Consolidation Dukandebut's Trying to Stay the Same Diary

I thought of Emma yesterday and wondered how it's going... out of ketosis... on holiday... she'll be fine :D

Oy scrumps - no tolerateds on attack (which is where I think you were heading, you lucky girl you!).
 
at the mo im heading for anywhere that stops me pigging out
 
Don't do it Tan!
 
I thought of Emma yesterday and wondered how it's going... out of ketosis... on holiday... she'll be fine :D

Yes, I think she'll be absolutely fine, too. Sounds as though she was going to indulge occasionally, but not go too overboard; a good compromise. :)

Well, today I am waiting in for a courier to come and collect the parcel that originally went wrong and resulted in me waiting in yesterday. Sigh. Still, no need to rush out anywhere today (not now that I've finished my neighbourhood cat-sitting round) so it's no problem, really. Besides, the courier is lovely.

PV with carb meal 2 today:

B Yoghurt with oatbran, apple juice
L Creamy veg soup with ham and tomato sandwich, yoghurt
D (Carb 2) Savoury WM pasta slices with salad, followed by crème au chocolat
 
Morning Sue and welcome to Boring Thursday!
How were your pasta slices?

It was Disappointing Day for the pasta slices, unfortunately, Mouse. Won't be making those again - they were okay, but nothing special.

Boring Thursday was even more boring because I didn't like the look of the turkey rashers and cottage cheese I had left in the fridge, but was too busy to buy replacements. So I had to make do with what was available.

PP:

B Yoghurt and muffin
L Ham and fromage frais, yoghurt, muffin
D Oriental meatballs, muffin
S Muffin

Hope tomorrow is better.

In case I don't get the chance to come here, this is what I'll be having - although you've probably already guessed!

PV

B Yoghurt and apple juice
L Creamy veg soup, ham and tomato s/wich, yoghurt
D Galette, burger, ketchup, onion, cheese, crème au choc
 
Back down 1lb. Can't understand why and my husband, having seen much of the food I've been putting away is amazed.

Starting to wonder whether this diary is relevant or whether it might be misleading to any newbies as I appear to be having the opposite problem to everyone else. I hope they don't read this and think, "Oh, this diet is so easy that I can eat all of this stuff and still keep losing weight."

PV with gala 2:

B Yoghurt with oatbran, apple juice
L Cheese and spring onion toastie, yoghurt
D (Gala 1) Chinese takeaway, probably crispy beef in sweet and sour sauce with fried rice, followed by choc brownie
 
I am beginning to think I should be following your regime instead of mine:D Definitely wondering whether a few more carbs might do me some good? Perhaps I should try conso for a bit as nothing seems to be coming off. Trouble is - a bit scared of it!

Want to lose more to try and get rid of some of my tum and would like a 'normal' BMI but having watched Embarrassing Fat Bodies on Monday I now feel quite wary of going too low - not that I'm losing anything much any more:D

I am wondering if I could go to conso and perhaps still drop the odd pound - which is all I am doing now anyway?
 
If Gary Taubes' analysis is right, carbs would not be the thing to add. This is because they trigger insulin to process them into fat cells, while proteins are mostly processed into muscle cells. Carbs are always used for energy first, they are the quick fix, which is why we crave them. The fat cells don't get used till after the carbs/sugars in the blood stream have been utilised. According to him, we should be eating a little more fat than we are, but I'm sticking to DD.
Better to review things a bit, cut back a touch on the lactose and step up the protein particularly fish. And don't od on veg, select the most healthy range. Check you are not over measuring your oatbran (DD says most people do) and leave off the wheatbran for a while. Water of course, cut back on fizz, maybe more tea?
You're a more experienced Dukaner than I, but have connected his ideas with Gary T's analysis, which I summed simplistically above, I think I see where it's coming from and how it works.
 
I am beginning to think I should be following your regime instead of mine:D Definitely wondering whether a few more carbs might do me some good? Perhaps I should try conso for a bit as nothing seems to be coming off. Trouble is - a bit scared of it!

Want to lose more to try and get rid of some of my tum and would like a 'normal' BMI but having watched Embarrassing Fat Bodies on Monday I now feel quite wary of going too low - not that I'm losing anything much any more:D

I am wondering if I could go to conso and perhaps still drop the odd pound - which is all I am doing now anyway?

Mousie, the way that my metabolism appears to be doings its own sweet thing at the moment in defiance of whatever I throw at it, I'm probably not the best person to advise anyone about anything on the Dukan Diet. In fact, I feel like plastering a big sticker over this diary with "Do not try this at home" on it, just like on the TV shows when I was a kid. :eek:

What I would say, though, is to ask yourself whether you're happy with the weight you've reached (which is one hell of a fantastic achievement already)? I'm not talking about what the scales say, I'm talking about whether you feel good and healthy and happy with it?

I know that you'd like to improve your tummy - but is that something which could be done with toning, maybe continuing your Pilates and with the help of your Slendertone belt?

As you rightly say, losing too much fat can lead to problems in itself. I haven't watched the "Embarrassing Bodies" programme but I know that my own tummy actually looked firmer when I sit down when I was fatter!

You're only a couple of pounds off your goal weight. How important is it to you to shed those last two? (I know that I was secretly hoping to be a couple of pounds under target by the time I reached Conso as a kind of crutch and a bit of breathing space in case the carbs and galas suddenly kicked in and hit me with a gain - but that proved to be unnecessary.)

Mind you, you still may want to wait a while if you want to achieve an even lower BMI. I'm not sure how moving onto Conso for a while on a temporary basis might affect that. Certainly something to consider.

Conso can be so incredibly scary when you look at it from your side, from the Cruise side. After all of the effort and care which it took me to reach my goal, I was so fearful that I'd screw it all up - either by losing control and eating everything in sight or by overloading my metabolism with all of these newly allowed foods. After my first week on Conso, I had to force myself to step onto the scales not once but several times, before I could actually bear to open my eyes and look at what the dial said. Yes, I stood there on more than one occasion with my eyes tightly shut. :eek:

Now, I love Conso. I honestly, honestly love it. I could quite happily stay on this phase for the rest of my life, it's that good.

There are no guarantees, of course, because we're all different, as we've seen on here. Some people may find the initial stages of Conso more difficult than others (different metabolisms, different health problems, etc), but I think that it's well worth a try. This diet gives us a chance to reach a goal and then hopefully stick with (or at least around it) for the rest of our lives. As far as I'm concerned, that's bloody brilliant and well worth the initial struggle. (Dr D may confuse the hell out of us at times with changes and contradictions, but he has given us real hope.) :)

When you feel ready (which may not be yet if you want to get that BMI lower), but hopefully soon), Mouse, then go for it. You know that you've got us all here to support you.
 
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Oh Sue you're so wise. Thanks (and for being there). The trouble is I want to change my target to at least 147 because I really do have too much fat around my tummy! Everybody says it can't be that bad but it really is!!!!

It's just so slow now!!!

The embarrassing fat bodies did put me off losing too much though! I may do a sort of conso when I go on holiday at the end of july - see where I have got to by then. In theory 147 should really be achievable but I only seem to be losing about 3lb per month now!

The stew sounds lovely, just the job on such a horrible day!
 
That stomach fat can certainly be a bit stubborn, I know from experience. In fact, since I reached the grand old age of over 40, Dukan has been the only thing that shifted it for me. So it definitely can work well for that area, even on old fogies like me!

The slow speed must be frustrating, but it is still moving in the right direction at least. I'm not sure about doing a Conso holiday kind of thing for a boost, but Jo would probably be a good person to ask about that since she's managed to make a great comeback and has been making very decent headway, from what I've seen.

Otherwise, you might want to try Topaz' suggestions and also reading what Gary Taubes has to say. (I haven't read his book myself, but it certainly sounds pretty interesting stuff.)

You'll get there, Mouse, I'm sure of it. You may even find that you reach a weight with which you're happy before your 147 target.
 
A bit of thinking out loud.

I think that, despite the bit of worry I'm experiencing regarding further unwanted and unneeded weight loss, the reason why I'm enjoying Conso so much is that it has turned into a Dukanised version of the kind of meals I'd normally be having. This is particularly true of the second phase. So I don't feel as though I'm missing out at all. I have a light, yoghurt-based breakfast, usually sandwiches for lunch and then a substantial dinner.

My worst cravings are still for chocolate and I can find those difficult to cope with at times. Other things I particularly love, such as pies and sausages, are something which I really enjoy once in a while but I don't feel that I want to eat them as often as I did. As for carbs, I do enjoy my occasional helpings of wholemeal pasta, noodles and root veg but I no longer feel an actual need to eat them.

I've never particularly liked fat on meat and have always been fairly fastidious about cutting it off, so that hasn't changed. I'm even more careful now, though, about adding flour, fats or sugar when I'm cooking; these are fine for treats like my gala brownies, but I actually now PREFER to avoid them whenever possible.

For main meals, I've been a fan of the Weight Watchers recipe books for years and so continue to use those, adapting recipes to fit in with the Dukan principles (eg, cutting out or down on carbs and fat, whilst using my full-fat cheese ration instead of the recommended reduced fat ones specified in the recipe). These seem to have provided me with a good basis for following Conso.

Exercise is vital to me in any case for health reasons - I need to do at least certain forms of it every day for the rest of my life or risk my mobility and even the ability to sit or stand. So I'm lucky in that it has been a necessary part of my life forvover 25 years. It's second nature to me already, making that part of the Dukan discipline easy. Whilst I'm somewhat limited (no high impact, no extreme cardio), what I can do is absolutely fine for Dukan - walking, Pilates, dancing, resistance and free weights.

I've never been a heavy drinker, even less so latterly, and am now content to stick to my once a week cider as part of a gala meal. (Sometimes I save it for when I'm out at the pub with friends.)

I think that creating a Dukan-friendly Conso phase 2 which feels as normal and sustainable as possible has been very important to me. It gives me hope that maybe I could carry on through Stab in a similar vein after all, making use of the good habits which I've picked up along the way.

PV with gala 2:

B Yoghurt with oatbran, apple juice
L Ham and tomato sandwich, yoghurt
D (Gala 2) Leek, cabbage and sweet pepper soup, cheese and garlic pizza, choc torte truffle
 
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