It's Official (day before Dukan start)

Like the title says, my weight loss journey is about to begin, starting first thing in the morning. I stumbled across the book “The Dukan Diet” and decided to give it a whirl; somehow I managed to drag my Dad into it as well.

This diet has four phases and is almost exclusively protein-based, with non-starchy vegetables being added during the main weight-loss phase. This is both a positive and a negative for me as I have low blood sugar which requires a lot of protein, but on the other hand I tire of meat easily. Fruit is more my thing, which unfortunately isn’t allowed unless after reaching your goal weight. Another con of this diet is how much it strains your kidneys, this being its main critique. However, drinking enough water (another weakness for me) should be enough to flush the waste out of my system and not prove a problem in the long run.

Another issue with this diet, (I say diet, but it’s really more of a life-style change. Diet technically means whatever food you happen to eat to nourish your body, however it is typically used to indicate restriction), is how my friends will receive it. Especially my closest friend who is a devout vegan and tries at every opportunity to talk about how terrible meat is for people and how she doesn’t understand why people still eat it. Yikes. That should be a fun conversation when I tell her that no, I can’t go out to a vegan restaurant because I can only eat protein. Yay me.

I’m actually not even sure what my starting weight will be at this point. I just got back from an intense 3-week summer class in order to get on track for a series I need to start in the fall, so my eating patterns and motivation for change had to take a backseat until now. This means I haven’t truly weighed myself in.. about a month now.  I’m hoping my weigh-in tomorrow won’t be a huge shock. My estimation of a starting weight is 153 (Ouch, heaviest I’ve ever been I think), but we will see what the scale says in the morning!

For now, I’m filled with anticipation since this diet is geared toward giving fast results, especially toward the beginning. I know that my body is slower and more reluctant than most at losing weight, so I”m prepared for the eventual plateau’s and disappointments, but I’m hoping that in the long run I can stick with it and finally achieve a weight I don’t hate myself at. For now, my goal weight is 115 pounds at 5’2″. I want to stabilize there for awhile to let my body get used to it and then see if I can take it any further, the minimum being 107 or so, (here we go with wishful thinking).

Tomorrow is a new day! My plan is to blog my daily triumphs and struggles for myself so that when I look back I can see the journey I went through. Here goes nothing!

<3