Day 52

Lost - JOHN: 0.6Kg   SAWA: 0.4Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tuna scrambled eggs (John), bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Tofu burgers (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER:  Bran porridge (John), Jelly (Sawa).
OTHER: Fish sausage

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
YES!  Two breakthroughs here. One small one for me, and a big one for Sawa.  I finally passed into the 97's. A new number! And Sawa reached the goal she set!  Whoo hoo!!  God Job Sawa.   But she wants to keep going for a bit more. Maybe half a kilo more. Let's see if she becomes anorexic.

But probably not. Because tomorrow, we're going to eat curry at the best Indian restaurant in Tokyo!

Day 51

Lost - JOHN: 0.0Kg   SAWA: 0.4Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burger and salad (John), bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Chicken ratatouille  (John) chicken ratatouille and tofu burger (Sawa).
DINNER:  Bran porridge (John), Jelly (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks.

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
No weight loss for me today. I wonder if I'm at a kind of plateau.  I am just around the 97's. Come on.  Get in there.

Day 50

Lost - JOHN: 0.3Kg   SAWA: 0.1Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burgers (John), bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Mustard chicken breast (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), Jelly (Sawa).
OTHER: Fish sausage

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
50 days. Kind of a milestone, I guess.  But weight wise, Sawa is almost at the target set for her.  Great. And I'm in the "lightest I've been in years" time. Feeling pretty good.

Day 49

Lost - JOHN: 1.1Kg   SAWA: 0.6Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Bran porridge (John), bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Satsumaage (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Salmon and ratatouille (John & Sawa).
OTHER: A couple small cookies.

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
Another good loss today. It's funny, Sawa was going on about how she could see her ribs if she stretched now.  No kidding. She's getting really slim. Where are my ribs though?  The barbecue sauce is waiting!

Day 48

Lost - JOHN: 0.8Kg   SAWA: 1.0Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burgers (John), bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Chicken Breast (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), Jelly (Sawa).
OTHER: Fish cakes.

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
Doing pretty well here.  We're both down almost a kilo.  It's days like these that you really feel you can reach your goal.  Much different from the "drifting" feeling I've had with other diets.

Day 42-47: Dieting during a busy period (Week in review!)

We were really busy this week, setting up for Sawa's hat show.  Lot's of running around, talking to buyers (we hope), and generally not having time to cook
We basically took a lax attitude for this week and said "Whatever will be, will be".  Read on faithful followers, to see what our week held...


MON - FRIDAY REVIEW
MONDAY
John - 100.4 (-0.2kg)           Sawa - 49.0 (-0.1Kg)
TUESDAY
John -  99.3 (-1.1kg)            Sawa - 49.0 (0.0kg)
WEDNESDAY
John -  99.9 (+0.6kg)           Sawa - 49.2 (+0.2kg)
THURSDAY
John - 100.6 (+0.7kg)          Sawa - 49.4 (+0.2kg)
FRIDAY
John - 100.4 (-0.2kg)           Sawa - 50.0 (+0.1kg)
SATURDAY
John - 100.2 (-0.2kg)           Sawa - 50.6 (+0.6kg)

We went out for lunch and dinner a couple of times.  There was a day of Subway sandwiches. Another day we went to a steak restaurant and had a delicious huge steak.  That was actually the day before I lost the 1.1Kg. After the exhibition we went to Dennys for a really late dinner, and finally, on Friday, we ate a nice lunch and said "Oh come on. Let's have some cake". We indulged away our long week.

So overall, I was down 0.2Kg from the first day, and sawa was up 0.6Kg. She'll lose it quickly though. She's a real fat burner.

Day 41

Lost - JOHN: +1.0Kg   SAWA: 0.0Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Two boiled eggs (John), no breakfast (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Two tofu burgers (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), dry bran (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
Up a kilo.  Oh man. Those last couple days really caught up with me.
We're getting in the throws of one of Sawa's hat exhibitions.  So it's harder to find time to sit down and make and eat a proper lunch.  Luckily, this will just be until the end of this week (I hope).  Busy busy.

Day 40 - Debauchery and over-indulgence!

Lost - JOHN: +0.1Kg   SAWA: +0.6Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Salad (John), no breakfast (Sawa).
LUNCH:  McRib at McDonalds (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Some small bar food and lots of drinks (John), dry bran (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

No exercise to speak of.  Just some basic walking her and there.  Nothing really good enough.
Notes
So, today was a true test of my metabolism.  Considering we went out and ate pasta yesterday, this was pretty bad of me. My work was having a party for the students, which all teachers must go to.  These are usually at izakaya, kind of a Japanese bar/restaurant. It was all you can eat/drink.  I knew I was going to end up drinking, so I stuck to Gin-Tonics, which I read were pretty good as far as booze goes. 
On top of that, I decided I better have one more go at the McRib before it's gone. Why not, I'm already off the diet for today.  So lunch was two juicy McRibs.  Man, they were good, but I felt a bit guilty afterwards. Just push that thought away. Que sera sera.  I was good enough to eat almost nothing at the party. But about 5 gin-tonics.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun. No regrets.  Just strict tomorrow.  That's my new motto!

Day 39 - Friday

Lost - JOHN: 0.1Kg   SAWA: 0.3Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: No breakfast.
LUNCH:  Tofu with crab stick (John) Tofu burger (Sawa).
DINNER: We went to an italian restaurant.  Details to follow.
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

Walked around town doing errands about 40 minutes (John), walked around a design show for a few hours (Sawa), so that must add up to something.
Notes
Tonight we celebrated Sawa's dad's birthday.  He chose a really good Italian restaurant. So we went full bore and ate pasta, pizza, salad, lots of small things (like calamari) and bum bum bum... huge dessert.  We really ate a lot.  So, it's a mystery how we'll be tomorrow.  Let's just call this another experiment.

Day 38

Lost - JOHN: 0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.3Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burgers (John), bran muffin (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Stirfry (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), No dinner(Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

Walked home from work about 30 minutes.
Notes
We were both down today.  That's good.  Stay under 100!!!

Day 37

Lost - JOHN: +0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.5Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burgers (John), bran muffin (Sawa).
LUNCH:  Chicken breast (John) Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), Kanten(Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

Walked home from work about 30 minutes.
Notes
Up again. Sawa down again. 

5 Weeks and Breaking through a barrier!

Hello faithful readers. (Do I have any readers? Please leave a comment if I do).
Today we see the end of week 5.  And today both Sawa and I broke through a small barrier.  (Well, small for her, larger for me).

Here's our starting weight -
John - 109.6Kg  (241.62 lbs)
Sawa - 55.9Kg   (123.2 lbs)

Current Weight -
John - 99.6Kg   (219.58 lbs)
Sawa - 49.6Kg  (109.34 lbs)

It's a HUGE motivator to see that number in front change.  I'll be honest. I haven't been below 100Kg since I got married, I think, at least more than ten years. So to finally see that breakthrough feels so good.  Sawa too.  She got out of the 50's and is now in the 40's. (She Japanese, so she's pretty small).


WEEK 5 BREAKDOWN
Weight Lost - John: 1.8kg (3.96lbs) Sawa: 0.8kg (1.76lbs)

Day 35

Lost - JOHN: +0.2Kg   SAWA: 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST/LUNCH: Tofu burgers and fried eggs (John) Tofu burger, fried egg and bran muffin (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John),  Nothing (Sawa).OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

Walked around town for about 40 minutes.
Notes
Gained 0.2Kg today. Sawa down 0.2kg. We seem to be on a teeter-totter of weight loss!

Day 34

Lost - JOHN: 0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.6Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Shrimp soup (John), Bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH: Tofu burger and brocoli (John), Shrimp soup and Kanten (Sawa).
DINNER: Soup with bran in it (John), Soup (Sawa).
OTHER:Fish cakes.

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
Sawa was down a lot today. I'm surprised I'm down so much as well.  We're still trying to walk and do the baths everyday, which seems to get a lot of sweat out of us.  I guess they both help a bit.  Still not sure how much the baths are helping really, but they are relaxing.

Day 33

Lost - JOHN: 0.2Kg   SAWA: +0.8Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burgers (John), Bran muffins (Sawa).
LUNCH: Sliced beef (John), Tofu burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John),  (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
Down 0.2kg from yesterday. This happened last time I went out, and the next day I was up.  So I'm curious if the same thing will happen, or if my metabolism will let me coast through this one.  Not so lucky for Sawa.  Up almost 1kg.  Wow.  Of course, we're assuming it's just water.  If it's gone tomorrow, that's probably it. 

Day 32 Friday

Lost - JOHN: 0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.1Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: No breakfast.
LUNCH: Sandwiches, potato salad and scallop salad (John & Sawa).
DINNER: Hamburger patty, salad, some french fries, fried oysters (John), Hamburger patty and rice, corn soup, french fries (Sawa).... Pumpkin icecream parfait (John & Sawa).
OTHER: XX

Exercise

XX
Notes
Back down from yesterday's gain.  Today, one of Sawa's customer/friend came over and we had sandwiches for lunch.  For me and Sawa, it seems like such a spurge.  Bread, potato salad, cheese in the sandwiches.  But her friend said it was such a healthy lunch.  Funny how that lunch can look so dangerous right now. 
So then we decided why not just make a day of it and eat something nice for dinner. We went to Denny's with Sawa's grandmother and had hamburger steaks. It was really nice.  We even finished off with a small ice cream parfait.  Whoa. First time I've had something that sweet in a month. It was really good!  We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow.  But it sure was tasty.

Day 31

Lost - JOHN: +0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu burgers (John), Bran Muffins(Sawa).
LUNCH: Chicken Breasts (John), Tofu Burgers (Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), Kanten (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks.

Exercise

Walked home from work (John) walked to shops (Sawa).
Notes
Up 0.4Kg? From what? I can't imagine what did that.  Sawa down again though.  She's almost at her goal.  Doing really well.

Day 30

Lost - JOHN: 0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu Burgers (John), Bran Muffins(Sawa).
LUNCH: Chicken Stirfy with Broccoli (John), 1 1/2 Tofu burgers(Sawa).
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), Half tofu burger, hanpen with creme cheese(Sawa).
OTHER: Fish saussage

Exercise

None today.  Too tired in the morning, then it rained like crazy this evening.  Darn.
Notes
I'm getting close to a little milestone here.  Almost ten kilos.  Just a couple more to go.  Sawa has steadily been losing 0.2kg every day.  Great, eh.

Day 29 - Month 1 Review

MONTHLY SUMMARY -
Weight Lost - John: 8.2kg (18.07lbs) Sawa: 5.5kg (12.12lbs)

Wow, that's all I can say.  One month and I'm down over 8kg, Sawa 5 and a half.  When you think about it, one month isn't long at all.  I've spent more time wondering how to lose weight or trying to decide whether or not to start dieting.  The best thing we did was just start it, and stick to it.

I think this is a huge motivation, to see your results like that and realize it is working, without that much effort.  First month's advice for anyone trying out would be just to keep trying new things.  Go different ways on your walks so you don't get bored, try to make some new dishes.  And most of all, be prepared.  Don't find yourself without the proper food, because that's when temptation can set in and cause problems. 
Also, I think we stayed pretty much on the diet. One day we at the McDonalds, another day we went out for dinner at the Chinese restaurant. But it was only one meal at a time, and we always ate a bit more strictly on the next day.  Don't get discouraged with small gains.  They're mostly water, I think, and end up coming off quickly. 
Can't wait to see what next month brings!

Weekly Summary
Weight Lost - John: 1.2kg (2.64lbs) Sawa: 1.4kg (3.08lbs)

Today's breakdown:
Lost - JOHN: 0.4Kg   SAWA: 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu Noodles (John), Bran Muffins(Sawa).
LUNCH: Tofu gyudon (John), Tofu burgers(Sawa)..
DINNER: Bran porridge (John), Kanten(Sawa).
OTHER: Grilled chicken on a stick.

Exercise

Walked home from work with Sawa.
Notes
Keep climbing!

Day 28

Lost - JOHN: 0.2Kg   SAWA: 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Nothing (John & Sawa).
LUNCH: Stuffed Peppers and cucumber/tomato salad (John & Sawa).
DINNER: Bran with milk (John), dry bran and kanten (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks today.

Exercise

One hour walk around town together.
Notes
Finally getting rid of that water from the McRib.  It sure was tasty though.  Today was a veggie day again, and I wanted to try something new.  In Japan, the bell peppers are notoriously small.  About the size of kiwi fruit, if you can imagine that.  The other day I found some that would be considered small in the states, but looked big enough to stuff.  Came out really nice.

Salt - Keeping the Roman army going for decades!

So the other day was kind of eye-opening for me.  We went to McDonalds, enjoyed some tasty burgers and put it behind us (or on our behinds?).  I'm going to be of the mind that doing this kind of thing every once in while is not a big deal. I'm not prepared to never have a burger again. So it's inevitable we're going to be eating a lot of salt sometimes.

But I never quite realized just how much salt is in a fast food meal.  For an average adult, the daily recommended dose of salt is about 1500mg.  On the dukan diet, I think it is extremely easy to stay below this level, mainly because you're encouraged to use as little salt as possible. 

Here's what I found out we ate the other day.
John :
Quarter Pounder with Cheese - 1190mg
McRib - 980mg
Chicken Nuggets (half serving)- 180mg
Total Sodium - 2350mg

Sawa :
Quarter Pounder with Cheese - 1190mg
Filet O' Fish - 640mg
Chicken Nuggets (half serving)- 180mg
Total Sodium - 2010mg

That's around 1.5 times the recommended sodium intake for a day. And consider that we didn't really even have breakfast or dinner that day. That was the only meal, and it was already 500mg over the limit for Sawa, and nearly 900mg over for me.  Also, we skipped the fries (which was hard, since the staff kept reminding us it was cheaper to get a set with fries than just individual items).  A small fries would have added 160mg (they don't show how much is in a Medium, so I'll assume double).

I'm not ragging on McDonalds.  I love their burgers (one reason I'm on this diet).  But it just goes to show, if in an average day you run down to the fast food place to grab lunch, plus you're having dinner and breakfast that day, you could be well over double your daily sodium.
If you'd like to check out other items from the"McMenu" take a look at http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/full_menu_explorer.html .

Day 27

Lost - JOHN: +0.2Kg   SAWA: 0.2Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Boiled eggs (John), Dry Bran(Sawa).
LUNCH: Gyudon (John & Sawa).
DINNER: Bran and Milk (John), Jelly (Sawa).
OTHER: Crab sticks and creme puff (Sawa ate that).

Exercise

Walked home from work.
Notes
So the salt seems to have showed up today.  Up 0.2 kilos.  Sawa didn't lose anything yesterday, but today she'd down 0.2Kg.  I still find it strange the way different peoples bodies react.

Day 26

Lost - JOHN: 0.2Kg   SAWA: 0.0Kg
The menu
BREAKFAST: Tofu noodles and boiled egg (John), Bran muffins(Sawa).
LUNCH: Tofu burgers and crab salad (John), no lunch(Sawa).
DINNER: Bran and milk (John), Tofu burger (Sawa).
OTHER: No snacks.

Exercise

Walked home from work (John and Sawa).
Notes
Down 0.2kg from yesterday. I'm sure I'm going to gain some weight  tomorrow then. That McDonalds was of course so salty. Let's see.