oat bran quandary

I'm no worse for my choice of oat bran. From page 54 of The Dukan Diet:

"If the bran is not thoroughly sifted, it is not sufficiently pure and contains too much flour. [...] ...it is after it has been sifted for a sixth time, B6, that oat bran has negligible fast carbohydrate content."

Fast carbohydrates: a scary concept for someone trying to kick his carb addiction. So, I wrote the manufacturer of the oat bran I bought. Their response assures me that I'm not ingesting the equivalent of bleached wheat flour.

Now I'm feelin' so fly, like a B6.

STATISTICS, BEGINNING OF DAY 6

weight 247.4 lbs ↓

hello-o-o ketones

DAY 4: I feel great. Felt great yesterday, too. Hopefully, I'm through the worst of the carb withdrawal. Dr. Dukan says it's all due to the ketones... in some dieters, the effect can be euphoric.

My system has also adjusted in other, um, important ways. Yesterday, I was beginning to feel a bit like Nibbler. You see, I was a day late starting the oat bran component of the diet. In last week's preparatory shopping, I couldn't find a product with milling & sifting properties listed in the book. Being prone to rule-following, I spent most of Saturday morning in a resumed search for oat bran. (It's why my first meal on Saturday was delayed.)

From what I can tell by trolling the Web, I'm not alone. More on this in a future post. To summarize: I bought oat bran on Saturday, and "things" are better today.

STATISTICS, BEGINNING OF DAY 4
weight 248.6 lbs (no change)

thou shalt not skip meals

DAY 2: Although I didn't intend to, I ate breakfast very late today... it was more of a brunch. I had a nap this afternoon, and then ate a full dinner (leftover steak, albacore tuna, a kosher dill pickle, and fat-free yogurt). I spent the evening reading more of the Dukan book, but I was feeling... off.

And then I re-read the part where Dr. Dukan talks about the protein needs of the human body. 1 g of protein per 2 lbs of body weight. So I audited my protein intake for the day. Sure enough, it fell short: 109 g instead of 125 g.

Important stuff. If we don't get enough protein in our diet, our bodies have a nifty way of taking it from places we may not want it to... like our muscles.

A big tall glass of skim milk, and I was back on track. I honestly felt better afterward.

STATISTICS, ONE DAY UNDER MY (CONSIDERABLY LARGE) BELT
weight 248.6 lbs ↓
27.3% body fat ↓
55.7% water weight ↑ (proving that my lost weight isn't water)

starting the Dukan Diet

After a long weekend of immobilisé (and a life-long battle with emotional eating, I decided to take action: I embarked on The Dukan Diet.

I began making preparations earlier this week. I sought advice from a friend who lost 50 lbs on Dukan. I purchased the book, an electronic scale, and some kit items to bring my attack & cruise phase lunches to work. After reading the first couple of chapters, I had enough information to go grocery shopping.

(I'm such an assimilator.)

I began the diet this morning. I'm not hungry, and I feel fine... for the most part. (I briefly daydreamed about freshly-baked bread with butter, and when a coworker announced they were going on a coffee run, I jokingly put in an order for a mixing bowl full of doughnut holes, a quart of homogenized milk, and a big spoon.)

That's the problem, right there: I'm a carb & fat addict. I realized this over Christmas, when I read The End of Overeating by Dr. David Kessler. I've put in an honest effort (cutting sugar from my coffee, trying my best to exercise) but when you're 40-something, things get more difficult.

Back to the diet... I made Angus top sirloin steak for dinner! Fat-free Greek yogurt makes an excellent substitute for sour cream — even if there's no baked potato to be found.

I can't promise regular updates (heck, I can't even seem to check my dashboard and moderate my comments! sorry about that) but I felt compelled to document this journey on something other than the notebook I'm carrying around with me.

STARTING BODY STATISTICS

weight 252.4 lbs
28% body fat (too high, according to the guide that came with the scale)
55.2% water weight (too low)
34.6% muscle mass (too low)
3.6% bone mass (too low)