The Ducan diet is very popular all over the world, mainly due to its rapid and surprising results. It belongs to healthy eating systems. It allows you to lose weight and at the same time not suffer from hunger, because it is allowed to use more than a hundred different tasty and satisfying products.
Characteristics and rules of the Ducan diet
The main goal of the Ducan Protein Diet is to reduce your intake of fats and carbohydrates. They are necessarily included in the diet to lose weight, but in a minimal amount. Proteins become the basis of the menu. They should be consumed in the amount recommended for weight loss (this is approximately 1. 5 g per kilogram of weight). As a result, it is possible to get rid of extra pounds and stabilize the figure achieved on the scale.
The choice fell on protein as the basis of the diet for a reason.
There are many reasons for this:
- For the digestion of such substances, the body must expend the maximum amount of energy, and therefore calories.
- Pure proteins reduce hunger, prevent excess fluid from remaining in the body and increase its defenses.
- These substances prevent sagging skin. If the body lacks protein, it will be extracted from the muscles.
It is very important to try to eat less salt while following the diet discussed. This additive retains water in the body and increases hunger. But it is also detrimental to exclude it entirely. Especially for people suffering from low blood pressure.
During all stages of the diet, be sure to drink plenty of fluids. This is at least 2 liters of various fluids per day. Water also eliminates the feeling of hunger, fills the stomach and cleanses the body of all kinds of impurities. This is especially true with a protein diet. When protein is consumed in large quantities, the body constantly accumulates waste substances that must be eliminated. Otherwise, there will be no long-awaited effect.
Interestingly, even carbonated beverages can be drunk on such a diet.
The main thing is to choose the "light" options that do not contain sugar. Its flavor also helps you lose weight to cope with a strong craving for forbidden sweets.
Drinking is allowed at any time and regardless of the meal. The feeling of thirst must be fully satisfied and not quenched.
Description of the stages
There are four main stages in the diet. The main goal of the first half of them is to shed the extra pounds. And the second is to set the new ideal weight.
At each stage, you don't have to limit yourself to certain servings. You don't need to count calories either.
Stage 1 - attack
In the Ducan diet, the attack is the initial stage. It is short, but challenging and effective. The usual carbohydrate meal is completely replaced by protein. This leads to active fat burning.
On average, this stage is designed for 7 days. But under some conditions, it can last 3-12 days. It all depends on how many hated kilos a person wants to lose.
In the attack, you are allowed to eat protein foods from a special list. They can be consumed in any quantity and combined with each other. The main thing is to cook food without fat. For example, boil or roast.
In the first phase, the weight begins to disappear very quickly. This encourages weight loss not to stop, but to continue to adhere to a difficult nutritional system.
Stage 2 - cruising / alternating
The second phase turned out to be very long. This is the main reason why people who are losing weight often have seizures at this stage. The phase under discussion usually lasts from a couple of months to six months. A special nutritional system must be followed until the weight is ideal.
The main idea of the second phase is menu switching. These are days of eating foods rich in protein or its combinations with vegetables. You can change the diet every two days, two, three.
Protein menus should consist of "attack" items and raw, boiled, and baked vegetables should be added. The latter should make up about 60% of the diet.
Stage 3: consolidation / consolidation
At this stage, all the difficult things are over. You can begin to return to your usual diet slowly and gradually. It is important to consolidate the weight achieved.
The duration of this phase will have to be determined by yourself. To do this, you need to calculate the weight that you managed to lose in the previous stages. For every kilo that is dropped, 10 days of "repair" must be added.
This period can be quite long (especially if more than 10 kg was lost), but you should not be afraid of it. Now you can even indulge yourself with delicious desserts and other culinary delights.
- Five days a week, you should eat according to the usual alternating pattern.
- In the first half of the period, you can add to it daily 100 g of bread (whole grain), 200 g of fruit, 50 g of cheese.
- One day, eat exclusively protein according to the "attack" principle.
- On the seventh day, it is allowed to eat starchy foods (200 g), a portion of pork, ham, sausages, a favorite delicacy.
- In the second half of the day, the "Feast" with fatty sweet foods and sausages can already be enjoyed twice a week. Days like these shouldn't be followed.
The day of the "Feast" does not involve the use of "harmful things" throughout the day. It is allowed to pamper yourself only in 1 or 2 mealsHigh-quality weak wine is also allowed.
Stage 4 - stabilization
At this stage, the weight loss will return to its normal nutritional system with some quirks. First of all, you need to continue following the drinking regimen and continue to consume plenty of water per day. It is very important to include in your schedule daily physical activity, at least minimal: exercise in the morning, walking, rejecting the elevator.
Make sure to regularly organize fasting days and eat 3 tablespoons every day. l. oat bran in any form.
To maintain your ideal weight for a long time, it is worth taking the third phase as a base and making vegetables and protein products the basis of your nutritional system forever. In this case, you can indulge yourself with 2 holiday breakfasts or lunches a week, as well as 2 servings of products with starch in the composition.
It is advisable to leave one day of protein a week. It will become a defense mechanism against repeated weight gain.
Products allowed and prohibited
The prohibited and permitted foods depend on the phase of the diet.
So, at first, it is allowed to eat protein products from a special list.
That:
- horse meat;
- cow meat;
- bird;
- Ham;
- offal;
- fish (including canned and smoked);
- crab sticks;
- eggs;
- Low-fat fermented dairy / dairy products and beverages.
You can use 1 - 2 unsweetened cooked pickled cucumbers (per day), 1 onion, a small amount of tomato paste, vegetable oil (no more than 1 teaspoon), mustard, fresh / granulated garlic, fresh / dried herbs.
Be sure to use 1 - 1. 5 tbsp. l. saved. You can eat them in any form.
In the "alternation" phase, a variety of vegetables are added to all of the foods listed above. You just have to completely eliminate the legumes and potatoes.
These days are allowed:
- olives / olives (4 pieces 2 times a week);
- chia and flax seeds (1 teaspoon per day).
There is still a need to consume oat bran.
As noted above, in the third stage, cheese, bread, fruits, and some favorite foods are added to the menu. The expansion of your list continues in the fourth stage. The bran portion is increased to 3 tablespoons. l.
Among the cheeses, it is worth choosing hard varieties. From fruits, bananas, cherries, grapes, you can not eat nuts.
At any stage of the diet under discussion, most sweets are strictly prohibited. For example, bars, cakes, pastries, sweets. During the consolidation of the result, you can pamper yourself with a cube of dark chocolate or 1-2 fruit candies once a day. The exception is holiday meals, when even your favorite cake is allowed.
The list of prohibited products at all stages includes muffins, baked goods, nuts, dough dishes, butter, goose and duck meat, mayonnaise and any sauce based on it, tomato sauce.
Detailed menu for every day
During the "attack" period, the diet will be as follows:
- Scrambled eggs for breakfast, poultry soup for lunch, cheesecakes / casserole for afternoon tea, seafood in any form, and sour milk drink for dinner.
- Bran porridge (oatmeal), veal chops, oatmeal muffins, meatballs / poultry cutlets.
- Boiled eggs, pepitas, orange juice tart and pollock casserole with eggs.
- Omelette, fish soup with cooked quail eggs, egg whites and lemon dessert, squid salad and / or fish.
- Grilled poultry, bran pancakes, white fish cake.
- Eggs (in any form) with ham, lean meat fillets, biscuits (in bran) and yogurt, omelette with seafood.
- Omelet with parsley, chicken meat, cheesecakes and yogurt, mince pie and kefir.
During the alternation phase, the base of the menu can be kept the same, but vegetable salads can be added every other day. For example, chops, nuggets, or steaks. It is also allowed to bake meat, poultry or fish together with vegetables.
The following weekly menu is recommended in the "fixation" stage:
- Cottage cheese casserole for breakfast, lemon soup with bread (whole wheat) for lunch, fruit for a snack, stewed vegetables and chicken for dinner.
- Oatmeal and a slice of cheese, pasta with baked meat, cottage cheese, cutlets with salad.
- Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese / scrambled eggs, borscht, sponge cake and pepitas, chocolate souffle with lemon juice, baked seafood.
- Cottage cheese and fermented milk drink, grilled poultry, kefir with bread croutons, shrimp and hard-boiled eggs.
- Cottage cheese, chicken broth with meatballs and bread, fruit, cream of mushrooms.
- Rice with cutlets / meatballs, vegetable pancakes, cheesecakes, salad with fish cutlets.
- Cottage cheese and a piece of cheese, chicken broth and quail eggs, fruits, baked vegetables with cheese.
The menu of the third stage can be repeated in the fourth, not forgetting the days of the "feast" and other indulgences allowed.
Exercising with the Ducan diet
Pierre Dukan points out that high-quality weight loss and an ideal figure are impossible without regular physical activity. The nutritionist advises combining his special nutritional system with training.
You can start with the bare minimum: replace the elevator with climbing stairs, get off public transportation a couple of stops before home, morning exercises with 3-5 exercises.
Active walking should gradually become a daily exercise to lose weight.
You should start with 20 minutes of walking, gradually increasing the time. It is advisable to walk outdoors on raised terrain.
If you decide to include a hard physical training in your daily routine. For example, a visit to the gym, then in the first stage of the diet is strictly prohibited. You can return to training only in the food alternation stage. It is better to actively participate on those days when vegetables are added to protein dishes.
Water aerobics have a beneficial effect on the figure. If possible, it is worth visiting the pool once or twice a week. It is not necessary to practice in the water with a trainer. You can swim for fun. At the same time, the calories will be actively burned, and the reliefs of the figure will approach the ideal.
The advantages and disadvantages of this method of weight loss.
The diet under discussion has its pros and cons. All people who decide to lose weight in this way should study them carefully.
Profits:
- Efficiency. If you strictly follow all its rules, about 1 kilo of excess weight will disappear per day.
- The ability to increase muscle tone, make skin elastic, and cope with cellulite.
- You don't need to constantly weigh portions and count calories.
- The ability to eat certain dishes / products in the amount necessary for satiety.
Disadvantages:
- Imbalance. With long-term adherence to such a diet, a lack of certain vitamins and minerals is found in the patient's body.
- Possible side effects. In the first stage, some patients develop dizziness, a feeling of constant fatigue.
- Halitosis. This problem occurs when proteins are the basis of the human diet for a long period of time.
- High price. The diet consists of high-quality and expensive foods.
How to get off the diet correctly
To maintain the results, you must go off the diet correctly. The exit from it begins in the consolidation stage. New foods, previously prohibited, are added to the weight loss diet gradually and in small portions.
When leaving the diet, it is important to continue exercising and drinking plenty of water. Little by little, he allows himself to re-incorporate the desserts into his diet. But let it be high-quality dark chocolate, fruit and berry marshmallows, honey and other useful sweets.
Contraindications and possible damages.
There is a comprehensive list of contraindications that are an important reason to choose a different diet for yourself.
So, it is forbidden:
- People with metabolic problems. Including patients with pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus.
- Patients with chronic ailments of the liver, gastrointestinal tract, the entire urinary system. It is in these organs and systems that the high doses of protein in the body will exert a significant load.
- Pregnant women and women during lactation. With such a diet, the most pregnant girl and her baby will lack vitamins and nutrients.
- People under 18 years of age. Especially for girls with an unstable menstrual cycle. Otherwise, weight loss may face its serious violations or the complete disappearance of menstruation.
- People with diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Weight loss lacks fatty acids in the diet, which can lead to exacerbation of ailments.
- For women during menopause or on the eve / after it. An unbalanced diet during this period can cause hormonal disturbances.
- People with mental problems and greater emotionality. The lack of carbohydrates in the diet affects the functioning of the brain.
For the Ducan diet to be effective and safe for a person, it is advisable to consult a specialist before starting it. Especially if the man or woman has a health problem.