The sticky issue of get stuck and having your weight stick during Dukan Diet weight loss

So hello my lovely bloggies,

Sorry I've been so slack at blogging recently - February was a brutal month work-wise, I thought March would be better and by and large it has, but it's still been a mission to keep on top of things.  So here is a quick blog about how I'm getting on and then I'm off for a long weekend which will be the first holiday (excluding a few days at Christmas) I've had since September - phew!

So - I've just started week 7 of Cruise.  All going so well so far.  If I don't count the Attack phase, I'm losing on average about 2.5lbs (1.1kg) a week.

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So here is a graph of my loss (in lbs) per week - the big blue 5lb loss on the left is attack phase and that horrible blip at week five is where I lost 1.5lbs and put it back on in the same week, totalling a 0 loss week.  It was really frustrating as I was keeping up with exercise oatbran and not going off plan at all.  However, the wonderful tweet support network that I surround myself with pointed out that sticking at 0 isn't gaining weight and that I was still on track.  I love you guys!

I have become more interested in how and why I stick at a certain weight for days. This next graph (I can't help it, I'm a scientist) looks at my daily weight gain / loss and "sticky" days.

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So again, you can see the first six days are attack, all losses and then the continuum of swift loss slows down.  At first I was really bothered by the stick, stick, loss, stick, stick, loss pattern because it wasn't synched with PP or PV days.  It just seems to be how I am losing the weight and the last couple of weeks it tends to be big loss, stick, stick, stick, big loss, stick, etc.

I have some tips to share, that I have gathered from my own experience along with the excellent guidance of my tweet pals, if you too are suffering from sticky weight during dukan:

(1)  Fluid.  You MUST keep drinking fluid.  I find this easiest by drinking a whole pot of tea to myself in the morning. I make it first thing, make it quite weak, carry it up to my room and drink it whilst I get ready, make the the bed, do my face, etc. Before you know it, you've drunk a litre before you've even gone to work!

(2)  Exercise.  I've taken up Zumba and whilst I haven't noticed that a evening class will instantly register as weight loss the next morning, remember the golden rule, weight loss is really only equal to calories you put in, minus calories you burn off.  

(3) Eat early.  Probably the most effective thing I have found so far.  It can be hard as it depends when you finish work - I have even taken lunch AND dinner to work so that I can eat my evening meal at 6.  It does show on the scales,  I do notice the next morning if I haven't eaten after 7pm the night before.  Vanquish peckishness with herbal teas and water, or diet hot chocolate.

(4)  Fybogel.  I have been taking fybogel for a few weeks now, I think you can probably tell from the graph above, from where I stop getting quite so sticky!  The point of taking it was when I put on .5kg overnight and I know I hadn't been to the loo for a while.  I know everyone's bowels work differently and I think I am pretty prone to constipation and it's not that I don't drink enough or exercise enough, it's just a physiological difference.  Anyway, I know fybogel isn't "on plan" but it's carb free, wheat free, gluten free, so I just chug it down after breakfast, one sachet a day and it keeps me regular and happy!  If you're finding constipation a problem on Dukan, why not try it?

(5)  Don't cheat.  Not even a teansie weansie bit.  I think Dr D covers it somewhere in his book, but you mess up your protein / good carb metabolism if you introduce forbidden food during the cruise process. There are so many stories out there about people getting stuck after having just a tiny nibble of something bad.  Just remember, you need to exercise your willpower muscle too!

I'm really happy with how the Dukan is coming along.  I find that it's becoming a way of life, i.e. I don't need to think about planning so much. The only issue I occasionally have is when I'm standing bleary eyed in my kitchen, holding a tomato and thinking "is it a PP day or a PV day?" I know what I like and what I don't like, I'm trying a few new recipes here and there.  I don't feel awkward when I'm the only one not drinking.  All is good.  

Goal wise, I recently reached half way through my weight loss at 70.4kg (11st 1lb) which felt like a huge achievement - although I'm very aware that the last half can be harder to lose! I'm also now under 11st which has put my BMI at 24, which now classifies me as in a 'normal' weight range for my height and feels terrific.  I'm trying not to worry that the new feeling of happiness and achievement will lessen my will power and motivation - I'm a bit worried about taking a weekend off at Easter! but HOORAY Cadbury's mini eggs you're mine, all mine.  The next goal in site is 10st 12lbs, when I will have lost 1 & 1/2 stone.  Whoopla! 

Happy Easter you lot, love Fatty. Xxx