dukan : month 3

 

Month 3 really put the Dukan Diet and my mind to the test. I was home alone for a week while Mark was out of town for work and then we had Mark's parent's in town for a week. I cheated a bit while Mark was gone. Convenience of drive-thru got the better of me. This made me realize two things: 1. Having Mark doing Dukan with me really keeps me on track.  2. I have zero will power. During the week of the in-laws Dukan basically went out the door. I really didn't want to hinder them or myself from enjoying the visit including enjoying the meals. Mark and I would try to make healthier decisions without being hard on ourselves if we indulged ourselves too.

In terms of walking it was much easier for me to stay on track when Mark was gone versus when the in-laws were in town. I think I only got the chance to walk twice during the week. Even with all the cheating I didn't see too much change at the scale. I could definitely tell that I was retaining a lot of water from the normal food I was eating but my menstrual cycle also played a part in water retention.

After 3 months of Dukan I have noticed that my menstrual cramps have intensified. I don't know why but that's just what I've noticed. Even with eating oat bran everyday I have also been constipated since I started the Dukan Diet. I tried buying gummy fiber supplements but they didn't really help although I do enjoy eating them because they're tasty. Last week I tried eating prunes even though they're not "Dukan approved" since they're fruit. I eat 5 prunes a day and they have been helping and I will continue to eat them. I have also decided to keep walking 45-50 min instead of the 30 min recommended by the diet. Since I'm in the second half of my weight-loss journey I know that the body has a tendency to plateau as it gets used to the program. Next month I'm going to try to target losing more of my back/bra fat! ;P

My month 3 breakdown:
Week 1: lost 2 pounds
Week 2, pre-menstrual and Mark out of town: lost 3 pounds
Week 3, menstrual and in-laws in town: lost 1 pound
Week 4, post-menstrual: lost 2 pounds
Week 5 (just two days): lost 2 pounds
Overall weight-lost: 24 pounds and I feel really comfortable in my old pants. My waist isn't screaming when I sit down and I don't immediately change to stretchy pants when I come home. I'm able to force my even smaller pants to zip-up but there's definitely muffin top action.  Haha, next goal!

monday sketchbook illustration

Illustration by Hannah Yoon
Lamy Safari fountain pen with 1.1 nib
Waterman ink in Serenity Blue

washing the dog

Instagram shot

One of the "joys" of owning Eemoy, our Yorkie, is bath day. Every several months we get him professionally groomed for the big things, like hair and nail cutting, but the day to day washing is done at home. The water part is not so bad for Eemoy but the part he dreads is the hair dryer. He hates the blast of air in his face and ears and honestly I do feel bad for the guy but on the other hand I've got to dry him somehow! But suddenly the clouds parted and a lightening bolt of inspiration hit my brain: "Use the diffuser." Oh my goodness, of course! Here's what a diffuser looks like for those of you who don't know:

The diffuser is an attachment for hair dryers and if you bought yours recently chances are that yours came with one along with the narrow concentrator nozzle. If you've never used a diffuser before it diffuses the air out of the dryer so it feels more like a really hot day surrounding you indirectly rather than a tornado of air blasting at you directly. Using the diffuser seemed to be a much more pleasant experience for Eemoy but I did notice that the drying time took a tad bit longer. I will note that Eemoy's fur is very short and he is a very small dog so I'm not sure this idea would work for larger, long-haired dogs. :/

dukan : month 2

 Month 2 of doing the Dukan Diet had its ups and downs. I feel like we ate out more often in month 2 with friends. While my hubby and I didn't always cheat when we ate out there were a few times that we did. I didn't notice a huge increase on the scale after we would cheat but I didn't see huge change either. Hence, some weeks I lost nothing or only a pound. In order to combat the plateau I creased the amount of time walking from 30 min to 45-50 min for a few days per the book's recommendation. This seemed to help (see Week 3). As with last month the biggest battle with the scale was because of my menstrual cycle. I could literally feel my fingers begin to bloat with water retention while walking during the post-menstrual week.

Now it's April and I'm starting month 3 and I'm currently 5 pounds away from my half-way point. Mentally I've noticed that it's really easy for me to feel good about the 15 pounds that I've lost and not be as committed to losing the next 25 pounds. Even in the book Dukan warns against this. Even though I still crave carbs, the biggest struggle now is with my mind. I need to forget the last 2 months and pretend like today is Day 1 so I can push to reach my "true weight." So far I am very pleased with the Dukan Diet and for my body what I eat is 75% of the key to weight loss and weight gain. I never saw results like this when I would kill myself at the gym and still eat "healthy."

My two month breakdown:
Week 1: lost 3 pounds
Week 2, pre-menstural: lost 0 pounds
Week 3, menstrual: lost 5 pounds
Week 4, post-menstrual: lost 1 pound
Week 5: lost 0 pounds
Overall weight lost: 15 pounds and I am able to fit into my normal jeans.