Making a Change: There's No Time Like the Present!

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If I were being completely honest, then I would say that I've been overweight and unhappy about it for a few years. Honestly, I've also been very half-assed about my approach to weightloss as well. My mother-in-law asked me a few weeks ago if I'd heard much about The Dukan Diet as she was interested in trying it to lose some weight for our nephew's Holy Communion. I hadn't heard much. But when magazines and newspapers started reporting that Kate Middleton and her mother had both lost weight for the wedding by doing the new fad diet, I decided to look into it.

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I have read the book and I also bought the recipe. This diet is perfect for me. It will be hard... there's no doubt, but at least this time I like the food, so that's the bonus!

I'm going to be open and honest here because this time, I'm in it to win it! I realize there might be some judgement in what I'm about to reveal and that's okay. I'm motivated and there's no turning back. I threw away all offending foods in our house and my husband is also doing the diet. We are making a change in a big way!

When I met my husband in 2005, I weighed 128 pounds. Over the past few years, I've gradually put on weight, but since moving to England, I've gained considerable weight (maybe 20 pounds?). I now find myself at 188 pounds and very unsettled by this number. I'm considered overweight according to my BMI, I'm unhappy, clothes don't look very good on me and I'm probably doing more harm to my body by being this overweight than I could with any diet.

My goal weight is 134 pounds. That's pretty close to what I've weighed for most of my life, give or take a few pounds. I'm 5'8 1/2" so I think that's a great weight for me! I'll be pretty excited if I can lose and maintain the 54 pounds difference as the Dukan Diet promises!

For those of you who aren't familiar, the Dukan Diet consists of 4 phases: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization. The diet has been used by such celebrities as Jennifer Lopez and Giselle Bunchen after childbirth. The diet promises an amazing goal: that you'll reach your goal weight and maintain it, eating whatever you like for the rest of your life 6 days a week, and recalibrating with only proteins 1 day per week. This sounds like more than fair to me!

I'm currently in the Attack phase for 5 days in which I can only eat pure non-fat proteins along with a few extras like non-fat dairy products and spices. I also have to incorporate 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran per day into my diet and drink 1 1/2 liters minimum of water per day. The final requirement is that I walk for 20 minutes per day. Again, this is only for the first 5 days of the diet which will last a very long time for me since I have so much to lose. It's estimated that I will lose between 5 and 7 pounds in the first 5 days, maybe more.

It's about 8:30pm here in England on our first day and I have to say, we've been doing very well. I'm delighted that I can have aspartame sweetener and use lemon to flavor things. I can also drink Diet Pepsi, coffee and tea, which is a life saver! I'm tired and I have to use the loo a lot because of all the water, but otherwise I'm quite happy even though I'm already looking forward to incorporating new foods in 4 more days!

I'll continue to update on my status occasionally because this is a huge change in my lifestyle. However, for those of you who aren't interested, don't worry. Pink Julep is NOT turning into a diet only blog! Wish me luck! Only 4 more days of the attack phase to go!