My last day of the Attack Phase went well and Friday I started the Cruise Phase.  It was great!  Wanna know why?  Since you are reading this post, you probably do, or you are just really bored that you want to read about this crazy Dukan Diet that I am on!  I GOT TO EAT VEGGIES!  I know, I was only without veggies for 4 days.  But it was a huge deal and made me miss veggies a lot.  I also miss fruit, which I get to eat in the third phase – the Consolidation Phase.

Total pounds lost during the Attack Phase: 4  (only .2 lbs for my last weigh in on the phase)
The overall loss – that is very exciting for me!

What’s is this Cruise Phase I have been hyping up?
 The Alternating Protein Diet – Protein + Vegetables.
This phase will take me to my true weight.  I’m well on the way too, even after 1 day!  Which is very exciting.  I am also preparing myself for days that I might not loose or even gain, as Dr. Dukan says could happen because of adding in veggies.

Veggies
I’m allowed all cooked or raw veggies, without restriction of quantity, time of day, or combination.  But veggies considered starchy are forbidden: potatoes, corn, fresh or dried peas, beans, and lentils.  No rice, quino, badly, wheat berries (not sure what that is), millet, and other grains are not allowed.  Those are the restricted veggies!

I can eat them raw, boil them, steam them, or bake them.  The only catch is I can’t use any oils or butter.  No dressing either!  I don’t mind except it is nice for a salad.  Dr. Dukan says, “an ordinary salad bowl containing two heads of lettuce and 2 tbps of oil, the salad accounts for 20 calories and the oil for 200 calories, which is why so many edits based on mixed salads fail.”  I’m not allowed to prepare green veggies with no more than 1 tsp of vegetable oil.  He does give a recipe for a vinaigrette (mustard, balsamic vinegar, vegetable oil) and a yogurt dressing (nonfat plain yogurt, mustard, vinegar).

Dukan also cautions the quantity of carrots, beets, and artichokes that I can eat, as they have a little bit more sugar than other veggies.  He says that if my weight reaches a plateau to reduce or eliminate these three veggies until my weight loss starts again.

This means still no COOKIES (or sweets or chips).
Last night I was eating supper with some very special people and one person decided to have cookies.  The Chocolate chip kind from Superstore that are so utterly delicious!  They were frozen so it wasn’t quite as tempting until he heated them up in the microwave.  Mmmm… the smell.  Beside me were a bowel of cucumbers.  So I had one and said, “It’s round like a cookie.”  We laughed because I was trying to make it  feel and taste like a cookie but the only thing that made it similar was the roundness.  Oh well, I survived and the temptation fleeted and I won … not the cookies.  Huge, very HUGE step for me!

I need to include 2 tbsp of oat bran a day which I will in the galette (like a pancake).  I also need to up my exercise from walking 20 min/day to 30 min/day.  I must admit that I haven’t been walking everyday.  Thursday night I did 20 min on the Wii doing the stepper while I watched Grey’s, but that is about it.  It does help that 2 out of the days I worked which is physically demanding.  I really need to step up the exercise and do it!

I can also have all the same foods that were in the Attach Phase.

There are four different alternating patterns you can follow on the Cruise Phase.  I am going to try the 1/1 rhythm.  This is 1 day of pure proteins followed by 1 day of veggies + proteins.  Dr. Dukan suggests this as it is easier to follow then doing the 5/5 rhythm which is more for people who have a lot to loose and more hard core.  That’s not me.  Later I might switch to the 2/7 rhythm depending on how the weight loss is going.  This includes 2 days of pure proteins per week, on Mondays and Thursdays, followed by 5 days of no particular diet but avoiding any extremes (I would probably make these veggie + protein days).     Dr. Dukan says, “This is the diet that best suits some women with cellulite, who are slim on top but heavy around the hips and the thighs especially.”  This definitely is me!  The fourth way is the same as the last one but it is strictly 2 days of protein (Mon & Thurs) and 5 days of proteins + veggies the rest of the week.

For now I am doing the 1/1 rhythm for the first week.  I will re-evaluate next week to see if I will switch to another rhythm.  According to the book and website it will take me about 2 months to reach my true weight.  Then I can move on to Phase 3 – the Consolidation Phase (I can incorporate fruit again!).

What tempts you when you are trying to healthy?  Is it chips, chocolate, ice-cream, candy, french fries?    Let me know by leaving a comment below.

[This is part of the Dukan Diet series.  Check out the rest of the posts by clicking HERE.]