Attack Struggling a bit

[SlimBecca]

Hello! This is my first post in this forum.

I'm 27, 5' 7" and started dukan yesterday at 13st 0.6lb.

Yesterday went ok and I weighed myself this morning and I am now 12st 13lb, so I've had a good loss already, but I feel like he'll this morning. Is this normal??

I've got a headache (nothing too bad, but annoying enough) and I feel really nauseous. I can't face eating anything at all, because already the thought of eating more meat/fish/eggs makes me feel sick

I'm already looking forward to tomorrows oat bran!!

I'd kill someone for a potato and some veg. I'd kill a whole family of people for a plate of pasta covered in cheese! And I actually think it would be worth going to prison for!! This is how crazy I have become

I've lost weight with ww before, but I put all the weight back on again because I celebrated getting to goal with a pizza and didn't stop eating after that. It wasn't ww fault. It was my fault - I didn't follow the maintenance part of the plan and went straight back to my old bad eating habits. I've half heartedly tried ww again, but can't seem to stick with it because the rules just aren't strict enough, so it's too easy for me to cheat. I thought I'd give dukan a go because there are strict rules to follow, but I'm feeling like giving up already

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[CoCoMo]

Hi Becca - Firstly, yes, it is normal to feel a bit yuk in Ketosis. Some things that will help you:
1 - Drink plenty of water
2 - if you are feeling nauseous, try some peppermint tea, works wonders for your tummy
3 - you MUST eat your 1.5 tbsp of oatbran every day in Attack! It goes up to 2tbsp per day in Cruise.
4 - Vary your foods - I was sick of meat by the end of attack, but it's only 5 days MAXIMUM so keep it up!

You can totally do this - you feel lousy because your body is crying out for the things that are making you overweight. You are taking control of your body by doing this diet, so be strong, be confident and you will get through this!

 

[Topaz63]

And three days of attack is enough if you really can't stand it. but do keep away from all carbs and sugars however tempted you are as they prevent you going into ketosis. I too felt I couldn't stand the thought of more meat in particular. But realised quickly that I was not dressing it up enough. Fish too, which I found easier. Try baking some salmon in foil with dill and black pepper. also, wholegrain or dijon mustard mixed with fromage frais is really nice with lean beef. And Fromage Frais or Quark with dill and a bit of squashed garlic juice is nice with prawns or smoked salmon. make the blinis (see recipe threads) instead of the galette and you can eat them in two lots, half in the morning and half later in the day. Dry fried thick cod steak with prawns and fromage frais sauce with a touch of garlic and either tarragon or dill is really good too. Keep going! the headache will go soon.
PS put the smoked salmon or beef etc onto the blinis plus any sauces. Look up the Quark Boursin in the recipe threads, that helped me a lot.

 

[Hopeful Daisy]

Hi, here's something that helped me through attack... 4 eggs, 150g low fat cottage cheese, a very small amount of chopped chives and some cooked ham or chopped chicken or flaked almond. 170 degrees in oven for 40 mins. Lovely hot or cold. x

 

[SlimBecca]

Thanks for the advice

Unfortunately, I can't stand stand quark or fromage frais (i dont even eat yogurt) and prefer my meat and fish plain, so bland is the only way for me to go during attack

I'm hoping to survive the full 5 days. I just need to stop feeling sick

I'm going to make myself a nice big omelette for dinner, if only to avoid eating more chicken!

 

[zeke]

First of all - my disclaimer. I am only on my third day of attack so hardly an expert.

I have been surprised my my lack of headaches and nausea. tbh I started this with a view to simply not being able to do it because of them but I have found it bizarrely easier to stick to than sw or ww so far.

Things I have done. I have drunk a fair amount of water - not sure how much exactly but more than usual (and I am quite the fish). I have also drank 4 cans of diet cherry coke each day (unusual for me as I don't normally drink fizzy drinks unless out) and had a few cups of coffee (some black some with skim milk). I have also had one ww mango yogurt each day and enjoyed some dijon mustard alongside my roast chicken breasts and fillet steak.

I think the main thing I have done is up my caffeine and artificial sweetener intake. I have gone cold-turkey on caffeine before and it that definitely leaves me with with a horrible headache and nausea.

I do plan to decrease the fizzy diet drinks and artificial sweetener in general when I am more established as they are far from ideal but tbh I think it is this and my fluid intake that he keeping the headaches and nausea at bay.

Do you think you are having less caffeine?

 

[SlimBecca]

My diet has always been low in caffeine, so I don't think it's that. I don't drink tea or coffee and I don't drink fizzy drinks very often. My chocolate intake is much higher than it should be, which obviously contains caffeine, but even when I'm not dieting, I don't eat chocolate every day, so I wouldn't have expected to miss it after just one day.

I'm hoping I'll survive 5 days of attack. The dukan website said I needed to do 6 days!! I just don't think I'd manage that

 

[Neonic]

Hi Becca. After the first day of attack I felt absolutely awful. Mostly the feeling that I was going to be sick at any minute and feeling very weak. At the end of the second day i was ready to give it all up just for some vegetables. By the third day it had passed though.
I still feel sick now if I don't drink enough and if I don't eat my oatbran in the morning I tend to feel weak so I try to have it as porridge for breakfast.
I know the website told you to do attack for 6 days but if you continue to feel unwell then you would probably be better off moving onto cruise after 3 or 4 days.

 

[Hips]

Hi. I've just discovered this Forum after going alone for two months on the Dukan diet. I bought the book and used that alone. I did 3 days on attack and that was plenty for me thank you! I haven't followed the diet religiously, but have found what I am doing is still giving me a steady weight loss. I now have lost 15lbs and have 4 more to go. I am finding this a brilliant diet for not feeling hungry and it's also easy to rein myself back in after any days when I haven't stuck to it for social reasons.
I swore that I would never go to a slimming club again and have found going alone on this more successful than SW or WW.

 

[Topaz63]

Hi, and well done as you are almost at target weight on your own. As you can see from some of the others on here, staying effectively on consolidation and stabilisation phases are as important as the initial loss, so stay with the site and get the help of the others if you can. There are some great people here.

 

[Maintainer]

Slim Becca - you speak of wanting to do "the full five days" of attack. At your weight, three days is PLENTY. (Remember that the book was written many years ago in French, and he's "improved" some of his original advice since.)

Zeke - are you being coached on the official website?

As a regular restarter, I've done attack far more often than I ought, and I know exactly what you mean about feeling nauseous at the thought of food. I however have now (unfortunately?!) found a way round that by having small quantities of several foods. So instead, say, of having "chicken" for lunch, I'd have a little chicken (marinated in something or other...), a 75g piece of salmon and a handful of prawns. Just an idea. And too many new people churn out the most boring menus which really are the reason for this nausea, I'm sure.

Most oldtimers you'll find have become far more inventive than ever before in the kitchen, spend time on menu preparation, and don't expect to simply buy a pack of this or that. We even invent dishes! Have a go!

Good luck!

 

[Topaz63]

And too many new people churn out the most boring menus which really are the reason for this nausea, I'm sure.

Most oldtimers you'll find have become far more inventive than ever before in the kitchen, spend time on menu preparation, and don't expect to simply buy a pack of this or that. We even invent dishes! Have a go!

You are so right! I couldn't look at ham, prawns and chicken slices after two days, I'd not seen this site then. I went back to the book and started trying sauces and quark mixed with stronger flavours, began to get nearer real food. The recipes people here invent or adapt are really great to do, it does train your knowledge of food.