Dukan diet: description and basic principles

How to lose weight and not be hungry?A French doctor found the answer to this question.After thirty years of searching for the most effective and harmless method, Pierre Dukan developed his own nutritional system for losing weight.Today, this diet is considered one of the most popular, and its effectiveness has been proven by famous Hollywood actresses.

Dukan diet: description and principles

Dr. Pierre Dukan

The principle of the system is to eat exclusively protein foods for some time.Moreover, its quantity is not limited at all!Proteins are much more difficult to digest than sweets or fatty foods.That is, the body requires more effort, which means it spends more calories and takes them from its own fat reserves.Protein foods help improve immunity, help maintain muscle and skin tone, and provide high-quality and long-lasting saturation.

It is necessary to strictly adhere to this nutritional system, since the author calculated everything down to the smallest detail and proposed an integrated approach to achieve a stable and desired result.This is the uniqueness of the technique: excess weight goes away once and for all!

The diet is divided into stages or phases, each of them is designed to solve its own problems:

  1. Attack.A short-term phase aimed at starting metabolism, which leads to a quick start to losing weight.
  2. Alternation (Cruise).The stage of achieving the main goal - the desired weight.
  3. Consolidation (Consolidation).It is obvious from the name that this is the time when the body gets used to the new state, as well as to the nutrition system itself.Now it is important to maintain the existing result.
  4. Stabilization.At this time, a person develops eating habits for the rest of his life to maintain the desired weight.

These 4 phases also have general rules:

  • It is mandatory to reduce the amount of salt consumed.
  • You need to drink about two liters of liquid (water, tea, herbal infusions) per day.
  • The diet must be followed from “A” to “Z”!Following the rules halfway leads to a quick return of excess weight.
  • Protein products can be eaten unlimitedly at any time of the day.

Diet stages

The attack is the first phase of the nutritional system developed by the French doctor.

It is aimed, as the name suggests, at a quick and effective start.The duration of this stage does not exceed 10 days and is calculated depending on the amount of excess weight.Every day of attack leads to a loss of 0.5-1 kg!

At this stage, only protein foods are consumed: lean meat, zero-fat dairy products, ham with a fat content of 2-4%, any fresh fish, eggs, lean smoked fish, canned fish without oil, any seafood.

In addition, every day you need to eat 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran.

Dishes made from fatty lamb and pig meat, sugar, vegetable oils, ketchup, butter, sour cream, and mayonnaise should be completely excluded from the menu.You even need to cook dishes without these ingredients.You can season food with herbs and spices, add onions, garlic, lemon.

Alternation – the stage when the desired weight is achieved

That is, the duration of this phase also depends on how much a person wants to lose weight.The rate of weight loss is now about one kilogram per week.

weight loss according to Dukan

The menu becomes richer: vegetables are added to protein foods.You can eat anything except potatoes, corn and legumes.Carrots and beets can be consumed occasionally.Every day you need to add to food or make porridge from 2 tbsp.l.bran.

The amount of vegetables is also not limited, but you should simply satisfy your hunger, and not consume kilograms of them.

The rotation system depends only on personal preference.Usually they follow this scheme: one day they eat only proteins, the second - protein foods with vegetables, then again exclusively proteins.And so on throughout the entire stage.

You should be prepared for your weight loss to slow down.Now its rate is no more than two kilograms per month.It's important not to give up.On protein-vegetable days, you can sometimes allow yourself low-fat yogurt with pieces of fruit or one bottle of Actimel, a tiny piece of cheese with a fat content of up to 7%, 100 grams of sausage or frankfurters with a fat content of up to 10%.

You can choose a menu using thematic websites and forums, where people who have already lost excess weight share their recipes with beginners.

Consolidation

The desired weight has already been achieved, but it needs to be maintained!This is why the diet includes phases to get used to the new diet.The duration of fastening is calculated by the number of kilos lost: 10 days for each.It is important to calculate this in advance to guide your menu planning.

Now the diet includes even more varied dishes.In the first half of this stage, new ones are added: two slices of grain or bran bread, hard cheese (no more than 40 grams), fruits (no more than 1 piece per day), lamb and pork no more than once every 7 days, as well as products containing starch.You can afford a festive lunch or dinner (once a week).The diet prohibits eating bananas, grapes, nuts, cherries, and dried fruits at this time.

In the second half of the phase, another portion of potatoes, pasta or rice is added per week and the opportunity to have a “belly feast” twice in 7 days.More details about which starchy foods are best to eat can be found on websites and forums.

The amount of bran consumed remains the same - 2 tablespoons.

On Thursday you need to pull yourself together again and eat dishes from the menu of the first phase.

Stabilization is the final stage of the diet.

The eating habits developed during this phase will last a lifetime.

The menu is made up of the same products that were acceptable at the previous stage.Thursday remains an exclusively protein day.And the amount of oat bran in the diet should be increased to 3 tablespoons.

Pierre Dukan's diet and exercise

At the first stage, you should take care of yourself, since the body is already under stress from sudden changes in diet.But no one cancels physical activity.It is recommended to walk daily.You can increase the effectiveness of your diet through regular exercise.

Sample menu for protein days

1 option

  • Breakfast: boiled egg, low-fat yogurt, coffee with zero-fat milk and sweetener.
  • Lunch: chicken broth with pieces of chicken breast.You can add an egg and eat a bran cake.
  • Afternoon snack: a glass of kefir with bran.
  • Dinner: fish fillet with mustard.

Option 2

  • Breakfast: an omelet of two eggs and four tablespoons of skim milk with lean ham.
  • Lunch: fish soup without potatoes.
  • Afternoon snack: one natural yoghurt with 0% fat content.
  • Dinner: a piece of boiled chicken breast, you can drink a glass of kefir.

Many different sites offer sample diet menus, so choosing the optimal list of dishes for yourself is quite easy.