According to Pierre Ducant himself, the effectiveness of his method relies on the careful selection of the nutrients contained in food, with an emphasis on proteins. The fact is that proteins have a moderate calorie content (4 kcal per 1 g), but the body spends a lot of energy on digesting them. In addition, they are absorbed much more slowly than fats and carbohydrates. That is why we feel full for a long time after eating meat, fish or cottage cheese. Unlike most weight loss methods, the Ducan Diet is designed not only to help you lose weight, but also to solidify and stabilize the results.
Stages of the Ducan Diet
Dukan's diet consists of four consecutive phases that, according to the author, ensure reliability and effectiveness. The first two stages are aimed at losing excess weight, and the last two at consolidating and stabilizing the results obtained.
Level 1. Attack
Duration: 2 to 7 days, depending on how many pounds you need to lose.
Estimated weight loss: 2-6 kilograms.
The essence of the first stage is rapid weight loss in a short time, since only pure protein products are used.
Ducan's diet menu for this phase
You can choose from 72 protein foods.
These are all lean meat (veal, beef, horse meat, with the exception of entrecote and beef tenderloin), offal, lean ham, all fish without exception, all seafood, poultry (except duck and goose), eggs, low-fat dairy products.
Pierre Ducan also recommends consuming 1. 5 tbsp. Tablespoons of oat bran per day. Oat bran helps not to feel hungry, helps remove fluids, as well as excess high-calorie food from the body.
The products permitted in the Ducan menu can be consumed in any quantity at any time. Combine them or consume them separately. Just have to cook without adding fats.
Stage 2: change
Duration: 2 to 6 months.
Estimated weight loss: 1 kg per week.
The process of weight loss at this stage continues optimally.
The essence of the second stage of the Ducan diet is the alternation of protein and protein-vegetable days. Daily protein, daily protein and vegetables. A 5/5 scheme is also acceptable - that is, five protein days and five protein-vegetable days
Ducan's diet menu for this phase
Raw and cooked vegetables are added to the previous diet: tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, spinach, asparagus, leeks, asparagus beans, cabbage, mushrooms, celery, dill, all kinds of lettuce, endive, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, carrots and beets (the lattershould not be taken with every meal).
You can eat them in unlimited amounts at any time. Avoid starchy vegetables: potatoes, peas, beans, lentils, beans, as well as avocados and artichokes. It is recommended to increase the amount of oat bran to 2 tbsp. Spoons a day.
Stage 3. Anchoring.
Duration: depends on the number of kilos lost. It takes 10 days to fix 1 kilogram dropped. For example, if you lost 10 kg, it would take you 100 days to consolidate what you have achieved.
This is a transition period from the Ducan diet to the regular diet. This stage is necessary to consolidate the result obtained.
At this stage the diet is expanded by adding new carbohydrate foods. A nice innovation - two festive meals where you can eat everything that has long been withheld from you. While there is a condition here, such lunches or dinners should not follow one another. The optimal time interval between them is four to five days. Another feature of the 3rd stage of the Ducan Diet is the introduction of one pure protein day per week. This measure is preventive. It will help combat weight gain during the transition period.
Ducan's diet menu for this phase
During the week, two slices of bread are added to the diet, one serving of fruit or berries (except bananas, grapes, cherries, as well as dried fruits and nuts), forty grams of cheese (except camembert, Roquefort and goat cheese), two servings of starchy foods without oil(Durum wheat noodles, couscous, bulgur, polenta, buckwheat, lentils, rice, potatoes and rice).
Stage 4. Stabilization
Duration: In fact, this stage will continue throughout your life if you always want to be in perfect shape for you.
In essence, it returns to a normal diet and maintains the weight it has achieved.
Ducan's diet menu for this phase
When choosing food, you no longer need to follow strict rules and restrictions, but should take as a basis the diet of the third transitional period of the diet - the stage of weight consolidation. This is the basis of a healthy diet. Pierre Ducan also recommends keeping a day of pure protein a week to avoid excessive weight gain, and not forgetting the daily intake of oat bran, the amount of which should be increased to 3 tbsp. l. during the day.
Important NOTE! If you eat a large amount of protein while on the Ducan Diet, you need to drink at least 1. 5 liters (and preferably 2 liters) of water a day. Unlike most of the others, protein foods don't completely dissolve, so the body accumulates some wastes like uric acid that need to be flushed out. Our kidneys have mechanisms to remove such waste, but doing so requires increasing the amount of fluid we consume.
Finally, exercise is "mandatory" as a prescription drug for anyone losing weight on the Ducan Diet, as well as the mandatory 20-minute daily walk and refusal to use the elevator.