Butternut Squash Soup - Recipe

This is actually one of the very first Dukan recipes I ever experienced. One of my old co-workers decided to start Dukan after I did and she made me this soup before I left. Total sweetie. I enjoyed it so much I have made it for myself a few times now (and will be making it again this weekend actually).

I bring it to work in mason jars and have a bowl with my lunch every day. Really yummy soup.
I never knew I liked butternut squash. So delish!

INGREDIENTS

1 butternut squash, seeds removed, peeled, and cut into large chunks
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled, seeds and core removed
3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup ff sour cream or ff plain yogurt

The last few times I made this recipe I used sour cream, the next time I will use yogurt. If there is a significant change in taste I will let you know.

Put the squash, onion, apple, and chicken broth in a large pot and cook for 20 to 30 minutes.

Puree the soup in batches in a blender and return to the pot.

Add the salt, pepper, and curry powder and mix in the sour cream or yogurt until thoroughly combined.

I found the sour cream gets a little clumpy and I have to blend it again once it is added, more for aesthetic reasons really.

The soup can be served hot or cold, make sure when reheating to not allow the soup to boil.

xoxo

Setting Fitness Goals

If you follow my blog you will know that for some reason I have a HUGE problem with working out. I can do this diet, strictly, without cheating and succeed at it... but I cannot get my flabby butt to the gym!

I get into these funks where I want to workout, I make plans, and 1/18th of the time I will actually make it to the gym... but once there I half-ass it or stop going after 1-2 trips out.

Man I want to change that, I'm really sick of telling my friends and family that "THIS TIME I WILL HIT THE GYM ALL WEEK AND YOU'LL SEE!" because I never do!

But it's taking that first step and trying to succeed at it that makes the difference. It doesn't matter how many times I say "THIS TIME" as long as one of those times I actually DO IT.

I mean, I tried counting calories, I tried Weight Watchers, I tried the soup diet, all didn't work for me. I basically quit before I even started. It's the same thing with this working out thing. My last resort is hiring a personal trainer... I want to exhaust all other options first.

So my mom liked a woman on Facebook. Her name is Chalene Johnson. Now I have sifted through her posts and her blog and her website. She puts a lot of focus on having GOALS.

Something clicked, a goal is something I had when I first started Dukan. 160 lbs (originally) and then my actual goal, which I hit February 6th 2012: 155 lbs and a 'normal' BMI.

I have never set any fitness goals. Sure, I know what my dream physique is, but that's not a tangible goal.

Something to think about.

So I will try this whole goal thing. My homework: to set reasonable fitness goals for myself, with a timeline to achieve them, by Monday.

Is this the time I say "I WILL BECOME A GYM RAT! I WILL GET MY DREAM PHYSIQUE" and actually do it?

I'll be blogging my progress, I'm excited for this!

xoxo

Chocolate Carrot Muffins - Recipe

I did not smooth out the tops so they came out of the oven exactly like I put them in, a little rough looking.

I decided to try a recipe outside of the Dukan Diet book, off a Dukan-friendly website I found. I picked up a few ingredients and will definitely be trusting them for future recipe ideas, these muffins were, DELISH! Exactly what I needed this morning.

Now according to the website you can eat these on PV days during cruise... but I can't you not eat baking powder or cocoa until consolidation? Nevertheless, these were really good, I will be making them again for SURE.

INGREDIENTS

9 tbsp oat bran
1 tbsp sugar free chocolate pudding mix
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used maple, as usual... since that's all I have in my house right now)
4 tbsp pumpkin puree
2 tsp Splenda (I used 8 sachets of Splenda)
1/4 cup carrot, finely shredded and squeezed dry

I didn't think you could actually squeeze juice out of a carrot... I was so wrong! Once it is shredded you can actually squeeze juice out of it. I should have saved the juice, although, I am not a fan. Yuck.

Now I thought 9 tbsp of oat bran would yield more muffins then lets say... the muffin recipe in the Dukan Diet book which only has 3 tbsp of the stuff. They both made about the same amount (4).

Also a little note about pumpkin puree, it should be in a large can. Make sure to read the can very carefully since the one I found was right beside the can of pumpkin pie filling and they are not the same thing (As I have now learned). Pumpkin pie filling is packed with sugar while just the pumpkin is not.

I found the batter was very dense for muffins.

Mix all wet ingredients together in one bowl and all the dry in another. 

Fold wet into dry. 

So easy!

Pam the pan, now, however you put them in the muffin tin is how they will come out. So if you want pretty muffins, maybe smooth down the top. These are dense muffins and not very sweet. They taste almost like chocolate bran muffins because of their density. If you want it a little sweeter you could always add a little more Splenda.

Actually so good!

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

xoxo

Stuck On My Celebration Meal! Help!

Hey you guys! So I'm sending this post through my iPhone because I'm getting stressed and anxious over my celebration meal.

 This is the first week I don't have a restaurant plan with friends to choose my celebration meal for me, so to speak. I don't know what I want to have an the week is almost over! Also, with how my week is, I kindof need to eat it tonight for dinner or tomorrow.

I'm looking for suggestions. Im not craving anything and don't want to go out to a restaurant or prepare a big meal. I'm totally stuck.

The only thing that is sticking out to me is McDonald's... But I kindof want to go an entire year without eating that junk... So I'm hesitant to give in the towel and choose that as my meal.

 If I can't choose something I might just end up skipping it. Celebration meals usually make me feel really sick the day after anyways.

So what would you eat if you were in my shoes? What are you craving?

Thanks loves,

Xoxo

Tofu Kebabs - Recipe

Today for dinner I decided to make something a little different for the Prawn and I... The Dukan Diet's tofu kebabs found on page 230.

Now I had never eaten tofu before and wasn't sure what to expect in terms of taste or texture.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lbs firm tofu cut into cubes
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 orange pepper (all cut into cubes)
1 large zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, cut in half (if you choose)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small fresh chili pepper, finely chopped

Now the book says to kebab the vegetables and then to make the marinade and then marinade everything. I did it this way and did not find the marinade to be very successful so I will suggest marinading the vegetables and then threading them on the skewers.

To make the marinade: thoroughly combine the soy sauce, grated ginger, the crushed garlic, and chili peppers.

Marinade the vegetables for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Keep the extra liquid after marinading the veggies, cook the skewers on a hot grill or under the broiler, baste often in the extra marinade.

I cooked them on the bbq, I don't know if this cooked the tofu any better or worse than in the oven since I had nothing to compare it to since I had never had tofu before.

Cook for 10 minutes, until the tofu is browned.

I really enjoyed the cooked vegetables in the marinade, as did Prawn. We were both not big fans of the tofu, but it was more the consistency. I cut the tofu cubes very large since I was afraid of them breaking in the bbq... they did not cook thoroughly and the vegetables did not either. But the marinade was really good.

Serve with a tomato salad (which I did not do... but would have been really good to eat with the kebabs actually.)

I'm sure if you like tofu, marinade for long enough and properly, as well as cooking the kebabs fully, this recipe would be a total success.

xoxo

Chicken with Mustard - Recipe

Another yummy recipe from the cookbook section of the Dukan Diet! Success! We are on a winning streak.

8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
1/2 cup Dijon mustard (could have done with a little less, there was a bit of mustard wastage.)
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt or ff sour cream. I used ff plain Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 and cover a rimmed sheet with foil.

Ready to go in the oven.

In a bowl, toss together the chicken, mustard, and thyme until the chicken is completely coated and then arrange the chicken in a single layer over the foil-covered sheet pan.

I then coated the chicken in basil and tomato herb Ms. Dash since I wanted to make them herb-crusted dijon chicken thighs. You could probably use any seasoning to have the same effect as what I did. Just make sure it smells good with the dijon.

Lay a sheet of foil over the chicken and fold over the edges tightly so that no steam can escape.

Put the chicken in the oven and cook for the book says 45 minutes to an hour. Mine were in for over 2 hours... so I don't know what they are talking about here, or until a thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken thigh registers 170.

Now I just took it out at this point, I found the spices I coated the chicken with were pretty moist though and I would have wanted them a little crispy. Next time I make these (and I definetally will, so good) I will take the aluminum foil off and brown the top for maybe 10 minutes.

The book says to blend the yogurt or sour cream with salt and pepper to make a sauce. I don't see the point in this. I just put little dollops of Greek yogurt over each thigh and then kindof spread it out and put pepper on afterwords.

Really delicious and easy, took a surprising amount of time in the oven though.

xoxo

Oat Bran Gallette in the Consolidation Phase - Recipe

Look at that colour!

I want to begin by saying... I think I have finally perfected the oat bran gallette, finally, in phase 3 of the Dukan Diet.

You can read about my different attempts here.

INGREDIENTS

2 egg whites
2 packets splenda
2 tbsp oat bran
1/2 cup fresh berries

Now what I do is I pour out some egg whites and whisk it. Not for too long but long enough that it starts getting bubbly.

I then add the sweetner and whisk again, add the oat bran, whisk again.

Just until it's all mixed up.

I then take the berries, sometimes it's strawberries, sometimes blackberries and sometimes blueberries. Sometimes a combination.

I put them in the bowl and mush them with my fork. It's not about completely smashing them, just letting out the juice of the berry and mushing it a little. I then cook it like a regular gallette. So delicous. Really SOOOO good!

xoxo

Consolidation Phase Apple and Strawberry Dessert - Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of fruit (I used 1/2 a cup of chopped apple and 1/2 a cup of chopped strawberries)
1 tbsp 0 sugar 0 fat syrup
1 tsp almond butter
Big sprinkling of cinnamon
3 packets splenda

Mix all ingredients and then cook in a pan on medium for about 5 minutes.

You can eat it on it's own or mix it with about a cup of Greek yogurt... I'm telling you. This was super yummy.

xoxo

Mini Chicken and Broccoli Quiches - Recipe

This is a little something I got off a facebook friend. Mini quiches. Makes for a yummy snack or meal.

INGREDIENTS

Egg whites
Chopped, cooked broccoli
Boiled chicken breast
Ms. Dash (Or other mild seasoning, salt and pepper work)

I make this one all the time, easy and simple.

This is how much chicken & broccoli I used, but you can add more, less... very custom recipe.

In a bowl mix the chicken (either chopped or ripped apart) with the broccoli. Now I usually just chop as much as I want to fill my muffin tins, you can use less broccoli or more chicken. It's a very forgivable recipe.

Cover in egg whites, mix, and put in PAM sprayed muffin tins.

Now I have made this recipe using whole eggs as well as egg whites. I find they don't taste all that much better with the yolks.

The version I tried with egg yolks.

Oven for 20 minutes at 350.

Let them cook and remove them from the muffin tins. They might stick a little to the sides so make sure to take them out carefully so they keep their shape.

The egg white only version, with a little more broccoli.

Enjoy!

xoxo

Dukan Muffins - Recipe

Since I am in Consolidation I made these with strawberries and apple.

OH man, another delicious success! Dukan Diet Muffins (can be found on pg 231). I'm going to say right off the bat... I will be making these again. Really delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 egg
1 egg white
3 tbsp oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp powdered nonfat milk
2 tsp splenda (I used 8 packets)
1 tsp flavor extract. I used maple but it says in the book you can use any.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients.

All the ingredients mixed up. Mmmm strawberry and apple.

Spray muffin tins with PAM, pour mixture into muffin tins.

Cook for 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool completely before removing.

Before baking.

Isn't that easy?!

I mixed half an apple (roughly chopped) and a handfull of strawberries. It made me 5 muffins and I have to admit... I ate them all today. Really they were that yummy!

I think I will try a zucchini, carrot version now that I know this recipe works.

Delicious!

xoxo

Lemon Chicken - Recipe

My new favourite chicken meal?

I'm going to start off by saying I was very nervous about making this recipe, since my last few Dukan-attempts for the Julie and Julia Project have turned out less-than-yummy.

I will tell you right now, this was really delicious. I'm sad it didn't make more and will make it later this week because... yummy!

This was my first time stir frying chicken with anything. Opened a door for me I think :P Going to try more stir frying now.

INGREDIENTS

1 lbs 5 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I just used 2 whole chicken breasts)
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
Juice and zest from 2 lemons
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water
2 bay leaves
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger

Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes.

Heat a large nonstick pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to cook, covered, for 3 to 4 minutes.

Now I was a little confused by "slicing" the onion. I was like... you mean chunk-up the onion or like... round slices? I sliced it in round pucks and separated the rounds from each other... if that makes sense.
The end result was perfect. I did it right, score!

Browning the chicken with the onions, ginger, garlic.

Turn the heat to high, uncover the pan, add the chicken, and stir continuously for 2 minutes with a spatula until brown.

Now reduce the heat. Don't wait until you add the other ingredients. The soy sauce and water boiled when I did it and sprayed everywhere.

Smells good!

Add the lemon juice, soy sauce, and water.

Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, ground ginger and lemon zest.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

I really enjoyed this lemon chicken! (Found on page 198) I am a believer in the cookbook section of the Dukan Diet again!

xoxo

How Much Water do I Drink Daily?

I have mentioned my considerable water-drinking to a few of my readers. I really do drink a lot of water. I don't force myself to drink water, I only drink when I'm thirsty. If I don't drink water in these ridiculous quantities I feel dehydrated. I feel terrible.

I am always feeling thirsty.

Before you say it, yes, I was worried as well and have been tested for diabetes. I do not have it. I think the being thirsty is just a side-effect of the diet since Prawn suffers from the same thing.

Now how much water do I actually drink daily? What is "A lot"? Well for the first time today I decided to actually track my water intake using a 500ml water bottle. The same bottle I drink from at work all day long.

My actual water bottle.

I'm not sure how ridiculous this might seem, but between 9am and 5pm today I drank 7.5L of water.

& I even made an effort to drink a little less water today (resulting in veeeeery dry lips for most of the afternoon) because I wanted to make sure I didn't drink more than I would in an average day just because I was tracking my water intake.

So that's that. When I say I drink a lot of water, I mean it I guess.

Now, I do not eat a lot of salty foods. At all in fact. I don't really see the point of salt? I don't find it makes the food taste better. I never add it to any of my meals and I use Ms. Dash, which is a salt-less seasoning product, on all my meat.

What do you think? Is this amount of water drinking a problem?

Prawn looked into it, because I was worried, and although it is possible to die from drinking too much water (water intoxication), a person my weight would have to drink 16L of water to be at risk. So I'm safe.

xoxo

Crab-Stuffed Eggs - Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds fresh crabmeat, cartilage removed
1 recipe Classic Mayonnaise
4 hard-boiled eggs

This recipe can be found on page 205 of the Dukan Diet.

I'll tell you right now, this recipe ended up becoming a delicious meal, unfortunately it began as yet another failed Dukan Diet recipe for me. I'll explain.

The crabmeat mixture with mayonnaise

In a large bowl, mix the mayo (if you read my post about this mayonnaise you will know that I have not yet found a way to make it successfully... I used it in this recipe anyways) with the crabmeat.

For crabmeat I simply used canned crabmeat. It tasted really delicious and actually, since making this recipe, I have gone back and bought some more to make this "mistake" again.

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise and scoop out the yolks. (Juuuust like devilled eggs)

Did not enjoy this recipe as a "Devilled egg"

Fill the egg whites with the crabmeat mixture and serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. The crab can be replaced with prawns, shrimp, or tuna.

Well I'll let you know... I really did not like this as "devilled eggs". Not at all. I tried it, and really didn't like it. I think it's something about the cold crabmeat or the mayo. I didn't like it. Very crabby.

Yummy newly discovered breakfast option.

What I ended up doing, which was genius and something I have been making for breakfast for a couple days since figuring this out, is I have been putting a scoop of the crabmeat mixture with the "mayo" in my pan for breakfast, heating it up a bit and then pooring some egg-whites over it, scrambling that and adding Ms. Dash original spices. Making a crab-dijon-scrambled egg thing.

I love the warm crab with the egg-whites and the dijon from the "mayo" with the spices make it less plain (since I find egg-whites taste pretty plain-jane).

Also, I feel more comfortable with the raw egg yolk in the "mayo" when it's a little cooked with the crab.

xoxo

Classic Mayonnaise - Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 raw egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

This recipe can be found on pg 178 of the Dukan Diet.

I ended up making this recipe twice. Neither time turned out exactly like mayonnaise... could not get it to be anything less than really runny mustard.

Place egg in a mixing bowl with salt pepper and vinegar.

Now the book says to slowly stir until well combined. & Then while stirring, to add the vegetable oil one drop at a time.

My first attempt, stirred slowly.

When I checked into it online, you are supposed to vigorously whisk when making mayonnaise. The first time I ended up with almost a water consistency. I added more mustard to maybe make it a little thicker and was left with a dark yellow, runny mess.

The second time I whisked the entire time, trying my hardest to get it thicker. It did... a teensy bit. No really noticable change though.

Second attempt, whisking furiously.

When mixture begins to thicken (it doesn't really) add mustard and stir until thoroughly combined.

Taste and make adjustments by adding salt and pepper for flavor add more mustard for a thicker consistency. I was afraid to taste it, because of the raw egg yolk, so I just left it like that. I added more mustard and... really didn't thicken it up at all. dissapointed.

It will keep refridgerated in a covered container for 2-3 days.

The book says that if you use liquid pasteurized eggs it will result in a thinner consistency. I used an actual egg yolk though, so I really don't understand.

Anyone tried this recipe and succeeded?

xoxo

Roast Chicken with Tarragon and Lemon - Recipe

So I had never cooked an entire chicken before, but Prawn and I are huge fans of whole deli chickens that I thought I'd might as well start with this recipe from the Attack Phase.

Whole chickens were on sale 2 for 10$ so I picked up two. Decided to cook them together and they turned out great!

This recipe is found on pg 195 of the Dukan Diet.

INGREDIENTS

A 2 1/2 to 3 lbs whole chicken
1 fresh lemon, cut in half
1 clove garlic, diced
Salt and pepper
2 tsp dried tarragon
1 medium onion, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350, the book says to preheat it to 425, you can do that if you choose but the cooking time will be less.

Clean, rinse, and pat the chicken dry with paper towels... this part, for someone who has never dealt with a raw, whole chicken, was pretty scary. In fact Prawn had to do the first chicken since I was so scared. I did end up cleaning the chicken but I'm telling you. Feels weird.

Squeeze one half of the lemon over the outside of the chicken then rub the chicken with garlic, salt and pepper.


Place the tarragon, onion, and other half of the lemon inside the chicken. I used a red onion because that was all that was left in the house. When cooked (I'm assuming because of the lemon) the red onion turns blue... totally turned me off. I did not eat the onion at all. Prawn says the lemon made the onion taste way too sweet. I don't see what the lemon added to the chicken... so maybe just avoid using it altogether.

Our seasoned chickens filled with tarragon, lemon and red onion.

Also tarragon is a very strong spice. I think I would have preffered rosemary. It is best to put the spice inside the chicken before the onion and lemon... kindof hard to spice the chicken when it's already stuffed, as I have now learned.

I then drowned the outside of my chicken in seasoning. When we get the deli chickens they always have seasoning on the skin, we thought we would mimic that. We used Ms. Dash chicken spice.

We wrapped both our birds in individual foil wraps.

Place the chicken on an ovenproof pan and cover it with foil.

Bake the chicken in the oven until a thermometer inserted into the middle of the chicken registers at 170 degrees. This took us about 2 hours.

Take the foil off and let the top brown for 10 minutes.

Yummy, delicious!

So this recipe actually turned out good! I will definitely stop being so scared of whole chickens and cook them more often for Prawn and I. I will also try experimenting with different spices and stuffing combinations. I don't know what took me so long to cook this!

xoxo

Dukan Ambassador Program & Testimonials

Prawn and I applied to the Dukan Ambassador program available to Canada and the US a while back, I finally received an answer as well as a response to our Success Story application to the website...

WE WERE APPROVED!

I'll be sure to put the link to our success stories when the Dukan website puts it up. We were told that they are editing it and our testimonials should be posted soon. I'm really excited to see the finished product, I feel like I'm famous!

Prawn and I will be the second and third success story on the page since I have lost 110 lbs and he has lost 105 lbs. I feel like a superstar, really confident right now.

Now the Ambassador program, if you are familiar with it, is a new thing the Dukan Diet is doing, I'm not sure what it entails exactly but from my understanding we will be notified of any Canadian media opportunities made available... How exciting! I'm basically dancing around my computer room. I feel really proud of what we have accomplished with the diet and it's nice to be recognised as such. I really want to meet Dr. Dukan and thank him to be honest with you. I hope that is where this opportunity brings us.

I really do love talking about this diet. I have turned so many people onto it because of my results. It would be a dream to travel somewhere and share my story with people. I guess for now I have to be satisfied with talking to you guys, trying to motivate you via the internet. You can lose the weight like I did, and you can keep it off forever, as I am going to do.

No cheating darlings, just rapid weight loss and healthy habits to last you a lifetime!

I'll let you know if there are any new developments on my impending fame :P

xoxo

The Prawn

I don't speak much of Prawn on my blog, a little mention here and there, his before and after pictures are alongside mine up above, he even wrote a section for my Loose Skin post, but no formal introduction has been given.

So I would like to dedicate this post to The Prawn.

Prawn and I met 5 years ago, he is the Mr. Big to my Carrie Bradshaw if you will (for all you Sex and the City fans reading my blog). We live together and are really, truly best friends.

Prawn is the one who pushed me to start this diet. One day at home I was really really down on my weight and crying. I was ashamed of how I looked. He told me I had to do this and that he would follow it as well, for as long as I stuck with it.

He, of course, assumed I would do as I have always done, follow the diet for 3 days or less and then quit. He assumed we would be off the diet and onto eating as we regularly would within a week.
He was wrong!

Still, he has stuck with the diet for these long 9 months (and counting) and has had phenomenal results. When I hit my goal weight, Prawn went onto consolidation with me. He had lost an impressive 105lbs on the diet. After a few weeks on phase 3 he decided, completely on his own (I'm so proud!) to restart the Dukan Diet and lose another 50lbs, so he can be down to a comfortable 200lbs.

He had decided about a year before we started Dukan to lose 100 lbs. He grew a beard and said when the weight loss was over he would shave it off. After several failed attempts at losting the weight he finally achieved his goal and shaved his beard (over a year and a half after growing it) and I could finally see his face again!

Of course now that he has restarted Dukan he is growing the beard back. I can only hope he loses the 50 lbs quickly while his motivation is up and so the world and I can see his gorgeous face again.

It is weird being on two different phases of the diet right now. I always forget he cannot have the bread, cheese, and fruit additions. We can't enjoy our celebration meals together anymore. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to taste the new varieties that are allowed in consolidation and then to throw those away and go back to the monotony that phase 2 had become.

I am really proud of The Prawn and wish him the best of luck at losing his last 50 lbs.

Tonight we are going for an hour long walk. I am so excited, we don't ever do that, either alone or together... walking? Pfft, that's for people with less busy schedules.

I figure it would be a great way to catch up on our lives, chit-chat and get a teensy bit of exercise in. I'm really excited for it, I just want to be home and get walking!

xoxo

Scrambled Blueberry Delight - Recipe

Now I know this next recipe doesn't LOOK appetizing. I promise you, it's delicious though. You could only do this in the consolidation phase, perfect for breakfast or a yummy dessert.

When I made this recipe I doubled the recipe I am going to write out for you, that's why the pictures will look like a lot more food than what you will end up with when following this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp oat bran

1/2 cup egg whites

1/4 cup blueberries (I made it using 1/4 cup blueberries and 1/4 cup blackberries, but remember, I doubled the recipe)

1 package of Splenda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Doesn't take too long to scramble up. Smells like hot blueberries, yum!

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, then throw them in a pan and scramble the eggs.

The cleanup becomes a hassle if you break all the blueberries and the hot blueberries get all over the pan. If you let these blueberries cool, washing the pan might be a little difficult. Just a warning.

Take all cooked ingredients out of the pan and place them into a bowl, there you go! Easy, filling, healthy meal. Perfect for my sweet tooth.

A little PB2 on the side, PB2 is powdered peanut butter. 85% less fat than peanut butter.

I added 2 tbsp of PB2, but it didn't even need that extra yum, the blueberries make it fine on it's own. Doesn't look too yummy, but it was delicious!

xoxo

Oat Bran Chocolate Chip Cookies - Recipe

Well I'm back from vacation! You know what that means, Julie and Julia Project!
You can click the tab above for any extra information.

I decided to start with a delicious looking Consolidation Phase dessert. Here I will basically tell you what not to do, because I failed at the Oat Bran Chocolate Chip Cookie found on page 232 of the Dukan Diet book.

The book says it makes about 20 cookies, I made about 8.

The book says 2 hours for the "chocolate bar" to harden, I had mine in the freezer for 12 hours and it was still not hard when I took it out.

It might be hard to see it from this picture, but the chocolate bar (even after 10 extra hours in the freezer) never hardened. it got bendy and more 'solid' but never chocolate-bar-hard.

The book also said 20 minutes cooking, I'm assuming I made the cookies too large because they could have used another 10 minutes at least. They came out very spongey.

INGREDIENTS

2 tsp Duch-processed cocoa
1 egg yolk + 1 egg
1 tbsp Splenda
3 tbsp oat bran
3/4 cup ff plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract (all I had was maple extract, made it smell and taste suuuper yummy.)

For the "Chocolate Bar" that never hardens:

Mix the cocoa, egg yolk, and 1 tsp of Splenda.

Wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it into a rectangular bar. Mine was a circular bar. Next time I try this recipe I will flatten it really thin, see if that makes it harden faster, or rather, harden at all.

Put it in the freezer for 2 hours, then chop it into coarse chunks. Good luck "chopping" this spongey mess. I ripped it appart instead, got my hands covered in goo-ey cocoa.

When you mix this chocolate mixture into your cookies it will all dissolve into little specks of chocolate that you will be able to smell during the cooking process but you wont be able to taste when you are eating the cookies.

Put the oat bran and chocolate chunks in a bowl. Now add the yogurt, cornstarch, whole egg, baking powder, and maple extract (you can do vanilla if you so choose) and 2 tsp of Splenda.

At least it looks like cookie dough. Yumm...

In the book we are instructed to line the baking sheet with aluminum foil... DO NOT DO THIS, omg. Just don't. I had never heard of lining a cookie sheet with foil to bake cookies and now I know why, they stick! Just spray a cookie sheet with pam or use parchment paper, or spray the aluminum with pam.

He instructs to place small, heaping mounds on the aluminum foil. I think mine must have been too big, this is why they did not cook in 20 minutes. Also, the mixture is kindof runny so make sure you have a lot of space in between cookies because they will run before they start cooking.

Do not line the sheet with aluminum or you will find yourself scraping the cookies off like I did. Parchment paper or pam will work much better.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned. Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.

So as you can see, I did not succeed with these cookies, but at least now you know what not to do and the J & J project is on it's way!

Better luck with my next recipe eh?
I'll let you know if I try this recipe again and succeed. Ugh.

xoxo

Being Overweight Sucks - Vacation Almost Over!



Before                                                                                          After

I am having a hard time believing this is my last day on vacation, my gorgeous 12 day vacation to Florida and New Orleans.

I would also like to say, to my (over) 1200 readers from the USA this week, thanks for your support :) You guys and my UK visitors have bumped my fellow Canadians to third place on my statistics page!

To any readers of mine from D.C; Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana: I had a great time visiting all your states (some briefly) during this trip. I'll be stopping through Illinois (Chicago) on my way home and look forward to adding it to my "States I've Been In" list.

Looking back on last years Florida pictures I'm kindof left with my jaw hanging open. I really had no idea I had gotten that big. Actually, Florida 2011 was the heaviest I have ever been, I made the decision to lose weight a few months after I returned. I was really uncomfortable the entire trip last year. Had a hard time walking around Epcot, keeping up with my grandparents and my sister. I remember limping at the end of a long day at Magic Kingdom and being really ashamed. I remember being so jealous of my slim sister, feeling really huge especially in comparison to her.

Looking at the pictures though, I didn't realise I was that big. Really. I want to say: "How did I get to be that way?" But I know exactly how. Overeating, and overeating a lot of bad, sweet things. Someday maybe I will share with you just how disgusting my eating habits were, but that is for a day where I am not just BATHING in my pride over my weight loss.

Yesterday I spent 12 hours at Universal Studios - Island Adventure. I walked around the entire time, only sitting for maybe 10 minutes for a quick supper, and on rides. Sure, my legs are really sore today, but no limping, no chaffing, I feel fantastic! I could not have walked around all day (including an over 2 hour wait for Harry Potter with the baby sis) if I had been heavy. No way.

Sad moment at Universal. After the over two hour wait for that one Harry Potter ride (which was just... amazing) I sit down on the ride with my sister and look up just in time to see some guy, turned down because of his weight... he had to exit through this darkened side-door and leave his friends because he was too heavy and this ride doesn't have the adjustable seating for heavy people that some of the other rides at Universal have. Can you imagine? When I was fat this was my greatest fear. To be embarrassed and not fit on something because of my weight, especially after such a long wait and with his friends right there... I was so thankful to have put the work into the Dukan Diet, not cheated, and actually achieved my goals.

All in all, a great day really, a great trip.

I need all my readers to keep up the good work. It really broke my heart to see that happen and really, you can't let yourself get like that. You need to put in the work as well and get to a healthy place. Life is easier when you are not overweight. I am treated differently, better. I feel better. Everything is better! So work hard at it.

xoxo

Self-Improvement & Support When It Comes to Working Out

Prawn and I both motivate each other on this diet in different ways. He doesn't cave in to my whining about the diet and I keep him in line, making sure neither of us cheat. I believe we have always been there for each other and it has obviously worked for us because here we are. I have lost 110 lbs and he has lost 105 lbs (and counting). So obviously when it comes to support, we are doing something right.

I can't see why we can't motivate each other in the same way when it comes to working out.

We are both pretty lazy people, and neither of us really into working out... but we both want to be fit and we can both motivate each other, so really, why not?

If you follow me pretty consistently you might have noticed I have mentioned getting a personal trainer. Expensive, but in my mind, worth it. Since I have tried everything else.

Well wait... there is something I have not tried. Prawn!

We discussed it and once I get back home from my vacation (Thursday) we will try motivating ourselves to go to the gym and once there, become each others personal trainers. I think we can feed off each others energy and make this work. I am really go-getter in the sense that I will come up with a plan and be all for it... for a teensy bit, or until I hit a wall.

Prawn is good for me in a supportive sense, because he is not a planning person, and he will not initiate something, but if he knows I want it, and if I start the process, he will continue it and make sure I keep it up.

I think for the first time in the diet we are both at a place where we actually want to workout and be fit, we just need each other to motivate one another and keep up the pace.

I want to track our progress here in one of the above tabs. You can tune-in and follow us along our new journey. I'm excited, there is so much new-ness coming about once I get back to Canada: The J&J project, where I will learn to love to cook again, our new working out schedule which I will make and he will help us follow, I want to start eating smaller portions and eat cleaner, no more diet pop... all in all I guess we will be busy little Dukanians, no?

I hope I can keep up with my ever-growing list of self-improvements! Being too ambitious and failing at everything is my greatest fear.

I always have my readers support. Btw, you guys are amazing :)

xoxo

The Beach - Beach Body Before and After - Siesta Key

After                                                                                              Before

So I went to my favourite beach in the entire world today: Siesta Key in Sarasota Florida. Last year when I came to Florida I went to this beach as well (in my mind, most beautiful beach in the world, or at least, that I have ever been to).

Last year I tanned at the beach. I didn't walk around or even want to sit up because I was big and ashamed of my weight. When I went to get this picture taken by the water, I remember thinking I looked so good and so hourglass shape. I put on my pants because I didn't want to be seen in my bathing suit bottom walking and I was afraid people would look at me.

The 'After' pic was taken as soon as I got to the beach today. As soon as it was snapped I stripped off all my clothes and walked around in a string-bikini. I walked around all day in that bikini, for two hours up and down the beach and I tanned not caring if people saw me, because damn I looked good.

Of course this confidence faded maybe... an hour and a half into the walk when I started getting self conscious that people were looking at my jiggly-loose skin legs or my belly. But after 10 minutes of walking around after I hit that body-image-low, I picked myself back up and kept strutting down the beach for all to see. :)

xoxo

Worried Your Partner May Cheat While You Are Away

So I left Prawn, my diet partner, all the way back in Canada for this trip. He is on my mind and I hope he is being successful with the diet and making good decisions.

This isn't the first time we have been apart while on Dukan, he went camping for a week with his friends during the summer and I went to New Brunswick for a week with my family in September. Both times we both avoided cheating even with the distance and lack of communication.

This time is a little different because it's the longest time we have been apart while dieting. It also has me uneasy because a couple weeks before I left he restarted phase 1 instead of continuing with phase 3 with me because he feels the weight he consolidated at wasn't low enough for his taste.

So we are not on the same phase in the diet anymore. It feels as if we have lost some of that strength and partnership since we are no longer sharing the same experience and I worry while I'm away.

My advice to you if you and your partner are separated because of a trip either of you is taking, based on my two previous experiences:

Trust in your partner. You have to remember that you have spent quite a bit of time away from each other already (assuming you don't spend every waking minute with each other) you are both capable human beings able to make your own decisions. Neither of you controls what the other eats every meal of every day.

If your partner can make good decisions daily while you are in the country, s/he can make them while you are gone as well.

You are not your partner, your decisions don't reflect each other. Your purpose is to support one another but if your partner slips up, whether or not you are on vacation, it doesn't reflect on you because your partner is his or her own entity. While on vacation, if communication is impossible, don't worry and focus on your own dieting. The worst that will happen is your partner will cheat on the diet, you will come home and set them straight. Your results will not be harmed and you can both continue on your dieting journeys.

And the last thing to remember, is that if your partner was going to cheat on the diet, they would most likely  do so whether or not you were on vacation. So relax, enjoy your time.

I will be enjoying mine!

xoxo

PS: I don't think Prawn reads my blog, but I hope the drives to and from work haven't been too lonely for him and I can't wait to be back :)

Differences in Experience on Dukan

Talking to my grandmaman on this trip (she has lost 70 lbs and is approaching her one year anniversary with the Dukan Diet. She is currently on the consolidation phase)

She informed me that her experience with Dukan was completely different than mine. Let me explain:

She felt during the cruise phase that it went by so easily, smoothly. That she didn't mind making dinner for my grandpapa that wasn't diet food. She didn't mind going out to restaurants and eating salad. It went by really quickly for her and now, looking back, realises how much time has gone by and how LONG this diet has been. She is really looking forward for when she will get two celebration meals a week and in her mind, that is when the diet will be over for her.

I was completely blown away because I had almost the complete opposite experience.

During the cruise phase I HATED eating at restaurants with my friends and felt completely deprived. I could never have done what she did, making non-Dukan meals for someone. I would have cheated, 100% I am not that strong-willed. Prawn had to go on the diet with me so I would have that extra support.

But looking back, I realise how LITTLE time has gone by. Yesterday was my 9 month anniversary on Dukan and when I think back to cruise... it went by so fast! I could be on this current phase for ever and am excited for phase 4 (August 10th 2013) but I know this diet will just wiz by and August will be here before I know it.

Weird, maybe it's an age difference thing.

xoxo

Bikini Picture!

So I did it, I wore a bikini out in public, my first ever bikini and my first ever bikini pic.
Thought I would share it with my lovely readers and remember, this time last year I was in Florida and weighed 264.8 lbs! (You can check out my before and after pics for some of my heavier photos)

Experiencing Culture - Foreign Foods and New Orleans

So what happened to experiencing culture sans-food?

During the almost 15 hours of driving back to Orlando from New Orleans I had time to think about this.

I didn't end up having a celebration (or a starch) meal in Louisiana. Did I still have a good time even though I couldn't thorougly experience the food?

Surprisingly, yes!
My little social experiment was a success!

Now, back home, I watch a lot of the Food Network, even while on the diet. I'm always getting ideas (like my spaghetti squash recipe) from TV.

Having seen quite a few specials on New Orleans food I was anticipating a really dissapointing trip culinarily.

I couldn't try out any of the foods I have hard so much about and that upset me.

This was my New Orleans food experience:

My sister ordered all the New Orleans 'classics' on our trip. I was lucky because she let me smell each dish and I got to take pictures and hear about how they tasted. She is a total sweetie for putting up with that.
So although I did not physically put these classics in my mouth, chew and swallow them, I actually feel like I experienced them:

-Gumbo
-Jumbalaya
-Banana Foster

Gator Gumbo from Red Fish Grill, New Orleans

My sister even let me feel the beignets from Cafe du Monde. She's the best. That really made me happy since I was dissapointed about those the most. They smelt absolutely delicious and not only had my aunt told me we HAD to go there, but I had seen the place on TV several times.

World Famous Cafe Du Monde Beignets

I personally had blackened red fish (omg... so good. Best spices in New Orleans) I had crawfish and actually ripped the head off one! (Moving up the food chain XD)

My Really Scrumptious Red Fish

I did have a shrimp po-boy using the hollowed out french bread as my two slices of bread for the day.

Mmmm Shrimp Po-Boy

So I did experience all the New Orleans staples! I am really happy with my trip.

So when you are travelling, I guess you need to remember: don't just avoid situations because you might be faced with tempting foreign foods. Don't miss out on experiences because of the diet, you can experience things without having to put bad (or not allowed) foods in your mouth.

xoxo

Why Fruit is Not Allowed

When I talk about the Dukan Diet to people for the first time one of their first questions and concerns is almost always: "Why am I not allowed fruit?" or "Isn't fruit good for you?"

Until now I would always respond that there is a lot of sugar in fruit and that we make fruit out to be healthier than it actually is. This was my go to answer because this is what I understood from the book.

After reading a bit further into the "Eat This Not That - Supermarker Survival Guide" I have a better and more thorough answer for all you fruit-skeptics.

So why is fruit cut out completely in the first two phases and then restricted in phase 3?

From my new understanding this is the reason:

Fruit has two sugarey components

-Glucose
-Fructose

If you eat too much fruit your body can't metabolize it fast enough so your liver puts some glucose into your blood stream.
You can get type 2 diabetes when your body can't clear glucose from your blood stream because there is too much glucose and your pancreas burns out.

Once your livers capacity for fructose is met, however, the extra fructose doesn't go into your blood stream, it is stored in your liver as glycogen.

Your liver can only store 90-100g of glycogen.

The rest is converted into fat.

Too much fructose, found naturally in fruit, raises your blood lipid levels which can cause fat deposits in your artery walls, increasing your risk for heart disease.

I hope that didn't end up confusing you more.

So although the amount of fructose you would find in let's say, an apple, isn't nearly as horrendous as a soft drink, it's still there and important to detox out of your body to make this diet successfull and then later to enjoy in moderation.

xoxo

The Treadmill and I - Mini Challenge

My little sister is pretty amazing and works out quite a bit. She has lost a lot of weight in the past few years, not by following a strict diet but rather by actually working out consistently, and I think that's amazing.
She doesn't follow my blog, but yea, she is awesome :)

So on our first day of vacation together, I get woken up at 8am (after having pulled an allnighter the night before and then going to bed at 2am)... by my sister who is going to the gym. She asked me to go with her, and uhm... no. I don't go to the gym, let alone at 8am on my vacation.

Hearing her get ready though, idk I felt like I wanted to go, I guess I was awake and didn't feel like I could get back to sleep, and if she left without me I would feel left out, so in exchange for her making my bed, I got dressed and ready to leave.

First day in Florida... freezing cold. Stupid wind coming from Canada. I thought I had abandoned it back home but it followed me -.- Not too impressed. So in the freezing cold she insisted we jog to the gym. We jogged for a couple minutes in the complete opposite direction of where the gym was before realising... and then walked back to the house, got the golf cart and drove.

At the gym I did 10 minutes straight on the treadmill at 5 miles an hour... which is faster than the 5km an hour I would have done at home.

I know for sure in the next week and a half I will hit the gym again (knowing my sister) and I'm aiming to leave with 15-20 minutes non-stop on the treadmill...

Why is this a feat? Well when I was heavier I couldn't run on the treadmill or rather, I was very very afraid of doing so because of my really fragile and easily-sprained ankles. That and I was lazy :P

So only recently did I hop on a treadmill... my first time running on one was pretty emotional. So I feel pretty proud of myself every time I get on one and run.
Since I don't workout all that often I can't really build my run-time. I hope this week I get off my lazy butt and use my sister pushing me as an excuse to better myself.

I'll let you know how it goes. I hope there is a treadmill at the Hotel in New Orleans so I can practice. Wish me luck!

xoxo

Clothes Shopping - Before and After Weight Loss

So I'm all smiles right now, want to share this experience with you.
I have basically been shopping for two days straight, and I'm all smiles and nothing can bring me down. Absolutely nothing.

So, this is my second year coming to Florida around this time of year. Last year I went clothes shopping one day, found this plus-sized store called Torrid that we don't have in Canada. Super-cute clothing, worst shopping experience of my life. I was in the store for hours, trying on everything to find something that fit me, this was at my absolute heaviest. I bought quite a few pieces, for way too much money (as plus sized clothing usually is) and in this shopping trip I bought a pair of skinny jeans, my first pair ever... a size 24.

I still have these jeans at home... I should post a picture when I get home.

Anyways, I remember crying in the changeroom. I remember being embarassed, frustrated, annoyed. Hating myself. I was impatient with my grandmaman who was shopping with me. I was not in a good mood. When I was finished we left the mall and didn't do any clothes shopping at all afterword. I didn't want to, I wanted to hide.

In comparison, the last two days have been absolutely amazing. I had not bought any summer clothing in Canada since... well our winter just started basically, and I knew it would be less expensive down here. So I came with only a few t-shirts and light pants, with the hopes of finding a few pairs of shorts here. Oh my gosh, if I had only known :D

The feeling of going into any store, absolutely any store and not only fitting into their clothing, but not being the biggest size, not having to reach to the back of the rack to pick out that XL praying they had a 2X or that the material would be stretchy... the feeling of walking out the change room and showing, with pride any piece of clothing because they all look damn good and fit well because I'm THIN... I can't explain it, but it's probably one of the best feelings in the world. I'm tearing up just talking about it, I never want to stop shopping!

I fit in cute stuff, short stuff, and I looked good! I fit in smalls, mediums and you will never guess... I bought a pair of jeans... size 4!

I have never owned short shorts, ever. I bought 6 pairs XD
I bought a pair of colored jeggings... I would never wear color on my bottom, are you kidding me? And draw attention to it? No way. But no, all my shorts are bright, my pants are purple, I don't need to hide my legs.

I feel so confident right now, so good about myself. I spent a little less than I spent last year but I have a whole new WARDROBE, not just a few pieces, I wasn't forced to spend 60$ on a dress because it's the only thing that fit me, I chose what I wanted and what I looked good in! I'm so happy!

Now, all that confidence aside, my legs are still hideous and on our way home from day 2 of shopping I kindof got a pang, I have huge veins that go through my legs and are very visible. They never left after I lost the weight. My legs are pasty white, and because of the loose skin are very jiggly... Idk if buying all those short shorts was the best idea. But I will definetally start working out right? I will get my legs into the kind of shape I want them to be in and for now, everyone in Florida better watch their eyes because my legs are seriously blinding.

You know what though, my legs are pretty disgusting, and I'm really embarassed by them... but it's not even kindof on the same level as how I felt about being overweight. I am just so so so happy. I just need to work on my physique, no biggie.

Nothing can bring me down from this :) I feel great!

xoxo

Grocery Shopping - The Inner VS Outer Aisles

My sister passed me this book called: "Eat This not That - Supermarket Survival Guide" to read while we are on vacation. (Good book btw... I kindof want to steal it. Shhh don't tell her :P)

#7 in Chapter 1 really clicked with me, titled: "Live on the Edge" talks about how grocery stores are organised with the perishable, single ingredient items on the outside and the bad-for-you (generally) and perishable items on the inside. That's when I realised, how little I go in the center aisles now! When I used to grocery shop I would wander through all of the aisles, up and down each one. But now when I do go in the center aisles it's to get something specific, making "strategic inner-aisle strikes for things" like oat bran or a specific spice I want to refil on.
When I shop I shop in the meats, dairy, egg, and veggie aisles, all on the outside.

Interesting find.

Cool to see how my habits have changed without me realising it. Because of the diet I don't wander through the grocery store as long, I don't pick up impulse-bad-for-me junk food. I eat so much healthier. Wow XD

What about you? Have your grocery shopping habits changed?

xoxo

Boarding the Airplane - Your Flight & Dehydration

So, was my experience with travel and flight easier now that I have lost 110lbs? The same?

Nope.

I can only guess why:

Now usually I am drowning myself in water non-stop throughout the day, and I tried. I don't want to pay over 3$ for a bottle of water at the airport and I drank a few times from the fountain there but not nearly enough. I was left thirsty before the flight. I have gone on several planes in my life, the most recent one was a little over a year ago and except for my ears popping like crazy I have never had any problems.

This flight (and I can only attribute this to slight dehydration) my ears only popped slightly but my knees and ankles hurt like A LOT throughout the entire flight as did my back. My fingers were really swollen, I noticed my ankles were a little swollen as well as being in severe pain. Actually both my legs felt swollen and numb.

They offered drinks during the flight but I was so tired (I had pulled an all nighter so that I could leave my house at 3am for the flight.) So I slept through the flight attendant coming by twice.

When I stood up before boarding my flight I felt light headed and dizzy, like I haven't felt in months on the diet, since I started drinking huge quantities of water. So it was definetally dehydration. Shoot. And I was doing so well.

Now I don't know how you, as a traveller on the Dukan Diet can entirely avoid this. You can't bring water bottles from home on your flights so I guess you will have to be less cheap than me and buy loads of water at the airport. Or bring a mug or something.
You could always make your situation known to the flight attendants. Just make sure to drink tons of water to avoid all this.

I will admit though, I fit so much better in the plane seats. ;)

I don't know if I have any readers who have been through the Reagan International Washington airport (my first time connecting through Washington, from what I have seen I would love to visit there during the summer...) but am I the only one who found it super confusing? Very confusing airport, barely any signs or anything.

xoxo

PS: After my connecting flight to Orlando I can tell you that during this part of the flight I felt 100% better, drank a lot of diet coke on the plane. I feel less swollen and the pain is gone from my legs and ankles. Now I know, come prepared and when flying, drink tons of liquids to avoid feeling sick.

The Dairy Challenge, an Update

I had a moment of weakness yesterday and reached for Greek-fruit bottomed yogurt. Oh man I still totally want some, just not as strongly as yesterday. I told Prawn that I was going to eat it and just post on my blog that I had a little slip up, no biggie. I wasn't cheating on the diet because I am allowed dairy and since I am leaving for Florida so soon, and I'm sure I'll eat yogurt down there, that it was okay. I had might as well just quit anyways. I have been strong for 17 days so why can't I just have one, a slip up isn't bad.

Etc etc.

Just rationalizing it to myself made it okay.

Prawn made me feel guilty (as he should have) and I ended up leaving Walmart with none of my delicious snack :(

In retrospect, I am really glad he stepped in and stopped me, but I was pissy with him all night and I feel badly about it.

I just reeaaaaally wanted some. I was starving after work, had huge hunger pangs and there were no deli chickens left, anyways, yesterday just sucked.

I ended up coming home and he made us turkey-meat loaf which was okay... it wasn't greek-fruit bottomed yogurt though, yummy! :( I can't wait until these 30 days are over but I really need to make a mental note to not go crazy, ease myself into eating dairy. Maybe limit myself to a certain quantity per day. I'll figure it out later, still another 13 days of this Challenge to go.

I'm thinking about challenging myself in other small ways. I will be doing the J & J Project on my return, which will be a challenge in itself, but maybe another small 30 day challenge would be cool.

There are a few things I would like to work on... I could:

- Cut Out Diet Pop for 30 days

I drink way too much diet pop. Not consistently but when I do buy the 2L bottles I usually go through 4L - 8L a night.

-Another Dairy Challenge (No Yogurt for 30 Days)

I'm actually pretty afraid of going back to my way-too-much yogurt habit... I would eat several tubs of greek yogurt or just regular yogurt, plain or fruit flavored a night, consistently.

-No Deli Chickens for 30 Days

Not only are they fatty and sit in their fat for probably hours... but I have to admit, I can't - not eat the skin, so delicious... they are also pretty expensive.

-12 Weeks of Solid Works Outs - 5X a Week Minimum and Exercise Everyday

This is the challenge I should be doing. I am really unhappy with my physique and need to be doing this... but this would be the hardest one to do and the one I would most likely fail at, since i have failed at it hundreds of times before and have REALLY no motivation. so basically, I'm scared to do this one.

Why 12 weeks? Well apparently it takes 4 weeks for you to notice your body changing, 8 weeks for your friends and 12 weeks for the rest of the world.

Opinions? Which do you think  should do, and if you think I should do the working out challenge... what is the secondary one I should do? :P

I wish I had the willpower to do all of these. To just go nuts and deprive myself of all these things that I have turned to instead of carbs and sugar. Maybe I can try, I am just afraid that not only would I be setting myself up for failure, but if I fail I will just quit the "Better-ing Myself Challenges" altogether instead of starting off slowly as I did with the Dairy Challenge.

Wish me luck!

xoxo

Dukan Chocolate Cake?! - Recipe

  

Is this... Dukan Chocolate cake?! I found it tasted really good, was filling and destroyed my sweet-craving. Prawn found it kindof bitter. I really didn't measure, just kindof eyeballed the recipe. You want it to be the same consistency as a brownie batter or a cake batter... Here is the recipe:

So you are going to want to take:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (which is every kind of cocoa powder really...) 

and mix it with

8 packets of sweet n low

Then take 1 cup of egg whites and mix it all together. I took two big spoonfulls of almond butter and mixed it with the eggs, you really have to fork it through for a while since the almond butter is usually pretty thick.

Now why do I use almond butter? Because on phase 3 you are allowed low-fat spread on your two slices of bread and I do not use any, so I allow myself almond butter in my oat bran gallette, since I didn't have one today I thought I would put it in my "cake". Anyways.

Spray a baking dish with pam (lightly) and put the cake in, for 15 minutes at 350.

I took it out at 13 minutes and spread 1 tbsp of PB2 on, then popped it back in for 2 minutes. Cut it into quarters and ate warm, and OMG! Really delicious. Like a brownie. It's really hard to believe it's not cheating and eating some decadent dark chocolate or something. Yum.

PB2 is powdered peanut butter. They extract the fat and powder the peanuts, 85% less fat than peanut butter, you mix it with water and I find it tastes exactly the same as the real stuff. Organic, really good. You can order it online but I found it at the Nutrition House.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it and make any alterations. You might want to add more sweetner since as Prawn pointed out, it's a teensy bit bitter. I liked it though, a lot.

xoxo

Costs Associated With the Dukan Diet

I have been asked this by a couple readers, what are the costs associated with the Dukan Diet? I thought I had answered this well enough in my "Expensive Diet To Follow?" post, but I guess not.

It's fine, I'll try and make it clear here:

There are diets like Vi-shakes or Weight Watchers where you have to pay for the food, or for the meetings. This is not the case with the Dukan Diet.

You should (I seriously recommend this) purchase the Dukan Diet book. Baby blue cover, in Canada it has a plate on it. This has all the science behind the diet, recipes, information and guidelines written by Dr Dukan. You don't have to purchase the other recipe books but if you like the diet maybe you should. I will be purchasing a recipe book that will be availlable in Canada March 27th. I know there are different versions depending where in the world you are from.

There is online coaching available through the Dukan Diet website.

I'm not a fan, I prefer to direct myself through the diet. You don't need to do the online coaching and I'm not sure what the cost is but click the link above and you can find out for yourself.

There is a community of Dukan bloggers and facebookers who answer questions and help support me thorugh the diet. I'm sure if you are on twitter you could find some Dukanians there.

The above support groups are all FREE.

There is also a support network through the Dukan Website. I am not certain if you need to pay the online membership coaching fees (or whatever) to join them and ask questions. I have not asked.

So that's it. You can find the book at Chapters, walmart (usually 30% off) or online. This is the only mandatory cost of the Dukan Diet.

Oh yea, and your food (of course) more on that in my expenses post.

xoxo