Week One- Learning as We Go

The first week of the Dukan Diet. I'm going in having read a couple blogs about attempts, as well as the book. So I have some ideas, but really, you never know until you start.

WEEKLY SUMMARY
Weight Lost - John: 4.2kg (9.25lbs)      Sawa: 2.5kg (5.51lbs)
First week done. During this week I made two personal revelations.
The first is that you can go to a restaurant and find something you can eat.  Don't give into temptation and make sure to ask if there are low sodium/sugar free/oil free alternatives.
The second is that during the first (and possibly the second week), you'll run into friends, family, coworkers who will try to persuade you to give up, that the diet is dumb or won't work, or who just plain laugh that you're trying. Don't get too upset with them. If you stick to the diet and are losing weight and not cheating, I think most people will finally "give up" trying to discourage you.  In fact, a lot of people are really supportive. So don't be afraid to tell those around you what you're doing. If anything, it helps make you accountable.  If you're not the only one who knows you're dieting, then you won't be the only one who knows if you quit as well. And that's a strong incentive to keep going!





SEPTEMBER 6, 2011
Day 1- The first day of the diet. I thought we were pretty well prepared for today.
Lost - 0.0Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Salmon omelet and yogurt. (John and Sawa)
LUNCH: Galette and garlic chicken. (John and Sawa)
DINNER: Sauri, tamagoyaki and yogurt. (John and Sawa)
OTHER: Lots of water and green tea.
Exercise
30 minute walk around the neighborhood.
Notes
The thing we discovered is that eating only meat and yogurt is not very filling. Also, Sawa felt a bit ill and tired. I think partly from work, and partly from not eating enough. I have to say, the yogurt after dinner was a lifesaver. The fish and egg was definitely not enough.



SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 Day 2- Two days on the diet. And the first day of results.
Lost - 1.0Kg / 0.9Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Fried eggs, yogurt, chicken patty. (John and Sawa)
LUNCH: Tandoori Chicken, chicken patty and galette. (John and Sawa)
DINNER: Gyudon (sugar substitute, tofu) for dinner. (John and Sawa)
OTHER: Crab sticks and fish sausages. Drank more tea and water.
Exercise
30 minute walk before work.
Notes
Much better today. I tried to eat more, but around 7:00 I was starving. Because of work, I don't get home until about 10:00, so I ended up eating a couple fish sausages between school lessons to keep myself going.
Sawa isn't enjoying this protein-only phase very much. She forced down her yogurt with bran in it (no more of that for her) in the morning, and barely ate any lunch or dinner. Just crab sticks, fish sausage, etc. I think it's good it only told her three days, because she really needs some vegetables. I think she's a salt addict, and the low salt is affecting her like a drug. Strange how much she wants salt.



SEPTEMBER 8, 2011Day 3- One of us settled, the other didn't quite.
Lost - 0.4Kg / 0.5Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Grilled squid and omelet. (John and Sawa)
LUNCH: Leftover tofu gyudon, chicken patty and galette. (John and Sawa)
DINNER: Grilled hokke for dinner. (John and Sawa)
OTHER: Crab sticks. Drank more tea and water.
Exercise
No exercise today. I got to work late, and finished really late.
Notes
So over the past two days, both Sawa and I lost almost the exact same amount of weight. Pretty impressive. Like I said, she'd been feeling drained of energy since she started, and today was pretty much the worst. She didn't really eat any breakfast or lunch at all. She gave in and ate some alfalfa sprouts mixed with shredded crab sticks with some ume dressing, and a few cherry tomatoes. A pretty bad day as far as the diet was concerned. But mainly I was worried that she hadn't eaten anything and was looking so down. Seems the veggies helped her a little.
I felt much better myself. I wasn't quite as ravenous as I was yesterday. I pretty much inhaled that gyudon last night. Today, I was pretty full before I had even finished the fish. I had made some curry chicken, but didn't get into that really, so I saved it for tomorrow.
*An interesting observation. Some coworkers seem supportive, others very skeptical and a bit non-encouraging. I wanted to tell them as soon as I could so it would be easier to avoid the "going out for drinks" and such.



SEPTEMBER 9, 2011Day 4- We've found our stride.
Lost - 01.0Kg / 0.4Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST/LUNCH: Curry chicken and galette (John) and cucumber/cabbage salad with tuna and a hamburg (from a good restaurant). (Sawa)
DINNER: Sashimi for dinner (really good!). (John and Sawa)
OTHER: Crab sticks, yogurt and kanten. Bran cookie for Sawa. I drank some Coke Zero.
Exercise
We took a nice one hour walk to the shops for sawa to get something for work. It was really hot, so we sweat a ton.
Notes
Today we both ate enough, did a lot of walking and drank plenty. It was a great day off as well, so maybe that helped. Sawa is onto Phase 2 of the diet, and she is so happy to eat veggies now. I'll do Phase 1 for a few more days, since it seems to be working so well.
As for those bran cookies, they look more like the top of muffins. We both decided that for some strange reason, they have a bitter taste on the back of our tongues. What can that be from? Oh, and sashimi might be my new favorite dinner. That was so good.



SEPTEMBER 10, 2011Day 5- Still losing weight.
Lost - 1.2Kg / 0.4Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Omelet with yogurt and chicken breast (John), salad (Sawa).
LUNCH: Boiled beef and chicken (John), tofu burger patty (Sawa).
DINNER: One and a half tofu burger patties, grilled tuna and yogurt with bran (John), Tofu burger patty and salad and bran cookies (Sawa).
OTHER: Not much snacking today.
Exercise
About 30 minutes walking.
Notes
Extremely surprised to see a 1.2Kg loss this morning. Been feeling lately that I'm not losing weight, but I guess I am. Sawa is much better with the vegetables.



SEPTEMBER 11, 2011Day 6- Still losing weight.
Lost - 0.4Kg / 0.1Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Yogurt (can't remember what else) (John), half omelet with bran and tofu (Sawa).
LUNCH: Chicken patty, chicken breast, leftover half tofu burger patty (John), tofu burger patty and tofu and yuba-smoked salmon marinade (Sawa).
DINNER: Tofu burger patty, curry chicken pancakes and tofu (John), leftover omelet (Sawa).
OTHER: We snacked on crab sticks.
Exercise
About 30 minutes walking (John) 50 minutes (Sawa).
Notes
Realized that we digest this protein really fast. So make you you can eat a snack when you have time. I was going to eat dinner before I went to meet some people, but between my jobs new later finish time and the long train ride, I wasn't able to eat until I got home. I was really hungry and I think I ate a bit too much. If I had eat a couple fish sausages on the way to the meeting.



SEPTEMBER 12, 2011Day 7- Still losing weight.
Lost - 0.2Kg / 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Hamburger patty and bran cookies (John), tofu burger, kanten and bran cookies (Sawa).
DINNER: Sashimi, grilled ika and chawanmushi (at a restaurant) (John & Sawa).
OTHER: We snacked on fish cakes.
Exercise
About 1 hour walking (John & Sawa).
Notes
Today was a great last day of the week. We didn't lose much weight this morning, and we're both thinking it must be due to a bit too much salt yesterday. At least we lost something. We went out for dinner with Sawa's family, and had a nice long walk home. A really good day.