Customer Reviews

The Dukan Diet: The French medical solution for permanent weight loss

5 star:		(201)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I am 5'9" tall. When I started the diet I forgot to weigh myself, so I am not sure exactly how much I weighed or how much I have lost, but I can tell you this. I went from a size 14 clothes to a size 8. I started the diet on April 15, 2010 after reading an excerpt in the London Daily Mail. I even pre-ordered my book from Amazon.uk. Absolutely everyone has notice the difference. One thing that I do because I work five days a week is I cook my food all on one day and place in containers in the refrigerator. This way I always have something to eat. One of the quickiest ways to fall off a diet is when you have none of your available food ready, this is one way to avoid this issue. I have had no issues with the diet and it really works. I recommend this diet to anyone. So far two friends and three relatives have also started the diet with great success. I wanted to come back and add that today is 2/2/2011 and I am still a size 8 still working the diet. I did succumb to some parties during the holidays and gain 6 lbs, but went back to the beginning of the diet and some all protein days and I am back. I wish I could post pictures for all to see. 4/23/11 A friend just started the Dukan diet two weeks ago and she has lost 13 lbs. A year ago, I told her about the diet and it was not good enough til she heard about it on the news recently because of the Middleton's going on the diet and now she is a convert.

Attack Phase, After Seven Days: Minus 11 pounds. Felt pretty crappy until day three, then just as the good diet doctor predicted, started feeling better. No hunger or craving but getting bored with broiled chicken breast and non-fat yogurt.

Must admit I am beginning to enjoy that little morsel called a Dukan Oat Bran Galette (mini pancake made with oat bran, egg white, non-fat Greek yogurt, artificial sweetener - recipe included in book).

Cruise Phase, After One Week & One Day: Minus 16 pounds total and still going strong: I've chosen to do two all-protein days followed by five protein-and-vegetable days.

Worst of it is going without a beer or vodka martini at least once in awhile. Looking forward to the day when I reach Cruise Phase goal and can have alcohol again. At an estimated loss of two pounds a week during the Cruise Phase, I have at least another two months to go before having that martini. That's a long time and a pretty big commitment to the Dukan Diet. But it does seem to be working.

Other than the ban on alcohol, the regimen to me hasn't been too difficult to follow. Time will test not only perseverance but whether we Dukan dieters will be able to maintain our weight loss.

Millions of French and Europeans have tried the program, which consists of four phases: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization. It's a high-protein, low fat, almost zero carbohydrate recipe for weight loss. Oh, yes and a quart and a half of water to flush the kidneys and at least 20 minutes of exercise a day and no escalators or elevators. Those last items, Dukan insists are "non-negotiable."

There are 3.5 million of the diet books in print in French in addition to a gazillion copies in what the publisher says are 14 languages including English and now, American. In addition to an introduction to the diet and its four phases, the book contains a long list of allowed foods and an extensive collection of many tantalizing recipes, for example "Tandoori Chicken Escalodes" or "Turgloff Beef Kabobs." Mmmm, sounds good and filling, too. I also appreciated the fact that there are recipes for various "legal" sauces, such as "Diet Bearnaise" and Dukan Herb Mayonnaise" that add some zest and even zing to your slab of protein.

Will we Americans jump on the diet bandwagon? The book has been on the French best-seller list for more than ten years. Dukan says in the introduction he resisted publishing here because the North American audience scared him.

Being overweight appears to be a problem that "is more difficult in America than anywhere else." Deciding to publish now, Dukan says, represents "His greatest challenge and his greatest risk."

Time will tell whether he succeeds or fails. For me at least, I've lost 16 pounds in 15 days and gained two notches on my belt. Other than a martini, what I need most right now is encouragement and the motivation to keep going.

I will keep this review very simple. This diet worked for me.

I am only 5 feet tall and, since the age of 15, have always been a very careful, healthy eater and a regular exerciser. However, in the past ten years, my weight just continued to creep higher and higher. No matter how much I tried, I simply could not lose the weight. I had my hormones checked and my thyroid checked and just about everything else checked and the weight simply continued to pile on slowly and regularly.

Please don't say that a "better" diet and "more exercise" would have worked. It simply did NOT work for me, and my diet was about as balanced, low-fat, and healthy as a diet could be and I walked and exercised nearly every single day. Yet, I got fatter and more sluggish as time went on.

All those scientists and nutritionists and doctors out there who are telling people not to follow the Dukan Diet, please tell me why I gained so much weight if I ate only good foods, watched my calories carefully, never (and I do mean never) ate junk, and exercised regularly? Was I supposed to accept the theory that it was "menopause" or "aging" or something else that I couldn't control?

Out of sheer desperation,and thanks to a suggestion from my sister, I bought The Dukan Diet book and I started the diet. I have lost 22 pounds, and I now weigh about what I weighed when I was only 18!! I went from a size 8 to a size 4 (and sometimes 2), I have energy and muscle tone, and I feel great.

There are some carbohydrates in this diet (the oat bran and wheat bran) and there are also the natural sugars that occur in the dairy products that (thankfully) are "allowed" on the diet. In the third phase, one would add in fruits, pasta, bread, etc., once again.

I am now in the third phase of the diet, in which these foods are added back in.

While I would guess that this diet could be quite unhealthy if you stayed on it forever, this is really a short-term diet with a long-term plan for healthy eating and weight maintenance. Everything that Pierre Dukan says in the book makes a lot of sense to me. I am not a doctor, not a scientist, and not a nutritionist. However, I don't know a single person who went on a calorie-restricted diet and did not gain the weight back after reaching his/her weight goal and then eating like a normal person again.

It makes sense to me that if you go on a calorie-restricted diet for a period of time and simply resume eating regularly after you lose weight, you will most likely gain the weight back. If you use the Dukan Diet, follow the diet through its first two phases, and then begin to add foods back in slowly, it seems to make sense that you will most likely maintain your weight. Better yet, you will have accomplished something wonderful and focused on your health and well-being as well as on your eating styles.

What I liked best about this diet, besides the fact that it WORKED, is that non-fat dairy products are allowed (and there is a lot to choose from these days) and certain soy-based burgers are allowed. Additionally, the first phase, the attack phase, in which you eat only proteins, is really for only a short time. Then, you can add in vegetables once again.

I did not like many of the recipes in the book; however, by reading the ingredients, I was able to create recipes that worked and still fit within the parameters of the diet. For example, I could not stomach the thought of the Dukan Pizza with salmon; however, I took the portion of the recipe that made the "pizza crust" and made two pancake-sized crusts instead. I was able to use that like bread, and darned if it didn't satisfy any desire for bread!

I am proud of myself for accomplishing my weight loss goal, and I am thankful to Pierre Dukan for creating and sharing this very easy to follow diet.

By the way, I found the Dukan approach to be less boring than what I was doing every day before I started the diet. Want to know why? Because I IMMEDIATELY began to lose weight! Losing weight by eating every day and walking for only 20 or 30 minutes was surely a lot easier and more exciting than counting/restricting calories, taking an aerobics class, and wondering how much more I would weigh the next day despite watching what I ate and exercising.

Following a particular diet is a very personal choice, and many of my friends took one look at this book and said they couldn't possibly follow this diet. I found it easy to follow.

Because I am still in the third phase of the diet, I honestly cannot comment on the long-term result. However, I can, with all honesty, say that, if it weren't for the Dukan Diet, I would still be 22 pounds heavier!

Best buy ever! I am 71 and had low expectations of losing the unwanted pounds. Within 6 weeks I had lost 20 pounds and as promised in the book, the weight has stayed off. The book is concise and easy to understand with no measuring or weighing. Just plenty to eat. Have recommended it to my friends who are amazed at my new healthy shape. You are never too old to make a difference.

As a nutritional consultant, I've pretty much seen and heard it all when it comes to diets. I was sorry to learn that the Dukan Diet is nothing more than a hybrid of the original Dr. Maxwell Stillman's "The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet" combined with the Atkins diet. He throws in a little fiber by way of oat bran and refrains from counting grams of carbohydrates. There is no question that a plan like this works - that was proven in the late 1960's by Dr. Stillman, and repeated by Dr. Atkins. If you have never read either of the afore-mentioned books, then by all means go ahead with this one. A word of caution: Dr. Dukan recommends artificial sweetners stating that they are "safe" - I strongly disagree with him on that point. He also recommends soy products. Please bear in mind that soy is one of the most genetically modified crops in the world, so do your best to buy "non-GMO" soy.
Best wishes and happy dieting!

Anyone that is writing a review should actually try the diet! This diet is amazing! I have weighed between 120-130 my whole life without exercising and never dieting. I should mention that I am 5'2". I reached menopause and started to gain weight rapidly and started tipping the scale at 151! I tried the Atkins diet and was able to get down to about 145 but weight loss was slow and I reached a plateau. I went 2 months on the strictest phase of the Atkins without any weighloss. I was also walking over 3 miles 4 days a week. I was really scared and couldn't stand to see my round face in the mirror.
I saw the Dr. Oz show and they had the Dukan Diet reviewed on his show and then I saw it on the cover of Woman's World at the grocery store. I figured I had to give it a shot and bought the copy. I prepared everything and didn't cheat at all for the first 3 weeks. Weight loss was rapid and I haven't ever hit a plateau....unless I cheat. I have cheated once for 4 days, and then a few times I was tempted with pizza for dinner.
It has now been 6 weeks and I have lost a total of 22 pounds! The weight just keeps on coming off; it is totally amazing. Soon I will be as thin as when I was in high school. Oh, and I didn't mention that when I started the Dukan Diet, I was NOT walking anymore. I actually quit exercising to put this diet to the real test.
Dr. Dukan said that this diet will work when other diets fail. I didn't believe it, but now I do. It is the Atkins diet on steroids! 22 pounds lighter and from a size 10 to a size 4! I feel great and now know that I am in control of weightloss and can easily do it whenever I want. I have my life and my body back!

I lost 20% of my bodyweight in 2003 following South Beach and kept the weight off until I got pregnant 2 years later. I was able to lose the baby weight following Sonoma and kept it off until I got pregnant again 2 years later. I was able to lose that following principles from South Beach, Sonoma, and the ABS Diet and kept it off a year before re-gaining 15 lbs. because of some stress eating. I got back on the wagon 3 months ago and lost 9 of those lbs. but have recently hit a plateau.

After 8 years of more or less following South Beach and other similar plans like Sonoma and the ABS Diet, I'm always on the lookout for new healthy low-carb recipes. I was also curious about Dukan after hearing that Kate Middleton, Gisele Bundchen, and Jennifer Lopez are supposedly on it.

The biggest question I've gotten from friends when they heard I was planning to give Dukan a try is: "How is it different from Atkins and South Beach?"

(1) Dukan considers all fat bad for weight loss. Atkins places no limits on fat consumption, and South Beach distinguishes between healthy and unhealthy fats.

(2) Dukan eliminates even non-starchy veggies in the first phase and limits them to every other day in the second phase. Atkins and South Beach both encourage their consumption even in the most strict induction phase.

(3) Dukan encourages Diet Coke consumption. Atkins and South Beach both talk about how terrible aspartame is.

(4) Dukan claims that dieters can eat all they want as long as the foods conform to the diet, while South Beach talks about portion sizes.

(5) Dukan takes a relatively negative view of vegetarianism while South Beach specifically includes chapters with vegetarian entrees in the two cookbooks I own.

(6) There's no carbohydrate gram counting on Dukan like there is on Atkins.

As I only have a few lbs. to lose at this point, I'm planning to follow Dukan's least strict guidelines, which is a single day in the "attack" phase and alternating 2 days of pure protein with 5 days of protein + vegetables in the "cruise" phase. I'll update with results in 6-8 weeks or so.

Update #1: I have now been on Dukan for 1 week and have lost 3.4 lbs. and 0.6% bodyfat. My jeans are fitting looser as well. This is the best results I've ever had in a single week on any diet I've ever been on.

Update #2: I have now been on Dukan for 6 weeks and am 1 lb. below my original goal. I have also lost 3% bodyfat and 1 dress size. Again, this is the fastest that I've ever lost weight on any diet I've ever tried. I'm now doing a hybrid between "cruise" and "maintenance" to see if I can lose a few more lbs. and/or bodyfat.

OH MY GAWD! You'll fry your kidneys! You won't get enough fat! (Is that even remotely possible these days in America? The air is practically laden with fat...) Dukan bans vegetables - you just eat meat!!! Somebody call PETA!! How can you stomach all that oat bran?!? Artificial sweetners are poison (as if sugar - itself a manufactured sweetener consumed in entirely artificial quantities - wasn't equally if not even more dangerous).

OH MY GAWD!!

Yes folks, Dr. Dukan's diet has finally hit America, and the nutrition police - you know, the same clowns who are largely responsible for America's obesity epidemic by promoting dangerous high carbohydrate diets for the past three decades - are having another spaz attack. You probably recall their last spaz attack, don't you, when Dr. Atkins starting having well-documented success with his high-fat, high-protein diet. That destroyed most of the credibility of the nutrition police.

Well, Dr. Dukan has arrived to finish them off for good. Not only does his diet emphasize meat, it emphasizes lean meat, going one step beyond Atkins in restricting fat as well as carbohydrates. Probably not a bad idea, since protein will keep you sated longer than fat and if you're already fat your body obviously has ample access to your own warehouse full of fat and doesn't need to get any from your diet (lean meats and fish contain quite a bit of fat, anyhow - you aren't gonna die).

You also aren't gonna die from eating "too much" protein, since the "pure protein" phase of the diet lasts for no more than two weeks (and most folks do far less than that). If 300 million Americans can survive for decades on a diet that's 20% refined sugar, plus transfats, simple starches, saturated fat, gobs of sodium and enough preservatives to embalm the population of China a dozen times over, two weeks of chicken breasts, salmon and nonfat yogurt aren't going to harm you.

After the induction phase, you add lots of non-starchy vegetables back to your diet, first on alternate days while you're actively losing weight, then on most days as you go on to stabilize your weight, eventually bringing back the bread, potatoes, pasta and other carbs in sensible quantities.

He also throws in a handful of clever tricks to enhance your weight loss, like recommending you eat a couple of tablespoons of oat bran a day. No, not a feedbag full, as some of Dukan's idiot detractors have insisted online. Two. Freaking. Tablespoons. I think you can manage this. Most Americans eat two tablespoons of refined sugar with every meal...

Dukan points out early on the fact you're overweight means you probably have some issues with food, and you're gonna need to eat a little differently than most of the skinny folks around you as a result. Acknowledging the problem is the first step toward addressing it - Dukan's book isn't just about nutrition, it's also about psychology, and the interplay of the two.

So how does the diet work? Well, I've lost 15 pounds in six weeks, out of 205, and I haven't exactly followed the diet faithfully. It's not that the diet is especially difficult to follow, it's just that I have a teeny kitchen, a super-stressful job and sleep apnea on top of it all. So I don't have the time or energy to cook as much as I'd like, or as fancy as I'd like. Which means I tend to eat out a lot, and that's hell on any diet. Still, even compromised, the Dukan diet is highly effective, and you get better at following it with each passing week as you discover more and more recipes that work for you (and figure out how to order stuff that works in restaurants).

If I can do this, anybody can do this. The first week was easily the toughest, as I went thru what amounts to drug withdrawal. Now I feel sorry for crackheads. But once I got past that my energy levels went up and my weight went down. You will have setbacks - I gain a little some days and once stalled for an entire week - but just hang in there and the weight will start falling off again.

I will never go back to eating the way I ate before, though. No way. Fortunately, I feel like I've got a lot of new weapons in my dietary arsenal - new foods and food combinations and techniques I can utilize to feel satisfied without loading up on empty carbs and unnecessary fat. Which I'm sure is part of the goal of the diet, to alter permanently the kind and combinations of food people who are overweight eat. Mission accomplished!

Other reviews have given a good overview of the book and the diet. So, I'll give a first-hand report on my experience with the Dukan Diet.

I started the diet on July 18, 2011.
I lost 25 pounds on the Dukan Diet and am now (November 29) on Phase 3 - which is basically maintenance.

The weight came off at about 1.5-2 pounds a week. Very healthy.

I was never, ever, EVER hungry. If I got hungry - I had 100 foods to choose from in any amount at any time of day. Why would I be hungry?

I never craved food - but then I don't normally eat tons of chips and sodas and carb filled junk - so I didn't have the withdrawal so many others report. I'll admit that I missed wine with dinner and summer fruit .... but I got that back now in Phase 3 - it was a short term sacrifice for long term gain.

I don't know why others have reported feeling tired and awful - I had energy and have felt great following the diet.

The diet has been easy to follow. In fact, I've felt kinda guilty to have lost 25 pounds so easily while others sweat and struggle to drop a few pounds.

Dukan's website is priceless. On it, you answer several questions and he gives you a game-plan, complete with dates to start and end each phase. That was helpful knowing I was doing without some foods for only so many weeks.

What sold me on the Dukan Diet was not just the diet - any diet can help you lose weight. But the maintenance in Phase 3 and 4 was my deal breaker. After losing the weight, he guides you in gradually adding back the carbs, sugars and other foods in such a way that your body doesn't over-react and gain the weight back. The maintenance is what makes this diet unique and successful.

All around, I can recommend the diet - with reservations.
This is NOT a fad diet for all those who follow whatever the latest fad is. This is a serious diet. If you follow it, it works like a charm. But, if you cheat, it won't work.

I tell everyone to get the book and READ IT before deciding to try the diet. In the book, he doesn't just detail the diet, but discusses dieting in general and its effect on the body and important information every dieter needs to know. After all, this is his profession - he's been counseling the morbidly obese for 35 years. He probably knows a thing or two about dieting.

I look amazing. Co-workers are jealous, family are starting the diet. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this size (in college??)

I'm shopping for clothes because - frankly - I have to replace my entire wardrobe! I'm shopping in the fashionable section of the store and putting on cute outfits. Clothes shopping is fun for the first time in decades. The day I was trying on a medium sweater and had to go back out on the floor to get a SMALL - that made those few weeks of tiny sacrifices worth it. Note - I was wearing LARGE and X-Large just months ago.

Would I do the diet again?..... Actually, with Dukan's plan - I'll never have to because Phase 4 of Dukan's Plan is instructions on keeping the weight off FOREVER! I'll never be fat again.

Can I recommend the book? If you REALLY want to lose the weight, and keep it off - and will follow the diet to the letter - ABSOLUTELY. If fruit and chips and junk food mean more to you than looking hot and feeling great - skip it.

I lost 40 pounds...and have kept it off for 15 years. But not on this diet. We'll come back to how I did it later.

The Dukan Diet will definitely work for some people...just as any diet will. It is not a bad diet so please read on as I list its pros and cons.

Pro

1. You will definitely lose some weight on this diet, especially right away. However it will mostly be water weight. This is not all bad as many people need that extra boost of encouragement to get the fly wheel turning.

2. The diet is very well-laid out in steps to get you jump started.

3. I really liked the step down approach that Dr. Dukan takes. He has the Attack Phase which is the most restricted. You just eat protein and the oat bran products. This phase lasts from 1 to 10 days. And the oat bran pancakes were actually pretty good. Get the oat bran at your health food store.

4. The next phase is the Cruise Diet. It consists of protein and vegetables and lasts until you have lost all the weight you intend to. You still have to go back on the Attack Phase all-protein diet for one day a week.

5. Then there is the Consolidation Diet which consists of the first two but you are allowed to add one serving of fruit, two whole grain breads, a teense of cheese, and two starchy vegetables (per week). You are also allowed to have two celebration meals per week. You stay on this diet for five days for every pound you lose. This could be quite a long time for some people.

6. The Stabilization Diet is pretty much the same as the Consolidation Diet. For life!

7. He also encourages drinking a lot of water which you will need to keep your kidneys flushed and to avoid constipation (I recommend Evian). Lots of walking and maybe some minor exercise. And some silly stuff like sucking on ice cubes and taking cold showers.

8. One of the sentences which grabbed my attention and should for ALL DIETERS is this, "...with each weight loss, your body makes you consume your fat reserves, so when you lose 20 pounds, it is almost as if you had eaten that amount of fat or butter. Throughout any weight loss period, a large quantity of cholesterol and triglycerides circulates in your blood....People who try to lose weight without success once or twice a year are constantly exposing themselves to high levels of cholesterol." YIKES! This is pretty scary.

Now for the CONS

1. This is the most boring diet I have ever been on. You will lose weight out of sheer boredom.

2. It is so restrictive that I doubt many people can stay on this for long and it will quickly go the way of many of the other fad diets.

3. Dr. Dukan repeats the erroneous information that once you have created a fat cell, it will never go away, only shrink. This is simply not true. And how depressing for any dieter if it were.

4. This diet just isn't healthy. I felt sluggish and out of sorts. I craved my fruits and vegetables and spicy foods.

Now....for how I lost 40 pounds 15 years ago and have kept it off.

Here is the big secret. Eat less and exercise more!

Yes, you can calculate your approximate caloric needs by multiplying your desired weight by 10 calories for weight loss, by 12-14 for maintainence. It's just that simple. If you want to weigh 120 pounds, then multiply 120 x 10 = 1,200 calories.

I eat three balanced meals a day, and ALWAYS eat a breakfast with protein. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. I NEVER drink any kind of soda. I exercise EVERY day at least 30 minutes, more for aerobics. Yes, I do this before work and I get up at 5 a.m. I keep a food journal, any cheap notebook will do, and record what I eat, when, calories, number of fruits and vegetables, AND junk food calories. You'd be surprised how those add up (I'm addicted to salty-crunchy things).

I highly recommend the latest edition of The Calorie King Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter which lists most foods, including restaurant foods, and is small enough to fit in your purse or briefcase. You can get it here on Amazon for under $9. And, no, I am not in any way affiliated with the authors. It also has special sections for diabetics, issues dealing with sodium, fiber, alcohol, exercise, and diet.

That's it, folks, if you want to try the Dukan Diet, be my guest but if you want to finally lose the weight and keep it off, you're going to have to do it the old fashioned way. Eat less, exercise more.