The Ducan diet is very popular all over the world, mainly because of its fast and amazing results. It belongs to the healthy eating system. This 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 delicious and satisfying products on it.
Features and rules of the Ducan diet
The main goal of the Ducan protein diet is to reduce fat and carbohydrate intake. They should be included in a weight loss diet, but in minimal quantities. Protein is the basis of the menu. They need to be eaten in the recommended amount for weight loss (this is about 1. 5 g per kilogram of weight). As a result, it is possible to get rid of extra pounds and stabilize the achieved figure on the scales.
The choice fell on protein as the basis of the diet for a reason.
There are several reasons for this:
- For the digestion of such substances, the body must spend the maximum amount of energy, and, accordingly, calories.
- Pure protein reduces hunger, prevents excess fluid from remaining in the body, and increases its defenses.
- This substance prevents sagging skin. If the body lacks protein, they will be extracted from the muscles.
It is very important to try to eat less salt while following the diets discussed. These additives retain water in the body and increase hunger. But it is also dangerous to exclude them completely. Especially for people who suffer from low blood pressure.
Throughout all stages of the diet, make sure to drink plenty of fluids. This is at least 2 liters of various fluids per day. Water also eliminates 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 need to be removed from it. Otherwise, there will be no long-awaited effect.
Interestingly, even carbonated drinks can be drunk with such a diet.
The main thing is to choose a "light" option that does not contain sugar. Their flavor also helps weight loss overcome strong cravings for forbidden sweets.
Drinking is allowed at any time and regardless of the food. Thirst must be completely quenched, and not dulled.
Stage description
There are four main stages in the diet. The main goal of the first half of them is to get rid of the extra pounds. And the second is to fix the new ideal weight.
At each stage, you don't have to limit yourself to a certain portion. You also don't need to count calories.
Stage 1 - attack
On the Ducan diet, the attack is the initial stage. It's short, but challenging and effective. Regular carbohydrate foods are completely replaced by protein. This leads to active fat burning.
On average, this stage is designed for 7 days. But in some conditions, it can last from 3 to 12 days. It all depends on how many kilos a person hates wanting to lose.
When attacking, it is allowed to eat protein foods from a special list. They can be eaten in any quantity and combined with each other. The main thing is to cook lean food. For example, boiled or grilled.
In the first phase, weight begins to lose very quickly. This encourages weight loss not to stop, but to keep up with a difficult nutritional system.
Stage 2 - cruise/change
The second stage turned out to be very long. This is the main reason why those who are losing weight often experience interference at this stage. The phase under discussion usually lasts from a few months to six months. A special nutritional system must be adhered to until the body weight is ideal.
The main idea of the second phase is menu switching. These are days of eating all protein foods or their combination with vegetables. You can change the diet every day, two, three.
The protein menu should consist of "attack" products, and raw, boiled and grilled vegetables should be added. The latter should make up about 60% of the diet.
Stage 3 - consolidation / consolidation
At this stage, all the hardest things are over. You can slowly and gradually begin to return to your usual diet. It is important to consolidate the achieved weight.
The duration of this phase must be determined independently. To do this, you need to calculate the weight that you managed to lose in the previous stage. For every kilo you lose, you need to add yourself 10 days of "fixing".
This period can be quite long (especially if more than 10 kg is lost), but you have nothing to fear. Now you can pamper yourself even with delicious desserts and other culinary delights.
- Five days a week, you need to eat according to the usual alternating pattern.
- In the first half of the period, you can add daily 100 g of bread (from grains), 200 g of fruit, 50 g of cheese.
- One day, consume protein exclusively on the principle of "attack".
- On the seventh day, it is allowed to eat starchy food (200 g), a portion of pork, ham, sausages, one favorite delicacy.
- In the second half of the day, "Party" with fatty sweets and sausages can be enjoyed twice a week. Days like these shouldn't follow each other.
"Party" day does not imply the use of "dangerous things" throughout the day. It is allowed to indulge in only 1-2 meals. It is also permissible to drink weak wine of high quality.
Stage 4 - stabilization
At this stage, the weight loss will return to the usual nutritional system with some peculiarities. First of all, you need to continue to follow the rules of drinking, continue to drink lots of water per day. It is very important to include in your schedule daily physical activity, at least minimally - sports in the morning, walking, refusing lifts.
Make sure to set regular fasting days and eat 3 tbsp daily. l. wheat bran in any form.
In order to maintain your ideal body weight for a long time, it is worth taking the third phase as a basis and making vegetable and protein products the basis of your nutrition system forever. In this case, you can treat yourself to 2 festive breakfasts or lunches per week, as well as 2 servings of products with a flour composition.
It is advisable to stick to one day of protein per week. This will be a defense mechanism against repeated weight gain.
Allowed and Prohibited Products
Foods that are prohibited and which are allowed depend on the phase of the diet.
So, at first it is allowed to eat protein products from a special list.
Cut:
- horse meat;
- beef;
- bird;
- meat;
- innards;
- fish (even canned and smoked);
- crab sticks;
- egg;
- low-fat/fermented dairy products and beverages.
You can use 1 - 2 pickled cucumbers cooked without sugar (per day), 1 onion, a little tomato paste, vegetable oil (no more than 1 small spoon), mustard, fresh/granulated garlic, fresh/dried herbs.
Be sure to use 1 - 1. 5 tbsp. l. bran. You can eat it in any form.
In the "alternation" phase, various vegetables are added to all the foods listed above. Only beans and potatoes should be completely removed.
These days are allowed:
- olives / olives (4 pcs. 2 times a week);
- flax and chia seeds (1 tsp per day).
There is still a need to consume oat bran.
As mentioned above, in the third stage, cheese, bread, fruits and some favorite foods are added to the menu. The expansion of their roster continues in the fourth stage. The bran portion is increased to 3 tbsp. l.
Among the cheeses, it is worth choosing hard varieties. Of the fruits, bananas, cherries, grapes, dried fruits can not be eaten.
At each stage of the diet under discussion, most sweets are strictly prohibited. For example, bars, cakes, pastries, sweets. During the consolidation of the results, you can treat yourself to a cube of dark chocolate or 1-2 pieces of candy once a day. The exception is holiday food, 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, ketchup.
Detailed menu for every day
During the "attack" period, the diet is as follows:
- Scrambled eggs for breakfast, poultry soup for lunch, cheesecake/casserole for afternoon tea, seafood of any kind and sour milk drink for dinner.
- Porridge bran (oatmeal), beef, oatmeal muffins, meatballs / sliced poultry.
- Poached eggs, nuggets, orange juice pie and pollock casserole with egg.
- Omelet, fish soup with boiled quail eggs, egg white and lemon dessert, squid and/or fish salad.
- Grilled poultry, bran pancakes, white fish pie.
- Eggs (any form) with ham, steak from lean meat fillets, biscuits (with bran) and yogurt, omelet with seafood.
- Omelet with parsley, chicken, cheesecake and yogurt, minced meat pie and kefir.
During the alternation phase, the basic menu can be kept the same, but vegetable salads can be added daily. For example, meat, nuggets or steak. It is also permissible to roast meat, poultry or fish along with vegetables.
The following weekly menus are recommended at the "fix" stage:
- Cottage cheese casserole for breakfast, lemon soup with bread (whole grain) for lunch, fruit for an afternoon snack, boiled vegetables and chicken for dinner.
- Oatmeal and a slice of cheese, pasta with grilled meat, cottage cheese, cutlets with salad.
- Ham and cheese scrambled eggs/scrambled eggs, borscht, biscuits and nuggets, chocolate souffle with lemon juice, grilled seafood.
- Cottage cheese and fermented milk drink, grilled poultry, kefir with croutons, shrimp and boiled egg.
- Cottage cheese, chicken stock with meatballs and bread, fruit, mushroom cream soup.
- Rice with sliced meat/meatballs, veggie pancakes, cheesecake, salad with sliced fish.
- Cottage cheese and a slice of cheese, chicken stock and quail eggs, fruits, vegetables baked with cheese.
The menu of the third stage can be repeated in the fourth stage, not forgetting the days of "party" and other permitted indulgences.
Exercising with the Ducan diet
Pierre Dukan notes that high-quality weight loss and an ideal figure are impossible without regular physical activity. Nutritionists advise combining a special nutritional system with training.
You can start with the minimum - changing the lift by climbing the stairs, getting out of public transport a few stops before the house, morning exercise with 3-5 exercises.
Gradually active walking should become a daily exercise for weight loss.
You should start with a 20 minute walk, gradually increasing the time. It is advisable to walk in the fresh air on relieved terrain.
If you decide to include vigorous physical exercise in your daily routine. For example, a visit to the gym, then at the first stage the diet is strictly prohibited. You can return to training only at the stage of changing meals. It is better to be actively involved on days when vegetables are added to protein dishes.
Aqua aerobics has a beneficial effect on the image. If possible, it's a good idea to visit the pool 1-2 times a week. There is absolutely no need to train in the water with a trainer. You can only swim for fun. At the same time, calories will be actively burned, and the relief of the image will be close to ideal.
Advantages and disadvantages of this weight loss method
The diet under discussion has its pros and cons. They should be carefully studied by everyone who decides to lose weight in this way.
Benefits:
- Efficiency. If you strictly follow all the rules, then about 1 kilo of excess weight will be lost per day.
- The ability to increase muscle tone, make skin elastic, and treat cellulite.
- No need to constantly weigh portions and count calories.
- The ability to eat certain dishes/products in the amount required for satiety.
Deficiency:
- Imbalance. With long-term adherence to such a diet, a deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals is found in the patient's body.
- Possible side effects. In the first stage, some patients experience dizziness, a feeling of constant tiredness.
- Halitosis. This problem occurs when protein has been the basis of the human diet for a long time.
- High price. The diet consists of high quality and expensive foods.
How to get out of the diet properly
To maintain the result, you need to get off the diet properly. Exit from it begins at the consolidation stage. New foods that were previously prohibited are added to the weight loss diet gradually and in small portions.
When quitting a diet, it is important to continue to exercise and drink plenty of water. It is gradually allowed to return the dessert to your diet. But let high-quality bitter chocolate, fruit and marshmallow berries, honey and other sweets be useful.
Contraindications and possible harm
There is a complete list of contraindications that are an important reason to choose a different diet for yourself.
So, it is prohibited:
- People with metabolic problems. Including patients with pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus.
- Patients with chronic diseases of the liver, digestive tract, entire urinary system. It is on these organs and systems that high doses of protein in the body will put a serious burden.
- Pregnant women and women during breastfeeding. With such a diet, most pregnant women and their babies will be deficient in vitamins and nutrients.
- People under 18 years of age. Especially for girls with erratic menstrual cycles. Otherwise, weight loss can face a serious violation or complete loss of menstruation.
- People with heart and blood vessel disease. Lose weight lack of fatty acids in the diet, which can lead to an exacerbation of the disease.
- For women at menopause or before/after. An unbalanced diet during this period can cause hormonal disturbances.
- People with mental and emotional problems. Lack of carbohydrates in the diet affects brain function.
In order for the Ducan diet to be effective and safe for a person, it is worth consulting a specialist before starting it. Especially if the man or woman has health problems.