  Living in New York, (where they sell homes without kitchens, eating out’s so common) Erway had grown tired of the same, sub-par food she ate in some restaurants. So, she challenged herself and her way of life by deciding to not eat out. And she succeeded. For two years.

The results were remarkable. She broadened her culinary horizons. From freeganism to cook-offs, dinner clubs to dating without restaurants, Erway essentially learned an entirely new lifestyle and gained a shiny new perspective. She also inspired me to try it out.

Mind you, there are guidelines to this challenge. For instance, even Erway ate out if she wasn’t in her home town or her parents’ home town. If she couldn’t cook a meal for herself due to location, she ate out. She also allowed herself to eat out if her boss catered/treated her to lunch. She still had to maintain a happy workplace environment. 

But that was it. Save for a couple exceptions, she made it.

I can’t say whether or not I’ll make it two years without eating out, but I’m sure going to go about this with this goal in mind: I want to stop eating out in order to push the limit of my pantry. I want to learn new cooking techniques, how to use new ingredients, and how to pay attention to what goes into my body.

Bentos will certainly help me with this goal. They’re an easy way to pack a lunch rather than running to McDonald’s anytime I’m hungry.

I’m still working on the rules I’m setting for myself. Look out for that post later this week. So far, I have lasted 3 days without eating out. Lets see where this takes me.

-K

Hello!

I know, I know. I’m by far the worst blogger ever.  I’ve been super busy finishing up my senior recital and taking trips to Europe.

With my senior recital finally finished, I had about 5 days to get ready to go to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic along with 90-odd other students from our university’s school of music.  It was an amazing, eye-opening experience. Here’s just a small preview of the delicious food I ate there:

and…

some of the BEST ice cream I’ve ever eaten in my life.

Again, this is just a small preview of what I ate there, and an even smaller example of what I experienced.  I have hundreds of photos to filter through, so this will just have to be enough for now. :)

-K