Have you heard about the Dukan Diet? Ever since rumor got around that it was Kate Middleton’s pre-wedding weight loss diet of choice, I knew I had to purchase the book. Don’t hate me, I can be a sucker for the flavor of the week diet. Now, to give you the spark notes version of what it entails, it’s a primarily protein based menu. For the first 3-7 days all you can eat is protein and then following that you alternate protein only days with vegetable/protein days. After reading this, I debated whether or not this was even possible for some one who “only eats fish occasionally” to do and let me tell it was no walk in the park!
The first two days were pure torture for me, ah, who I am I kidding, the whole thing was pretty hard. First, it’s not easy to pack anything to take with you for the day when the things you can eat consist of eggs, meat or fish. Sometimes it’s not even easy to grab something that fits into your ‘allowed’ foods on the go. (And I live in NYC where food options are seemingly endless) However, Dukan does give you a recipe for a “Dukan Galette” which is pretty much a protein pancake that he allows you to have once a day and this turned out to be a god-sent! In a later post, I’ll give you the recipe along with some fun variations I’ve created, of course!
Okay, okay, I’ll get to the good stuff, I did lose a few pounds and if you had more to lose, I’m sure you’d lose more. However, what really surprised me was the effect it had on my skin! After two days of no carbs at all and eating purely protein my skin looked FABULOUS! Most of my acne cleared up and my face looked great. This could have also been helped by the large amount of water you MUST drink while doing the beginning stages of this diet but I think I have mostly the lack of carbohydrates to thank for this.
So overall, I lost a little weight and I gained a few enlightening tools. I will continue to watch my carbohydrate intake (especially white carbs) because I love how my skin is looking and somehow that is even more gratifying than the numbers going down on the scale to me. I also, am completely in love with my protein pancake creation and think that it will become a regular on my menu! Thank you Mr. Dukan!