Sirloin Celebration!

So round two of Dukan and I am four weeks in and 10kgs (22lbs) down. Success!! So I cooked Sirloin Steak for the first time to celebrate!

<= 10kg... the HEAVY bag of potatoes!

Dukan is as easy as I remember. Easy; if you stick to it but even tiny breaks from the regime mean that monumental amounts of will power are required not to slip up again. If you don't have sneaky tastes of carbs like chocolate (my kryptonite) then it is almost plain sailing!
I did have two very tough days around a fortnight in; the speed bump came when  I put on a few pounds two days in a row despite sticking like glue to the diet... only reason I can think up is sodium (water weight). These two bum days made my self control slip and I then had two days where I went off the rails totally (e.g. share size bag of crisps to myself and giant bar of Lindt Cherry and almond)! I got back on track by day 5 mostly because of the daily weigh in!

So today I was in a restaurant with my mum, I had planned to order something really yummy as a reward but everything came with un-dukanish sides and garnishes. I didn't fancy paying €20+ for a tiny bit of meat and a manky salad so I just ordered cappuccinos and after my mum was finished we went to the supermarket... I bought a huge piece of Sirloin Steak (and Muller yoghurt for dessert) for €5.

I cut the steak in half lengthwise  fried up some onion in 1cal spray to heat the pan. Then removed the onions resprayed the pan and fast cooked the steak, seasoned with salt and pepper. When the meat was done I removed it from the pan and then in the juice I refried the sautéed onions and two button mushrooms. When the juice had been soaked up I threw in a handful of spinach and a good dash of Balsamic vinegar... YUMMY!!!!!! Maybe it is blasphemy to cut the steak the way I did or to fry good meat in 1cal but hey, I'm the one who had to eat it!

Celebration meal was a success!! What will my next meal be???

Dukan do it again!

So after dropping almost 60lbs 12 months ago I am back on a diet again! This is not the terrible thing it might at first appear to be... Oh no! This is an opportunity in disguise ;) On Dukan the first time I lost 60lbs but stopped dieting while I was still overweight. Dukan told me to stop at 71kgs (156.2lbs) but I really wanted to go to 65kgs (143lbs). I was following the Dukan on-line program and I emailed them to ask if I could move my goal weight. They said no; so I ignored them.

I continued on the Cruise phase (weight-loss phase) unsupervised. My on-line instructions were telling me that I was in the Stabilisation phase (maintenance) but I thought I knew better! I kept the weight off for maybe 4 months, then I went travelling around the Antipodes and 5kgs (11 lbs) crept back on, living out of a rucksack and eating crappy food did the damage. I was separated from my weighing scales while I was travelling and this broke my daily weigh-in habit. The daily weigh-in really keeps you honest!
When I got home it was Christmas, I though I should live it up over the holidays and DIET with a vengeance in January. This seemed like a wonderful plan!

Low and behold January came around and I just didn't feel like being on a diet. I was still divorced from my scales... February zipped by while I was busy telling everyone how grate it is to be single. Then March and the joy of Easter chocolate!

On the 29th of March I was cleaning my bathroom, I moved the weighing scales to wash the floor... I thought, hmmm... It's been awhile. On I stepped and WHAM!! I got the shock of my life 81 kgs (180lbs). Waaaa... I logged onto the Dukan website for the first time in ages, I couldn't get into my account any-more  my subscription was obviously up. In panic I signed up again and paid the €150 fee. The silver lining in all of this is that this time my Dukan goal weight is 63.3kgs (140lbs). So now I will get to do the diet properly and I will have Dukan support the whole way! I am going to be a saint and follow the diet to the letter this time.

My attack phase was 6 days long and went very well; I lost 5kgs (11 lbs).
My cruise phase is 129days long; today is day 6 and I have lost another 4lbs

Heart Rate Monitor... I heart you

Running is going really well! The heart rate monitor is really helping me to judge my progress. Since buying it I have run almost every day  and I used it every time. My training partner told me we really are running now which I was delighted to hear!
On Saturday we went for a 6k walk/jog with some really good stretches of jogging in there at least 1.5k a few times... I think this is excellent for week 2!On Sunday I did a 10k walk/run. So pleased that I am sticking with it.
 I am finding the diet aspect really hard at the moment. I do not feel like I can stay on strict Dukan and train for the 8k. Maybe this is just an excuse?? I am finding it hard to not pig out on chocolate :/ Today I failed. I can only commit to doing better tomorrow. I do not really want to be on Dukan any more but I do want to eat healthily... I know how to do it I must just tough it out. I put on three or four pounds over the last fortnight and lost them and put them on again... they are some serious yo-yo pounds but they make my weight-loss badge go under 50lbs lost which is annoying. I went them off for good. I know how to lose them now I must JUST DO IT.

Here we go again... again.

I don't know how I managed it but after I gave up on this blog/diet I managed to reach a new high of 210lbs.

Me at a friend's wedding in Autumn

The Dukan Diet

I am now on another new diet The Dukan Diet :D and i LOVE it! I have been on it for almost two weeks now and so far i have lost... 13 lbs!! I think it is the easiest diet that I have ever been on. I don't feel hungry and I'm not constantly thinking about food. It is so nice to see the weight go down on the scale almost every time i weigh myself.

The food is plain but healthy. Well, maybe not 100% healthy as the diet advises using artificial sweetener. The food is almost all whole, natural food. I feel great and have not suffered from any tiredness.

As for my life goal of become fluent in Irish... well I have made progress! I bought the Rosetta Stone Irish Package (500euro) and have been using it!