IMAGINE

Recall the things that have held you back. And imagine how you now can get beyond them.

Think of the problems that have frustrated you so. And imagine how you can now rise above them.

Look at how far you've come. And imagine how far you can now go.

Think of all that you've learned. And imagine what you can now do with that knowledge.

Consider all you've done in the past year.
And imagine what you'll now be able to do.

You're now in a better position than ever to imagine the very best. And what you can imagine will lead to what you can be.
-- Ralph Marston

ATTEMPT AT HOMEMADE KETCHUP

Yesterday I attempted to make homemade Dukan friendly Ketchup..... It still needs some work but is not too bad...I did make some mistakes so will work on those and post the recipe when I think it is better. I am sure I can never match Heinz but if I can get a bit closer I will be happy.......stay tuned

LAZY EXERCISES FROM DR DUKAN

The B.A.T. secret

How do you burn up calories in any place or situation and especially if you work sitting down....

B.A.T this is: Buttock Muscles, Abdominals, Triceps. Buttock muscles: whilst seated on your office chair, squeeze your buttock muscles for 6 seconds in a row and repeat this 10 times without a break.

Half an hour later, repeat the exercise so that your buttocks don't get crushed on your seat for too long. Remaining immobile and compressed very quickly weakens this large muscle which is responsible for your buttocks' posture. Abdominals: whilst seated, in your mind concentrate on your abdominal muscles and contract them without moving your trunk.

Keep this position for 6 seconds and start the operation again 10 times in a row. As with the previous exercise you can repeat this every half hour. Triceps: whilst seated, with your arms bent and your palms pressing on the arm rests of your chair, push down on your palms so that you stretch your arms until your body is raised from your chair and then lower yourself down slowly.

Try to repeat this movement 10 times and repeat the same thing every half hour. All in all, 30 movements which only take one minute but which use up a lot of energy.

CELEBRATIONS

I always like to celebrate the loss of another pound when it is a ten number like 20, 30, 40 etc. But today I hit the minus 45 pound mark and maybe it is time to celebrate the 1/2 ten marks...  As the losses are much slower it will be nice to recognize these points in my recovery.
Ok you ask.."How will you celebrate"
I will not celebrate with food as that is what got me into all of this in the first place. I have celebrated every day with food for the last 50 + years. Food was meant to sustain us and to give our body energy to work hard..  Somewhere along the time line we changed the role of food and decided to use it when we were happy, when we were sad, when we worried, when we were angry, and for every type of family holiday, food played the biggest role of all.
Why do we feel we need to serve food or even drink when company arrives, if it is not meal time. I know I need to change my thinking about the role of Food in my life and remember it really is only for sustenance. Good healthy quality food when my body requires it, not something gooey, sweet, or salty that I can not control the amounts I will consume.
 It is not my stomach that tells me what to eat, it is my mind that says" Oh you can eat just one, just this time" My stomach would be happy with just nourishing pablum....lol.

Ok back to the question.."How will you celebrate your 45 pound loss today Cheryl"
I plan to finish reading a  book that is calling my name, I plan to read something motivational as brain food, and I plan on staying in this present moment and enjoying today for what it is, a celebration and not dwell on the past or the future as I can not change the past and there is no future to think about as it has not happened yet. One day at a time and enjoy each one for the progress I have made.

MISTAKES HAPPEN

I had written the following on a fellow Dukanier's blog comment who was having trouble with chocolate Easter eggs and thought I would share as I imagine others are having same type cravings.

Mistakes happen….they are not right or not even acceptable but shake it off and do not let yourself even be close to such things as chocolate if you can not say NO.
An alcoholic would not put a glass of vodka in front of themselves and expect to be able to say NO……He would stay as far away as he could while he is trying to heal his addiction,, We need to do the same and realize that you may never in your life be able to eat chocolate eggs etc….if you want to stay slim and be healthy….Accept the real facts of addictive personalities..I know this is true of myself

SLOW LOSSES

My losses are very slow these days and I know that it is caused by just too much "as tolerated foods".
I have been trying new recipes and using a fair amount of corn flour/starch to thicken sauces, too much soya sauce to make things taste better as well as extra skim milk powder and cream cheese. Yes these are all tolerated foods but the word I keep missing is "AS".  I guess I am not tolerating them very well and will cut back a bit and use these only for maybe one meal a week or celebration or having company....
I will continue to post the recipes I have tried and that we like, but use with discretion...Limit them and do not let them become every day eating..

TODAY'S HINT

 Those of you who have dieted many times before, it is common to think that the less you eat, the more you will lose. On the Dukan diet it is important to eat and eat until you are full as long as you are eating only what is acceptable food for the particular day PP/PV. You never want to be hungry and if you stick to this plan , you will get to the time where you are never hungry and eat only because it is necessary for your energy and life.

On the Dukan chat yesterday this is the comment.....

"You really have to eat enough and especially proteins as it takes more energy for your body to digest them and it takes this energy from its fat stocks."

THOUGHTS FOR SATURDAY

The only time it's too late to change yourself is when you're dead.
Until then, you're simply making excuses or lying to yourself.

"If we defend our habits, we have no intentions of quitting them."

Start doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you'll be doing the impossible!

CORN FLOUR vs CORN STARCH

Dukans "as tolerated"  list says we can have 20g of corn flour a day which is about 3 Tbls.
I did read sometime ago that corn starch is the same as corn flour so I googled and it seems that they are interchangeable.
In the USA, they call in cornstarch.

In the UK and Europe, cornstarch is referred to as cornflour.

Corn flour can  refer to flour made from corn, or corn meal (as opposed to cornstarch, which is only part of the corn flour). While they will both thicken a broth or juice, the corn flour will leave a strong taste. The cornstarch will not leave an aftertaste, which is why it is used as a thickener.


BUT for losing weight I would in no way eat 3T of cornstarch in a day.
I use a tiny bit to thicken chicken broth a bit in some recipes....

DON'T QUIT

When you've eaten too much and you can't write it down,

And you feel like the biggest failure in town.

When you want to give up just because you gave in,

and forget all about being healthy and thin.

So What! You went off the edge a bit,

It's your next move that counts...So don't you quit!

It's a moment of truth, it's an attitude change.

It's learning the skills to get back in your range.

It's telling yourself, "You've done great up till now.

You can take on this challenge and beat it somehow."

It's part of your journey toward reaching your goal.

You're still gonna make it, just stay in control.

To stumble and fall is not a disgrace,

If you summon the will to get back in the race.

But, often the struggler's, when loosing their grip,

Just throw in the towel and continue to slip.

And learn too late when the damage is done,

that the race wasn't over...they still could have won.

Lifestyle change can be awkward and slow,

but facing each challenge will help you grow.

Success is failure turned inside out,

the silver tint in a cloud of doubt.

When you're pushing to the brink, just refuse to submit,

If you bite it, you write it....But don't you quit!

- Author Unknown

GO BALSAMIC - SLIMMING VINEGAR

FROM-Dukan site
Vinegar is in fashion, vinegars range from white vinegar to rice vinegar, not forgetting raspberry, sherry and balsamic vinegar...

Cider vinegar is virtually a medicinal potion and many studies and experiments have proved its lysis action on proteins and its detergent effect on fats. But balsamic vinegar has another quite exclusive advantage for weight control. It enables you to make sauces almost without any oil at all. Why? Because it is slightly caramelized and a little more viscous and thick than other vinegars. Did you know that as far as weight is concerned oil is the most dangerous food? It is by far, even by very far, the richest food in creation:
9 calories for just one single gram. One tablespoon of oil, of any oil, contains 135 calories. And as a really nice salad needs two of them this amounts to 270 calories, so you end up injecting almost as much as a a slice of cake with this innocent salad without even realizing it.
With balsamic vinegar, there's no such problem. I make up my vinaigrette with 5 tablespoons of this precious vinegar, 1 tablespoon of mild mustard, one tablespoonful of water and one teaspoon of olive oil. I add 8 basil leaves and a clove of garlic; the result is fit for a king and nearly 20 times less rich than a traditional vinaigrette. What's more, balsamic vinegar is tasty and you can include it in your cooking. Just for once try it when you de-glaze for example with chicken livers...you won't be able to do without it any more.

If you only use 1 Tbls spoon or less on your salad  you are only getting a couple of drops of oil. Do not use if you are stagnating.
I love really good Italian Balsamic which can prove quite expensive, but if you have cheap Balsamic that is quite thin, you can boil some with brown sugar Splenda and it will thicken and almost taste like 5 year old Balsamic....

MOTIVATION 4 TODAY

We can reverse years of damage to our bodies by deciding to raise our standards for ourselves,
                        then living differently.
Old wounds heal, injuries repair, and the whole system improves with just a few changes in what
                      we put into our bodies and how we move them..

RECIPES ALL TESTED

Any recipes that I put on this blog,have been tried by myself before posting. I will not add any recipes that we do not like or are not Dukan friendly. I love to look for recipes and see if I can change them to be sure they are legal in every way for those doing the DUKAN diet. I have many new recipes that I have not tried yet as I need to purchase ingredients that I may not have in my cupboard.

I expect to be eating this way for the rest of my life. This is no longer a diet for us but a way of life to help us to feel better and eat well. Losing weight has become just a side effect of eating this way and nice when it happens but I am in no hurry to be at my goal as I know I can never go back to eating certain foods again if I want to remain healthy.

I am never hungry eating this way and do not crave any type of foods but I also see that now that Harvey has reached his goal and is eating his 2 slices of whole grain bread that is allowed in his Consolidation stage of the diet, that he is hungry more often and craves again. We need to assess this to see if it is worth it or if he will eat the Dukan type bread that has no flour.

Recipes will be put on the blog and then 2 weeks later I will move  to the Recipe File on the right hand side.

REMEMBER

Your body is the baggage you must carry through life.

The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip.

                                                          ~ Arnold H. Glasgow

PLATEAU TRUTHS

When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal.

And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of "rehearsal" for maintenance isn't the worst thing in the world.

WELLNESS IS A STATE OF MIND

There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating food, in fact we need it to sustain us. The problem with over indulging in food is weight gain which will cause physical and mental problems if you do not stay ahead of it. Case in point, eat enough fried food over the course of your life and you will likely become diabetic.

Our body is truly our temple, honor your temple and you will extend your life. Dishonor your temple and you will pay for it through hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and a short life span.

The best medicine is prevention, but you also need to heed the warnings your body gives you. In other words, a doctor will not call you to say, “You just had a heart attack, come in for an appointment.” Only you know what is wrong with you, and YOU need to tell your doctor these signs.

The number one cause of health problems for people today is poor decisions. Poor decisions about what to eat, drink and how to manage a healthy lifestyle is by far the key to problems in health care today. Why not get back to the simple life, moderation is the word of the day.

It is time for us all to get back to the basics.

FACTS ON GOJI BERRIES

Since I read on Dr Dukans site that we can have goji berries during this diet, (on cruise - two TB spoons on PV and one on PP.), I decided I needed to do some research on this illusive fruit.
They have been used for more than 6000 years by many herbalists in China, Tibet and India. The best ones are found in the Himalayan mountains of Tibet
If the following facts are true, no wonder we are allowed to have some each day....

1.      It adds  strength and stamina in an individual

2.      It is good for maintaining blood pressure and takes care of cholesterol levels

3.      It fends off infections and cleanses the internal body parts.

4.      It has certain hormones which have been held responsible for working anti-ageing agents and have led to the longer life span.

5.      Improves body immunity.

6.      Has so many healing properties which helps in curing various serious ailments like cancer and heart disease

7.      Has no side effects

8.      Goji berries will control your blood sugar levels and flush out the all the toxins from your body.  

9.      It has many nutrients including carotenoids, vitamin A, Zeaxanthin, B-complex and Vitamin C.  A rich source of antioxidants.

10.  It comprises of 18 varieties of amino acids of which, 8 amino acids are essentially required by our human body.

11.   Prevents vision loss in aged people.

12.   It improves fertility

13.   Helps improve memory

14.   Reduces body fat

15.   It helps with depression or mental disorders.

16.   Protects the skin form sun damage

Some thought that those taking Warfarin should not consume

I bought a bag and we get our 1 -2 T a day by adding to our yogurt, adding to our oat bran before cooking ( they get soft) or just eating a few in the evening like raisins.