Oat Bran Pancake

Happy Saturday everyone!! I guess the world isn’t going to end today after all 😛

Day 5 of Dukan and I’m still happy! Yesterday was my first day of the Cruise Phase so I was able to add some veggies to my meals!

But let me tell you about the best recipe I found for an oat bran pancake! Since you need to have oat bran daily on this diet, I was looking for a new way to incorporate oat bran into my diet because I was sick of mixing it into yogurt. Honestly, I thought an oat bran pancake would taste terrible, but I was oh so wrong!!

The oat bran recipe calls for:

1 egg white

2 tablespoons of plain, non-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons of oat bran

and splenda/sugar substitute to your liking

That’s it!! Mix it all together and put it in a pan! (I also added a bit of cinnamon!)

I didn’t get to snap any pictures of the finished product because I dove right into it!

It was DELICIOUS!! Who knew?!

I was super excited for these babies last night as well:

I missed my veggies! I really appreciated them more after not having them for so long (even if it was only 3 days) 😛

Today is a pure protein day. I am doing the 1-1 plan: every other day is a protein/veggie day. I feel like this is the best plan for me!

Today is starting out dreary.. AGAIN. I’m praying that the sun comes out for a little while today! But I won’t get my hopes up

I was supposed to work today, but now I think the plans have changed and I will work during the week. My mom and I might be doing downtown later to an Arts Festival! Annnddd I might be hanging out with friends I haven’t seen in 1 1/2!!!! So I’m hoping today turns out to be as fun as I think it will be 🙂

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! And I hope everyone is having better weather than I am!! haha

What is one vegetable that you cannot live without?

So Far So Good

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

It’s Day 3 of my Attack Phase on the Dukan Diet & I am feeling great! I’ve lost some weight, but I know it’s just water weight right now. My body feels better, though. I’m not bloated at all and I just feel good.

A nice thing about this diet is that I don’t feel like I am starving myself. These pure proteins really fill you up and there are no calorie restrictions. I’m excited to be able to start eating veggies again soon though because I love them soo much! I know that not incorporating main food groups into your diet is frowned upon, but this is very temporary and I will be adding them back into my diet soon.

I do have to say that Day 2 was tough for me. I woke up and started making breakfast: 3 egg whites, 1 yolk, and 2 slices of lean turkey bacon. I wasn’t even that hungry, but I knew I needed to eat. While I was cooking, the thought of putting more protein into my body was making me sick. I had to lay down for a few minutes. It blew my mind how much I was sick of protein already and it was only day 2!! But that feeling passed and I was fine the rest of the day!

For lunch I tried to be a little more creative. There are 72 pure proteins that you are allowed to eat during this phase, but I feel like it’s very hard to get creative.

I tried making somewhat of a smoothie bowl!

I blended together 1 cup of Greek yogurt, about a 1/2 cup of skim milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, a decent amount of splenda (I didn’t measure, just added until the sweetness was right), and icecubes!

Now this was definitely NOT the best smoothie I’ve ever had, but it was better than eating more chicken or eggs!

I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for my family. That was hard! All I wanted to do was pick up a bag or tortilla chips and salsa and dig in! The bananas were also looking wonderful! Who am I kidding, everything looked good to me!

But I know that I cannot break this diet. This is something that I really want and I would be so disappointed in myself if I lost discipline.

When I got home, my dad was back and he had a surprise for me!

Trout!!!!

He knows that I’m on this diet, so he went fishing and caught some yummy trout that I can cook up! I love fish a lot, so I was extremely happy. I actually had a piece this morning for breakfast! It was delicious! Thanks Dad 🙂

I’m not sure what I’m going to do today. The past few days have been super boring. The weather has been horrible – gloomy and rain. 😦 I can’t wait until it is nice out so I can be outside and start working again!!!

My brother will be living back at home for the next couple of days. He’s having surgery today. Nothing life-threatening, but send your prayers his way!!

Hope everyone has a great day! It’s almost the weekend 🙂

Who can? Dukan!

First off, HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY to Danielle, one of my bestest friends in the world!!!!!! I love you! Can’t wait to celebrate 🙂

So I’m not sure if I’ve gone crazy, but I’ve given it a lot of though and I’m going to try the Dukan Diet. My mom is also doing it with me so we can motivate each other. I first heard about the Dukan Diet while watching Dr. Oz and of course it got my attention when they said you lose weight fast. It’s a low carb, high protein diet somewhat like the Atkins Diet. There are 4 stages to the Dukan Diet:

1. Attack Phase: This stage lasts anywhere from 1 to 10 days depending on how much weight you’re trying to lose. I’m going to be in this stage for 5 days. In the attack phase, there are 72 pure proteins that you are allowed to eat. These foods include things like lean beef, turkey, and chicken, fish, eggs, skimmed milk, fat-free cottage cheese, and non-fat yogurt.

2. Cruise Phase: In this phase, you eat the 72 pure proteins plus a list of 28 vegetables. Vegetables included in this phase are broccoli, celery, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, and zucchini. The length of this phase depends on how much weight you’d like to lose. Stay on this diet 3 days for every pound that you’d like to lose.

3. Consolidation Phase: You start introducing other foods into your diet during this stage. You get to eat 2 slices of bread, a piece of fruit per day, 4 g of cheese per day, and 2 starches per week. You also get two celebration meals per week of whatever you want – pizza, mac and cheese, desserts, ANYTHING! Stay on this phase 5 days for every pound lost. There should be one pure protein day per week.

4. Stabilization Phase: This phase is to keep you aware of your body and eating habits. You are on this stage for life. You are allowed to eat whatever you want, but every Thursday should be a pure protein day like the Attack Phase.

During each of these stages you also consume oat bran everyday. 1.5 tablespoons in the Attack Phase, 2 tablespoons in the Cruise Phase, and 3 tablespoons per day for every day after that!

Exercise is also important during this diet. The Dukan Diet recommends walking 20 minutes per day during the Attack Phase and 30 minutes per day for the rest of the diet.

Of course with every diet, there are criticisms and skeptics. It’s going to be hard to go without carbs, sweets, and fruit for so long. But for me, the pros outweigh the cons.

Today is my official first day. So far, so good! I ate yogurt with oat bran for breakfast and I feel fine!

Since I’m going to miss my “bad” food, I binged hard yesterday 😛

Chocolate chips right out of the bag + turkey, cheese,& honey mustard hoagie = heaven!

I’ll see you soon, my loves 😛

I also went grocery shopping yesterday to prepare for this diet.

Look at all of this yummy protein!! Can’t wait to dig in and start creating some new recipes with this stuff 🙂

I can’t wait to see the results of this diet. I’m doing this to lose weight, but also get back on track. I’ve been eating very poorly while I’ve been home and I’m looking for a new start. I’m excited to share my journey and progress with all of you 🙂

Well, I’m going to go! Bradley Cooper (aka one of the most beautiful men in the world) is on Ellen right now! haha

Do you know anyone who has done the Dukan Diet?