The Ducan diet is very popular all over the world, primarily due to its rapid and amazing results. It belongs to the systems of healthy eating. 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 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 are necessarily included in the diet of losing weight, but in a minimal amount. Proteins become the basis of the menu. They will need to be eaten in the amount recommended 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 proteins as the basis of the diet for a reason.
There are several reasons for this:
- For the digestion of such substances, the body has to spend the maximum amount of energy, and, therefore, calories.
- Pure proteins reduce hunger, prevent excess fluid from staying in the body, and increase its defenses.
- These substances prevent skin sagging. If the body lacks proteins, they will be extracted from the muscles.
It is very important to try to eat less salt while following the discussed diet. This additive retains water in the body and increases hunger. But it is also harmful to completely exclude it. Especially for people suffering from low blood pressure.
Throughout all stages of the diet, be sure to drink plenty of fluids. This is at least 2 liters of various liquids per day. Water also removes the feeling of hunger, filling 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 on such a diet.
The main thing is to choose the "light" options that do not contain sugar. Their taste also helps a losing weight 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 completely satisfied, and not dulled.
Description of the stages
There are four main stages in the diet. The main goal of the first half of them is to get rid of extra pounds. And the second is to fix the new ideal weight.
At each stage, you do not have to limit yourself to certain portions. You don't need to count calories either.
Stage 1 - attack
On the Ducan diet, attack is the initial stage. It is short, but challenging and effective. The usual carbohydrate food 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 from 3 to 12 days. It all depends on how many hated kilos a person wants to lose.
On the attack, 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 foods without fat. For example, boil or grill.
In the first phase, the weight starts to go away very quickly. This encourages the losing weight not to stop, but to continue adhering to a difficult nutritional system.
Stage 2 - cruise / alternation
The second phase turned out to be very long. This is the main reason why those who are losing weight often have breakdowns at this stage. The phase under discussion usually lasts from a couple of months to six months. A special nutritional system must be adhered to until the weight becomes ideal.
The main idea of the second phase is menu alternation. These are days of eating all-protein foods or their combinations with vegetables. You can change the diet every other day, two, three.
Protein menus should consist of "attack" products, and raw, boiled, baked vegetables are added to mixed ones. 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 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 each dropped kilo, you need to add yourself 10 "fixing" days.
This period can turn out to be quite long (especially if more than 10 kg was lost), but you should not be afraid of it. 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 pattern of alternation.
- In the first half of the period, 100 g of bread (from whole grains), 200 g of fruit, 50 g of cheese can be added to it daily.
- One day, consume exclusively proteins on the "attack" principle.
- On the seventh day, it is allowed to eat starchy foods (200 g), a portion of pork, ham, sausages, one favorite delicacy.
- In the second half of the day, "Feast" with fatty sweet foods and sausage can already be enjoyed twice a week. Days like these shouldn't follow each other.
The "Feast" day does not imply the use of "harmful things" throughout the day. It is allowed to pamper yourself only in 1 - 2 meals. It is also allowed to drink high-quality weak wine.
Stage 4 - stabilization
At this stage, losing weight will return to their usual nutritional system with some peculiarities. First of all, you need to continue to follow the drinking regime, continuing to consume a lot of water per day. It is very important to include in your schedule daily physical activity, at least minimal - exercise in the morning, walking, refusing the elevator.
Be sure to periodically arrange fasting days and eat 3 tbsp 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 basis and making vegetables and protein products the basis of your nutrition system forever. In this case, you can pamper yourself with 2 festive breakfasts or lunches per week, as well as 2 servings of products with starch in the composition.
It is advisable to still leave one protein day per week. It will become a defense mechanism against repeated weight gain.
Allowed and Prohibited Products
The prohibited and permitted foods depend on the phase of the diet.
So, at the first it is allowed to eat protein products from a special list.
It:
- horsemeat;
- beef;
- bird;
- ham;
- offal;
- fish (even canned and smoked);
- crab sticks;
- eggs;
- low-fat dairy / fermented milk drinks and products.
You can use 1 - 2 pickled cucumbers cooked without sugar (per day), 1 onion, a small amount of 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 them in any form.
In the "alternation" phase, a variety of vegetables are added to all of the foods listed above. Only legumes and potatoes will have to be completely eliminated.
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 noted above, at the third stage, cheese, bread, fruits, and some favorite foods are added to the menu. The expansion of their list continues at the fourth stage. The portion of the bran is increased to 3 tbsp. l.
Among the cheeses, it is worth choosing hard varieties. From fruits, bananas, cherries, grapes, dried fruits cannot be eaten.
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 the feast day meals, when even your favorite cake is allowed.
The list of prohibited products at all stages includes muffins, bakery products, nuts, dough dishes, butter, goose and duck meat, mayonnaise and any sauces based on it, ketchup.
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), beef chops, oatmeal muffins, poultry meatballs / cutlets.
- Boiled eggs, nuggets, orange juice pie and pollock casserole with eggs.
- Omelet, fish soup with boiled quail eggs, egg whites and lemon dessert, squid and / or fish salad.
- Grilled poultry, bran pancakes, white fish pie.
- Eggs (in any form) with ham, steaks from lean meat fillets, biscuits (on bran) and yogurt, omelet with seafood.
- Omelet with parsley, chicken meat, cheese cakes and yogurt, minced meat pie and kefir.
During the alternation phase, the menu base can be kept the same, but vegetable salads can be added to it every other day. For example, chops, nuggets or steaks. It is also allowed to bake meat, poultry or fish along with vegetables.
The following weekly menu is recommended at the "fixing" stage:
- Cottage cheese casserole for breakfast, lemon soup with bread (whole grain) for lunch, fruit for an afternoon snack, stewed vegetables and chicken for dinner.
- Oatmeal and a slice of cheese, pasta with baked meat, cottage cheese, cutlets with salad.
- Ham and cheese scrambled eggs / scrambled eggs, borscht, biscuit and nuggets, chocolate soufflé with lemon juice, baked seafood.
- Cottage cheese and fermented milk drink, grilled poultry, kefir with bread croutons, shrimps and boiled eggs.
- Cottage cheese, chicken broth with meatballs and bread, fruit, mushroom cream soup.
- Rice with cutlets / meatballs, vegetable pancakes, cheese cakes, salad with fishcakes.
- Cottage cheese and a piece of cheese, chicken broth and quail eggs, fruits, vegetables baked with cheese.
The menu of the third stage can be repeated on the fourth, not forgetting about the days of the "feast" and other permitted indulgences.
Exercise with the Ducan diet
Pierre Dukan notes 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 minimum - replacing the elevator with climbing stairs, exiting public transport a couple of stops before the house, morning exercises with 3 - 5 exercises.
Active walking should gradually become a daily workout for losing weight.
You need to start with 20 minutes of walking, gradually increasing the time. It is advisable to walk in the fresh air on a relief area.
If you decide to include hard physical training in your daily routine. For example, visiting the gym, then at the first stage of the diet is strictly prohibited. You can return to training only at the stage of alternating foods. It is better to actively engage in those days when vegetables are added to protein dishes.
Aqua aerobics has a beneficial effect on the figure. If possible, it is worth visiting the pool 1 - 2 times a week. It is not at all necessary to practice in the water with a trainer. You can just swim for fun. In this case, calories will be actively burned, and the reliefs of the figure will approach the ideal.
Advantages and Disadvantages of This Weight Loss Method
The diet under discussion has its pros and cons. They should be carefully studied by every person who decided to lose weight in this way.
Benefits:
- Efficiency. If you strictly follow all its rules, then about 1 kilo of excess weight will go away per day.
- The ability to increase muscle tone, make the skin elastic, and cope with cellulite.
- No 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, the patient's body is found to be deficient in some vitamins and minerals.
- Possible side effects. At the first stage, some patients develop dizziness, a feeling of constant fatigue.
- Halitosis. This trouble occurs when proteins are the basis of the human diet for a long period.
- High cost. The diet consists of high-quality, expensive food.
How to get out of the diet correctly
To maintain the results, you need to exit the diet correctly. The exit from it begins at the stage of consolidation. New, previously prohibited foods are added to the diet of the losing weight gradually and in small portions.
When quitting the diet, it is important to continue exercising and drinking plenty of water. Gradually it is allowed to return desserts to your diet. But let it be high-quality bitter chocolate, fruit and berry marshmallows, honey and other useful sweets.
Contraindications and possible harm
There is a whole 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 ailments of the liver, gastrointestinal tract, the entire urinary system. It is on these organs and systems that high doses of protein in the body will exert a serious load.
- Expectant mothers and women during lactation. With such a diet, the most pregnant girl and her baby will lack vitamins and nutrients.
- Persons under the age of 18. Especially for girls with an unsteady menstrual cycle. Otherwise, losing weight may face its serious violations or the complete disappearance of menstruation.
- People with diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Losing weight 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 disruption.
- People with mental problems and increased emotionality. A lack of carbohydrates in the diet affects the functioning of the brain.
In order for the Ducan diet to be effective and safe for a person, it is worth consulting with a specialist before starting it. Especially if the man or woman has any health problems.