We hit the ground running after our business/vacation trip....tenants moved out...wow, people do not clean their living spaces anymore! Gross! We did takeout (mostly salads because we're trying to get back into eating lower fat and it's been pretty humid here) most of the time but last week I did get a chance to cook.
I haven't downloaded the photos of the food yet, but will try to get that done this weekend. The dish I really liked from this past weekend - a lighter version of Moo Shu Chicken without the plum or hoisin sauce and made with turkey instead of chicken. Even before we started Dukan, I already stopped using hoisin sauce on my Moo Shu Chicken.
The only reason we used turkey is because we had some leftover turkey I wanted to use up. It's a labor intensive dish if you clean your bean sprouts like we do...picking off all the browned ends. It took me over half and hour just to prep the veggies. While I cooked the dish, I vowed outloud to never make Moo Shu again because of the time spent in the kitchen but I really enjoyed the taste...so I may make it again...maybe without bean sprouts this time!
While on our trip, I did gain a couple pounds...I ate everything, no dieting. Did a lot of walking and hiking...which may be why I only gained two pounds. The male half didn't gain anything! Arrgh.
In the last two weeks though, I've been eating more salads and pretty much have been eating like I'm in Cruise (but no PP days) and I've lost about 3 pounds. We'll slowly but surely get back on track...we have to!
Showing posts with label Dukan Diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dukan Diary. Show all posts
Friday, June 21, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Dukan and Paleo Update
I will be on a business trip soon and have lots to prep for the trip. Cooking in our household will be on hold until I return.
While we haven't committed 100% to Paleo, we are still following the Dukan Diet but still haven't been able to lose weight. I'll probably need to go back to Attack when I return from my business trip to jump start the weight loss. We're keeping away from carbs and still eating a very low fat diet. In addition, we are back to exercising 5-6 times each week (cardio and muscle toning). We've definitely gained a little bit of muscle, but argh! Luckily though, no weight gain. Whew!
Guess June will be a reboot for us!
We're still trying to find recipes that would fall under both the Dukan Diet and the Paleo Diet and have found several great tasting recipes.
Hope to be cooking again by mid June!
While we haven't committed 100% to Paleo, we are still following the Dukan Diet but still haven't been able to lose weight. I'll probably need to go back to Attack when I return from my business trip to jump start the weight loss. We're keeping away from carbs and still eating a very low fat diet. In addition, we are back to exercising 5-6 times each week (cardio and muscle toning). We've definitely gained a little bit of muscle, but argh! Luckily though, no weight gain. Whew!
Guess June will be a reboot for us!
We're still trying to find recipes that would fall under both the Dukan Diet and the Paleo Diet and have found several great tasting recipes.
Hope to be cooking again by mid June!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Blog Name Change and an Update
Hope everyone had a nice and Dukan successful weekend.
This morning we were fiddling with out blogger template, trying to change things up a bit and decided to rename our blog (the URL will remain the same for now). Decided to simplify our blog name to "Dukan-ing in Hawaii".
Our recipes can be used in many different locations around the world but for the most part, we usually change recipes because we're using what's available in Hawaii and what's not going send us to the 'poor house'. Every place has its perks and challenges when it comes to ingredient availability -- for Hawaii it's being a state that imports a lot of its goods and our humid weather. Don't get us wrong, we rather run around in flip flops and shorts pretty much every weekend of the year versus dealing with snow and temperatures below zero!
So, the big hula competition is over....we enjoyed over 18 hours of live hula coverage! It was a long hula day yesterday but we managed to bake a Paleo Banana Bread for the male half of this couple. That recipe will be posted in a week or so. Dukan'ers can enjoy this recipe during Consolidation and Stabilization...and it doesn't have any grains or add sweeteners!
This coming weekend will be a cooking weekend.....hope to have more recipes up throughout April. We're keeping up our 30 minute cardio workouts almost daily. We haven't done a Pure Protein day in forever -- will have to plan one this week. Speaking of food, the weather has been unusually cold in Hawaii for this time of year (with the exception of yesterday). We've been dipping down into the low sixties, upper 50's...which I know doesn't seem bad compared to other places, but it's just something we're not used to nor are we prepared with a lot of warm clothes. I looked back to what we ate in February and March -- mostly Nabe (Japanese hot pots). It was a way for us to eat healthy, simple and warm!
This morning we were fiddling with out blogger template, trying to change things up a bit and decided to rename our blog (the URL will remain the same for now). Decided to simplify our blog name to "Dukan-ing in Hawaii".
Our recipes can be used in many different locations around the world but for the most part, we usually change recipes because we're using what's available in Hawaii and what's not going send us to the 'poor house'. Every place has its perks and challenges when it comes to ingredient availability -- for Hawaii it's being a state that imports a lot of its goods and our humid weather. Don't get us wrong, we rather run around in flip flops and shorts pretty much every weekend of the year versus dealing with snow and temperatures below zero!
So, the big hula competition is over....we enjoyed over 18 hours of live hula coverage! It was a long hula day yesterday but we managed to bake a Paleo Banana Bread for the male half of this couple. That recipe will be posted in a week or so. Dukan'ers can enjoy this recipe during Consolidation and Stabilization...and it doesn't have any grains or add sweeteners!
This coming weekend will be a cooking weekend.....hope to have more recipes up throughout April. We're keeping up our 30 minute cardio workouts almost daily. We haven't done a Pure Protein day in forever -- will have to plan one this week. Speaking of food, the weather has been unusually cold in Hawaii for this time of year (with the exception of yesterday). We've been dipping down into the low sixties, upper 50's...which I know doesn't seem bad compared to other places, but it's just something we're not used to nor are we prepared with a lot of warm clothes. I looked back to what we ate in February and March -- mostly Nabe (Japanese hot pots). It was a way for us to eat healthy, simple and warm!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Another Weekend of No Cooking!
I've already announced to the male half this will be a non-cooking weekend for us. It's Merrie Monarch weekend starting from this evening. Merrie Monarch is known to many as the Olympics of Hula. My annual tradition is to watch the three day event (6 hours each night) with my hula friends. There's also other televised programs related to Merrie Monarch starting tonight and it's their 50th Anniversary. So, needless to say, I'll be spending a lot of time curled up in front of a tv watching the competition.
We're already thinking about what we can pick up food-wise. Poke or seasoned raw fish will probably be on the list as well as a salad or two. Trying very hard not to cheat since we've been exercising daily and although the pounds haven't dropped off, the body fat percentage has dropped a little. The male half (although he has no weight to lose) is now taking the stairs to his 8th floor office twice a day. I've been doing a mix of cardio and strength exercises.
We may try to squeeze an easy meal before meeting up with some out of town guests but we are also working on some home improvement projects....so that may take up most of our non-Merrie Monarch time this weekend.
We do have a couple recipes scheduled to post tomorrow and next week!
That's our update for now :-)
We're already thinking about what we can pick up food-wise. Poke or seasoned raw fish will probably be on the list as well as a salad or two. Trying very hard not to cheat since we've been exercising daily and although the pounds haven't dropped off, the body fat percentage has dropped a little. The male half (although he has no weight to lose) is now taking the stairs to his 8th floor office twice a day. I've been doing a mix of cardio and strength exercises.
We may try to squeeze an easy meal before meeting up with some out of town guests but we are also working on some home improvement projects....so that may take up most of our non-Merrie Monarch time this weekend.
We do have a couple recipes scheduled to post tomorrow and next week!
That's our update for now :-)
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Dukan Update
Hope everyone's doing well with their weight loss and healthy eating! We've been sticking to our healthy eating but I've plateaued....but I've also skipped exercising this past week. This weekend it's back to exercising and the male half of this couple and I have decided to have an "exercise together" night each week. We're still trying to figure out what we'll be doing -- we're looking for something free of course and something he won't become bored with.
This weekend there will also be not a lot of cooking in our house. The male half had his second to his last dental surgical procedure done -- so he can't really eat much. He's requested a non-Dukan and non-Paleo dish -- rice, since it's easy to mash in his mouth. I'm sure by next weekend we'll be able to make regular dishes.
This plateau has put a bump in my Dukan road. We're supposed to go into the Consolidation Phase next week -- late last year our plan was to transition to a Dukan/Paleo lifestyle once I got to my weight goal, but since I am not there yet, we'll be on Dukan for a little longer. I was so looking forward to adding my Candied Pecans made with Xylitol to my diet!
This time around I'm not feeling discouraged by a plateau or not reaching my goal...I know adding back aerobic exercise will get me there! We're hoping to get in a hike sometime this weekend -- will post photos if we do!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! (Happy New Year)
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| Kadomatsu display and Kagami mochi |
We wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone who visited our blog and we hope our recipes were useful to you :-)
We spent this weekend baking and prepping for New Year's Eve. As mentioned in a previous post or two, New Year's Eve is a big thing here in Hawaii with our various customs and traditions. One would be consuming mochi or sweet rice cakes. At one time our family actually pounded mochi, displayed the traditional Kagami Mochi, bought a kadomatsu or two, burned long strands of firecrackers at midnight to ward off evil spirits and ate Ozoni on New Year's Day. Today, we still buy our kadomatsus, but now we buy our Kagami Mochi display and as the older generation passes, our display becomes smaller and smaller. We have a new fireworks ban, banning certain fireworks, so as a family we've decided to just enjoy fireworks on the television.
This year since New Year's Eve landed on a Monday, we took advantage of the weekend and baked 3 pans of mochi - chocolate and custard. Yes, we cheated, we sampled the mochi (eeek!). We also made some kamaboko dip. The male half who is from the mainland never even heard of kamaboko dip but he liked the dip! Kamaboko is a fish cake and we ate tons of it growing up...every New Year's Eve every party we went to had kamaboko of different colors and shapes cut up as an appetizer. Both of these recipes are not Dukan or Paleo friendly, but we may post them as Celebration Recipes.
Every Thursday we usually plan out our weekend meals and shop for our weekend groceries. Unless we are meeting friends on the weekend for dinner, we generally eat at home and is the easiest time for us to eat healthy. As mentioned in previous posts, once the female half of this couple reaches her weight loss goal, we will be easing into a Paleo or Caveman-like diet. The more research we do on the internet and on prices of organic, natural products here in Hawaii and on Amazon, it's looking like we will be moderate Paleo people.
With that in mind, for the rest of our Cruise Phase, we are sticking to Dukan, but if our Dukan recipe can easily be Paleo'd without compromising Dukan Rules, we have been Paleo-ing our recipes too! Once we get to Consolidation (around February of next year), we'll stick to the Consolidation Rules but add in the Paleo rules -- mainly the no grains rule. The no processed foods will probably need to be less processed foods for now.
This weekend, we made 4 meals -- all were Dukan Cruise Phase recipes and were Paleo'ish. The male half actually has three meals with no grains, yay! He actually could have had all his meals without grains, but we didn't want to waste the brown rice and mashed potatoes given to us. (BTW, our other meals, like breakfast I don't count as "made meals" since most times we have yogurt with oat bran, Appelgate natural deli meat, low fat cheese with Dijon mustard and steamed broccoli on PV days.)
The results, a pound loss (we only exercised once this weekend, wonder how much more we could have lost had we stuck to our aerobic exercise), no bloated tummies for either of us, no sluggish Kanak Attacks (a local saying after you eat a heavy meal and you just want to sleep or lay around).
Again, Happy New Year to everyone and here's wishing all of us a healthy 2013!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Back to cooking this weekend
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and planning for a fun New Years. We took a break from the kitchen this week - we baked and cooked up until Christmas night and are pooped out. We have two more holiday gatherings -- one tonight and actually several on New Year's Eve.
Not sure what it's like on New Year's Eve in your part of the world, but New Year's Eve here is really a mix of traditions from various cultures. Our island used to be big on fireworks...as in, individual households burning hundreds (and for some, thousands) of dollars worth of fireworks, tons of traditional and non-traditional foods being served at New Year's Eve parties like plates of sashimi or raw fish, traditional Japanese sushi rolls (non traditional sushi too), mochi or a sweet glutinous rice dessert in all kinds of shapes and flavors, etc etc. Not too many healthy things on the menu!
On Christmas we managed to eat sort of healthy -- we made a Zucchini Lasagna which was great but very cheesy, skipped the bread and dessert. We'll post that recipe in 2013. We have our Whole Wheat Baked Rigatoni recipe ready but I forgot to download the pics from my camera, so that will have to wait a few more days.
This weekend we're hoping to make a couple dishes using won bok or Chinese cabbage (also known as Napa cabbage) and takenoko or bamboo shoots. With New Years coming up, Marukai, our local Japanese food store has a lot of these items on sale. We'll be making some non-Dukan and non-Paleo items for the 4 New Year's Eve gatherings we are attending -- debating on whether or not to post those recipes.
Once a week we've prepared a Paleo meal -- yes, the male half of this couple survived no-starch meals, hooray! In place of the starch he usually eats, I usually increase the amount of vegetables he gets. No complaints from him yet :-) Starting January, we'll ease into 2 or 3 no to low starch meals and hopefully will be grain free within a month or two...hopefully.
We've continued to research the Paleo diet -- quite a few of the recipes will have to wait since I am still trying to lose weight and don't want to add coconut milk, any kind of flour, and too much fat to my diet. It's looking like we'll do a modified Paleo diet to being with. I can't seem to get the male half of this couple to commit 100% but he did say if he starts to feel like a 27 year old again, then he'll be sold on Caveman eating :-)
That's our update for now. Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve!
Not sure what it's like on New Year's Eve in your part of the world, but New Year's Eve here is really a mix of traditions from various cultures. Our island used to be big on fireworks...as in, individual households burning hundreds (and for some, thousands) of dollars worth of fireworks, tons of traditional and non-traditional foods being served at New Year's Eve parties like plates of sashimi or raw fish, traditional Japanese sushi rolls (non traditional sushi too), mochi or a sweet glutinous rice dessert in all kinds of shapes and flavors, etc etc. Not too many healthy things on the menu!
On Christmas we managed to eat sort of healthy -- we made a Zucchini Lasagna which was great but very cheesy, skipped the bread and dessert. We'll post that recipe in 2013. We have our Whole Wheat Baked Rigatoni recipe ready but I forgot to download the pics from my camera, so that will have to wait a few more days.
This weekend we're hoping to make a couple dishes using won bok or Chinese cabbage (also known as Napa cabbage) and takenoko or bamboo shoots. With New Years coming up, Marukai, our local Japanese food store has a lot of these items on sale. We'll be making some non-Dukan and non-Paleo items for the 4 New Year's Eve gatherings we are attending -- debating on whether or not to post those recipes.
Once a week we've prepared a Paleo meal -- yes, the male half of this couple survived no-starch meals, hooray! In place of the starch he usually eats, I usually increase the amount of vegetables he gets. No complaints from him yet :-) Starting January, we'll ease into 2 or 3 no to low starch meals and hopefully will be grain free within a month or two...hopefully.
We've continued to research the Paleo diet -- quite a few of the recipes will have to wait since I am still trying to lose weight and don't want to add coconut milk, any kind of flour, and too much fat to my diet. It's looking like we'll do a modified Paleo diet to being with. I can't seem to get the male half of this couple to commit 100% but he did say if he starts to feel like a 27 year old again, then he'll be sold on Caveman eating :-)
That's our update for now. Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Our First Paleo Meal
We didn't plan this out, it just so happened I had some unexpected errands to run after work and the male half worked late. While killing time waiting for him to finish at the office (in local terms - 'pau work') I decided to go to Costco to pick up the last of our holiday baking items.
I ended up picking up some ahi or tuna poke for dinner since I knew we'd be getting home late and I had at least 5 hours of baking ahead of me. As we drove home I decided I would just feed the male half of this couple some poke (about 1/2 a lb) and a big plate of microwaved steamed broccoli and we'd have a Paleo meal!
No complaints from the male half about dinner but I was busy in the kitchen baking and I'm sure he got hungry before bed because I sure did! Halfway through dinner I said "this is our first strict Paleo meal"...he said "yes, it is". Other than that, no other comments from him...but he isn't one to spew out thoughts right away...he thinks about it and a lot of times the next day he'll share more. So, I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts on whether he liked having no starch with his meal.
I was so busy in the kitchen, I didn't even take pics of our dinner plates!
Dukan Update: Since we are still trying to lose weight (well, one of us is), our meals are Dukan first, Paleo if it can be. We've both dropped another pound...yay! I'm surprised since neither of us has had time to exercise since Sunday...three more days of baking and the holiday baking will be over. Christmas should be interesting...we're determined to stay in Cruise on Christmas at our family dinner -- hopefully we'll have the will power to resist. If I have energy, I will definitely make us some Dukan snack or dessert to munch on while everyone else is digging into sugar loaded desserts!
I ended up picking up some ahi or tuna poke for dinner since I knew we'd be getting home late and I had at least 5 hours of baking ahead of me. As we drove home I decided I would just feed the male half of this couple some poke (about 1/2 a lb) and a big plate of microwaved steamed broccoli and we'd have a Paleo meal!
No complaints from the male half about dinner but I was busy in the kitchen baking and I'm sure he got hungry before bed because I sure did! Halfway through dinner I said "this is our first strict Paleo meal"...he said "yes, it is". Other than that, no other comments from him...but he isn't one to spew out thoughts right away...he thinks about it and a lot of times the next day he'll share more. So, I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts on whether he liked having no starch with his meal.
I was so busy in the kitchen, I didn't even take pics of our dinner plates!
Dukan Update: Since we are still trying to lose weight (well, one of us is), our meals are Dukan first, Paleo if it can be. We've both dropped another pound...yay! I'm surprised since neither of us has had time to exercise since Sunday...three more days of baking and the holiday baking will be over. Christmas should be interesting...we're determined to stay in Cruise on Christmas at our family dinner -- hopefully we'll have the will power to resist. If I have energy, I will definitely make us some Dukan snack or dessert to munch on while everyone else is digging into sugar loaded desserts!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Back and Forth
The male half of this couple and I are still going back and forth on how Paleo we're going to live. It's mind boggling all the information out there and there are different takes on the Paleo - Caveman Diet. Some say don't eat this, while others say you can eat it in moderation, etc etc. Today I found a blog which said you can have beer and wine in moderation...I'm not showing that to the male half. I would prefer he believe he has to give up beer except for once in a while cheat days ha ha!
We'll need to make some decision on what we're giving up, what we'll consume in moderation, and how much we'll want to spend on organic products. In general, we would like to eat more veggies, phase out wheat/grains, phase out as many processed products as we can afford to but we've already looked into grass fed beef and free range chicken and know that will be a once in a while thing.
We have a couple recipes scheduled to post this week, but this weekend other than a cheat meal for the male half's birthday, we probably won't have time to cook...it's our holiday baking weekend...we'll be baking from Friday night -- all day, all night!
We'll try to remember to take photos of our Candied Pecans made with Xylitol. We were eating these (in small amounts) during Consolidation.
We'll need to make some decision on what we're giving up, what we'll consume in moderation, and how much we'll want to spend on organic products. In general, we would like to eat more veggies, phase out wheat/grains, phase out as many processed products as we can afford to but we've already looked into grass fed beef and free range chicken and know that will be a once in a while thing.
We have a couple recipes scheduled to post this week, but this weekend other than a cheat meal for the male half's birthday, we probably won't have time to cook...it's our holiday baking weekend...we'll be baking from Friday night -- all day, all night!
We'll try to remember to take photos of our Candied Pecans made with Xylitol. We were eating these (in small amounts) during Consolidation.
Monday, December 17, 2012
A New Direction
As mentioned in a previous post, we finally had a chance to research the Paleo diet a bit after reading about it on Flamidwyfe's blog. The diet really does make sense. Like Dukan, we don't really see it as a diet, but really changing the way we eat -- for the rest of our lives.
Last week the male half of this couple and I discussed Paleo over lunch. I sent him this link because I found it informative and amusing. I knew the male half already believed in more natural, less processed products (at one time we looked into grass fed beef and free range chicken -- but they are expensive here in Hawaii). I was surprised he was ok with the idea of slowly phasing out most grains from our diet...we're hoping to eventually phase it out completely with a few cheats here and there. Well, I should say, he's ok with phasing out rice and potatoes but hasn't committed to phasing out beer and pasta just yet.
I won't bore you with all the details of our conversation -- the bottom line is, we'll cook what we have the grains in our kitchen including the 1/2 c. of soy sauce we have left, from today forward (or maybe I should say after the holidays) we will try to purchase grocery items that fall under both Dukan and Paleo.
We are still hashing out the details of how committed we will be to Paleo -- but we are looking to better eating all the way around. In our house, we're calling it the "Caveman Diet" and had quite a bit of fun at a holiday party this weekend reminding each other that "you can't have that, cavemen didn't eat that".
We do have a couple recipes to post from this past weekend (mostly Dukan and hardly Paleo)...so stay tuned! Once the holidays are over, we are planning to try some Paleo recipes that can be consumed during Dukan's Consolidation Phase.
Last week the male half of this couple and I discussed Paleo over lunch. I sent him this link because I found it informative and amusing. I knew the male half already believed in more natural, less processed products (at one time we looked into grass fed beef and free range chicken -- but they are expensive here in Hawaii). I was surprised he was ok with the idea of slowly phasing out most grains from our diet...we're hoping to eventually phase it out completely with a few cheats here and there. Well, I should say, he's ok with phasing out rice and potatoes but hasn't committed to phasing out beer and pasta just yet.
I won't bore you with all the details of our conversation -- the bottom line is, we'll cook what we have the grains in our kitchen including the 1/2 c. of soy sauce we have left, from today forward (or maybe I should say after the holidays) we will try to purchase grocery items that fall under both Dukan and Paleo.
We are still hashing out the details of how committed we will be to Paleo -- but we are looking to better eating all the way around. In our house, we're calling it the "Caveman Diet" and had quite a bit of fun at a holiday party this weekend reminding each other that "you can't have that, cavemen didn't eat that".
We do have a couple recipes to post from this past weekend (mostly Dukan and hardly Paleo)...so stay tuned! Once the holidays are over, we are planning to try some Paleo recipes that can be consumed during Dukan's Consolidation Phase.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Back On Track
We are finally back on track! We've gotten back into the exercise and healthy eating groove...sort of. The exercise thing is great -- we're back to getting our aerobic exercise at least 5 days per week (more when we have the time). We try to get in 45 minutes of aerobic exercise but on those busy days we make sure we get in at least 30 minutes. The 30 minutes of walking doesn't seem to help our weight loss which is why we go with 30-45 minutes of aerobic-- probably because we aren't as strict as we should be with our eating.
That's what the "sort of" comment is all about. There are times, like last night where we just don't have the time and energy to make dinner so we picked up some Pho (pronounced "fuh") from the Vietnamese restaurant down the street. The male half of the this couple had his broth with the noodles, chicken and veggies -- I had just the broth and veggies. Pretty close to Dukan but Pho is usually made with bone marrow. That's what dinner's in our household on busy nights.
This weekend we are planning to cook some different Dukan meals though. One will be a pasta using Nasoya Zero Pasta which is on sale right now at Safeway and the other will probably be another grilled salmon dish.
Flamidwyfe's mentioned the Paleo diet and we finally had some time to read up on it. Consolidation has been a success for her following both the Dukan and Paleo diets. This lead to some googling of our own and wow, a lot of the Paleo recipes out there are pretty close to Dukan recipes. We're hoping to Dukan and Paleo some of our future recipes!
We're familiar with Flamidwyfe's story as we've been following her blog for a while now, but reading it again is always an inspiration.
That's what the "sort of" comment is all about. There are times, like last night where we just don't have the time and energy to make dinner so we picked up some Pho (pronounced "fuh") from the Vietnamese restaurant down the street. The male half of the this couple had his broth with the noodles, chicken and veggies -- I had just the broth and veggies. Pretty close to Dukan but Pho is usually made with bone marrow. That's what dinner's in our household on busy nights.
This weekend we are planning to cook some different Dukan meals though. One will be a pasta using Nasoya Zero Pasta which is on sale right now at Safeway and the other will probably be another grilled salmon dish.
Flamidwyfe's mentioned the Paleo diet and we finally had some time to read up on it. Consolidation has been a success for her following both the Dukan and Paleo diets. This lead to some googling of our own and wow, a lot of the Paleo recipes out there are pretty close to Dukan recipes. We're hoping to Dukan and Paleo some of our future recipes!
We're familiar with Flamidwyfe's story as we've been following her blog for a while now, but reading it again is always an inspiration.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Dukan Update, Voggy Skies and Sunsets
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| Voggy Skies of Honolulu - it was worse earlier in the week. Our poor tourist, we promise, it doesn't usually look like this! |
The first couple of days of Attack we really just ate store bought items due to our work schedules -- poke (seasoned fish), sashimi (slices of raw fish), AppleGate Farms sliced turkey (we like the taste, just not the price), etc. This past weekend we made it a point to cook low fat meals that fit into the Dukan Diet. We're prepping those photos and recipes for the blog! After 4 days of Attack, we haven't seen any weight loss in numbers :-(, but a look in the mirror and taking some measurements shows improvement!
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| Oahu Sunset |
Instead we'll share with you a couple photos taken while we were preparing the flopped dinner! As we cleaned our chicken, we peeked out the window and noticed how beautiful the sky was...a nice way to end our voggy week :-)
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| Oahu Sunset - HDR |
Monday, December 3, 2012
Catching Up
Oh gosh, I drafted this last week and thought I posted it!
Thanksgiving is over and it feels like we're rolling really fast towards Christmas! We spent the weekend baking tons of holiday goodies for the three holiday get togethers we have this coming week so for dinners we ate store bought poke (seasoned raw fish), sashimi (slices of raw fish), leftover turkey and lots of broccoli.
This weekend will be another busy one with our holiday get togethers, so not much cooking going on this weekend. It's been hard with the holiday get togethers to say no to carbs and sweets, but so far we've been able to keep the carb and sugar intake to a minimum. Most days we try not to have any. I guess the Dukan Diet is sort of on hold for now. We wanted to go back into Cruise after our scouting trip, but we're still in Consolidation. The nice thing is with the 45 minute aerobic workout (every other day), we've been able to lose the weight we gained during the scouting trip.
Today we decided to catch up on Flamidwyfe's blog. Her blog has always been a source of inspiration and when we feel we need a kick in the butt to buckle down on the Dukan Diet, we read through some of her posts. It's definitely getting us excited again. We've already decided at this Sunday's Brunch it'll be no desserts or carbs...just attacking the sashimi area, the less fatty meats and veggies.
We do have a couple of recipes to post like our Nabe Recipe which is a Japanese Hot Pot recipe. Very easy to make where ever you live and with the wintery weather here, the soup base will keep you nice and warm. Nabe is really just a broth (you can use different kinds, homemade) with veggies and meats. You can also add Shirataki Tofu noodles to the broth.
Hope to post that recipe soon!
Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.
Thanksgiving is over and it feels like we're rolling really fast towards Christmas! We spent the weekend baking tons of holiday goodies for the three holiday get togethers we have this coming week so for dinners we ate store bought poke (seasoned raw fish), sashimi (slices of raw fish), leftover turkey and lots of broccoli.
This weekend will be another busy one with our holiday get togethers, so not much cooking going on this weekend. It's been hard with the holiday get togethers to say no to carbs and sweets, but so far we've been able to keep the carb and sugar intake to a minimum. Most days we try not to have any. I guess the Dukan Diet is sort of on hold for now. We wanted to go back into Cruise after our scouting trip, but we're still in Consolidation. The nice thing is with the 45 minute aerobic workout (every other day), we've been able to lose the weight we gained during the scouting trip.
Today we decided to catch up on Flamidwyfe's blog. Her blog has always been a source of inspiration and when we feel we need a kick in the butt to buckle down on the Dukan Diet, we read through some of her posts. It's definitely getting us excited again. We've already decided at this Sunday's Brunch it'll be no desserts or carbs...just attacking the sashimi area, the less fatty meats and veggies.
We do have a couple of recipes to post like our Nabe Recipe which is a Japanese Hot Pot recipe. Very easy to make where ever you live and with the wintery weather here, the soup base will keep you nice and warm. Nabe is really just a broth (you can use different kinds, homemade) with veggies and meats. You can also add Shirataki Tofu noodles to the broth.
Hope to post that recipe soon!
Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Our Official Second Attack
First of all, we're happy to report our the official start of our second time around on the Dukan Diet is off to a good start. Last July, we both went on the Dukan Diet - the male half really just setting out to manage his cholesterol, lose a couple of pounds and support the female half by not complaining about what we eat ha ha! The female half set out to lose 20 pounds and by October of 2011, almost reached the 20 pound goal. We were able to maintain the weight loss for several months, then slowly buy surely gained several pounds back.
Summer was busy with out of town guests, illnesses and traveling. We are back on track now and are restarting the Dukan Diet. It really has been the only diet that's work for us. The South Beach Diet and others we've managed to lose a few pounds, but never over 5 pounds. This past summer we were still making low fat choices - as in lower fat meats, fish, no mayo, we rarely cook with butter, etc. The desserts is what killed us. The other week we both got on the scale...it was no surprise the female half had gained weight but the male half gained 3 pounds!
We've completed our 4 day Attack (well, the female half did, the male half decided he would eat the same low fat items, but he is going to be in Consolidation so he can have his one serving of red or brown rice with his meal). The female half is right on target...the Dukan Chart said 4 pounds would be lost if we stuck to the plan and we did! Yay! The first two days were difficult with sugar and carb cravings. By day three, the cravings went away and it was easier to serve the male half his serving of rice!
Here's a run down of the differences between our first and second try.
2011 Attack: Almost reached our first goal (we were about 2 pounds shy of our first goal). Followed the Dukan rules exactly as laid out. We planned our meals out, but our mistake was having the same thing for our meals and snacks...meaning we had chicken for breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. By the third day, we were sick of eating the same thing. We did the required 20 minutes of walking each day.
2012 Attack: Reached our first goal a day ahead of schedule. Followed the Dukan rules with a few small exceptions - but did not compromise on the refined sugar rule. We planned our meals again, but changed it up this time - except for breakfast, we can eat yogurt with oat bran every morning. Here's what we consumed:
Day 1
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - low fat turkey and ham slices
Lunch - ahi and salmon poke
Afternoon Snack - none, bought too much poke
Dinner - Dukan Cuban Style Burgers (recipe will be posted soon)
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 44 minutes of Zumba, low impact
Day 2
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - 5 grilled chicken pieces
Lunch - salmon sashimi, shrimp, ahi poke (from a different place)
Afternoon Snack - none
Dinner - 3 pieces Korean BBQ grilled chicken, no skin, etc.
Drinks - water, diet coke and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - none :-(
Day 3
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - 5 grilled chicken pieces
Lunch - Dukan Turkey and Ham Bake (recipe will be posted soon)
Afternoon Snack - low fat ham pieces
Dinner - Dukan Thyme Pork Chops with Shallots (recipe will be posted soon)
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 46 minutes Zumba, medium impact
Day 4
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - low fat turkey pieces
Lunch - Dukan Orange Chicken
Afternoon Snack - leftover Dukan Turkey and Ham Bake
Dinner - Salmon and ahi poke
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 20 minutes Zumba, low impact
We're really looking forward to the bag of broccoli florets in our fridge!
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 44 minutes of Zumba, low impact
Day 2
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - 5 grilled chicken pieces
Lunch - salmon sashimi, shrimp, ahi poke (from a different place)
Afternoon Snack - none
Dinner - 3 pieces Korean BBQ grilled chicken, no skin, etc.
Drinks - water, diet coke and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - none :-(
Day 3
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - 5 grilled chicken pieces
Lunch - Dukan Turkey and Ham Bake (recipe will be posted soon)
Afternoon Snack - low fat ham pieces
Dinner - Dukan Thyme Pork Chops with Shallots (recipe will be posted soon)
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 46 minutes Zumba, medium impact
Day 4
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - low fat turkey pieces
Lunch - Dukan Orange Chicken
Afternoon Snack - leftover Dukan Turkey and Ham Bake
Dinner - Salmon and ahi poke
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 20 minutes Zumba, low impact
We're really looking forward to the bag of broccoli florets in our fridge!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Temporary Plan
Well, it's been a very busy month so far! A good kind of busy this time though.
We just got back from a nice long vacation and will be on a business trip next week, so Dukan is going on hold. Well, it's been on hold since August. We've trying to still eat lower fat, less carbs, less refined sugar...similar to the Consolidation Phase actually.
Our vacation started off with healthy eating...salads, broccoli with hummus, etc. Then it slowly moved towards 'vacation eating' as we like to call it! We had to try things we don't have here in Hawaii!
Once we get back from our business trip at the end of September, we're going back to the Attack Phase. Hoping to get to our original Dukan goal by the end of December and according to the Dukan website, it's doable!
It's still been pretty hot and humid in Hawaii, so salads are usually our first choice...especially for lunch. This weekend we're going back to healthier snacks, lower fat meals and we're not going to make rice...not even our red rice.
The nice thing is, we really did not gain any weight on vacation! We didn't indulge in too many desserts and often times we were able to pass up on carbs or just take a bite of the homemade mashed potatoes and pasta dishes. We must note, the four days right before our vacation, we did 4 days of Attack and it seemed to help curb our carb and sugar cravings.
Hope everyone is having a great September!
We just got back from a nice long vacation and will be on a business trip next week, so Dukan is going on hold. Well, it's been on hold since August. We've trying to still eat lower fat, less carbs, less refined sugar...similar to the Consolidation Phase actually.
Our vacation started off with healthy eating...salads, broccoli with hummus, etc. Then it slowly moved towards 'vacation eating' as we like to call it! We had to try things we don't have here in Hawaii!
Once we get back from our business trip at the end of September, we're going back to the Attack Phase. Hoping to get to our original Dukan goal by the end of December and according to the Dukan website, it's doable!
It's still been pretty hot and humid in Hawaii, so salads are usually our first choice...especially for lunch. This weekend we're going back to healthier snacks, lower fat meals and we're not going to make rice...not even our red rice.
The nice thing is, we really did not gain any weight on vacation! We didn't indulge in too many desserts and often times we were able to pass up on carbs or just take a bite of the homemade mashed potatoes and pasta dishes. We must note, the four days right before our vacation, we did 4 days of Attack and it seemed to help curb our carb and sugar cravings.
Hope everyone is having a great September!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Ugh...All The Way Around
We're happy to see other Dukaners still tapping into our recipe blog...and after a quick search on the internet for "Dukan Recipes" we're happy to see so many recipe blogs out there!
It's been an interesting and trying four months plagued with illnesses unfortunately. Nothing serious, but it was one after the other. Energy levels were low, the immune system was shot (well, it's still not that great)...which meant, hardly any cooking or very simple cooking for the past four months.
In a nutshell, here's what happened over the past year....last summer we started the Dukan Diet. Then we started it again a couple weeks later and found success. Both of us lost weight and were pretty healthy. How we did it? We followed the Dukan guidelines almost to a tee...both the eating guidelines and the exercise guidelines. It was low fat, no carbs, no fruits, little to no refined sugars with a 45 minute cardio workout daily (well, almost daily). The female half didn't lose all the weight she set out to lose, but she was pretty close. 4-5 months later we were pretty happy with our weights, how we felt, etc.
We made it through two vacations and the holidays gaining about 4 pounds total. It was around April we started loosening up on what we consumed. We weren't following the Consolidation Rules very well. Too many cheat meals, no exercise. We then attempted a Dukan Reboot and while we lost a few pounds, we didn't keep to the diet and still hadn't added back an exercise routine.
Once the illnesses set in, it was difficult to keep up with the diet. A few more pounds were gained and finally in an attempt to feel stronger, we moved ourselves into Consolidation in order to consume fruits and a more well-rounded diet.
The plan is, once we're feeling very healthy, Dukan Reboot #2. Our weight has been holding steady, exercise has been added to our daily routine again and our body fat has gone down. Once we start Dukan Reboot #2, we hope to lose approximately 10 pounds between the two of us.
Funny...we almost forgot our log in information for this blog! Once we finally logged in, we read through some of Vicki's posts...we feel the same. We're happy to see how well Flamidwyfe is doing! She looks amazing and we're hoping to follow in her footsteps once we start Dukan Reboot #2.
We do have a handful of recipes to share...hoping to type up those recipes fairly soon!
It's been an interesting and trying four months plagued with illnesses unfortunately. Nothing serious, but it was one after the other. Energy levels were low, the immune system was shot (well, it's still not that great)...which meant, hardly any cooking or very simple cooking for the past four months.
In a nutshell, here's what happened over the past year....last summer we started the Dukan Diet. Then we started it again a couple weeks later and found success. Both of us lost weight and were pretty healthy. How we did it? We followed the Dukan guidelines almost to a tee...both the eating guidelines and the exercise guidelines. It was low fat, no carbs, no fruits, little to no refined sugars with a 45 minute cardio workout daily (well, almost daily). The female half didn't lose all the weight she set out to lose, but she was pretty close. 4-5 months later we were pretty happy with our weights, how we felt, etc.
We made it through two vacations and the holidays gaining about 4 pounds total. It was around April we started loosening up on what we consumed. We weren't following the Consolidation Rules very well. Too many cheat meals, no exercise. We then attempted a Dukan Reboot and while we lost a few pounds, we didn't keep to the diet and still hadn't added back an exercise routine.
Once the illnesses set in, it was difficult to keep up with the diet. A few more pounds were gained and finally in an attempt to feel stronger, we moved ourselves into Consolidation in order to consume fruits and a more well-rounded diet.
The plan is, once we're feeling very healthy, Dukan Reboot #2. Our weight has been holding steady, exercise has been added to our daily routine again and our body fat has gone down. Once we start Dukan Reboot #2, we hope to lose approximately 10 pounds between the two of us.
Funny...we almost forgot our log in information for this blog! Once we finally logged in, we read through some of Vicki's posts...we feel the same. We're happy to see how well Flamidwyfe is doing! She looks amazing and we're hoping to follow in her footsteps once we start Dukan Reboot #2.
We do have a handful of recipes to share...hoping to type up those recipes fairly soon!
Monday, April 30, 2012
We'll Be Right Back...
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| View from the top of Diamond Head Crater |
The food has been fabulous and as usual, we started out trying to eat healthy, but a lot of meals are ordered family style here and we let the family and friends pics the places and dishes. One more week and we're back to our regular lives.
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| Lanikai Beach at sunrise |
We're definitely doing a few days of Attack once everyone's gone back to the mainland!
The nice thing was hiking and snorkeling were included in last week's activities, we got our exercise in!
Hope everyone's doing well on Dukan. We're afraid to weigh ourselves!
The Diamond Head Hike has been modified. The State built a second route to the top of the crater which is nice and offers better views of the island. Park outside the park if you ever visit (near Kapiolani Community College) and walk into the crater...great exercise and it's only $1 per person. The cost per vehicle is $5. Or better yet, email us and if we're free, we'll join you on the hike!
Lanikai Beach is of the top 10 beaches in the United States according to the Travel Channel (or maybe the world, can't remember). It's beautiful at sunrise and there is a Pillbox hike not too far from the beach. The hike is strenuous, uphill and some places are steep. It's great exercise and offers wonderful views of Lanikai Beach and the windward side of Oahu. If you'd like more information on the Pillbox hike, check out Yelp or email us!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
DukanItOut Recipe Contest Submission
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| Japanese Pork Roll Ups |
We entered the DukanItOut Appetizer Recipe Contest...check it out! Our recipe is super simple, which is the way we like to cook since we're always on the go. Check out some of the other recipes submitted, wow, they all look great...we'll definitely have to try some of them, especially the hot wings recipe! The competition is definitely tough and it's great to see a lot of people Dukan'ing recipes and eating healthier.
We entered our Japanese Pork Roll-Ups recipe. This recipe was one of our go to recipes during Attack (with just pork and konyakku - almost the same stuff as the Shirataki noodles but no tofu in it) and Cruise (with and without veggies). They are very easy to make and cook up quickly too.
A little about why we like Dukanitout's website. We originally started the Dukan Diet in June of 2011 and failed miserably due to poor planning and underestimating how we would feel during Attack. After the failure, we decided we really needed to meal plan, we searched for Dukan Recipes which were out there but not plentiful...then we came across Dukanitout.com and MyDukanDiet.com. Wow, these two ladies have amazing recipe sites. They both have a clear understanding of the Dukan Rules, are creative and have great will power. The sites not only gave us great recipes to follow, but helped inspire the Dukan-ing of our own recipes that we've loved over the years.
We have been fairly successful on the Dukan Diet (not as successful as Flamidwyfe - talk about will power, she is definitely a success story), but had it not been for the many bloggers blogging about their experience on the Dukan Diet and the two recipe sites mentioned above, we probably would have failed a second time! We started our own recipe blog after reflecting on how difficult it was during our first start and how these recipe blogs (not to mention the numerous Dukan Blogs out there) helped jump start us into Dukan Success.
Today, we often talk about (with a smile) how this Diet and the recipe blog have really made our kitchen/meals interesting. We probably haven't cooked the same meal twice since July 2011 and we still have tons of recipes we want to try/Dukan!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Time to Clean out the Freezer
Ugh! The line to our ice maker seems to have sprung a leak. Well, it's actually the landlady's VERY OLD refrigerator (over 20 years old) and she STILL buys the extended warranty for this thing. It must be sucking up all of our electricity too. Wish she would invest in a new one!
Anyway, Sunday night we noticed the leak...the male half noticed water dripping down into the garage (that is through her old wood floors). Luckily it's not dripping down into her downstairs unit where her family stays when they visit. Since then we have shut the ice maker offer and are slowly cleaning out the freezer. We'll be trying our best to plan our meals around what we have in our freezer....chicken thighs and fish we bought from our fish guy last weekend. Not sure how many we can put together this weekend, but we're imagining at least 1-2 chicken dishes and perhaps a mahimahi and another swordfish or salmon recipe.
Speaking of fish, perhaps it'll be a fish weekend (although the male half prefers to mix things up versus eating just chicken or just fish for 3 days in row. However, prior to our October vacation, the female half wanted to lose a few pounds before going on vacation and we went on a fish only diet (as in no chicken, beef or pork) for a couple weeks and it helped promote her weight loss!
It may be worth hearing the male half say "everything was good, but it would be nice to have some variety"! With it being Easter though, we will be making a ham on Sunday...a friend is giving us her Crock Pot Ham recipe which we will try our best to Dukan!
Hope everyone has a nice Easter :-)
Anyway, Sunday night we noticed the leak...the male half noticed water dripping down into the garage (that is through her old wood floors). Luckily it's not dripping down into her downstairs unit where her family stays when they visit. Since then we have shut the ice maker offer and are slowly cleaning out the freezer. We'll be trying our best to plan our meals around what we have in our freezer....chicken thighs and fish we bought from our fish guy last weekend. Not sure how many we can put together this weekend, but we're imagining at least 1-2 chicken dishes and perhaps a mahimahi and another swordfish or salmon recipe.
Speaking of fish, perhaps it'll be a fish weekend (although the male half prefers to mix things up versus eating just chicken or just fish for 3 days in row. However, prior to our October vacation, the female half wanted to lose a few pounds before going on vacation and we went on a fish only diet (as in no chicken, beef or pork) for a couple weeks and it helped promote her weight loss!
It may be worth hearing the male half say "everything was good, but it would be nice to have some variety"! With it being Easter though, we will be making a ham on Sunday...a friend is giving us her Crock Pot Ham recipe which we will try our best to Dukan!
Hope everyone has a nice Easter :-)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Pure Protein Weekends
Well, the weekend of Pure Protein days (4 days - we included Friday and this past Monday was a Hawaiian holiday) was a success. The female half is wavering between 3-4 pounds loss and the male half is feeling better about the eating.
The week we had our uncle over, wow, we were bad. We had lots of treats and it seemed like every meal was a Celebration meal...not good for our weight. He only visits once a year, so there are quite a few family gatherings.
The Pure Protein weekend felt good....we were feeling a bit sluggish from all the bad eating although every bite was delicious! We love eating great tasting meals like the Grilled Garlic Dijon Herb Salmon we had this weekend which filled us up but didn't put us into "Kanak Attack"mode.
This week we'll be doing more of a modified Cruise Phase week....mostly Pure Protein and Protein/Veggie days and if we have time to meal plan for this weekend, we may do a 3 day Pure Protein weekend! Pure Protein or Attack Phases really only work for us when we meal plan. Last summer, we tried to start the diet with no meal planning for the Attack Phase and after a day and a half, we failed. The second time we tried it, we planned our Attack Phase meals and made it through...we had cravings, but at least we knew what we were going to eat.
We are still working on trying to lose the vacation weight, but are still maintaining the after vacation weight (meaning no real weight gain). That's where we are at...still happy we tried the Dukan Diet and are happy we are choosing to cook lower fat meals. We must admit though, we've been slowly increasing the fat and sugar intake which doesn't really work when you aren't getting your daily exercise in.
Our Dukan reboot includes the above meal adjustments, plus we are trying harder to work Zumba back into our weekly routine. The hikes are great, but once or twice a week really isn't enough.
The week we had our uncle over, wow, we were bad. We had lots of treats and it seemed like every meal was a Celebration meal...not good for our weight. He only visits once a year, so there are quite a few family gatherings.
The Pure Protein weekend felt good....we were feeling a bit sluggish from all the bad eating although every bite was delicious! We love eating great tasting meals like the Grilled Garlic Dijon Herb Salmon we had this weekend which filled us up but didn't put us into "Kanak Attack"mode.
This week we'll be doing more of a modified Cruise Phase week....mostly Pure Protein and Protein/Veggie days and if we have time to meal plan for this weekend, we may do a 3 day Pure Protein weekend! Pure Protein or Attack Phases really only work for us when we meal plan. Last summer, we tried to start the diet with no meal planning for the Attack Phase and after a day and a half, we failed. The second time we tried it, we planned our Attack Phase meals and made it through...we had cravings, but at least we knew what we were going to eat.
We are still working on trying to lose the vacation weight, but are still maintaining the after vacation weight (meaning no real weight gain). That's where we are at...still happy we tried the Dukan Diet and are happy we are choosing to cook lower fat meals. We must admit though, we've been slowly increasing the fat and sugar intake which doesn't really work when you aren't getting your daily exercise in.
Our Dukan reboot includes the above meal adjustments, plus we are trying harder to work Zumba back into our weekly routine. The hikes are great, but once or twice a week really isn't enough.
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