Dukan Diet and Cycling ?

Leesykoi

A few questions.....

1) Anyone tried it and what were the results ?
2) If you have tried it then what on earth can you eat when on the bike for the second phase of the plan ?

As in most cases my missus wants to give this a go and as the loyal supportive partner has been asked if i would participate so there are no 'treats' around the house. Before anyone has the normal 'eat less do more comment'

Thks.

Lee.

el_vino

I have tried a very similar diet in fact apart from the low fat cottage cheese it was almost identical. I lost almost 2 stone. as far as on the bike nutrition, if the ride was less than an hour I just followed the diet, for rides longer than 1 hour I consumed simple carbs - energy drink / gel during or immediately after the ride. The simpler the better

crff

is the diet high protein low carb diet? what sort on things are on the menu?

ut_och_cykla

crff wrote:

is the diet high protein low carb diet? what sort on things are on the menu?

Looks like it - protein first week, then some veggies too, then limited carbs and some dairy. Probably gives good results to start with as you'll lose stored carbs & their water with no carb input and gentle exercise

bahzob

Yes I have tried it and its very effective if your main goal is to lose weight. However you need to follow all the phases of the plan.

If you do this you end up eating a well balanced diet, consisting of natural ingredients that will typically be way healthier than before you started. (In a nutshell the complete plan is to eliminate most foods at the start then gradually re-introduce them. At the end you can pretty much eat what you want but the expectation is that by then you will have learned discrimination so will used to eating healthily and choose to continue that way.)

Most of its critics have just focused the first attack phase of a few days where you only eat protein and ignore the rest of the diet, which will take many months.

It's a bit like criticising someone's TT performance based on how they start. (assuming if they start with a sprint to get up speed they will continue to sprint for the rest of the ride).

An essential part of the diet (often ignored by its critics) is daily exercise. However this is on the, mostly correct, assumption that for most people a daily walk will be a significant increase. Dukan himself says his diet is not really intended for those doing serious amounts of exercise.

I started on the diet to lose some of the weight I put on after taking a break from cycling. I lost a stone and enjoyed following the diet but then decided to get back into training. I could do long slow rides OK but more intense threshold and above efforts were too hard.

So I came off the strict diet, mainly through going back to eating porridge before hard workouts, plus the occasional jelly baby if the workout is much over an hour. I have though kept the good habits picked up from the diet, jelly babies aside, everything I eat now is prepared from raw natural ingredients. Results are pretty good, 2 months into training I lost another stone and am at around 95% of my old power output and feel much healthier all round.

Leesykoi

Thks Bahzob and others for the informed replies.

It's a classic case of my missus trying it and asking me for support, i was sceptical at first but i've lost 5.5lb and am due to go to the 2nd phase on Sunday. I've not cycled this week on the attack phase as to be quite honest i've felt a little tired so we've been taking the dog for brisk walks (he's an 11yr old Westie so he's loving that).

I quite like the idea that if carried out successfully its a lifestyle overhaul and should be maintainable in the long run.

Good call on the jelly babies as i was concerned over on-ride nutrition for anything over 1hr and also i'd presumed Zero 7 tabs for electrolyte replacement would be fine for drinks.

PS Enjoying the meat this week but its true about the smelly breath - yuck !!!! :shock:

Thks.

Lee.

shedhead

Has anyone ever signed up for the "official" Dukan coaching plan & was it any good? or are there free plans to be had on the web?

thanks

Leesykoi

Hi,

Not signed up online but bought the book and to be honest its relatively straight forward.

Wk1 - Lost 5.5lb
Wk2 - running total is a loss of 8.5lbs and i've started cycling this month

Would like to hear of anyone else doing this diet ?

Lee.

shedhead

hi Lee,

Did you find it expensive?

Leesykoi

Weekly shopping bill has gone up slightly and i got the book from Amazon. So not amazingly expensive.

In the cruise phase now and have introduced vegetables every other day and must am enjoying vegetables more than ever. I can quite firmly believe that this diet followed correctly re-educates you on what/how you eat.

For three days this week have been guilty of not drinking enough water and noticed a slow down in weight loss SO DRINK LOTS OF WATER if you do the diet !!!

Good luck