Cruise Phase: Week 1

Cruise Phase

Week 1: 

Monday 18th March - Sunday 24th March

Hey guys! So, week one of the second phase has been successfully completed :) 

It's been a difficult week, not in terms of lack of food but because of what challenges I have had to face being around people and being a part of certain events. There has been a number of times when I could have lapsed, and been very naughty, but I have been so strong and made sure this didn't happen. I've tackled a lot of temptations this week which I'm very proud of and will continue to do so for as long as possible. I haven't had a drop of alcohol since 9th March, the day I started the diet. 

So now for the food......

Monday 18th March - Protein and Veg

Now today I am ravenous, but that is only because I stayed up all night doing work for a deadline that I ended up getting an extension for.......after handing it in!! What a nightmare. I was in my uni library for 22 hours. Lets just say I was a bit shaky and the hallucinations were getting the better of me! Anyway, it was a great day to introduce some lovely juicy veg back into my diet. And my lovely Daddy, bless him, made my first meal, which was my lunch (since I missed breakfast.....oopsies!)

Lunch: Chicken Salad with Tomatoes, Spring Onions, Mushrooms, Peppers, Cucumber and Salad Leaves

Day 9: Lunch

Dinner: Baked Salmon topped with Garlic, Shallots and Dill with Green Peppers and Cucumber

Day 9: Dinner

As today is my first day with veg, I made sure I ate any veg I had with my meal, cold. This is because of one of Dr Dukan's tips I read in my Dukan Bible! He says that by consuming cold food, your body burns calories heating the food up before it can be released into the bloodstream. Although this is a small amount of calories, it all adds up doesn't it? So it could be the difference between being, for example 9st 13lbs and 10st 1lb. Bonus! 

Tuesday 19th March - Pure Protein

Breakfast: Oat Bran Cinnamon Porridge

No photo for this...sorry! Now that I've mastered the right amount of sweetness and cinnamon, it's becoming the norm, I just bang it in the microwave and enjoy! Simply divine. And a lovely winter warmer for the crap weather Britain is having at the moment.

Lunch: Fat-free Bacon, Chicken Strips and a Poached Egg

Day 10: Lunch

It looks a bit greasy but I assure you that was only due to a little dash of balsamic vinegar I splashed on to give it a little extra taste.

Dinner: Baked Mackerel with Garlic, Basil, Dill, Dijon Mustard and Olive Oil on a bed of Scrambled Egg Yolk with Shallots and Chives

Day 10: Dinner

This was absolutely beautiful :) and I made my first ever Dukan dessert out of my Dukan Bible today......it didn't go absolutely to plan, but not bad for a first attempt; the gelatine didn't liquidize very well which was due to my bad timing but hey! I can always practice!

Dessert: Fluffy Mint Mousse

Day 10: Dessert

Wednesday 20th March - Protein and Veg

Today was a very successful day! I'm starting to get smart with the construction of my meals, making sure I get the best amount of nutrition in each meal. Dr Dukan states that in the Cruise Phase, on your Protein and Veg day, although yes, it is about adding veg to your meal, you can't forget about protein, so really try to just add veg to your meal rather than think solely of veggie meals. It's about consistency and balancing the two food groups equally. So don't forget your PROTEIN.

Breakfast: Soft Boiled Eggs with Asparagus Wrapped in Ham

Day 11: Breakfast

Lunch: Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Millefeuilles with Chicken, Bacon and Veg Soup

Day 11: Lunch

The millefeuilles were a starter recipe taken out of my Dukan Bible, and although I had two with the soup, I did make more that I did eat as a starter. They were delicious, but very slippery and messy haha. This is what they looked like on their own:

Day 11: Starter

All they are, are stacks of salmon and cucumber with fat-free fromage frais spread in between each slice of cucumber and salmon. Yum!

Dinner: Baked Chicken Breast with Swede, Broccoli, Carrots and a Spread of Dijon Mustard

Day 11: Dinner

Now for dessert, I made another Dukan recipe. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it but I have a photo of the one in the book. They did look similar although my consistency was a little more of a 'block' than the one in the photo. But tasty all in all. This was made with Oat Bran so I had my daily intake from this.

Dessert: Muesli Ice Cream

Day 11: Dessert

Thursday 21st March - Pure Protein

So yesterday I went to a class at the gym: Body Pump. It was amazing! You use a weight bar and weights and you change up or down in weight according to what exercise you do. The exercises work all the different muscle groups of your body and I think I did about 100 squats altogether. I'm feeling the pain today though. I'm easing myself back into the gym, firstly trying out all the different classes to see which one's I like but also to give myself varied workouts which keep the notion of exercising exciting and attractive. By the end of next week I'm going to aim to do 3-4 classes throughout the week and build it up. 

Breakfast: Oat Bran Cinnamon Porridge

No photo.....you know the score ;)

Lunch: Ham with Prawn, Squid and Mussel 'Wraps' with a Fat-Free Honey Yoghurt

Day 12: Lunch

This was a little poor, due to how busy my day was. But surprisingly, it did the trick! 

Dinner: Fillet Steaks Encrusted with Crushed Peppercorns with a Seafood 'Salsa'

Day 12: Dinner

I made the salsa using ginger, shallots and garlic to give a kick to the seafood mix of prawns, mussels and squid. 

Now, dessert, my god, dessert was just what I needed.....

Dessert: Tofu Choc Cream

Day 12: Dessert

This was absolutely delicious, tasted exactly like the full fat version. The absolute mother of Dukan desserts so far. Definitely be making this again!

Friday 22nd March - Protein and Veg

Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs and Tomato Smile :)

Day 13: Breakfast

Lunch: Tuna Salad

Sorry, no photo for this. It was basically like the salad I had on Monday but without the mushrooms and chicken. I mixed in a little dijon mustard and quark cheese to liven it up.

Dinner

Starter: Smoked Salmon and Chive Oat Bran Roulade

Day 13: Starter

This was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend. Make the Oat Bran galette as normal and roll smoked salmon, chives and quark in it. Mamma mia!

Main: Baked Cod on a Bed of Vegetable Lasagne

Day 13: Main

The vegetable lasagne was a recipe taken out of my Dukan Bible, and I just added baked cod to it. It included all the usual seasoning, garlic, dill, salt, pepper etc and the lasagne part contained courgettes, tomatoes, onion and it was seasoned with half a low salt chicken stock cube. Very tasty. I finished the meal off with the last of the tofu choc cream I made yesterday and a yoghurt.

Saturday 23rd March - Pure Protein

Now today was the toughest day I have experienced on this diet so far. My family came up from the south for a big family event to celebrate the birthday of my 13 year old cousin. A big day and night was planned and this included many moments of extreme temptations, which although I managed to control, I found very very tough. It's hard for some people to stay strong in situations where you are surrounded by food you can't have and people you want to enjoy the day or night with. Let's start from the beginning.

Breakfast: Ham and Chive Omelette

Day 14: Breakfast

This was lovely so I had no problem scoffing this down as the rest of my family ate a full English breakfast with all the trimmings including buttery toast, which I have been craving so much. Now comes the first hurdle. After we had been out in Jesmond Dene, we stopped off at a cafe for a nice hot beverage to warm us up. But once we got sat down and the menus were handed to us, the family decided to order food. Nothing on the menu was okay to have, so I had to sit there drinking my green tea, as they ate their meal. What's worse is I didn't have a little snack on me to munch on so it was harder, plus the food took about 45 minutes to get out so they brought out three bowls of french fries to make up for the waiting time! And here's a photo:

Day 14: Hurdle

I think the main thing to take from this is, ALWAYS BE PREPARED with little snacks in case your family decide to go somewhere for a bite to eat. Some seafood sticks, ham slices, cottage cheese, yoghurt - all can be taken with you just in case you are stuck in what I was today. I ordered another green tea to keep my hands busy which seemed to work okay, but if I had brought my own stuff, I'd be even more distracted and be less bothered about the lovely nachos my family were tucking into. It is inevitable that this kind of thing is going to happen, you just have to be smart and organised. And bless my family, they were so supportive. At the end of the day I chose this so I have to be prepared to take on all the hurdles! Now for my lunch!

Lunch: Chicken and Prawns in Soy Sauce with Ham and Chive Quark Rolls and Seafood Sticks

Day 14: Lunch

And now, Dinner.......after being around all the amazing buffet food at the party (at my Nana's house), I realised I needed to get the hell out of there, get my own stuff and cook my dinner at the party. Once I did this I was all happy again, but boy was it tough being around huge square pizzas, cake and all sorts of gorgeous stuff. Anyway, my meal......

Dinner: Mince Meatballs with Onions and Herbs

Day 14: Dinner

I attempted to make a hot chocolate sponge pudding, but it just went a big eggy in the microwave. I don't like heating up my desserts in the microwave, it just doesn't seem to work for me. I need to start looking at baking my desserts. So, I made a cocoa milkshake instead, which was okay, but not great. All in all, it saved me from tucking into any of the party food there which is the main thing! An achievement actually. And I did have some seafood sticks over the course of the night to suppress any temptations!

WORST HURDLE OVER!!!! GET IN!!!!

Sunday 24th March - Protein and Veg

So since its Sunday, and my family are still here having a big breakfast, I thought I'd join in....ish, and have a full English...ish. But it was lush anyway so that's the main thing!

Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs, Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Day 15: Breakfast

Lunch: Mixed Veg Soup with Prawns

Since I don't really like having just veg on its own, I just improvised and chucked the prawns in to add a bit of protein. And it wasn't bad actually! Good healthy and tasty soup, can't go wrong really!

Day 15: Lunch

Dinner: Butternut Squashes filled with Mince Bolognaise

This was gooorrgeous. Should have kept the squashes in for a little longer but it was soo tasty. I mixed the mince meat with a tin of tomatoes and voila! Beautiful, definitely recommend this one!

Day 15: Dinner

And that, is that! Week one of the cruise phase is over, and I'm 15 days into my diet. Feeling fabulous. This week I have lost 3lbs, so that's 9lbs lost altogether, and I only went to the gym once this week, soooo I'm going to aim to lose the 5lbs to make it up to a stone by the end of next week and go to the gym at least 3 times. Let's get a stone lost by the end of the month! All I've got to say is BRING IT ON!

Now to end, I feel it is appropriate to post a motivational picture up, for me and for you, so here's picture number one:

Thanks for reading :) and remember.....

Keep Following!

See you next week.

Kate :)