Day 1 of The Dukan Diet (also named) Chicken, Chicken, More Chicken and Some Yogurt

One of my goals has been to lose enough weight so that I look good in a swimsuit come my Hawaii trip.

Not sure if that's going to happen.

Another goal of mine is to fit into my favorite pair of jeans.

I think I blogged about that before.

In any case, as I stated in a previous blog I have been working out every weekday during my lunch break. At least 30 mins on the bike and if I have time then some other activity like 10 mins on the treadmill or some free weights. Lately, I have been sticking to sets of sit-ups and pushups. After my first day in the gym I was in so much pain, it was agony. I even started a blog entry that went like this:

"I am going to die and I do not mean that in a deeply metaphorical sense. I mean that I literally feel like I am about to die...

And what did my fat@$$ do after working out to the point where death was a sweat drop away? I went to Olive Garden. Talk about counter-productive.

So there has not been any more of that...on a regular basis anyways. I have been watching what I eat, no burgers, stayed clear of too much sodas and no big Easter meal either. Working out every day and there have been minor victories (see Happy Dance entry below) However, there has been no earth-shattering weight loss.

Yesterday, I was searching for something to read on my nook and I came across this book called the Dukan Diet. According to the reviews, participants claimed to have lost 5 lbs in the first 5 days of the diet. This seemed too good to be true. A search of various reviews showed many sites deducing that this diet was a fad and most of the weight loss, water weight. There were other sites that claimed celebrities like J.Lo and others used this diet to lose the baby weight that most of us regular people would not have noticed unless we had a magnifying glass. What made me decide to give it a try was this guy named Marshall Brain.

Marshall is this guy who writes on a site called how it works. I do not follow his blogs or that site. However, when I did a search of how the Dukan Diet works I found his blog. Reading Marshall's entries made me feel like this might actually be a diet that I could do. Not to mention Marshall listed the amount of weight he lost every day and it was pretty amazing. Sure losing .3 pounds a day may not seem great but when the total is 6.6 pounds in 5 days that is definitely something to get excited about. After reading Marshall's blog, which you can view here, I purchased the Dukan Diet on my nook (oh the joys of an e-reader) and began reading what I would have to do for my first day. There is a lot of detailed explanation as to why the elements of the diet are as such but that was not very important to me. I just wanted to know what to do to lose 6.6 pounds in 5 days.

I should probably explain the rules of the Dukan Diet. There are several phases to the diet which I will explain as I reach that phase. The first phase is called the Attack phase. This phase is to kick start the body into weight loss mode encouraging the participant with fast results and jump starting the metabolism. This phase lasts anywhere between 3-10 10 days with the average time frame being 5 days. In this phase, the individual cannot eat anything that is not one of the designated categories of food. A quick summation says this: lean protein, fish, chicken, nonfat dairy products, lots of water, 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran and 20 minutes of walking. I cannot reveal all the details, some people will just have to buy the book. Should anyone decide to try this diet I strongly recommend buying the book because there is a lot of details on why you can eat this and why you cannot eat that, but returning to the task at hand...

Yes, that is correct that is all one may eat during the first phase. No fruit, no veggies, no carbs, no sugar, no sweets. However, you can have any of the foods in the categories listed and as much as you desire. Diet soda, coffee, and tea are all approved.

During my first day I had to run to the store because I did not have the necessary food. This meant I skipped breakfast which is a big no, no on this diet. Going to a grocery store when you're hungry is bad. Going to a grocery store when you're on a diet is horrible. Going to a grocery store when you fit all the descriptions above and you cannot eat anything except protein is unbearable. Everywhere I turned I was staring at something delicious and I wanted it. Grapes, chocolate, cookies, cheese, it all looked so appetizing and I knew I could have none of it. I bought a container of nonfat vanilla yogurt and a smaller container of nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt and headed to Fresh and Easy. There I was not as tempted and I purchased this ready to eat chicken, sandwich meat, and mustard.

Once I returned to work I heated up the chicken and had that with a diet Dr. Pepper. I also opened the bottle of 1.58Qts of water. When I finished the chicken I had some of the nonfat Greek yogurt to feel full. Throughout the work day I drank as much of the water as I could. After working out I felt starved and so I had some more of the Greek yogurt.

That evening I went to Ruben's to visit. I had offered to make dinner and so I cooked sautéed chicken and spinach with low carb tortillas. Ruben loved it! I had just chicken. I was getting pretty sick of chicken and I wanted to jack Ruben for a tortilla. However, I was good and stuck with the chicken.

Ruben and I then went to Target so I can get some more things so that I could be prepared for day 2 of the diet. There I spent some time trying to figure out if nonfat ice cream constitutes as a nonfat dairy item. In order to be on the safe side I picket out another small container of nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt whilst my boyfriend picked out a much larger container of mango sorbet (glaring look)

I then spent the rest of my time in the store trying to figure out what exactly is oat bran. According to a website I found, oat bran may be similar (if not the same thing) to Quaker oats. Since the store was closing I settled on Quaker oats and grabbed a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper. Once I got back to Ruben's I ate the Greek yogurt with the 1 1/2 tablespoons of oats. It was really good to me. (I like yogurt and cannot believe I can eat as much of it as I want) It almost made me forget about Ruben and his sorbet. Almost. (Another glaring look)

So that was my first day. Although it got off to a rocky start and I felt like I would turn into a chicken I managed to stick to the plan with no cheating. I just finished boiling eggs for breakfast tomorrow. I will be weighing myself every day so every 10th of a pound helps.

I am already getting sick of chicken.

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