The Dukan Diet is one of the most popular diet plans in France. It is a protein based diet designed by French doctor, nutritionist and dietician, Dr Pierre Dukan. Although Dr. Dukan has been promoting his diet for over 30 years, its popularity has grown since 2000. His book The Dukan Diet is a permanent best seller in France with over 3 million copies sold.

 

Phase 1: Attack

This phase is meant to be 1 - 10 days long, depending on the amount of weight you need to loose. This can easily be calculated on the official Dukan Diet website. You're only allowed low-fat protein, fat free dairy, herbs & spices, at least 1.5 litres of water (coffee, tea and diet sodas are OK too but they have to be less than 1 calories per glass and fat free). You should also have 1.5 tablespoons of Oat Bran and at least 20 minutes of brisk walking every day.

Apparently you could loose as much as 5kg in this phase. It is meant to give you a boost & mental readiness to continue with the weight loss.


Phase 2: Cruise

You have days of Pure Protein (the same as the Attack phase) alternated with days of Protein & Vegetables (which is like in Attack phase with selected vegetables added. You continue the water, oat bran (but increase it to 2 tablespoons per day), and the brisk walking (which increases to 30 minutes a day).


You get to pick how you mix the Pure Protein days with days of Protein and Vegetables. Some of the mixes you will read about are 5 days of PP alternated with 5 days of PV. Or 2/2. Or you could try other combinations. As long as PP days = PV days. From what I've read 1/1 is best. I do 1/1 Mon - Sat with Sundays alternated every week. That way I have PP every Tues, Thurs, Sat & every second Sunday and PV the other days.

Phase 2 could last for months if you have a lot of weight to lose. Use the calculator on the official Dukan Website to calculate your ideal weight and to see how long this phase will last. It's not accurate as it depends on your actual weight loss, but it will give you a good idea.

The vegetables you are allowed to eat are pretty limited, because some things that we consider “vegetables” actually contain a lot of carbs. Things like carrots, peas, corn and potatoes are out. Anything you might normally find in a salad is OK, including: Lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, but not avocado. Also allowed are things like green beans, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus and celery. You can eat it raw, steam it or boil it. Your menu could include soups or stews that combine protein and vegetables. The menu will definitely include salads.
See
my page for the list of allowed foods.

Phase 3: Consolidation

- Eat as much protein and vegetables (together) each day as you want without any restriction on quantity, time of day or combination.
- Add one serving of fruit per day (avoid high-sugar bananas, grapes, cherries, dried fruits and high-fat nuts)
- Enjoy two slices of wholemeal bread per day, spread with fat-reduced butter (if you can't go without the butter)
- Have one serving (40g or 1.5oz) of hard cheese per day (but avoid blue cheese, soft cheese or goat's cheese)
- Factor in one serving of 'starchy foods' per week in the first half of your Consolidation Phase, increasing to two servings per week in the second half. This includes pasta (225g or 8oz serving in tomato, not creamy, sauce and with no oil), couscous/polenta (225g or 8oz cooked in stock, not butter or oil), lentils, beans, chickpeas, rice (ideally brown) and potatoes (but only occasionally and without butter).
- Broaden your meat repertoire to include any quantity of lamb, roast pork and ham (remove all fat first) once or twice a week
- Let your hair down and plan and enjoy one celebration meal a week in the first half of the Consolidation Phase, increasing to two in the second half. In this meal you really can eat whatever you want - and you should choose something you've missed during the weight-loss period


But there are two important conditions - NEVER have second helpings of the same dish and NEVER eat two celebration meals in a row (if you splurge on Tuesday night, at Wednesday's breakfast the success of your diet is on the line). Have one of each: one starter, one main, one dessert and one glass of wine, all in a reasonable quantity but only once.
Keep one pure protein day per week - say, Thursdays. This is your insurance policy against gaining weight.
Take 2tbsp of oat bran per day (as a pancake or sprinkled on food)
Walk 25 minutes per day (longer if you enjoy it and have time)

 

Phase 4: Stabilisation

The secret of staying slim forever
When you have successfully completed the consolidation stage of the diet (five days for every 1lb you lost in the earlier Attack and Cruise stages) you are ready for the fourth and final stage of the Dukan diet.
Your new slimline body will have given up its extreme reactivity, wanting to extract every last calorie from everything you eat, and your metabolism will be calmer.

But experience shows the likelihood of regaining weight will remain if you do not incorporate into your lifestyle a number of habits specifically designed to deal with this risk.
The Stabilisation Stage of the Dukan Diet offers permanent slenderness in return for four simple, extremely effective but nonnegotiable measures that you should follow for the rest of your life.
Stabilisation rules
1. Go back to eating whatever you like, but continue to use the basic rules of the Consolidation Phase as a safety platform (eat unlimited protein and vegetables, one piece of fruit a day, two slices of wholemeal bread, a portion of cheese, two starchy foods and two celebration meals a week).
Keep this in mind as your point of healthy-diet reference, and use it as your safety back-up if you are under threat of regaining weight.
2. Pick one day a week - for the rest of your life - when you eat nothing but protein. This is the key that allows you to eat normally for the other six days of the week without putting any weight back on. (Drink at least two litres of water to flush the digestive system and reduce its craving for food)
3. Make a vow to walk (briskly) for 20 minutes every day, and never take a lift or step on an escalator. Going up or down the stairs makes the body's largest muscles contract and, in a short time, uses up considerable calories.
4. Increase your daily oat bran intake to 3tbsp and stick to it for life.

 

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