Attack Phase Day 7

January 8, 2013

Attack Phase Day 7

Working in an office is detrimental to one’s dieting.  I live and work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, although not a native.  One of the guys in the office just moved to New Orleans and commutes every day.  He has graciously offered to bring a King Cake each week from one of four exceptional, well-known New Orleans bakeries.  Wow!  What a blow to my willpower.  I LOVE King Cake, especially blueberry cream cheese.  The next month is going to be a real challenge.  After the 4 weeks are up he intends to bring in something called a Doberge Cake from Gambino’s Bakery.  I’ve never tasted one of these, but have heard fabulous stories of how wonderful they are.  Here is a photo of what we are talking about:

I’m going to need my forum friends to help me stay strong.  My reaction to his news was one of anger, although I didn’t lash out at him.  I smiled politely then stomped off to the restroom where I fumed about it and stomped back to my desk and carried on.  But I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.  I’m going to have to find something that will keep me satisfied and help me to stay away from the temptation.

On the bright side though, I lost the 1.8 pounds I had gained back yesterday!  I think it had to do with salt intake and too much dairy.  I’ll keep an eye on that in the coming days.

Dukan Attack Phase Day 5 and Day 6

I'm really getting excited every morning now!  I lost another 1.4 pounds since yesterday for a total of 5.2 pounds gone in four days.  This must be a new record for me!  The rapid weight loss is really a motivator.  I think I will stay on the Attack Phase for 10 full days.  I'd like to at least get rid of the 10 pounds I gained over the Holidays before starting on the Cruise Phase.  I wonder how long it is safe to stay on the Attack Phase.

January 7, 2013

Well, it happened.  I stepped on the scale this morning and had a 1.8 pound gain.  I don’t know what happened.  Maybe it’s just water and/or my body is just trying to adjust.  I didn’t cheat, I ate my oat bran, the only thing I didn’t do was my 20 minute walk.  I did the Yo-Pi class at the Y on Saturday and that was a good hour workout and I’m still stiff and sore from it.  I used that, and the fact that it was raining all day yesterday, to excuse my walk.  I’m a little down, but I’m trying not to dwell on it.  I expect to see something much better tomorrow morning.  Here’s today’s menu plan:

Breakfast:

                1 hardboiled egg

                Diet Pepsi

Snack:

                Oat bran pancake with SF FF Jello pudding rolled up

                Water

                SF FF hot chocolate

Lunch:   Baked Chicken Breast

                SF FF Jello Pudding ~ 1 cup
               Diet Coke

Snack:   Imitation Crab

Dinner:  Baked chicken
              Diet Coke

I found a Dukan forum online today as I was searching for a reason as to why I gained the weight.  After reading several posts, I think its because I was eating too much dairy and too many diet Cokes.  According to their moderator we should limit the dairy to about 1 1/3 cups a day and the diet sodas to 3 a day.  I need to double check that in my Dukan book.  In looking back on what I had to eat yesterday, I may have over done it with the salt too.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.  

The link for the forum is:   http://dukan.proboards.com/index.cgi?  

I registered and will start posting there I think too.  My name in the forum is mejfarmer.

Dukan Attack Phase Day 4

Another pound lost after three days for a total of 3.8 pounds!  I'm still holding my breath when I step on the scale.  I'm just waiting for that day I step on and it shows no change, or worse, a gain!  Oops, this is the year of OPTIMISM.  Maybe I should remind myself of that each morning before stumbling out of bed.  That might be a good idea.

Breakfast was the usual oat bran pancake with a diced up hard boiled egg wrapped up in it.  Pretty good, very portable.  

I decided that since I am a member of our local YMCA, perhaps I should start going again.  I tried a class this morning called Yo-Pi.  I'm sure you can guess, it was a combination Yoga and Pilates, which I've never attempted.  I used to do the Yoga thing years ago.  It was pretty strenuous and I had a difficult time of it overall, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that my balance wasn't as bad as I had imagined.  I was even able to hold some poses the instructor had problems with.  Trouble came when she started doing core moves, namely the plank, and  all other moves that required lifting my weight.  Sigh.  I'll keep going and hopefully I'll get better at it.  In truth, it felt good to move again.

Lunch was just a piece of baked chicken breast.  I made up some more SF FF pudding.  We seem to be going through that pretty quickly.  I'm not sure if there is a limit to how much you can have.  I don't think there is, I hope there isn't anyway.  

Non-fat and sugar free yogurt is allowed on this plan, but the only yogurt I could find that meets that criteria is plain yogurt.  I've never been a fan.  Until today I only used it in place of mayo and for marinade on chicken dishes.  Then I had a thought!  I added one packet of Splenda French Vanilla to a bowl of plain yogurt.  It was a little strong so I just added more yogurt till it tasted right.  It was terrific!  Then I decided to go one step further.  I added one drop of orange extract....VOILA!  Creamsicle fat-free, sugar-free yogurt!

Here's a photo of the Splenda.  My store keeps it in the coffee/tea isle.

Dinner was a rotisserie chicken.  It had just been taken off the spit, hot, fresh and really moist!  We placed the bones and skin into a pot of water and cooked it down to add to our dogs meals.  They love a little chicken broth and whatever meaty parts we can get off the bones.

Tonights snack was some vanilla SF FF pudding with a small dollop of SF Cool Whip.  I'm not positive is the Cool Whip is really allowed, but DH insisted on it.  Lastly, I had a few pieces of imitation crab meat.  I'm still surprised how good that tastes.  Maybe I'll have a little in tomorrow mornings omelet.

Dukan Attack Phase Day 3

Dr. Dukan recommends you weigh every day.  I can see that this would be motivational as long as you are losing the weight.  I lost another pound as of this morning for a total of 2.8.  Not bad for two days.  My husband, who doesn’t need to lose any weight, claims he lost 5 pounds after the first day…AWRG!  No matter.  As long as the numbers keep going in the right direction I’ll be happy.

I whipped up some SF FF jello pudding last night.  This time it was butterscotch and white chocolate.  I have some of each with me for today.  I’m going to hold out as long as I can since that is what I am craving the most. 

Today will be a real test for me.  I have to do some field work today along with a few coworkers.  They want to eat lunch while we are out, at a really super terrific Chinese buffet L   I have two options, bring my packed lunch with me, or see if I can eat off the buffet and still stick to the Dukan principles.  I think I will bring a piece of the chicken I packed, just in case.  I do know this buffet has boiled shrimp and roast beef.  I should be okay with those.  They also have several types of fish, but it’s usually swimming in some kind of butter sauce.  Best to stay away from that!

 Here's my breakfast for the day:  

I took my oat bran pancake, spread on some fat free cream cheese, sprinkled on a little fat free shredded cheddar and added some imitation crab meat.  All in all it was pretty tasty.  I think it would have been super with a little less cream cheese and a warm pancake.

Well, I went to the Chinese buffet and did just fine.  It was very tempting to cheat, just a little, but I was able to be good.  I had a pile of boiled shrimp, some imitation crab meat I took off the top of a couple of sushi, a piece of chicken with the skin removed and two slices of roast beef.  I'm not sure how I managed to stick to the diet.  It was really difficult to see three other people eating all my favorite things.  I would not recommend eating out, especially during the Attack Phase.  Still, I do feel a sense of accomplishment now that I made it through.  I feel like the rest of the day and this weekend will be okay.

ATTACK PHASE DAY 2

 First thing this morning I weighed in.  1.8 pounds lost!  I’m sure a lot of it is water and Dr. Dukan acknowledges that in his book.  That’s okay by me as long as the scale keeps going down over time.

I had to get in to work early this morning so I took the time last night to pack up my food for the day.  I had a galette and a hardboiled egg for breakfast.  I suppose I could have heated the galette in the microwave, but it really wasn’t bad cold.  I think it was much better right out of the pan though. 

I packed a small container of boiled shrimp, about half a baked chicken breast, ½ cup of tuna salad and ½ cup a sugar-free, fat-free (sf,ff) jello pudding.  I also have two diet cokes and two SIGG 1.0L of water with me.  I’m set for the day.

So, in an effort to take my mind off food, and also because I said this blog would be about more than my diet, I’m going to show you a few of the projects I worked on for Christmas.

First up was a set of pillows I made for a good friend to give as a gift to another friend.  The giftee is all about Halloween, she LOVES anything and everything to do with that particular holiday.  I was asked to make some pillows with a crocheted spider web on them.  In an effort to be thrifty, I purchased two throw pillows from our local thrift store ($1.50) for both and I bought the black material from the remnant bin at Walmart (<$2.00).  I washed the pillows, removed the piping, turned the covers inside out and reattached them.  I did this because they were originally outdoor pillows and the fabric was slick.  I didn’t want the new covers to be slipping and sliding over the inserts.  I attached the new covers with zippers for easier cleaning, then crocheted up two spider webs.  I had some fine yarn with sparkly threads all over it left over from another project.  It reminded me of dew drops on a morning web.  I think they turned out okay.  The recipient was thrilled.  I would have liked a more draped look to the webs but I was unable to figure out a way to attach them that would allow this.

For my sister and brother-in-law I made a set of dish towels.  I wove these on a rigid heddle loom using two heddles.  The threads are a cotton-linen blend.  I made four towels in teal, purple and white.  I’m fairly new to weaving.  I took my first lesson almost three years ago. 

I also made them a quilted table runner.  I am VERY new to quilting.  This is the third item I’ve made.  I tried to make it reversible which was probably my downfall.  You can probably tell from the photos, it’s a bit warped along the edges.  I think I would have been better off just making the back a solid piece.  Live and learn.

Front Side

Back Side

I usually make more of my gifts for Christmas.  It was a “down” year for me.  I’m trying to be more optimistic in the New Year.  I christened 2013 my Year of Optimism. 

I’m currently working on a crocheted dinosaur for my 15-month old grandson.  I’ll post a photo when it’s done.

So, day two on Dukan has passed and I really can't say I had any major cravings, just a few.  I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up some imitation crab, a few seasonings, some egg whites and more SF-FF jello pudding.  I think I would be having a much harder time if it weren't for the pudding.  It satisfies my sweet tooth.  I also picked up two small packages of sugar free hard candies.  Then I searched all over the web and I'm not totally sure I can have them or not.  I'll try to stick to no more than one or two a day.

Preparing for Tomorrow, the Start of Dukan!

After putting away all the Christmas decorations (except the tree, it's still standing) and cleaning up the kitchen from last nights New Year's Eve feast, I'm ready to begin preparations for the big day.  Tomorrow we officially begin the Dukan diet.  I have high hopes.  I've already prepared six large chicken breasts by baking them with a nice garlic herb seasoning.  They are all wrapped up and sitting in the refrigerator and freezer.  I have a container full of boiled shrimp, a couple of packages of sliced low fat turkey and roast beef, three dozen eggs, fat free greek yogurt and fat free cottage cheese!  I'm going to bake up another package of chicken, maybe using one of the recipes in the Dukan Diet Cookbook that arrived in monday's mail.  I'm also going to boil a dozen of those eggs.  Before I do either of those things though, I think I'm going to make up a batch of the Dukan Galette's, or oat bran pancakes.  Dr. Dukan suggests these as an easy way to eat your daily oat bran requirement.

This is the list of ingredients for the Galette.  I don't think I'm giving anything away because you can find it all over the internet.  One thing I don't really understand about it is that you are only supposed to eat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat brand a day while you are on the Attack Phase, but the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons.  I think I'll make them with just 1 1/2 tablespoons while I am on the Attack Phase.

So I've gathered my ingredients to make the savory pancakes, with salt and pepper.  That's a large measuring cup holding countless ice cube chunks of egg whites.  I've been on a kick to waste not for several months now.  For some odd reason we seem to use a lot of egg yolks.

Just sitting here....waiting for the egg whites to melt.  Now might be a good time to start those other eggs to boiling.







January 2, 2013.  Well, I never did make the galette's yesterday.  I put the egg whites back in the fridge and let them thaw out that way.  I did manage to get the eggs boiled though.

So today was day one.  I weighed for the first time since Thanksgiving.  I managed to gain 10 pounds during the holiday.  UGH!  Very depressing, but I could tell the clothes were getting tighter and I didn't hold back when I should have.

I made, well tried to make, the galettes for breakfast this morning.  Unfortunately it was a disaster.  Turns out our fry pans are no longer non-stick.  After two mounds of scrambled galettes (which didn't actually taste too bad) I made a trip out to our local Kohl's to purchase a new T-fal fry pan.  It worked like a charm!

All galette's I made today were savory, just seasoned with salt and pepper.  I imagine having them with a scrambled egg for breakfast.  I used up all the egg whites I had, which made enough for the three of us for the next four days.

So, breakfast was one hardboiled egg and a scrambled galette.  Lunch was a bit late and that was not a good idea as I was starving by then.  Beside the trip to Kohls for the fry pan, I had several other errands to run and I didn't think to pack any snacks.  I wound up drinking a couple of diet Cokes and I picked up a bag of turkey jerky while out.  I only ate two pieces, but it was enough to tide me over until I could get home for lunch.  I found out most jerky contains some small amount of sugar so it really doesn't fit the plan, but I had to have something.  Lesson learned....pack food before leaving the house!

Lunch was a bowl full of boiled shrimp and three slices of deli roast beef with fat-free cream cheese rolled up.  We also made up a tuna salad recipe from the cookbook, it's called spicy tuna salad.  I'm not crazy about it.  Maybe if we add a little greek yogurt to cream it up some I might prefer it.  Lastly, I took a large package of boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded them all to 1/4-inch thick and used two other cookbook recipes for marinades.  One batch we cooked up for tonight's dinner.  It was a curry chicken.  Very tasty!  The other batch is still marinating in the fridge for tomorrow.  That one is a tandoori style chicken.  

I have to say, the first day wasn't too bad.  I have been craving carbs some, but mostly while I was out running errands.  I was wishing I could run through McDonalds for some fries to tide me over.  My biggest issue right now, at this very moment, is a desire for something sweet.  All during the holidays I was enjoying cookies, candy, pies and cake.  It's cold turkey now and I'm feeling it.  After doing a little research online I realized I had some sugar-free fat-free jello pudding mix in the pantry, as well as some non-fat dry milk.  Low and behold....the Attack Phase friendly pudding is chilling in the refrigerator as I type!  

I managed to get all my water in and my son and I agreed that we did far more than the required 20 minutes of walking while running our errands today.  One day down, not really feeling deprived.  I think it's a good start.