Dukan, Diabetes and Dinner Suits

MattR

Full Member
Hi all - I thought I would take advantage of this Diary section to keep track of my experiences with Dukan. I am on day three of my first attack phase and so far so good - but I know I will need motivation in the future, and I'm hoping that writing some of this down will inspire me when the going gets tougher.

Firstly - some background:

I am 45 years old. I am too fat. Like many middle aged men, I am terrified. Heart attacks, strokes, complications from diabetes and the inability to find jeans in normal shops. I already have to search for shirts to fit properly. A recent tuxedo/dinner suit hunt was made much tougher by my weight.

Starting out on this diet - I am 21st 5lbs.

I decided on Dukan because a friend has had some success, but also because the attack phase matches my current eating habits and I read some positive stories about how this can impact type 2 diabetes.

I bought a set of amazing bathroom scales that connect directly to fitbit and upload my weight, and I wear a flex tracker all the time anyway to track movements and sleep.

Hope that isn't too much or too little info. I'll post day one and day two thoughts next.
 
Welcome...and well done for setting your diary up...it is really motivating me and reading other peoples stories & daily menus and stories are working for me :)

how many attack days are you doing?

Well ill done, good luck & keep posting!!

:)
 
Right then - thought I would condense Day 1 to 3 into a single post - then I'll update daily to keep me focused and motivated.

I am doing the attack phase for 10 days... I want to lose around 4 stone - so I would like a 17 in front of things. Then I'll see what happens next.

Day 1 - B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - Grilled Chicken Breast with some herbs. 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes, sliced ham as a snack mid morning
Day 2 - B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - Grilled Steak loads of seasoning. 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes, sliced turkey as a snack mid morning.
Day 3 - B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - Kind of a fake chilli/curry - lean beef mince, with some onion, chilli flakes, tiny little bit of stock, cumin. (Best meal so far). 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes, sliced turkey as a snack mid morning.

Preparation has been my key - I cooked a joint of beef on Sunday, sliced it up and have been having about 300g each day. Have also grilled three or four chicken breasts at a time with herbs and seasoning and sliced those up. Everything lives in the fridge and I prepare lunchboxes for work with my food in. I graze on the food all day at work - and never feel hungry.

Note - I am allergic to eggs, so gallettes etc aren't going to work for me... I treat the porridge as medicine/fuel - and whilst it is not the nicest thing in the world, the act of making and eating it is getting more pleasant each day.

So - today is day 4. He's what the scales have told me:

Day 1 - 21st 5.9lbs / 38% fat
Day 2 - 21st 3.3lbs / 40% fat
Day 3 - 20st 13.8lbs / 36.9% fat
Day 4 - 20st 12.6lbs / 36.8% fat (just a couple of hours ago!)

The 20 minutes exercise has been useful - I have walked at lunchtime at work, and Tuesday afternoon I had a (clay) shooting lesson, which meant I was on my feet for much of the afternoon. The prescribed water has been really easy to keep up with - I find that drinking a good half a litre after the Oatbran porridge (normally on my drive to work) has held my appetite at bay for ages.

Fatigue hasn't been too bad, although I have found myself tired in the evenings. Biggest change (apologies for this) has been a massive reduction in wind - I'm guessing this must be due to the amount of wheat in my diet before.

So far - I am happy with my progress... I'm not sensing the 'euphoria' that the doctor mentions, I am focused on losing more and reaching my target weight. So far so good, but I know that it will be getting harder moving forward.
 
Nice one Matt! 7lbs down already!!

I am so jealous of your Fancy-Scmancy scales! I have a real trust issues with mine (except when they go down, then I believe them entirely!)

On the Oatbran porridge, yeah, it can be a little bland. I put a drop of vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon in mine - Cinnamon is supposed to be a good appetite suppressant, you might find it makes it a little more enjoyable? Alternatively you could stir the oatbran into some flavoured low-fat yogurt (for extra points get 0% Greek yogurt and flavour it yourself)

Looking forward to reading your journey!
 
Hello Matt!

Found your diary! on ipad you have to go in regularly and subscribe to the new ones, otherwise you miss them. Great to see so much activity here recently!

I am very sorry to hear about your egg allergy... Not sure I could do dukan without them! But then again, vegetarians manage dukan too, so you'll be fine.

Good luck with attack, and I hope your fitbit scales show a good result :)

Cx
 
Day Five today...

Woke up slightly disappointed that I had gained a pound since yesterday... but onwards and downwards will be my catchphrase for the day.

Day 5 - 20st 13.5lbs / 38.1% Fat

Yesterdays intake : Day 4 - B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - Grilled Pork with some herbs and a little mustard. 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes, sliced ham as a snack mid morning

I realise that this is a marathon not a sprint... so a steady day today, and I should be back to Dukan success tomorrow!
 
Hey Matt,

Sometimes that just happens, but it's usually before a bigger loss the next day, so fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Also (and I hate to be the diet police) Pork isn't really allowed in the Attack phase. It's just too fatty. The only thing you can have from Pig is Low Fat Ham (sparingly because of the salt). I have had bacon (with the fat chopped off) in the past, and not had too many problems, but just keep an eye on it and you might want to forgo all pork if it stalls your weightloss.

Good luck today!
 
Hey Matt,

Sometimes that just happens, but it's usually before a bigger loss the next day, so fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Also (and I hate to be the diet police) Pork isn't really allowed in the Attack phase. It's just too fatty. The only thing you can have from Pig is Low Fat Ham (sparingly because of the salt). I have had bacon (with the fat chopped off) in the past, and not had too many problems, but just keep an eye on it and you might want to forgo all pork if it stalls your weightloss.

Good luck today!

You know - as I was eating that... I thought that this isn't on my list - complete brainfade. It was extra lean at least... but a complete miss by me.

That won't happen again.
 
Ah no - just gone back to my book - it is listed in the attack phase.

Lean Pork
 
Pah, we have different books! you must have the newer one.
It probably wasn't the Pork at all. Your menus look great, it's probably just your body adjusting.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

(I'm just jealous because I live in a Muslim country and can't get pork ;) )
 
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I would swap pork tomorrow for all the lovely North African things though... CousCous, Merguez, Lamb Tagine (all forbidden for now) - I love Marrakech, such a beautiful city. Would like to expore North Africa a bit more.

What are you doing there? Is it still easy to follow Dukan?
 
Don't even talk to me about Cous Cous!! and the Lamb! Jeez - it's Eid al Adha next month, where they slaughter all the Lambs, and then suddenly that's all they have on every single menu! And it's fig season at the moment, be still my heart.

I'm a transport engineer (mainly roads). I work across all Africa, but am based in Tunisia.

As the Dukan Diet started as a French thing, it seems to work out okay. You can get oat and wheat bran in the healthfood shops and 0% fat yogurts in the supermarkets. There is no Quark of cottage cheese though, which I really miss (and often bring back in my suitcases).
I'm moving to the Ivory Coast at the end of the year, which I'm a bit worried about because the diet is very carbohydrate rich, with rice, cassava and plantain the main staples. And I'll be dodging the Mangoes and Avocados. But hopefully with be in Consolidation by then.
 
Well, now I know - weekends are definitely the hardest work for me to stay focused on my diet.

So. Many. Temptations.

But, I stayed strong and kept to my Dukan plan.

catching up with what I ate on Friday...
Day 5 - B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - 2 fillets of Salmon, 2 cod loins. 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes, sliced ham as a snack mid morning.
Day 6 - 20st 10.5lbs / 37.6% Fat - B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - Grilled Steak loads of seasoning. 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes, sliced ham as a snack mid morning.
Day 7 - 20st 11.8lbs / 37.0% Fat - B -
Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - two grilled chicken breasts / D - Roast Beef. 2.5 litres of water, sliced turkey as a mid morning snack.

Toughest part of the weekend was a day of clay pigeon shooting yesterday (I do that every week - at competition level), clubhouse was full of fried breakfasts which was easy to ignore - but I didn't feel 'fuelled' all the way through the day (definitely knocked my performance a bit).

Back to work today where I think it is a bit easier because I have plenty to distract me all day. Keeping busy is good. I have sliced roast beef on my desk, with two grilled cajun chicken breasts for lunch. Loads of water.

Weighed in this morning at : 20st 10.7lbs - so 9.6lbs lost in the first week of attack. Will finish the attack phase on Wednesday, then move on to alternating PP and PV days.

Never thought I would be looking forward to lettuce, or better still. Rocket.
 
Fantastic news about staying on plan all weekend!!!! Well done :) and your losses are amazing.....I know what you mean about you didn't feel fuelled enough...I feel like that on PP days when I go to a gym class, hopefully when your in PV days soon you will feel far more fuelled with veggies!!

ha ha...yes I love the way the attack phase makes you crave veg sooooo much, a phrase that is never heard unless you've done dukan attack....

:) :)
 
Nice one holding it together for the weekend - weekends are tricky, but once you get into a routine, you should be golden!

You are having a stellar attack phase - keep it up :)
 
What a fabulous start! As an old timer, I too baulked initially at the pork inclusion on attack but remembered he allows lean pork these days!

I'm intrigued by and upset for you at your egg allergy given that there are so many fabulous recipes we all rely on using the oatbran/wheatbran and they are both so filling. I'm not digging the knife in here but I saw a couple of Dukan friendly things on internet that you can have to get round the egg thing:

- One teaspoon of baking powder with one tablespoon of any liquid and another tablespoon of vinegar to replace an egg OR
- Packet of gelatin along with two tablespoons of warm water, mixed just when you're ready to use them.

Frankly I think you could have a go at a galette recipe without the egg and see what it's like!

Like you, I'm a big planner and always plan menus ahead of time and am sure it helps a lot. For weekends, I used to use the brans for something more exciting but you might need to be more inventive if the galette/bread/muffin recipe is just too awful without the egg!

oh and what is Truvia?
Good luck!
 
Thanks for those ideas - I might try them.

I've been allergic to eggs, nuts, soya and some pulses since I was a child - the anaphalctic nine yards. I have become incredibly perceptive of what food is in what products - I have a golden rule of never eating anything 'set' or anything 'shiny' until I know, and I have managed to travel the world (China, Russia, Brazil etc) and not kill myself with allergies. I suspect that these allergies are the root of my weight issues - as a child I was fed meat and potatoes, and lots of bread and butter - very starchy, very simple because those things were tolerated by me.

The gallette thing is enticing - because I really miss a biscuit!

Frankly, I could probably eat the same thing every day until I hit my target weight if I knew I would lose weight... so the Oatbran porridge started out like medicine. But in the last few days - I've been strangely enjoying the oatbran... it tastes a little bit like the Ready Brek of my (looooong distant) childhood... and it's almost a ritual to start the day - instead of my previous toast and Marmite. The only thing missing is my orange glow (cultural reference for anyone who grew in in late 70's UK).

Truvia is like Stevia - some fruit based artificial sweetener : Truvia® Calorie-Free sweetener from the Stevia Leaf - I use a tiny bit to sweeten the porridge...
 
Gosh those allergies do sound frightening and you must always have to be vigilant, particularly of nut additions in foods you'd not think they'd be. I used to love Ready Brek but I hate porridge and have never eaten oatbran as porridge. Plus the quantity is so tiny I'd not feel I'd had breakfast, do you not find that?

Thanks re Truvia info. I don't know if that's available over here. I am not on Dukan any longer so am not as strict as the rest of you but it's always good to find a healthier sweetener alternative.

Re scales - I was quite shocked to see their price (even with the reduction you mentioned which, as I'm in France, would be countered by the postage no doubt) so will wait for one of my two pairs to break down! Probably in unison as these things tend to happen. Also I'm currently aiming to weigh no more than twice a week (it's tough!) so they'd not be fully appreciated! I used to have some body fat measuring scales but those sort of scales were slated at the time as being totally inaccurate depending on one's body shape.
 
Well done Matt, what a great start!
 
So - have completed my first week on Dukan Attack...

Day 8 weigh in - 20st 10.1lbs / 34.8% Fat

Will only weigh in twice a week once I get into the Cruise phase on Thursday morning.

Yesterdays meals:

B - Oatbran as a porridge with skimmed milk and a tsp of Truvia / L - Roast Beef & Chicken / D - Grilled Steak loads of seasoning with some prawns with chilli flakes (surf and turf!). 3 litres of water, couple of diet cokes.

Feels like the losses might be slowing down a bit... but that's to be expected. Jeans and shirts starting to show the difference a bit now, which is nice - can't wait to go shopping for tons of new clothes when I get to my target weight.

Have massive plans for Steak and Rocket on Thursday night as I try my first PV day.
 
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