Dukan Dieting

Since two days after I landed in the States two months ago, I've been dieting. No juice cleanses or Drop 10 Fast things. The diet I've been doing my best to follow (I can't just simply say the diet I've been following because, as you will see, it hasn't been that clear cut...) is called the Dukan Diet. Created by French doctor Pierre Dukan, the diet resembles Atkins in it's insistence on the importance of protein over carbohydrates. However, Dukan goes a bit further and makes it simpler. For a few days, one eats nothing but pure protein. No fat, no carbs, no fiber. Nothing but meat (or tofu, etc.). After those first few days, the kick-start for the diet, one alternates days of pure proteins and proteins with vegetables. Dukan lists 100 foods that one can eat in unlimited quantities, prescribes specific exercise and a few tablespoons of oat bran a day (which I've been turning into sweet treats to quell my sweet tooth's insatiable cravings). One follows this second phase of the diet until the desired weight is achieved. Two more relaxed stages of dieting follow, slowly reintroducing the body to the carbohydrates and sugars it has been deprived of, and  viola! For the rest of one's life, one need only commit to having one pure protein day a week forever, and Dukan says the ideal weight will be maintained.

Sounds easy enough, right readers? Think again. For those of you who know me personally, you may realize that I've never cared about my weight. I've never dieted a day in my life before now, and exercise has always been something that happened along the way to other things (dance team, walking around the city on errands, etc.). Something you may not know about me, in fact it's something I'm not sure I realized myself, is that I have a huge and uncontrollable sweet tooth. Well, let me rephrase. I don't have a sweet tooth so much as I crave the comfort and relaxation that I seem to associate with sugar: midnight snacks, tea time, breakfast treats.

Needless to say, with all these diet-crushing habits sitting my personal background, I've broken the diet a few times. I have actually lost about a third of my goal weight, which surprises me a great deal. Having looked and felt the same for about six or seven years, I've grown so accustomed to my weight that I don't think I ever really thought about changing it. So clearly it's possible to change it, and I intend to keep going. But the struggle here is to find a way to get over the sweet treats!!

The key I'm learning is to be sure to treat myself to some down time with Dukan-approved treats at least once a day. If I skip out on this time, I have a much harder time controlling the desire for crazy amounts of sweets for the next day or even next few days!

You may be wondering what are some Dukan-approved treats (or maybe you don't care at all!), and I promise to share some fun recipes and facts in the coming weeks, as you join me along the last few legs of my Dukan journey (at this point I don't care if you're interested; you're coming anyway ;).  But until then, just note a couple of things.

Yep. You can lose weight. Or, if that's not your goal, you can change your eating habits, you can train and gain strength and endurance. You can lead a totally different lifestyle. If I can do it, trust so can anyone. I know it's cliché, but I really didn't think I could. Set a few small goals for yourself, such as adding cardio or stretch class twice a week, and watch as your outlook changes. Who knows? Maybe making those small lifestyle changes with give you the courage and creativity to make lifestyle overhauls. We could all use a little change, right?