We're in the midst of week 3 on the Dukan diet and still going strong. Though it doesn't come without some struggles (especially when I let myself get ravenously hungry) I have actually grown to find that this way of living truly isn't that hard. For me, getting creative in the kitchen has been a key factor to sticking with it. I especially find the creativity piece to be important to keep it interesting for Shaun's sake so that he doesn't feel deprived or like he is being starved.
Some of the things we've eaten this week include smoked salmon, a rotisserie chicken, barbecued chicken in the crockpot (recipe forthcoming), turkey meatloaf (recipe also forthcoming), Brussels sprouts with turkey bacon and Dukan muffins. All of these were a nice change from the last couple of weeks and they felt like special, yummy meals...certainly not like diet food, which I also think is a really important part of sticking with this.
By Monday, I had lost 6.5 pounds...and saw numbers on the scale that I hadn't seen in years. And so while I was faced with the challenge of a business road trip to New Hampshire for an all day client meeting earlier this week, I really wanted to try and stick to it the best I could, while also leaving a little wiggle room to not put so much pressure on myself.
My game plan was as follows:
Pack a thermal lunchbag with transportable food for both the car and the next day with ice that could be changed when I arrived at the hotel, and again in the morning.
Include a variety of easy snacks that can withstand not complete refrigeration like string cheese, turkey pepperoni, Jell-O cups, turkey slices and Dukan muffins.
Do the best I could and not stress too much...make the best choices out of the options presented.
In prep for the trip, I tested out the Dukan muffins from the Dukan Diet Cookbook. The biggest bone I have to pick with this diet is that there are few to practically no shelf stable options to eat. This means that tossing a snack in my bag, or packing for a business trip, becomes exponentially more difficult. In order to have some options on the road this week, I thought the muffins would be a versatile and filling option to keep in my bag in a storage container. To be totally forthcoming, I truly do not miss bread or carbs on this diet. I am completely ok with bypassing sandwiches and pasta, and so if it wasn't for my trip I'm not sure I would have bothered with the muffins. I'm glad I did, though.
I brought 4 muffins with me for two days time. I would never normally eat more than one in a day, but I wanted to have back up. I was most concerned about lunchtime, since it was sandwiches ordered in. I ended up putting turkey slices from the sandwich onto two muffins that I cut in half like a sandwich. Not the greatest, but it worked out fine and was filling enough. I also snuck a couple of string cheeses while I made a trip to the bathroom. I did end up having two cups of yogurt on the trip...zero fat, lemon and vanilla-flavored. I know these had sugar, but I figured they were still the best of the options at hand.
By the time we were on our way home, it was about dinner time so that was really, really tough. My snacks had just about dwindled or weren't looking quite edible by this point. We stopped at a bodega where I loaded up with a couple of reduced fat string cheese and a KIND bar. I ate it all. So I did cheat a bit, but tried to find something that wasn't too bad generally and would keep me full for the 5 hour ride. This goes back to doing the best I could...I did what I could with what I had at hand and I ended it there. It didn't mean that I could go all out eating candy bars or something like that.
Admittedly, I was nervous to weigh myself after the trip because I really did not want to have gained after I prepped so much and worked so hard. And even with the yogurt, KIND bar and 2 glasses of wine on Monday evening (didn't I mention that one?), I still managed to lose 1.5 lbs this week. So I guess the takeaway is, do the best you can in the circumstances at hand.
Overall, I'm feeling great. My clothes are fitting really nicely, and I'm fitting into clothes that haven't fit well in a long time. I really couldn't be happier! Oh and we found a great, simple dinner that we made last night...boneless pork chops seasoned and skillet-cooked with roasted string beans that I just sprayed with cooking spray and salted. I served this with some homemade barbecue sauce that my mom made, but it wasn't even necessary...so good on its own! Definitely going in the permanent collection!
In short:
Weight change: -7.8 lbs
Clothes fitting: lots
Inches lost: not sure? feels like a lot
Hunger: reasonable and pretty controlled
Favorite breakfast: overeasy eggs with turkey bacon, though Shaun has been making a turkey bacon & cheese omelet that I'm digging also
Favorite snacks: cottage cheese with cinnamon, vanilla and sweetener. Tastes just like rice pudding!
One thing I haven't given up: cream in my coffee. I don't foresee any diet that could convince me to do that.
So that's how week 3 has been rolling 'round these parts.
Do you do any business travel, or travel for pleasure?
If so, how do you keep healthy on the road?
For you Dukan-ers out there, how's it going?