{"id":400,"date":"2020-10-14T08:10:14","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T08:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=400"},"modified":"2020-10-14T08:10:14","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T08:10:14","slug":"dukan21","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan21","title":{"rendered":"Dukan diet Cruise Phase (Phase 2) week 21 \u2013 I hit the 50.0 milestone and reaffirmed the power of asparagus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">by&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.marshallbrain.com\/\">Marshall Brain<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is my journey so far with the Dukan Diet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I wrote an article on the Dukan diet:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan0.htm\">How the Dukan Diet works \u2013 The French diet that is supposed to end the obesity epidemic<\/a><\/li><li>I started with a 5-day \u201cattack phase\u201d:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-attack.htm\">Yesterday I finished a five-day \u201cAttack Phase\u201d on the Dukan Diet and lost 6.6 pounds \u2013 here\u2019s a report on how it went<\/a>&nbsp;(days 1 to 5)<\/li><li>I have been in \u201ccruise phase\u201d now for 21 weeks. Here are reports on the first 20 weeks:<ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan1.htm\">Week 1<\/a>&nbsp;(days 6 to 10)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan2.htm\">Week 2<\/a>&nbsp;(days 11 to 16)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan3.htm\">Week 3<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 17 to 25)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan4.htm\">Week 4<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 25 to 32)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan5.htm\">Week 5<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 32 through 39)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan6.htm\">Week 6<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 39 though 46)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan7.htm\">Week 7<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 46 though 53)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan8.htm\">Week 8<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 53 through 60)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan9.htm\">Week 9<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 60 through 67)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan10.htm\">Week 10<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 67 through 74)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan11.htm\">Week 11<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 74 through 81)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan12.htm\">Week 12<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 81 through 88)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan13.htm\">Week 13<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 88 through 95)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan14.htm\">Week 14<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 95 through 102)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan15.htm\">Week 15<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 102 to 109)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan16.htm\">Week 16<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 109 to 116)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan17.htm\">Week 17<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 116 to 123)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan18.htm\">Week 18<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 123 to 130)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan19.htm\">Week 19<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 130 to 137)<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan20.htm\">Week 20<\/a>&nbsp;(Days 137 to 144)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And today I am reporting on my twenty first week (days 144 through 151) on the Dukan diet. This has been a really good week because I hit 177.6 pounds, meaning that I have lost a total of 50.0 pounds so far on the Dukan diet. Yay! I also reaffirmed the water-purging qualities of asparagus and came face-to-face with my nut addiction. Of course that same day I hit the 50.0 milestone I ate a pound of hamburger patties for dinner and my weight rose 0.4 pounds. So yesterday I weighed 177.6, and today I am at 178.0. Overall, I lost 2.0 pounds for the week and have lost 49.6 pounds since starting the Dukan diet. Here is how the week unfolded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 144 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Today I gained 0.4 pounds and now weigh 180.0.<\/li><li>Today I ate a pound of chicken, half a pound of tilapia, 3 eggs, a handful of walnuts, about half of a cantaloupe (and wow was it good), a box of antioxidant vegetables, 4 ounces of lunch meat and 2 cups of cottage cheese.<\/li><li>Leigh and I went kayaking tonight for exercise. For the record: I don\u2019t really consider this exercise like walking or biking, because I have never kayaked intensely enough to breathe hard or sweat intensely.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 145 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>My weight is unchanged today. I weigh 180.0 again.<\/li><li>Today I ate a pound of chicken, a pound of salmon, 3 eggs, a handful of walnuts, a cup of plain yogurt, 8 ounces of lunch meat, half a cup of cottage cheese (much lower than \u201cnormal\u201d for me) and a box of antioxidant vegetables.<\/li><li>For exercise tonight I rode my real bicycle 8 miles with David and Leigh, Kayaked a little with Leigh and rode the exercise bike for 90 minutes and 850 calories. I watched episodes 4 and 5 of Lost while riding. I will admit that it is growing on me.<\/li><li>After a good food day and a night containing a lot of exercise, I expect to lose weight tomorrow and drop back into the 170s\u2026<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 146 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u2026but I would be completely wrong. This is the sixth or seventh case where a day of heavy exercise is followed by weight gain rather than weight loss. I gained 1.4 pounds and weigh 181.4 on the scale this morning. Frustrating.<\/li><li>How to explain this bizarre weight-gain-after-intense-exercise phenomenon? My only guess is that it is pure water. I sweat a LOT when riding the exercise bike. I looks like I have come out of the shower, and my shorts are completely soaked. So I drink a lot of water during and after the ride. Apparently my body stores a lot of that water for some reason post-exercise. Hopefully it comes back off today.<\/li><li>A friend sent me this picture today:<a href=\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/H9btg.jpg\">Before and after weight gain<\/a>Wow. See also this post:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-appearance-change.htm\">How does your appearance change when you become obese?<\/a>.<\/li><li>Today I ate 1.5 pounds of chicken, 3 eggs, a handful of walnuts, 8 ounces of lunch meat, 2 cups of cottage cheese and a box of antioxidant vegetables. (about 2,000 calories)<\/li><li>I walked for about an hour today while the twins were at soccer practice (I walked around and around their field while they were practicing).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 147 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>This morning on the scale I lost 0.4 pounds and now weigh 181.0.<\/li><li>This is kind of a head-scratcher to me \u2013 why is my weight up even though I am eating right and getting a good amount of exercise? I have to assume that it is water retention (gaining 1.4 pounds yesterday was clearly water retention), but I don\u2019t really understand why that is happening. I am simply going to be patient and see if it works itself out over time. In theory, the water should get released at some point and I will get back into the 170s.<\/li><li>Today I ate a pound of chicken, half a pound of round steak, 3 eggs, 2 cups of cottage cheese and a box of antioxidant vegetables.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 148 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Today on the scale I lost 1.2 pounds. I weigh 179.8. Let\u2019s see if I am in the 170s to stay, or if I am up in the 180s again tomorrow.<\/li><li>Today I ate a pound of tandoori chicken, two cups of cottage cheese, half a pound of round steak, half a pound of salmon, a box of antioxidant vegetables, 8 ounces of lunch meat, two handfuls of mixed nuts (approx. 400 calories?) and a serving of asparagus.<\/li><li>I will be interested to see if asparagus has any effect tonight. In the comments for week 20, Sara suggested that I give asparagus another try since this vegetable worked so well for me earlier in the Dukan diet. It\u2019s been a long time since I had asparagus, so it is worth a try.<\/li><li>For exercise today David and I rode our bikes 20 miles and Leigh and I walked 2 miles.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 149 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The asparagus definitely seems to have had an effect. I lost 1.4 pounds last night and now weigh 178.4.<\/li><li>Today for breakfast I was hungry. I ate a pound of Tandoori chicken and 2 cups of cottage cheese. Still hungry , so I ate 3 eggs. By 11AM I was hungry again, so I ate 8 ounces of lunch meat. For lunch I ate 500 calories of nuts, and then didn\u2019t eat anything else until dinner. For dinner I ate half a pound of salmon, a serving of asparagus and a box of antioxidant vegetables. About 2,000 calories total.<\/li><li>Let me talk briefly about the nuts. A large container (2.5 pounds) of mixed nuts somehow made it into the shopping cart at BJ\u2019s and ended up in the pantry. It is a gorgeous \u201cdeluxe\u201d nut mix \u2013 cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans and macadamia nuts, lightly salted, as shown&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Planters-Deluxe-Mixed-Nuts-container\/dp\/B000F46EOC\">here<\/a>&nbsp;(I have no idea why the price is so high on that page \u2013 it was $10 or so at BJ\u2019s). The nuts are now in the house, so I need a way to control consumption. I noticed on the label that it says a 1 ounce serving (<em>approximately 21 pieces<\/em>) = 170 calories. The \u201c21 pieces\u201d part was very interesting to me. What if I counted the nuts out to control consumption? Doing the math, each nut contains approximately 8 calories. So if I eat 12, that\u2019s about 100 calories. So I counted out 12 nuts and ate them one by one. This sounds pathetic I know, but I am trying to solve an addiction problem here. I ended up doing that 5 times, totaling 500 calories. That was lunch. For comparison, normally I would eat something like half a pound of chicken and a cup of cottage cheese, which is 450 calories, so it is about the same. In other words, I didn\u2019t really take a calorie hit by eating these nuts today.<\/li><li>For exercise I worked in the yard all day today. Nothing strenuous, but like last weekend it\u2019s a lot more motion than sitting in a chair all day.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 150 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>This morning on the scale I lost 0.8 pounds and now weigh 177.6. This is a milestone because when I started this diet, my starting weight was 227.6. So I have officially lost 50.0 pounds since starting the Dukan diet. Amazing. If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be able to lose 50 pounds this year, I would have laughed and laughed\u2026<\/li><li>I wrote a longer post on reaching the 50 pound milestone and things I\u2019ve learned along the way that is&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-50-pounds-lost.htm\">available here<\/a>.<\/li><li>Today I ate half a pound of chicken, 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 ounces of lunch meat, 300 calories of nuts (36 nuts, eaten one by one), 3 eggs, half a pound of tilapia, one pound of hamburger patties, a serving of asparagus and a box of antioxidant vegetables.<\/li><li>For exercise I rode my real bike for about an hour. It was a gorgeous late summer evening. I really am going to hate seeing summer end.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Day 151 &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I don\u2019t think that eating a pound of delicious hamburger patties last night was the best idea I ever had from a weight loss perspective, but wow were they good. Unfortunately my weight went up 0.4 pounds overnight to 178.0. So I have lost 2.0 pounds this week and 49.6 pounds since starting the Dukan diet.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been an interesting week. I reached the 50.0 pound milestone, which is&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-50-pounds-lost.htm\">great<\/a>. I reaffirmed the power of asparagus that was first learned back in&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan2.htm\">Week 2<\/a>. I took positive steps toward taming my nut addiction, although I agree the technique is a little pathetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is asparagus cheating? That is one question I have been asking myself for a couple of days. It definitely seems to have helped my body dump water. But it would seem like, as soon as I stop eating asparagus, the water will come back. I have 2 or 3 servings of asparagus left, so I will finish it up and then see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing I have noticed is that, at 178.0, my stomach is almost gone. My mental image of how my body&nbsp;<em>should<\/em>&nbsp;look and the mirror image that I see in the morning are becoming synchronized. Still no rippling abs, but that will be something to work on in the future. Just getting rid of the pudginess is a good start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will I hit 175.0 in the coming week, before the end of September? That seems like a stretch. However, it is fascinating to me that, even this deep into the Dukan diet, I am still able to lose weight at a reasonable clip. We will see if that continues. Onward!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">[[<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan22.htm\">Click here to find out what happened next&#8230;<\/a><\/strong>]]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Dukan Table of Contents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-diet\">My Dukan Diet Experience (I lost 52 pounds on this diet)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-cost\">How much does the Dukan Diet cost per day?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-calculator\">Very cool calculator for calculating your specific dietary needs &#8211; Protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, etc.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-fasting\">Fasting and Fasting diets &#8211; Four different ways to try a fasting diet<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-ideal-weight.htm\">Good question &#8211; what is your &#8220;ideal weight&#8221; if you want to be healthy?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-stuck.htm\">What can<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-stuck\"> <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-stuck.htm\">you do when you &#8220;get stuck&#8221; at some weight plateau on the Dukan diet (or any diet)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-dc\">Drew Carey loses 80 pounds with a no-carb diet<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-appearance-change\">How does your appearance change when you become obese?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-appearance-change\">How does your appearance change when you become obese?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-diet-science\">Would you like to lose weight? Video shows the latest science on what works and what doesn&#8217;t<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-water\">This has got to be the easiest dieting\/weight loss tip ever: drink more water<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-greek-yogurt\">How to make Greek yogurt at home and cut your yogurt costs in half<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-greek-yogurt2\">I made half a gallon of Greek yogurt this weekend &#8211; talk about cheap and easy! And Tasty!<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-warnings-all-wrong\">All the dire warnings I have gotten about the Dukan diet have turned out to be wrong<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-carbs-entitled\">What if everything that we are taught about carbs is actually propaganda?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-carbs-dont-work\">How Carbohydrates Don&#8217;t Work &#8211; in fact, carbs are probably causing the obesity epidemic. If you are overweight, it is <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-carbs-propaganda.htm\">probably <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-carbs-dont-work.htm\">the carbs<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-carbs-entitled\">Why do we feel like we are entitled to carbs? That we cannot live without them?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan-50-pounds-lost\">Today I officially reached the &#8220;50.0 pounds lost&#8221; milestone on my Dukan Diet weight loss journey, and you can too<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by&nbsp;Marshall Brain Here is my journey so far with the Dukan Diet: I wrote an article on the Dukan diet:&nbsp;How the Dukan Diet works \u2013 The French diet that is supposed to end the obesity epidemic I started with a 5-day \u201cattack phase\u201d:&nbsp;Yesterday I finished a five-day \u201cAttack Phase\u201d on the Dukan Diet and lost &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/dukan21\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dukan diet Cruise Phase (Phase 2) week 21 \u2013 I hit the 50.0 milestone and reaffirmed the power of asparagus<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-400","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/400\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marshallbrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}