The Dukan Diet Plan - Is It Right For You?

Introduction to The Dukan Diet - Is it for you?

A little over 10 years ago, nutritionist Dr. Pierre Dukan released his diet plan in his home French market. The Dukan Diet Plan became a sensation with millions of French people benefiting from a sensible and effective diet system which is really quite unique. Now The Dukan Diet plan is available in English and is experiencing the same level of success around the world.

But how does The Dukan Diet work? What makes it different? More importantly, is The Dukan Diet plan right for you?

On the face of it, The Dukan Diet offers what could be the dieters' ultimate dream. Achieve your ideal weight and stay there permanently while eating as much as you like. Not only that, you will eat good, real, healthy food you will not go hungry, count calories or get bored because of restrictions. This plan gets inside the psychology of the overweight person and is sympathetic to their desires and needs. Being written by a Frenchman, the diet also acknowledges the pleasures of eating and enjoying good food. This could easily be described as the slimmer's holy grail.

So, how does The Dukan Diet Plan work?

Over many years specialising in nutrition and weight management, Pierre Dukan realised that to get to an ideal weight, the body needs to be re-trained. This cannot be achieved by a short, fad diet. This requires a long term strategy which not only gives immediate results (important so people are encouraged and remain motivated) but also ensures that weight loss is permanent and stable.

The Dukan Diet is actually made up of four distinct eating plans. These plans follow on naturally from each other and progressively introducing different foods until, eventually, you are basically eating whatever you like without any restrictions whatsoever and you will maintain your ideal weight. The linchpin of these plans is the periods, or days, which is spent eating nothing but protein foods. Do not jump to the conclusion that this is just a re-hash of the Atkins diet, however. The Dukan Diet plan is very different and much more health orientated.

The first stage is called the Attack Stage. This is designed to surprise the body and create a rapid weight loss over a 5 - 10 day period. During this kick-start phase, you eat nothing but protein foods. Foods with as close to pure protein content as possible...fish, certain meats, poultry, eggs and non-fat dairy products. During this phase a person can expect to see some rapid weight loss. As much as 3-4 kilos (7 or 8 pounds) can be lost in the course of less than a week.

The next phase of the Dukan Diet Plan is called the Cruise Stage. This phase lasts far longer and is where you will experience a more gradual weight reduction down to your ideal weight. The period of time spent in this phase depends on how much weight you need to lose to get to your ideal weight or your 'True Weight' as Dukan calls it. During this phase, the dieter alternates between days consuming just protein foods and days with proteins and vegetables. Here the variety of foods permitted is very high and you will find that you will not go hungry or get bored. You will continue to lose weight consistently but a little more gradually during this phase.

Once you have reached your ideal or true weight, you then move into the Consolidation Phase. Having lost the weight you wanted to lose, this phase ensures that your body will not rebound and put it all back on again - a common occurrence with many diet plans. You will not lose weight in this phase but you will not gain either. Many carbohydrate foods such as pasta and white bread, as well as cheese, can be re-introduced and they phase prescribes two 'anything goes' celebration meals a week. This phase must last for 5 days for every pound you lost on the previous 2 phases. So if you lost 20 pounds (10 Kilos) then you would stay on this plan for 100 days. Simple. This properly consolidates your weight loss and establishes your new weight as your normal default weight.

Now the best part of all...

Once you have completed the consolidation phase you are free to enter the final stability phase. Basically eat what you like but follow some simple rules. One is that on one day each week you eat just protein foods just as you did in the attack phase. Just one day each week. Second, you must eat some oat bran each day. Third, you must do some walking each day and never again use an elevator and finally, drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day. That's it.

Whether this diet is good for you is really up to you. You may have been on unsuccessful diets before which have some of the same elements of The Dukan Diet Plan but it is the combination of the phases which really make a difference.

It is, in my opinion, one of the easiest looking diets to stick with because you can eat as much as you like, the food is healthy food - no reliance on eating loads of fats - and the result are permanent. Go for it and never have to go on a miserable diet again!

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