Getting back on track - PV Day

Morning Weigh in: 184.4 Lbs

Because I wasn't sure how much I weighed yesterday, I'm not sure how much weight I lost. Either way, it's a pretty good one :)  (Either 2.4 Lbs or 3 Lbs - Doesn't really matter as long as it's going down).

You cannot believe how much I want to be out of the 180's! I haven't been under in a very long time. It'll happen. I know it will :)

I decided to do 1 day PP/ 1 day PV for a few days. Just because I haven't had vegetables in a long time. So, i'm looking forward to my PV day today.

Breakfast: Coffee w/ non fat creamer w/ Activia Light
Lunch: 2 hot dogs w/ a little sauerkraut & Light Greek Yogurt w/ Cucumber Salad
Dinner: Sliced Beef w/ Taco Seasoning with Oat Bran Wrap w/ 2 Tbl non fat sour cream. Topped with a fresh tomato, parsley, garlic, hot pepper salsa.
Snack: 1 Activia Light & Cup of Tea & Salad, no dressing (cucumber, tomato and lettuce).

Taco Seasoned Beef w/ Fresh Salsa
Kinda ended up like pizza!

Great day. Feeling full. Loved dinner. The Oat Bran Wrap was good. Though i wasn't able to wrap anything in it because it would break apart. So what I did was just lay it down on a plate and put the beef on top, and then the salsa on top of the beef w/ the side of light sour cream. It was delicious! To me, next time, I will make the beef and salsa without the wrap. For one reason only, which is I would rather my Oat goes towards the Oat Cookie! Yep, I like that more! :) Especially with my cup of tea in the evening/morning. Don't get me wrong, the wrap was really good. It's just my preference with the cookie.

I wanted to do some exercise today, but didn't get the chance to do anything. Except running around 2 hyper boys all day! (I think i got a little exercise doing that!)  :)

Hope you all had a great Dukan Day. Looking forward to hearing about your day.

Cruise Phase - 3rd day PP - Feeling Good!

Extremely busy day but although I'm exhausted, it was fun!  Feeling great after 3 days of PP. Feeling very comfortable with the food. Especially with the non fat, no carb, no calorie alternatives that I found. I still have to try out a few more things.

Breakfast: Non Fat Latte ( didn't have time to eat!)
Lunch: Shrimp in Alfredo Sauce (calorie free, non fat, no carb) over Miracle Noodles. I've got to say, this is the BEST thing ever!! It was soo good. I'm doing this again tomorrow for sure!

Cod Fillet with Miracle Noodles
& Alfredo Sauce

Snack: 1 Slice of cheese/ 1 diet Pepsi (haven't had that in such a long time)
Dinner: Cod Fillet grilled with a little salt and pepper & lemon juice, over miracle noodle w/ Alfredo sauce! AGAIN! yes, loving the sauce. And I'm still half way through the jar! ;) .. Cod is one of my favorite fish. It tasted really good with only salt, pepper and lemon juice. Should have more fish!

So, the shrimp Alfredo that i has for lunch, as i mentioned before, was really GOOD! I just sauteed the shrimp in a little olive oil spray (one spray) then added, salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg.  When they were done I added the Alfredo Sauce, cooked it together (i used 2 TBL of sauce), then added the miracle noodles. It was tasty and I can't wait till tomorrow to have more, for lunch! :) hehe

I've noticed that I've also been eating less portions. Not intentionally. I just feel full and I stop. I used to eat a much more bigger portion.

I'm super happy to report that I feel a difference in my jeans today! After it being washed and in the dryer! (you know how they become a bit tight after) but it was actually loose! from the waist and the thigh areas. Also, I noticed today that I went a belt button down! I tried on a belt with my jeans and my waist was a bit smaller (one belt hole). - or whatever you call it. But I know you got what I'm trying to say! hehe

Hope you all had a great day. I'll be checking your blogs in a bit and see how you all are doing.

Day 10 - Cruise Phase (PP)

MorningWeigh In: 184.4 Lbs
Daily Gain. 0.2 Lbs
Total Weight Loss :  4 Lbs
Not talking about the slight weight gain. Moving on. Moving forward.

Here's my day:

Breakfast:
- Cup of coffee w/ creamer
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- 1 tbl Labaneh
- 2 slices of fat free turkey (Oscar Meyer)

Snack:
- 2 Slices of fat free turkey (Oscar Meyer)
- 1 non fat cheese wedge

Lunch:
- 1 can of Tuna
- 1/4 cup of non fat yogurt

Snack:
- Non Fat Sugar Free Jell-o

Dinner:
- Hot Soup w/ beef and miracle Noodles
- 1 slice of fat free Turkey

Pretty good day. Didn't really feel hungry throughout the day. Spent the afternoon running around with my two little toddlers in the backyard and I actually surprised my husband with mowing the lawn! :)

I know that I need to start experimenting more with my recipes. I just am either tired of cooking more than one meal. For me & for the family. But I know I should prepare more for my food & have it kinda ready so I don't have to worry about it. And so I don't get bored. The good thing is that I really like the soup that I make. It's fast & easy. So it's a good meal on those days where things get crazy. Surprisingly, there's a lot of "crazy" days lately! :) Not complaining, keeps us busy!

Have a good one!

Day Two of Five - Attack Phase

Weight Loss: 1.6 Lbs

A lot of people on the Dukan Diet tend to get headaches, especially on the Attack phase. Unfortunately, I had a headache all morning. The way to go about it is to try and drink more water and keep yourself hydrated. That should help big time. I started feeling better towards the end of the day.

Other than that, my day went pretty well. Ate well and I wasn't feeling very hungry for the most part.

Here's what I ate today:
- Oat Bran pancake w/ 2 Tbls of Non Fat Vanilla Yogurt (Recipe Here. )
- 1 fat free Mozzarella cheese stick
- 2 slices of cheddar cheese
- 3 small kiftah sticks
- Hot & Sour Soup w/ chicken & Miracle Noodles - (this was really good. I just put some things together, without a recipe, and it turned out really well. A spray of oil, small chicken pieces, fresh ginger chopped, saute' until chicken is cooked, add a little water if needed. Then put in the Miracle Noodles, mix everything together, add more water, add a little soy sauce, hot sauce, salt & pepper. Keep boiling and Voila! It tasted really good. It's something I'll do again for sure. Soon! )

Cruise Phase (PV) - A good weigh in!

Morning weigh in: 187.6
Daily Loss: 0.8

Yippie! Haven't been out of the 188's for a while now. It feels like I'm back on track.

Breakfast:
- Cup of coffee w/ non fat creamer
- 2 eggs w/ vegetables (mushroom, zucchini,tomato)

Lunch:
- Spinach pies (not supposed to be eating these!)
- Non Fat Latte
- Green Tea

Dinner:
- Grilled Salmon w/ Soy Sauce
- Sauteed Spinach w/ ground beef meat
-  Spinach pies

Snack:
- Green Tea
- Non fat yogurt

What did i do today! Total mess up with food! Not a good weigh in tomorrow for sure. How do all you Dukaneers do this? How do you get the will power not to eat certain things? I know i need to try harder. I really need to start losing some serious weight! I have no one and nothing to blame but myself. Can't seem to get myself to stop eating things i shouldn't be eating.

Cruise Phase (PP)

Morning Weigh in : 188.8

 Since i haven't weighed myself in the last few days I'm not sure how much weight i gained or lost. But from my last weigh in i have added  0.4 lbs.

Breakfast:

- Cup of Coffee

- Oat Bran -made with water

Exercise:

- 1 hr of cycling

Lunch:

- 2 scrambled eggs w/ 1 tsp of shredded Parmesan cheese (2% fat)

Snack:

- Non Fat Chocolate Mousse

Dinner:

- 2 lean beef burgers with a little non fat feta cheese

- 3 small roasted beef chunk pieces

Had dinner much later than i usually do. Which resulted in me eating a lot! I was starving. My bad. But i had to run some errands with my hubby that took longer than expected. This is a very important thing to do. You have to eat well throughout the day and not let your self without food , because you'll get hungry eventually and you'll start eating more and whatever is around.

Work out was good. I"m happy that i managed to go cycling 2 days in a row. Will try my best to go tomorrow too. I'm aiming for at least 5 days a week at the gym. Hopefully I'll do that this week :) I feel soo great after a good work out! Even though my body is usually sore! :) 

Have a great Dukan Day everybody.

Update: messed up with food after i posted.

Day 2 -Attack

Morning Weigh In: 192 Lbs

Total Loss:  1.8 Lbs

Breakfast:

- Coffee w/ non fat creamer

-  2 hard boiled eggs

Exercise: 1 hour of Body Flow (a mix of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates)

Lunch:

- 1 Lean Burger (Ground Beef Patty) - with a little cheddar cheese

- 1 small tub of non fat vanilla yogurt

Dinner:

- Mini Kiftah Skewers ( I think i had 6 or 7 sticks)

- 1 Tsp Non Fat Sour Cream

- 1 small tub of fat free/sugar free chocolate mousse

Rough day today. I craved all sorts of things. I cooked rice pilaf for my family and i wanted that. I gave my son some fish crackers, i also wanted that! I made a salad and i also wanted that! Ugh! I did have one fish cracker! Naughty me! I don't feel soo good about myself, but it was only one and i didn't go weak with the other stuff.  Hopefully this day will be over without any more cravings! I guess it's the desire for carbs that's kicking in. Hope you're all having a good day on Dukan! If you have any good recipes, please share!

Julie

Turkey Meat Balls

This is my first attempt at making Turkey Meat Balls. It's very simple and basic but it turned out really well. I just thought of what i wanted to put in it as i mixed and cooked everything. That's why sorry for not having exact measrements & quantities!

Good for PV days
Makes 8 Medium Size Turkey Meat Balls

For the Turkey Meat Balls:

• 1 1/4  Lbs Minced Turkey
• 1/2 onion (chopped).
• 1 whole egg
• Italian Seasoning (to taste) - i used around 2 Tbsp
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Preheat oven to 375 F . I mixed everything very well and then shaped them into medium size balls. Placed them on a baking sheet that i sprayed with olive oil. In the oven they go for about 20 minutes on bake. Then for about 5 minutes on Broil to give them some color.  (Time depends on the oven, so keep checking them).

For the Sauce: i used one can of stewed tomatoes. Put them in a pot, on high until they're boiling then reduce it to low and let it simmer for a few minutes (until it reduces). I then put them in the food processor to make a smoother texture and back in the pot for a 2 more minutes simmering on low.  Add some salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

When everything is ready, top the turkey meat balls with some sauce and you can add some grated non fat mozzarella cheese!

Here's a picture of how everything turned out

Bon Appetite!

Attack Phase - Day 8

Morning Weigh In: 188 Lbs
Daily Weight Loss : 0.2 Lbs
Total Weight Loss: 6.6 Lbs

Feeling good today. It's great to see the scales go down, even if it was a little weight loss. It all adds up.

Breakfast: 1 Moist Vanilla Muffin (it tastes even better this morning!)
Snack: A slice of ham and a slice of non fat cheese.
Lunch: 2 scrambled eggs with 3 peices of Bacon
Snack: slices of ham and one non fat cheese stick
Dinner: 2 hot dog links
Snack: 1 vanilla moist Muffin

For the first time today, i felt like eating something that would've messed up the diet! But i didn't! I was cooking one of my favorite dishes for my boys and it was very hard to resist the smell and the way it looked (Middle Eastern Recipe). But i survived!

Made some more Vanilla Moist Muffins (added some cocoa powder to it). It's out of the oven and it smells good. Will have one for Dessert later on. Andy maybe a couple for breakfast in the morning :)

I still need to try and make the Dukan bread. It'll be nice to have something to spread your cheese on.

Tomorrow i'll be going to a Pink Martini (A band) concert. It's at a winery/vinyard. It'll be hard to resist some good wine with the good company and good music that will be there! Maybe i'll just have a glass?! we'll see ... Will keep you posted! :)

Attack Phase - Day 7

Morning Weigh In: 188.6 Lbs
Daily Weight GAIN: + .2 Lbs
Total Weight Loss: 6.0 Lbs

So added .2 lbs ... for some reason i had a feeling this will happen. First of all, i think i ate more than i am supposed to of the Porridge. Secondly, i don't think the Chai Latte was a good idea and lastly, while i was feeding my kids yesterday, i took a couple of bites of thier food and tasted the food i was cooking! I didn't like that i did that, but for some reason i still tasted it!

Another big issue is my work out. Haven't been doing anything. I have to make it happen! I know that it'll affect everything in a big way.

Today will be a better day!

Breakfast: one boiled egg / non fat cheese stick/ cup of coffee
Snack: Fat Free Yogurt
Lunch: 2 Kiftah Patties & with a yogurt dipping sauce (fat free plain yogurt w garlic powder).
Snack: non fat cheese slice / non fat cheese stick

Dinner: Left over roasted chicken w/ fat free sour cream as a dip (I'm not sure if this is something i can have, any advice? thx).

Water: it's been a good "water" day so far :)
Work out: I had a fast walk for about 40 minutes, felt really good afterwards!

Tomorrow will be day 8 of my Attack Phase. I'm planning to do 10 days then start the Cruise Phase. Will begin checking out recipes for the next phase so i can have everything ready.

I feel really good today. About my food , water and walking. I"m hoping i'll be happy tomorrow morning on the scales too! ;)

Kiftah Recipe (PP Days)

Kiftah is a Middle Eastern recipe. It's really good and tasty.

I don't have an exact recipe, because i eye ball everything when i do this. But here's an estimate and hopefully it will work out for you.

2 LB ground beef (usually it's made from Lamb, but beef is a lighter version and it works well)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp allspice

Mix everything together very well using your hands. (as if it's a dough). Then take small chuncks of it and turn them into a patty. (you can do it any size you want). Then it'll be ready to cook. We usually grill it. But it can also be placed in the oven, or gently sauteed (with a little bit of olive oil). Cook it until it's done.
Another way to make it is to make it to shape it like a "hot dog" and put it on skewers for grilling.

Also, a dipping sauce can be made. Fat free plain yoghurt, mix some minced garlic in it and a little pinch of cumin/ or dijon mustard. For (PV) days you can add thinly chopped cucumber to the yoghurt mix (like Tazziki sauce).

I usually make a lot and put them in the freezer for later use.

Hope you enjoy this recipe, i sure do! :) Bon Apetite!

Attack Phase - Day 1

Morning Weigh-in: 194 lbs -> this is my official starting weight, against which my progress will be measured.

Water Check: I think i drank about 1 liter, with 2 diet pepsi. Need to have more water. Will work on that tomorrow for sure.

Breakfast: 2 Hard boiled eggs / Coffee with fat free milk

Mid Morning Snack: 2 fat free Mozzarella Sticks

Lunch: Chicken with Garaham Masala spices w/ two slices of non fat cheddar cheese.

Afternoon Snack: some chicken

Dinner: Ground Beef (Burgers) with Blue Cheese - Not sure if i can have blue cheese or not, i just put a little on my burgers.

Excercise: Didn't get the chance to to any today. Been running around 4 kids all day. Maybe that can be considered an excercise! :)

So, it was kinda a good day. Unfortunately towards the end, i think i messed up. With the burgers i made, with the blue cheese and i also ate some fries that were laying around!! Oh God, i hate that i went for it! I was waiting to have dinner with my husband (who had to go help some friends out) and during that time, i just started eating the fries! I should've just ate my dinner!
I"m really disappointed in myself ... I'll do better tomorrow! I know i will!