Dukan Diet Attack: menu for the week, list of allowed foods and recipes for cooking

Pierre Dukan worked on his system for several decades, constantly improving it. In 2000, he published the book “I Can’t Lose Weight,” which immediately became a bestseller, translated into dozens of languages and published in forty countries. The Dukan diet is often called a ketogenic diet. Its principle is that carbohydrates are excluded from the diet, so the human body is forced to use up reserves of accumulated fat, extracting energy from them. However, first of all, glycogen reserves from the liver are depleted and only then the process of releasing ketone bodies begins, and ketosis manifests itself - an adaptive reaction of the body formed in the process of evolution.

The Dukan diet is safe and effective only for people with healthy pancreas.

Stages of the Dukan Diet

The ketogenic diet consists of four stages (sometimes dieters use the word “phase” instead of the word “stage”). The first two of them are aimed at reducing body weight by burning fat, and the second are aimed at stabilizing weight and maintaining the achieved result.

Stage No. 1. Attack

At this stage, the first results of weight loss are achieved. More than seventy types of protein products help start the process.

Stage No. 2. Alternation.

28 vegetables are added to meat products, and the diet is now based on alternating protein and protein-vegetable days.

Stage No. 3. Consolidation.

This stage is aimed at stabilizing weight. Foods with high energy value are gradually added to the diet. Protein days help to avoid the effect when the lost kilograms come back and bring “friends” with them.

Stage No. 4. Stabilization.

This stage for people who want to maintain the slim figure acquired with the help of the Dukan diet should last a lifetime. It involves following just three simple rules:

Consuming three tablespoons of oat bran every day.
At least twenty-minute walks and avoid using elevators.
The need to arrange protein days once a week.

The importance of the first step

The first step is choosing a diet, after which it is advisable to take the second – a trip to the doctor, who will refer you for tests. It is advisable to do this because the diet may have contraindications. This fully applies to the Dukan diet. Below we will talk about the essence of the Dukan diet. “Attack” is one of its parts, the initial stage, which is the most important. But it can also be used as an independent scheme. This is what we will talk about.

The diet got its name from its creator, the French doctor Dukan. Promoting a self-developed method of losing weight, he insists that in order to effectively burn fat, it is necessary to minimize the consumption of carbohydrates.

Basic principles of the diet

Reducing calories will never lead to good results! – this is what the author of the diet himself has repeatedly stated. He explained his point of view by saying that as soon as a person returns to a normal diet, the weight returns again. That is why Dukan developed a diet where the body first burns excess fat tissue and then stops accumulating it altogether.

You are not in danger of hunger. This principle is especially popular with those who have experimented with tiny portions on other diets. Pierre Dukan forbids limiting himself in the amount of food he eats.

The choice is huge. Even the most sophisticated gourmet will find something that suits him perfectly in the list of permitted products. If you decide to “Ducan,” then you should always have a table of what you can eat in front of you. This is a hundred products, of which 72 are classified as protein and 28 as vegetable. And it’s up to you to decide which ones to choose and how often to eat them.

Total purge. Before starting a diet, it is recommended to get rid of all foods that are not on the list of permitted ones. Put sugar, buns and sweets out of sight, throw away stale cereals and pasta, clean the refrigerator of harmful mayonnaise, ketchup and sauces, forget about cheese and sausages, which are of no use. If you don’t come across any forbidden, and therefore so desirable, “goodies”, then it will be much easier to steal.

Bran is required. There is hardly a person who will eat oat bran with pleasure. But, alas, you cannot do without this product. Oat bran should be on the menu every day, because they:

help you feel full faster;
cleanses the intestines of toxins;
help remove food debris.

Of all types of bran, oat bran is considered the most useful.
Movement is life! Don't worry, on the Dukan diet you won't have to sweat for hours in the gym, torture yourself with a dull lap swim in the pool, or put your leg behind your ear in yoga class. Physical activity with the described method of losing weight is very, very moderate, but mandatory. Daily 20-minute walks will speed up your metabolism, cause fat to be broken down faster, and keep your muscles toned. If you feel that this time is not enough for you, you can gradually increase the duration. It is important that physical activity brings joy. During the third stage of the diet, you can add morning exercises or a light set of exercises for the most “problem” areas on the body.

Vitamins are necessary. To reduce the stress of changing your diet and slightly support your body as it rebuilds, you need to take vitamins regularly. Since vegetables and fruits are completely excluded during the attack stage, it’s time to start drinking a multivitamin complex, but strictly follow the dosage indicated on the package.

Negative reviews

The disadvantages of the diet being studied are quite serious. These include the following:

Carbohydrate deficiency sometimes negatively affects mental performance while following this diet.
Refusal of fat can have a negative impact on the health of the female body, since adipose tissue is involved in the production of hormones. And their deficiency is fraught with menstrual irregularities that threaten reproductive function.
The body also needs fats to form the cell membrane. If there are not enough of them, naturally, the body may suffer. This primarily applies to the skin and gastrointestinal tract.
In the absence of a sufficient amount of fat (less than 10% of the total diet), the production of hormones that prevent aging of the body stops. These include hormones of the thyroid gland, growth, adrenal glands, and sex hormones.
Puts a lot of stress on the kidneys and liver.
There is a constant feeling of thirst.
The increased fluid intake recommended for consumption increases the volume of the stomach.
Not suitable for supporters of vegetarian diets.
The effect is observed only if all recommendations are strictly followed.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Dukan diet

Flaws:

The Dukan diet is contraindicated for people with gastritis, ulcers and other stomach diseases.

In the first days of a diet, people usually feel a loss of energy. Fatigue is not the body’s reaction to a poor diet and increased physical activity, since all this is not provided for in the diet. Apathy and reluctance to get up from the couch again are psychological manifestations of purely physiological processes: the amount of ketone bodies in the body has increased, the amount of vitamins has decreased.
If you don't like to cook, then the limited number of products and the almost complete absence of additives will make you think about the need for a diet, and maybe even make you move away from it altogether.
Choosing approved foods for people with allergies or individual intolerances can be a problem, so it is better to consult a doctor before starting a diet.
If you have a sweet tooth, then the decision to give up your favorite desserts can lead you to depression. But this is nothing more than a trick of the brain. It is important to set yourself up to give up sweets for a while and after reaching your ideal weight, you can still occasionally treat yourself to a little ice cream or chocolate.

Advantages:

You independently choose your favorite foods from the list of healthy ones, decide when and in what quantity to eat them.
The Dukan diet is always a guaranteed result if you manage to adhere to all the rules and requirements and avoid failures.
Fast and solid results at the first, “attacking” stage.
The diet is easy to follow both at home and at work. Even a rich buffet at the resort will delight you with a considerable number of permitted dishes.

Low-fat food rule

Having examined the permitted products of the Dukan “Attack” diet, we come to the conclusion that only protein foods that contain a small amount of fat are allowed. This rule is another fundamental feature of the nutritional scheme under consideration. This is what distinguishes it from the “Kremlin diet”.

According to the nutritionist himself, protein dishes should not be heavy. After all, as mentioned above, the body spends a lot of effort to assimilate them. And if they are also fatty, then the Dukan “Attack” diet menu for every day without adding carbohydrates can cause serious harm to the body.

Attack Stage: Weekly Menu

The most difficult, both physiologically and psychologically, is the first stage of the diet - the attack stage, which lasts no more than ten days if there is a large amount of excess weight, and no more than five days for those who need to lose only a few kilograms.

The attack stage should not be delayed, otherwise the Dukan diet, instead of benefit, can cause serious harm to the body.

Authorized products:

meat (beef, horse meat, rabbit);
offal (tongue, heart, liver, kidneys);
fish (boiled, stewed, smoked, as well as canned fish without oil);
seafood (without limitation of types);
ham (fat content no more than 4 percent);
poultry meat without skin (with the exception of goose and duck);
eggs (whites can be eaten without restrictions, yolks - only in small quantities, especially if the level of cholesterol in the blood is high);
fermented milk products (low-fat cottage cheese, milk, yoghurts without pieces of fruit, kefir, fermented baked milk);
oat bran in the amount of one and a half tablespoons (they can be added to yogurt or made into flat cakes);
at least 1.5 liters of clean water daily;
tea, coffee (natural, instant, chicory coffee drinks), herbal infusions, Lite sparkling water;
spices and seasonings (salt in moderation, tomato paste, onion, garlic, basil, cilantro, dill, parsley).

Meat can be cooked in any convenient way, including frying in a frying pan with a small amount of vegetable oil.
If you don’t want to come up with any new dishes and look for recipes, use the menu below for the week.

Monday

Breakfast: three-egg omelet with milk.
Lunch: creamed chicken soup, mint tea with oat bran cake.
Afternoon snack: kefir, lemon pie.
Dinner: mackerel baked in the oven, kefir.

Tuesday

Breakfast: oat bran milk porridge, a cup of coffee.
Lunch: beef chops, chamomile tea.
Afternoon snack: boiled seafood.
Dinner: oven-baked turkey slices, yogurt.

Wednesday

Breakfast: boiled eggs with herbs, a cup of coffee.
Lunch: steamed chicken cutlets, bran cake, green tea.
Afternoon snack: cheesecakes cooked in the oven.
Dinner: omelette roll with red fish wrapped in it.

Thursday

Breakfast: sandwich (bran cake + ham), coffee drink.
Lunch: fish soup, boiled eggs with onions, ginger tea.
Afternoon snack: whipped egg whites with sugar substitute, sprinkled with lemon juice.
Dinner: fish baked in a sleeve, rosehip decoction.

Friday

Breakfast: meat chips, black tea.
Lunch: chicken baked in foil, green tea.
Afternoon snack: bran pancakes, kefir.
Dinner: fish salad, mint tea.

Saturday

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with meat or ham, a cup of coffee.
Lunch: beef steak, black tea with lemon.
Afternoon snack: oat bran cake, flavored yogurt.
Dinner: omelet with onions and seafood, green tea.

Sunday

Breakfast: boiled eggs with herbs and garlic, a cup of coffee.
Lunch: chicken breast stewed in tomato paste, tea with chamomile.
Afternoon snack: oat bran porridge with added vanillin.
Dinner: mixed fish, kefir.

Canned soup

The Dukan diet is one of the few that allows the consumption of canned food. There are recipes for delicious dishes made from them. We can make soup. For this you will need:

300 g of any canned fish (necessarily in its own juice);
medium sized onion;
a bunch of dill, salt, pepper and a little bay leaf to taste;
1 liter of water.

Boil water and add finely chopped onion, pepper and bay leaf. After five minutes, add the fish, previously mashed directly in the jar along with the juice. Boil for another five minutes and add dill.

Cooking recipes for the attack phase

Fragrant mackerel baked in the oven

To prepare this dish you will need:

mackerel carcass;
lemon;
greens (parsley, dill, cilantro);
salt;
black pepper;
baking foil.

Wash the mackerel under running water, separate the head, clean the carcass from the insides, rinse again under the tap, and place on a paper napkin to remove excess water. After a few minutes, stuff the belly of the fish with herbs and sprinkle lemon juice inside and out. Add salt and pepper to taste. Wrap the mackerel in foil to ensure there are no gaps where juice can leak. Place the product in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and cook for 20-25 minutes.

A simple recipe for cheesecakes

Required ingredients:

1 pack of low-fat cottage cheese;
1 chicken egg;
4 tablespoons of water;
2 tablespoons flaxseeds;
2 tablespoons cornstarch;
sweetener;
vanillin;
a pinch of salt.

Using a blender or coffee grinder, grind the flax seeds to make flour. Mix all ingredients. Form cheesecakes from the resulting homogeneous mass. Place them in baking dishes or on foil spread on a baking sheet. Pre-grease the molds or foil with a small amount of any vegetable oil. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, baking at 190 degrees. Hot cheesecakes with yogurt or low-fat sour cream are especially tasty.

Pollock in tomato sauce. Dukan's Recipe

The recipe for cooking fish with tomato sauce is also very popular. It will require:

Fresh pollock – 3 pcs.;
Tomato paste – 3 tbsp;
Salt, garlic and any spices - to taste

As you can see, the recipe requires fewer ingredients. As a result, it also cooks a little faster.
Cut the cleaned and dried fish into the required portions. Fry in a hot frying pan on each side until golden brown.
Meanwhile, dilute the tomato paste with warm water. Season with salt and various spices.
When the pollock is almost ready, add the resulting sauce to the fish and simmer until fully cooked.

Method conditions

There are certain conditions for a positive result of the diet to appear. Failure to comply with the conditions leads to violation of the regime, and this can have an extremely negative impact on the result and the body as a whole.

You should drink about two liters of fluid every day. This includes drinks, tea, tinctures and decoctions, coffee.
Food is prepared without the use of fat, mayonnaise, or sour cream.
Any type of heat treatment is allowed.
Avoid salt; however, you can use permitted seasonings and sauces.
Mandatory consumption of bran every day.
You should eat at least four times a day, the interval between meals is about four hours.
Daily exercise or gymnastics. As a last resort, regular walking or hiking.
Before starting the course, you should take a course of vitamins.