A low carb/low calorie/Dukan ally : Slim Pasta

You may have noticed that I've been giving the Dukan 2 diet a trial for the past few weeks and one of the main principles is having a protein only day. I sat down and had a think and came up with a list of Pure Protein meals that are actually proper meals rather than just an assembly of meat and fish products, but even so, I used to come to the Pure Protein Mondays with a sense of ... maybe not dread but definitely a sense of deprivation and hassle. When Slim Pasta sent through a selection of their products for me to try out, I was over the moon to discover that they are made using konjac, a Japanese root which is an almost calorie free ingredient that can be eaten on Pure Protein days, or indeed by anyone not on Dukan but looking to lose weight.

It comes in a variety of forms, including spaghetti, fettucine, penne and even lasagne. The packaging could do with an overhaul in my opinion because the outer plastic pouch contains an inner plastic pouch and a recipe card. Surely by printing the recipe on the back of the pouch, they could vastly reduce the unnecessary packaging (one of my bugbears !).

It looks just like normal pasta and is ultra quick to prepare - you just empty the contents of the pack into a colander to remove the water it comes in then thoroughly rinse it before cooking it for about one minute in boiling water or a sauce. If you've never tried konjac-based products before, you'll want to run a mile because it has a vaguely unpleasant, fishy smell. Rest assured though, it doesn't taste of anything at all.

I tried the fettucine with a bolognese sauce. As it was Dukan-friendly, I added a squeeze of tomato puree but left out the usual tinned tomatoes so it was quite a dry sauce and didn't cover the Slim Pasta enough. As the Slim Pasta doesn't taste of anything, this made for quite a bland meal and the chewy texture of the konjac left me in no doubt that I wasn't eating proper spag bol. It did fill me up though and if you want a low cal option, you couldn't do any better because 100g of Slim Pasta contains a measly 21 calories.

Another pure protein Dukan meal was this dish made with Slim Pasta Spaghetti, a tin of tuna, some tomato puree, a couple of boiled eggs and a little bit of crème fraîche. As this had a sloppier sauce that covered the Slim Pasta better, I enjoyed this one more, although I only ate half of it because ot was so filling.

It's a bit of strange texture but you get used to it and if you're trying to shift a few pounds, it's a convenient and quick way of throwing together a low calorie version of your usual pasta dishes.

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £2.55 per 270g pack

for more information : http://www.eatwater.co.uk/

Disclosure : I received a selection of products in order to write an honest review.

Sunday weigh-in : Grinding to a halt?

So here I am at the end of the third week on Dukan and I'll be honest, I'm having a slight wobble. This week I did everything right - I ate the right food groups on the right days, went for salad instead of a burger at McDonald's, got outside running about with the kids, had a meal replacement shake when the kids were having nuggets and pasta, .. - but the scales have refused to budge. In fact, if I'm totally honest, they're up 300g on last Sunday's weigh-in but yesterday was the same as my last weigh-in so I'll log a no-change this week because I can't be bothered (and don't want to cheese myself off even more !) by updating my figures.

In the first week, I lost 1.8kg, last week was 400g and this week nothing. But, being positive, I've been on holiday for the past two weeks, which normally results in a gain. Even if I haven't been pigging out, I have been baking lots with the kids (and did eat about half of the orange tart we made, because it kept winking at me when I looked in the fridge !) and I definitely get in less steps when I'm not at work.

So I'll cross my fingers for next week and see if it works better when I'm at work.

Positives of the week

- Whatever the scales say, I've been doing everything right and overall, I'm still on track

Current targets 

Last week's target : So near and yet so far, so I'll stick with last week's target again. Getting into the 84 point somethings would be fantastic. That third goal (getting weight lost into double figures) is tantalisingly close. Get my weight loss in pounds into the 20's (it's currently on 19) (FAILED)

This week's targets : Third time lucky ! Getting into the 84 point somethings would be fantastic. That third goal (getting weight lost into double figures) is tantalisingly close. Get my weight loss in pounds into the 20's (it's currently on 19)

Short-term targets : 21kg to lose sounds a lot but breaking it down, aiming for 1kg a week, that's only about 5 months - plenty of time for heading off to Turkey in August !

first target, get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's (it's currently on 51lb) (done),
 second goal - get back to 85.9kg, my pre-xmas weight (done )
third goal : get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
fourth goal : get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
fifth goal : get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
sixth goal : get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 68kg. 

START WEIGHT :93.7kg

TARGET WEIGHT : 67.8kg

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  : 85.3kg 

WEIGHT TODAY : 85.3kg

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  8.5kg

STILL TO GO : 17.2kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -0kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

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Sunday weigh-in : Not as good but still not bad

Last week I was stunned and over-the-moon to lose 1.8kg on the first week of the Dukan 2 diet. This week, I was hoping for the same or at least a reasonable loss but I was slightly worried it would all reappear. What if it was a fluke?

From what I've learned so far about Dukan 2, the Pure Protein Monday is the big push when you should lose the most weight. As you progress through the week adding back in the other food groups, your weightloss will slow down and you will probably put a little bit back on for the final few days of the week. You should aim for about a 750g loss per week.

Well, I was highly disappointed to see that my weight had barely budged by Wednesday and thought this would be a dead week on the weightloss front. I weighed in at 85.7kg last week and I seemed stuck at 85.3kg this week. After our 11km geocaching adventure, I was delighted to weigh in at 84.9kg on Saturday morning though. (Dukan encourages you to weigh in every day to see how your weight fluctuates, and in theory drops, throughout the week.)

Today my official weekly weigh-in weight is 85.3kg so that's only a 400g loss overall this week (maybe I shouldn't have had a celebratory chocolate biscuit or two last night !). I can't believe I've seen 84 point something flash up though - that's a huge victory and hopefully will be back for good next week !

Positives of the week

- I think I possibly know why my weightloss slowed down this week. I've been reaching for fruit instead of ham or crab sticks for snacks. I'll go back to upping the protein next week and see what happens.

- I took the kids to the eat-all-you-like Chinese buffet restaurant and managed to stick to Dukan 2. I filled up my plate with meat and veg which I took the wok station and took green beans instead of noodles or rice. I did treat myself to a couple of spring rolls which weren't really allowed, but I stuck to fruit salad for dessert so I felt very virtuous !

- The sun is back so we should be able to get out for lots more long walks.

Current targets 

Last week's target : Getting into the 84 point somethings would be fantastic. That third goal (getting weight lost into double figures) is tantalisingly close (DONE if I'd weighed in yesterday !)

This week's targets : So near and yet so far, so I'll stick with last week's target again. Getting into the 84 point somethings would be fantastic. That third goal (getting weight lost into double figures) is tantalisingly close. Get my weight loss in pounds into the 20's (it's currently on 19)

Short-term targets : 21kg to lose sounds a lot but breaking it down, aiming for 1kg a week, that's only about 5 months - plenty of time for heading off to Turkey in August !

first target, get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's (it's currently on 51lb) (done),
 second goal - get back to 85.9kg, my pre-xmas weight (done )
third goal : get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
fourth goal : get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
fifth goal : get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
sixth goal : get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 68kg. 

START WEIGHT :93.7kg

TARGET WEIGHT : 67.8kg

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  : 85.7kg 

WEIGHT TODAY : 85.3kg

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  8.5kg

STILL TO GO : 17.2kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -0.4kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

get the InLinkz code

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

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What's Cooking at The Madhouse? menu plan 27/2 #Dukan2

Second week of the holidays - I'm sticking with Dukan 2 but adding family-friendly additions for those who aren't watching their carbs !

Saturday (carbs allowed)

lunch - salmon salad at McDonalds

dinner - pasta bake with pan-fried chicken fillets

Sunday (everything allowed)

lunch - roast chicken, roast potatoes and veggies - followed by a belated birthday cake for Juliette with the Madhouse grandparents

dinner -  I doubt if anyone will be hungry but if they are, it'll be sandwiches or toast

Monday (protein day)

lunch - ham omelette

dinner -  ginger & lemongrass prawns with Konjac noodles (prawn/chorizo paella for everyone else)

Tuesday (protein + veg day)

lunch - chicken sausages with bubble & squeak and beans

dinner - Tandoori chicken with salad & rice

Wednesday (protein + veg + fruit)

lunch - Chinese orange chicken with stir-fry veg

dinner - veggie sausages with cauliflower cheese

Thursday (bread allowed)

lunch - garlic pepper beef with tomato & courgette bake

dinner - Sumac chicken with pide (Turkish bread) and rice

Friday (cheese allowed)

lunch - cod with spicy lentils & patatas bravas

dinner - probably a fridge full of leftovers to use up by now - if not, homemade soup

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Want to see what everyone else is eating ? Head over to Meal Planning Monday at Mrs M's blog !

Ideas for Pure Protein Meals #Dukan

I've just shared the results of my first week following the Dukan 2 (Nutritional Staircase) diet and, although I was hugely sceptical, I was delighted to see almost a 2kg loss this week, so I'll definitely be sticking to it for a while longer. The only tricky thing is finding things to eat on Mondays, which is a pure protein day - fish and meat, eggs, poultry and seafood are all on the menu, but no fruit or veg - hmmm.

Here are a few ideas I've come up but if you have any more, let me know ! I'm trying to make things that feel like real meals, not just a jumble of protein-rich ingredients that don't really go together !

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs

Ham or chicken omelette

Bacon and eggs or ham and eggs

Chicken or beef with Konjac noodles

Scotch eggs

Poached eggs with kippers

Boiled eggs with ham or smoked haddock dippers

Surf and turf (steak and prawns)

liver and bacon (except I hate liver !)

crustless ham or bacon or smoked salmon and chive quiche

What am I missing ?!

Sunday weigh-in : First full week on Dukan 2

After last week's aborted effort at trying the Dukan 2 diet, I was determined to do it properly this week, even if I remained sceptical. I've just jumped on the scales and was delighted to see 85.7kg flash up - that's almost a 2kg loss which has flabbergasted me because, apart from the Monday, I'm not really eating that differently to before. I've even allowed myself a few treats into the mix. Here's a rundown of my week foodwise :

Monday (protein only day) - Took in half a pack of ham and a pack of crab sticks to work for lunch, same as last week. Very boring but, strangely, quite filling and I didn't feel hungry until I was cooking the kids' tea at about 6pm so I ate early with them. I cooked up the leftover roast chicken with a squeeze of tomato puree, a bit of low fat crème fraîche and some onion and garlic. I had mine with konjac noodles, the rest of the family had pasta, so it felt like I was eating the same as them. Finished off with some yogurt and diet coke. I do really miss my fruit and veg on Mondays but this is supposed to be the boost to lose weight each week.

Tuesday (protein & veg day) - Today was the leaving day for the Polish group (phew - back to normal hours !) so I had a few obligatory nibbles and mini-sandwiches. I was planning on making that do for lunch but ended up getting roped into a trip to McDonalds. I felt very virtuous with a Dukan-friendly chicken Caesar salad and diet coke. Dinner was tomatoes stuffed with mince, but I did eat the last couple of forkfuls of Pierre's butter-smothered baked potato and half a strawberry jam covered pancake, in honour of Shrove Tuesday !

Wednesday (protein, veg + fruit allowed) - Day off so I could control the menu - easy peasy as it's a PV (protein + veg) day with fruit allowed too. Lunch was peppered steak with baked tomatoes, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Dinner was salmon with Moroccan spices, with a bag of frozen Italian-style veg. Fruit, yogurt and diet coke in the evening in front of the telly.

Thursday (bread allowed too) - Went to the school canteen for lunch with no idea what their Chinese New Year menu would offer - managed to find some reasonably Dukan-friendly options. Prawn, pink grapefruit and lettuce salad for starter, Thai chicken with rice (rice is not supposed to be on today's menu but never mind), yogurt and fruit for dessert. Don't feel like I'm restricting what I eat at all but I jumped on the scales this morning and was delighted to see 86.3kg - it probably won't change much now before Sunday as the kickstart is Monday's protein-only day but that's still great. Drinks and nibbles after a work meeting but I had a glass of fizzy water and two Tuc biscuits so it could have been worse ! Bowl of homemade vegetable soup for tea. Treated myself to two of the cupcakes we made in front of Eastenders live !

Friday (cheese allowed) - I usually feel bad about weighing myself every day but Dukan says it's a good thing and reminded me today that I haven't been tracking my weight. Stunned to see 85.8kg flash up this morning. Woohoo ! Eating in a restaurant this lunchtime but have been trying to think of the most Dukan friendly option - maybe salad or maybe couscous (lots of meat and veg and I can go easy on the couscous). Finished off the vegetable soup with fruit and yogurt for dinner.

Saturday (carbs day) - Queso Fundido (basically cheesy chilli) for lunch with wholemeal pitta bread. Dinner was Polish stuffed cabbage rolls with potato & vegetable patties and 2 leftover Bernard Matthews Golden Drummers from the kids' plates. Finished off with yogurt and fruit. Also treated myself to 3 chocolates and the final cupcake in the afternoon.

Positives of the week

- I feel like I've been pigging out all week but the weight has been dropping off. As long as you go heavy on meat and veg and limit the other food groups as advised, it's effortless - no worrying about portion sizes or calorie counting. I've actually been feeling full of energy - maybe through reducing sugar/processed carbs so it's like detoxing? Not sure but it seems to be working.

- Badges have jumped from 6kg lost/47lb to go/14lb lost to 8kg lost/43lb to go/18lb lost. Achieved my second target - get back to my pre-Christmas weight of 85.9kg. (Admittedly I thought I'd have achieved this by mid-January but I'd hit a plateau.) The third goal is now in sight.

- I'm feeling majorly motivated now and, as I'm on holiday for two weeks, it should be easier to control the menu and also get in lots of walking and geocaching

Current targets 

Last week's target : Follow Dukan 2 for the week. (done)

This week's targets : Getting into the 84 point somethings would be fantastic. That third goal (getting weight lost into double figures) is tantalisingly close

Short-term targets : 21kg to lose sounds a lot but breaking it down, aiming for 1kg a week, that's only about 5 months - plenty of time for heading off to Turkey in August !

first target, get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's (it's currently on 51lb) (done),
 second goal - get back to 85.9kg, my pre-xmas weight (done )
third goal : get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
fourth goal : get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
fifth goal : get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
sixth goal : get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 68kg. 

START WEIGHT :93.7kg

TARGET WEIGHT : 67.8kg

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  : 87.5kg 

WEIGHT TODAY : 85.7kg

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  8.1kg

STILL TO GO : 17.6kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -1.8kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

get the InLinkz code

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

What's Cooking at The Madhouse? menu plan 20/2 #Dukan2

Next week, I'm on holiday so need to plan lunches and dinners. I'll also be sticking to Dukan 2, with extras thrown in for the rest of the family who aren't on a diet, and just to complicate things further, I'll be cooking up a storm with my Portuguese-themed Kitchen Trotter box and the Knorr Flavour Pots Product of the Year blogger challenge. (Which won't be that hard actually as I use them all the time anyway !)

Saturday (carbs allowed)

lunch - Queso Fundido with rice - think cheesy chilli and you won't be far wrong !

dinner - Bacalhau a Bras - a Portuguese dish with salted cod, if we can find any

Sunday (everything allowed)

lunch - roast chicken, roast potatoes and veggies - might as well throw in a dessert of some description too as it's in today's allowed food groups :)

dinner -  Ginger & Lemongrass Chicken Soup

Monday (protein day)

lunch - bobotie

dinner -  lemongrass prawns (with Konjac noodles for me, rice for the others)

Tuesday (protein + veg day)

lunch - beefburgers with frozen veg (and pasta or rice for the kids)

dinner - Korean sticky chicken with salad or maybe coleslaw

Wednesday (protein + veg + fruit)

lunch - another Portuguese dish - Pork & Clams (or maybe Mussels) with Potatoes

dinner - veggie sausages, baked beans & root veg mash

Thursday (bread allowed)

lunch - Callallo rolls & Mexican meatballs

dinner - chicken curry with naan bread

Friday (cheese allowed)

lunch - Sardine Fritters with Squid Salad (you've guessed it - Portugal's cuisine is on the menu again !)

dinner - probably a fridge full of leftovers to use up by now - if not, homemade soup

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Want to see what everyone else is eating ? Head over to Meal Planning Monday at Mrs M's blog !

Madhouse recipe : Grilled salmon with Moroccan spices

As you may have noticed, I've been giving the Dukan 2 diet a go for the last couple of weeks and it mainly revolves around eating lots of vegetables (cutting down on fruit and focusing on veg instead) along with lean meat and fish. That means loads of white fish, salmon, chicken and ham, so I've been looking for different ways of jazzing them up with marinades, herbs and spices. I usually just put lime juice and garlic pepper on salmon fillets, but when I saw this recipe from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, it looked perfect. They suggest using a whole side of salmon but it worked beautifully on these smaller fillets too.

 Grilled salmon with Moroccan spices

ingredients :

salmon fillets

3 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp ground paprika

Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Mix together all of the ingredients and smear over the salmon. Chill for at least half an hour.

Grill for about 20 minutes until cooked through. I served this with a bag of Italian-style frozen veg, but the original recipe suggests a side salad of red onion, tomato and cucumber.

Sunday weigh-in : Dukan 2 sneak peek

After saying I'd give it a go, I realised I wouldn't be able to follow the Dukan 2 diet properly this week because the Polish delegation are visiting which means non-stop eating and drinking ! I had two  huge meals in restaurants with a fixed and most certainly non-diet-friendly set menu (plus wine and champagne) and a boozy evening of party nibbles over two days, but I was keen to have a sneak peek at what the Dukan 2 diet entails. Last week, I weighed in at 86.8kg and today I've just weighed in at 87.5kg - I think it probably could have been worse if I hadn't lost a bit at the start of the week !

 I bet you're all wondering what you can actually eat on Dukan 2, so here's my rundown for the week. The Nutritional Staircase programme (unlike the traditional Dukan diet) works on a weekly programme that has to start on Monday so last Saturday, I went a bit wild and ate all the things I knew would be off limits - nothing REALLY bad but I had a burger and chips at McDonald's rather than my usual salmon salad and I shared a bag of Skittles (only a little one !) with the kids. Sunday was always going to be catastrophic because we had people over for Juliette's birthday, obviously involving alcohol, nibbles, a big meal and cake. Really not the best week to start a diet !

Monday - Protein only day which still seems weird and nutritionally wrong. It was impossible to eat at the school canteen so I took in a pack of turkey ham and crab sticks to nibble on - not very inspiring ! I couldn't face sitting down to a meal of just fish and meat in the evening, so I used up some Dukan konjac noodles that I'd received to review ages ago. I made spaghetti carbonara for the family, so I tried to replicate it Dukan style - I cooked an onion (because they don't seem to count as veg, unless I've got that wrong!) then added some chopped ham and a bit of low fat crème fraîche. The noodles don't soak up the sauce so it was all a bit messy but at least it looked like "normal" food and tasted reasonable.

Tuesday - Protein + unlimited veg. After checking the menu, I went to the school canteen and asked for the chicken with just veg, no spaghetti. Starter was a choice of mini pizza or cheese puff - both non Dukan options - so I went for the pizza as it was only a very small slice. Fruit is not allowed until tomorrow so I had a low-fat cheese triangle and yogurt for dessert. In the evening, after parent-teacher evening, I couldn't face cooking so I had a big salad with a tin of mackerel, which was very nice actually.

Wednesday - Protein + veg + 2 fruit allowed - I planned on having a beefburger with a bag of frozen mixed veg for an easy lunch option but was gutted to see there wasn't any in the freezer, so I finished off my salad from last night with the burger instead. 0% yogurt for dessert. Popped to the shop to stock up on loads of frozen veg ! Lemongrass chicken with stir-fry veg for tea. Very nice and very filling. Finished off with fruit - yeah !

Thursday - Protein + veg + fruit + wholemeal bread allowed - I've noticed that I'm feeling full of energy - could this be the result of effectively detoxing, totally cutting down on carbs, sugar and fat? Not sure but I'm pleased to see I'm not tired and sluggish through lack of carbs as it's a busy week ! Lunch at the canteen looked like a Dukan-friendly option with meat and veg available, so I went along and was gutted to see they'd changed the menu. I had vegetables for a starter and fruit for dessert but the main course was chicken nuggets and rice - no way to make that Dukan friendly ! After parent-teacher evening, I had a bowl of homemade vegetable soup, followed by yogurt and fruit.

At this point, I had a weigh-in and I was at 86.3kg, so I'd lost 500g. Food wise, apart from the Monday, you can eat basically normally so it doesn't interrupt family life and I didn't feel hungry, apart from on the Monday. From this point on, Dukan was thrown out of the window though !

Friday - Protein + veg + fruit + wholemeal bread + cheese allowed - Lunch with the Polish delegation - smoked salmon starter, steak and chips with creamy pepper sauce, apple pie for dessert plus champagne and wine. Evening meal in another restaurant which was a HUGE baked potato smothered in mozzarella, tomato sauce, olives, onions, ham, ... followed by ice cream, plus wine and champagne again. Also, I was chauffeured around for the day so there was hardly any of my usual walking involved.

Saturday - carbs day - I'd basically given up by this point, knowing the week was a write-off, so I had burger and chips at McDonalds. In the evening, we showed the Polish group what Dunkirk carnival was all about so it was an evening of drinks and party food.

I'll call this week the dress rehearsal for Dukan. It's actually easier and healthier than I expected so I'll give it a proper go this week (even if there's a farewell meal on Tuesday for the Polish group).

Positives of the week

- Sometimes life gets in the way of your best intentions - a 700g gain for this week of mammoth eating is actually a lucky escape !

Current targets 

Last week's target : Juliette's birthday week and a few meals out with the Polish visitors so I'm hoping for a no change ! (yeah right !!)

This week's targets : Follow Dukan 2 for the week. 

Short-term targets : 21kg to lose sounds a lot but breaking it down, aiming for 1kg a week, that's only about 5 months - plenty of time for heading off to Turkey in August !

first target, get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's (it's currently on 51lb) (done),
 second goal - get back to 85.9kg, my pre-xmas weight
third goal : get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
fourth goal : get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
fifth goal : get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
sixth goal : get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 68kg. 

START WEIGHT :93.7kg

TARGET WEIGHT : 67.8kg

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  : 86.5kg 

WEIGHT TODAY : 87.5kg

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  6.3kg

STILL TO GO : 19.4kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : +0.7kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

get the InLinkz code

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

What's Cooking at The Madhouse? menu plan 13/2 #Dukan2

Well, my first week on the Dukan 2 diet was actually easier than I expected so I'll keep it going this week and see what happens.

Saturday (carbs allowed)

lunch - I'm in a meeting in the morning so probably a quick trip to McDonald's in which case I'll go for a salmon salad. If we stay at home, I'll make ham omelettes.

dinner - As carbs are allowed, I think I need a nice big bowl of pasta - with bolognese or carbonara sauce, I think - yum !

Sunday (everything allowed)

lunch - can't beat a proper Sunday roast - although Madhouse Daddy will be off doing carnival so the kids may twist my arm to make something else (probably a carpet picnic, that's what they usually want !)

dinner -  soup or salad

Monday (protein day)

dinner -  Monday's are the only days that are tricky because it's a pure protein day - maybe scrambled eggs with ham

Tuesday (protein + veg day)

dinner - chicken with ratatouille

Wednesday (protein + veg + fruit)

lunch - steak with grilled tomatoes, onions and mushrooms (plus mash for the kids and Madhouse Daddy)

dinner - salmon with a bag of frozen veg of some description

Thursday (bread allowed)

dinner - meat loaf with salad

Friday (cheese allowed)

dinner - homemade soup

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Want to see what everyone else is eating ? Head over to Meal Planning Monday at Mrs M's blog !

Sunday weigh-in : So what's the deal with Dukan 2?!

Losing weight isn't complicated (in theory!) - you just need to eat less (or less of the bad stuff anyway) and move more - so I've always thought faddy diets were totally ridiculous, ineffective and sometimes downright dangerous. When I was asked if I'd like to trial the Dukan 2 diet, my instant reaction was to run screaming from the room ! All I knew about the Dukan diet was that you had to eat nothing but protein (in unlimited quantities) with no fruit or vegetables allowed at all during the first phase that could last for several days. For the last few years, emphasis has been on eating 5-a-day at the very least so going to zero-a-day seems totally nonsensical and unhealthy.

I was intrigued by the "2" though, and also the PR lady's comment that I wouldn't need to change my eating habits much - that didn't fit in at all with what I knew about the Dukan diet, so I went to have a look at the website, still unconvinced. It turns out that the whole Dukan diet has been rehauled with a new "nutritional staircase" method, with a new food group being introduced each day of the week. The emphasis is still on protein - apparently by eating pure protein, your body has to get its energy from your stock of fat - but only Monday is a pure protein day, with vegetables, then fruit, bread, cheese, carbs, etc being reintroduced on a daily basis throughout each week. With the old Dukan diet, you could aim to lose 4-6kg in the first week. With Dukan 2, you should only expect to lose 0.5-1kg per week, which to me sounds much more reasonable.

Without having decided whether or not to give it a go, I put together a Dukan-friendly menu plan for the week, to see how easy it would be, and it actually looks pretty similar to a normal week, so I've decided to give it a go, at least for a week or two, then reassess.

The bad news is, I've eaten my way through all the things I won't be able to eat in the coming days to get them out of my system before cracking down ! Inevitably, this week was a gain - 86.8kg today - only 300g which means I got away lightly !

Positives of the week

- I've started listening to the SlimPod again - I'd slipped out of the habit which is silly because it really works.

- Even my "pigging out" is quite reasonable these days - I did have a burger and chips at McDonald's but I caught up in the evening with a bowl of soup - I had some Skittles but split a bag four ways with the kids ...

Current targets 

Last week's target : Hit my second target - my pre-xmas weight of 85.9kg. Get back to two work out DVD/Wii Fit sessions. (That second target is so elusive - fingers crossed for next week !)

This week's targets : Juliette's birthday week and a few meals out with the Polish visitors so I'm hoping for a no change !

Short-term targets : 21kg to lose sounds a lot but breaking it down, aiming for 1kg a week, that's only about 5 months - plenty of time for heading off to Turkey in August !

first target, get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's (it's currently on 51lb) (done),
 second goal - get back to 85.9kg, my pre-xmas weight
third goal : get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
fourth goal : get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
fifth goal : get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
sixth goal : get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 68kg. 

START WEIGHT :93.7kg

TARGET WEIGHT : 67.8kg

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  : 86.5kg 

WEIGHT TODAY : 86.8kg

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  7.0kg

STILL TO GO : 18.7kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : +0.3kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

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