Many women with a few pounds to lose are all too familiar with the roller coaster ride that dieting can be. You hear about an exciting new diet that will have you losing weight immediately by just eating a certain food or type of nutrient and you’re just sure it will work for you. You lose a little weight, but sooner or later you get tired of the same foods and gain it all back and then some. It’s a self-defeating cycle that is very hard to break because none of these diets require a change in your lifestyle. A calorie tracker can help you lose weight for good because it encourages a permanent switch to healthier eating.

When you are journaling all of the food that you eat, a food database is used to calculate the number of calories and nutrients in each food. Since an online journal often has a set calorie goal for the day, if you eat all of your calories for breakfast, you could find that you are very hungry throughout the day. This is how journaling encourages a switch to a healthier lifestyle. Fruits and vegetables are lower in calories than other foods, meaning you can have a lot of them at a meal, more than enough to keep you feeling full throughout the day, even if you are eating fewer total calories in a day.

When you consistently use your food diary, you will find that foods that are higher in fats, sugars, and the like will take up a large proportion of your total calorie budget for the day. Since nobody likes to feel hungry, success in weight loss is very often achieved through a slow switch to healthier food items and a natural replacement of high calorie foods with lower calorie foods with lots of good nutrients. Eventually, your body gets used to the healthier foods, so much so that instead of craving the fats and sugars, you crave fruits and vegetables.

Long term weight loss is achieved with a food journal through this natural switch to a healthier lifestyle. If you go into your weight loss journey knowing that the changes that you are making are going to be permanent, it can be a lot easier to stay consistent. Weight loss and maintenance throughout the years takes more than just a fad diet, it takes years of constant awareness of what kinds of foods you are eating and the total calories that you are consuming in a day.

This article gives pertinent information about Dukan Diet and its side-effects

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Pierre Dukan, a French doctor and nutritionist, challenged with the case of obesity started to look for alternative ways in curing the illness. After 20 years of thorough research he published in the year 2000, a book called, “Je ne sais pas maigrir” or translated as, “I don’t know how to get slimmer.” It gained the best-seller in France after a year it has been published.
It was made a hit in UK when Kate Middleton, now the duchess of Cambridge, tried the Dukan Diet before her marriage to the beloved Prince William, she reportedly claimed a loss of two dress sizes. It also allegedly claimed to help five million French. The book is also gaining fame in the US in the year 2011 when actress/singer, Jennifer Lopez, lost pounds after her pregnancy by following this diet.
Dukan Diet: What is it? How does this work?
Dukan Diet is similar to the famous Atkins diet. Atkins and Dukan are much alike in terms of non-intake of carbs initially and do not require portion control or counting calorie consumptions. In Atkins, it requires net carbohydrate intakes and unlike Dukan, it suggests a daily intake of oats, increase water consumption and 20 minutes of everyday brisk walking. Dukan Diet adopts four phases namely: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization.
Four Phases of the Dukan Diet
Attack: In this starter phase, the dieter is only allowed take protein rich foods that are exquisitely low in fat. Dr. Dukan provided 72-item list of foods to be eaten, it excludes pork, lamb, poultry products and cheeses. Food should always be cooked but without adding any fat to it, it best to cook in grilling or roasting. It also requires you to eat 1 ½ tbsp. oat bran & 1.5 liters of water per day. This phase should be followed around 2-7 days or more. Results from this initial phase within 5 days may result in 4-7 lbs. loss. This phase promotes quick loss of weight since it is strictly based on a protein-only diet.
Cruise: Cruise, the second to the fourth phase of the Dukan diet scheme. During this phase dieters who were only allowed to eat protein-only foods can now alternate a 28-items of non-starchy vegetables. They may take attack phase diet for today and take non-starchy veggie diet for tomorrow, and so this phase must go on by alternating these two types of diet each day. This phase may last long enough as much as you want by reaching your desired weight and assuring 2 pounds per week loss.
Consolidation: As one achieves the desired weight, one has to go the next phase called Consolidation, this is the maintenance phase of this diet scheme where you have to prevent putting back excess pounds. The plan in this phase is less strict compared to the first two phases. During this phase you are permitted to eat protein-only and veggie diet along with a piece of low-sugar fruit, 2 slices of whole grain bread and a portion of hard cheese. In this phase you are allowed to have 1-2 serving of starchy foods and one celebration meal per week. The phase of consolidation does not expect to loss off pounds but rather it is steadily the maintenance process.
Stabilization: Stabilization is the final phase and a life-long phase of the diet scheme. In here maintenance of the life-changing diet may be a challenging and tempting. During this portion of the scheme, one is already permitted to allow any food intake that a person wants and by also sticking to the diet rule in the consolidation phase. As Pierre Dukan suggest, that staying on the phase 1 rule once a week and eat whatever you like for the rest of the week lowers the chances of regaining weight.
Pros and Cons of Dukan Diet
Pros: The fast results of this diet scheme is beneficially rewarding and motivating. It allows you to have protein and veggie meal plan diets and does not require you to count off your calorie intakes.
Cons: It is highly restrictive and can exclude healthy foods. Dieters can experience side-effects such as symptoms of headaches, nausea, lethargy, irritable and loss of concentration. Dieters may acquire halitosis (bad breath), metallic tasting mouth and strong smell in their urines. For those people who have problems with their kidneys and liver are not advised to follow this diet plan. It is not also recommended for pregnant and nursing mothers.

Views and Opinions by Health Experts on the Dukan Diet
There are lots of critics in this diet plan. Due to the restrictive type scheme of this diet, some fruits, grains and nuts which are healthy and have high amounts of vitamins and minerals that are vital to the nutrition of the body are eliminated. Keri Gans of American Dietetic Association, said that the lost amount of multivitamins that should be acquired from those restricted foods are not compensated in the Dukan diet. Experts have also criticized that experiencing such side-effects may not be healthy at all.

Not every weight loss program forces a person to eat bland and flavorless foods that are unsatisfying and leave them hungry for more. In fact, many healthy things are also incredibly delicious and filling. They also will leave a person feeling much better than they would, had they eaten a heavy, fattening meal. The secret is to find a balance between things that will be good for you, and those that are harmful. Additionally, one needs to consider the quantity of what is being eaten not just the quality.

We know that things like cheeseburgers and sodas are bad for us. It is not hard to guess that pizza is not often a good choice either. What we do not often realize is that beef and pork are also fairly unhealthy meats to eat. We should not eat them every day or even really at all. They are full of fat and sodium and are bad for a weight loss program but also are bad for one’s heart and other body systems. That means white rice and white bread in addition to sugary snacks and drinks. These things have almost no nutrition and they are simply empty calories that can stymie your progress.

Good foods to eat are the key to a successful weight loss program. Replace the protein that you were once getting from meats with a healthier alternative. Beans and lentils both contain lots of good protein. Also, low fat milk and yogurt are both good for you and taste good. Consider replacing your breakfast with an egg white omelet instead of cheesy scrambled eggs. The whites offer all of the protein without the added cholesterol that is in the yolks. Also, one needs to make sure that they are eating good carbohydrates. Brown rice and whole wheat pasta are both good for you and add healthy fiber to the diet. Also, whole grain, fresh baked breads are excellent sources of carbohydrates that the body needs to function. All of these options are full of flavor and will be very filling. In addition to the carbohydrates and proteins, a person wants to eat several servings of fresh fruit and vegetables to the diet.

Developing a weight loss program is not hard. It simply requires replacing some bad habits with better ones. A person need only substitute good alternatives to some of the worst offenders of their bad diet. It is a simple step to have vegetables and rice for dinner instead of eating a steak. A person may find, after time, that their weight loss program is not only helping them achieve a better physique but it makes them feel better as well. Our bodies are not accustomed to eating these unhealthy processed foods and that is why they do not make us feel very good. Instead, let’s switch to fresh and delicious ingredients to make sure we are eating right for our bodies.