It is easy to get confused in the modern variety of diets, but protein diets stand out in the list. The Dukan diet is an outstanding representative of protein food systems, which include eating enough food, but in a different ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
The basics of diet
The Dukan diet is popular in many countries. The effectiveness of this approach has been proven by numerous studies and applications. However, nutritionist Pierre Ducan himself claims that he has not developed a diet, but a balanced diet so that the body does not experience hunger and stress.
Weight loss will be followed by fatigue and constant tiredness.
A good competitor here will be the Lesenka diet, the essence of which is the daily switching of different levels of nutrition. Different products, different approaches for 5 days do not get bored.
Those who want to reduce their forms with the help of the Dukan diet should be familiar with the basic principles:
- Lead an active lifestyle, move around a lot, run or walk. To perform daily walks in the fresh air, lasting 30-40 minutes. Losing weight through diets is unreasonable, the body must perform physical activity, because it is in the muscles that fat tissue burns.
- Drink plenty of water (not liquids, compotes or beverages, but still water). During a protein diet, the body sheds the accumulated fluid and replenishing it daily is the number one task for weight loss.
- Strictly observe the diet and the stages of the diet. If you make personal adjustments to your diet or do not follow the diet, then you should not hope for an effective result.
- Eliminate foods that contain light carbohydrates from your diet. The use of complex and insoluble carbohydrates in the form of cereals, bran is allowed.
- Oat bran should be an essential ingredient in your daily diet. They prevent the formation of constipation during the diet and give the body the right portion of carbohydrates.
The main stages of the diet
The Dukan diet is based not only on following a certain diet, but on dividing the entire course of the diet into stages corresponding to your diet and product list. There are four stages in total:
- Attacks.
- alternation
- anchoring
- Stabilization
It is worth considering each stage separately.
Phase of attack
This is the first stage of the diet, it involves eating only protein foods. The duration of the phase lasts on average 7 days, but the interval can include from 3 to 9 days. The choice of the duration of the first stage is made individually and depends on the amount of excess weight and the state of health of weight loss.
Extra weights of 30 kg or more suggest a maximum phase duration of up to 9-10 days, with an excess of 20 kg - 7 days, and with a slight overweight up to 20 kg - 3-5 days. During this period occurs maximum weight loss, which is associated with restriction of intake of carbohydrates and fats.
Recommendations: the attack phase accepts the consumption of protein products of animal origin: meat, fish, seafood and dairy products. You can use them in unlimited but reasonable quantities and in any form (fried, boiled, steamed).
As for the accompanying additives, their list includes: oat bran (their daily use is mandatory), mustard, salt, onion, spices, tomato paste, crab sticks (not more than 8 pieces per day), lemon, olive oil. From beverages, diet drinks, nonfat kefir, tea and coffee are allowed.
Meat should not be fatty, excluding pork, lamb, rabbit, duck, goose. If a bird is present in the diet, then it should be consumed without skin. The restriction applies to vegetables and fruits.
During this period, the body is experiencing stress, there is a restructuring of internal metabolic processes. For some, this period can become critical: dizziness, weakness, loss of consciousness, and other symptoms indicate that it is worthwhile to move on to the next stage.
Alternative phase or "navigation".
The essence of this phase is the introduction of additional foods (vegetables, fruits) in the diet, but not continuously, but selectively at a certain interval. The intervals should be equal to each other: in a day, in two days or more, it all depends on the amount of excess weight before the diet. If its value did not exceed 10 kg, then the interval may be minimal (1x1. 2x2), and if its value was more than 10 kg, then the maximum interval is 5x5.
The duration of the second phase is determined individually, as well as the first. The interval is from one to two months, the duration depends directly on the amount of weight lost during the first stage. The larger it is, the longer the second phase should last.
The diet should be more varied in the second phase, so you can add the following foods:
- all products from the first phase;
- vegetables that do not contain starch (cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, asparagus, cabbage, mushrooms);
- sugar-free fruit;
- skim milk and cheese;
- bread.
You can add fruits and vegetables only on those days whose menu corresponds to the second stage. Namely, 5 days protein menu from the first phase, the next five days protein-vegetable menu from the second phase. Moreover, the products of the second stage can not be mixed with each other, you can choose only two ingredients per day and use them.
Among the forbidden vegetables and fruits are: potatoes, corn, legumes, bananas, cherries, avocados, grapes.
If during the first phase there was a deterioration of the health condition, then in the second phase the condition should be stabilized, the health condition should be improved and the metabolic processes will be restored.
"Adjustment" phase
The third stage helps to consolidate the result, its duration also depends on the number of "lost" kilograms. For every pound of weight lost, there are ten days of the third phase. The diet in this period is even more similar to the usual and should not cause concern for weight loss.
In addition to the products from the first and second phase, the diet also includes the following:
- vegetables containing starch (potatoes, legumes, corn);
- pasta;
- cereals (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal).
At this stage it is allowed to break the diet twice a week, but to the detriment of one meal. For example, you could eat your favorite carbohydrate meal for breakfast, but skip lunch or dinner instead.
An important rule at this stage is the daily consumption of every fruit, except bananas, grapes and cherries. They have a lot of sugar, which quickly turns into subcutaneous fat.
The "stabilization" phase
This stage is the last and, in fact, a postulate for later life after diet. Its rules are simple and following them will allow you to always keep fit, without resorting to diets:
- drink plenty of water every day (at least 1, 5 liters);
- to live an active lifestyle;
- once a week, organize a protein menu that meets the requirements of the first phase;
- daily consumption of oat bran.
Implementing the above recommendations will lead to the success of anyone who wants to overcome excess weight, and most importantly, stay at the level reached or overcome it.
Approved products
You can summarize the list of foods allowed in the Dukan diet:
- meat (beef, beef, pigeon, chicken, quail);
- eggs (chicken, quail, preferably without egg yolk);
- dairy and low-fat dairy products (milk, kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, cheese);
- seafood in any form and in any quantity;
- crab sticks;
- river and sea fish;
- oat bran;
- vegetables that do not contain or contain a small amount of starch;
- sugar-free fruit;
- various sugar-free drinks, tea coffee;
- spices, seasonings, sauce.
In addition to the developed diet plan, nutritionist Dukan has published a recipe book. The dishes in Dukan's cookbook include only foods from the list of allowed diets, which greatly facilitates the whole process of losing weight and inventing new dishes.
Among the simplest and most popular dishes, it is worth noting the following:
- "Crab Salad". For its preparation you need: half a Chinese cabbage, 4 crab sticks, 4 tablespoons canned corn. Finely chop the cabbage and crab sticks, grate the cabbage and season with salt. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and coat the salad with lemon juice and homemade fat-free mayonnaise.
- "Be it fish with cottage cheese. "For cooking you need: 0, 2 kg of fish (salmon), 0, 4 kg of low-fat cottage cheese, 1 chicken egg, 4 tablespoons of oatmeal. Preparation: mix the cottage cheese with the egg, add small chopped fish cubes without skin. Add spices and seasonings to taste. From the resulting mixture form balls and roll them in oats, place them in a pan or grill and fry over low heat. Do not use oil for frying, do everything in a dry pan.
- Yogurt dessert. You can pamper yourself during the diet with a dessert, for which you will need: 0, 2 kg of natural low-fat yogurt, chicken eggs - 2 pieces, 50 g of cornstarch. Put all the ingredients in a bowl, except the eggs. They should be divided into proteins and yolks: immediately send the yolks to the finished mixture and beat the proteins with a whip until they become creamy and also add to the mixture. The dessert can be sweetened with a sugar substitute as well as adding flavoring and salt. Pour the resulting mixture into a baking dish and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
- "Beef with eggplant. "For two servings you will need: 0, 3 kg of beef, cut into small cubes, 1 eggplant, 2 tomatoes, 0, 150 kg of mushrooms (champignons), 1 clove of garlic, parsley, salt, pepper. Preparation: Cut the eggplants into rings or cubes and pour water over them for 30 minutes (the bitterness should come out of them). Drain the water from the eggplants and dry them on a paper towel. Cut the tomatoes into slices, the mushrooms into slices and together with the eggplant put them in a pot. Add the garlic and parsley, add water and simmer for 30 minutes. Take a deep baking dish, place some vegetables at the bottom, season the meat with pepper and top with the rest of the vegetables. Send it in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
It is not at all necessary to use recipes from the Dukan book; you can also find your menu of permitted products that correspond to the diet phase.
How much can you lose a pound
Before talking about the estimated number of kilograms lost, it is worth clarifying the factors that affect them:
- the presence of physical activity and its severity: if you do not play sports or at least do not walk, then you should not talk about a good result;
- lack of sufficient water in the diet: water contributes to weight loss, especially with a protein diet;
- amount of excess weight: nutritionists say that the higher the indicator of excess body weight, the more pounds a person who is losing weight can lose;
- the duration of the diet and its individual stages.
The average indicator for weight loss can be considered 5-15 kg. Moreover, each stage has its own changes and weight loss. The first phase of the diet is the most important, as it contributes to the maximum rate of weight loss. The next second phase is characterized by small losses and the third and fourth fully consolidate the result.
Dukan Diet Reviews
First review
"I have heard many times about the Dukan diet, but I did not dare to try it. Somewhat scary, a lot of people talk about back pain, weakness and regret. Maybe I will look for an alternative to this diet. "
Second review
"My husband's sister often visits France. There, this diet is just a brand, even in supermarkets there are special shelves for products corresponding to this diet. She herself tried this method of losing weight. The result is 10 kg in 2months. It will not stop.
I am currently on another diet, but after a month I will also start the Dukan diet to be in shape according to the season.
Third review
"Girl, do not try this diet! I was careless and sat on it to the maximum. A week later I felt the ground moving away from under my feet, it was dark in my eyes, it was cracking in my ear. Painin the lower back or in the kidneys, I do not know where, but it is very scary and dangerous.
I went to the hospital, where the nurse said I was not the first with such a diagnosis. Before trying this diet for yourself, you should undergo an examination and consult a doctor. "A protein diet is very dangerous for the kidneys and can cause tissue damage, so do not experiment with yourself. "
fourth revision
"I have experienced this diet more than once. Thank God I did not notice any side effects. Probably because the first phase did not last long (5 days), but in the second phase I did not alternate the days of the menu protein and protein-vegetables, eat every day both protein and vegetables. I was pleased with the results (-8 kg) . It would be possible to turn to this diet more often, but it is very expensive, especially in winter.
Fifth review
"I recently saw a TV show and there the endocrinologist told me that it was impossible to do without carbohydrates and glucose. Our brain feeds on them, and if they stop entering the body, then the brain first dies of hunger and then dies. i know if this is true or not, they can say anything on tv. But I thought, what if negative reviews online are not without reason, and in fact, you can harm your health?