The Diet Everyone (Including Kate Middleton) is Obsessing Over
Wanna know how French women - and one very famous Brit - stay looking so slim and smoking hot without becoming slaves to the gym or tasteless meals? By following these four steps...
By Zoe Ruderman
When rumors started swirling that the princess-to-be and her mother were trying a new weight loss plan called the Dukan Diet, everyone and, well, their mother wanted to get the scoop.
Well, here's the skinny. The Dukan Diet was created by a doctor from France, Pierre Dukan, and he credits his Lb-shedding tricks with the real reason French women manage to stay thin without avoiding delicious foods or hitting the gym every day. Uh, sign us up.
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So, we got all the info you need to know if you're looking to slim down, whether it's for an upcoming wedding (royal or otherwise) or just because you're kinda dreading getting into a bikini for the first time this year.
Check out the four steps to follow below then pick up The Dukan Diet, which just hit bookshelves, for more details.
Step 1: The Attack Phase
The initial phase of the plan limits food to just one of three food groups - protein. Though no food except egg whites is pure protein, you should aim to consume snacks and meals that are made up of foods whose composition is as close as possible to pure protein. Think: lean meats, fish, other seafood, poultry, and nonfat dairy products.
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Dukan claims this is easy for everyone - even the most diet averse people - to follow because protein keeps you so full. Remain in this phase for two to seven days, depending on how much weight you want to shed. (Two days for just a bit of extra poundage, seven for a lot.)
Step 2: The Cruise Phase
Now, start to alternate the protein-heavy stage with the same diet plus any green or cooked vegetables-all you can eat. Go back and forth daily between the two, a move that Dukan claims helps to burn up a ton of calories. There's no special breakdown of protein and veggies on the alternating days; just eat whichever you're craving and in whatever combination you prefer.
Stick to this stage until your target weight is reached, probably about five days for every pound you want to drop. It may sound like a drag, but Dukan swears that since you can eat as much as you want, satisfaction through quantity makes up for any lack of variety.
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Step 3: The Consolation Phase
This is also known as the soothing phase and yes, it's as good as it sounds. You add two slices of bread and one portion of fruit and cheese (yesss!) to your daily diet, along with two servings of carbs and two "celebration" meals a week.
For every pound you lost, stick to this third step for five days. So if you dropped five pounds during the prior steps, you'd stay in the Consolation Phase for 25 days. Why so long? Dukan explains that the most common reasons people fail to keep off just-lost weight is that they reintroduce heavy foods in too quickly. Easing your body back into a more normal eating plan will help you from having all that hard work go to waste.
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Step 4: The Permanent Stabilization Phase
Go back to eating a varied, yummy, not rigid, pretty-much-whatever-you-want-but-still-healthy diet without putting too much thought into it. Except for one day a week. For that one day, return to the Attack Phase.
Pretty simple, right?
Get more info in The Dukan Diet by Dr. Pierre Dukan, published by Crown Archetype.
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