How to Attack Your Fat?

You’ve been working really hard in the gym, you lost some weight you build up some muscles yet you still don’t look toned. Why?

Exercise is very important for weight loss; however it only counts for 50%. The other 50% is proper nutrition. If you are eating junk food or your diet mostly consists of carbohydrates (pasta, rice, bread, cereal) you can do as much exercise as you want yet you will not get desired toning results. Another important factor is size of your meal and frequency. You must eat small portions few times a day, rather the 3 big meals.

One of the most efficient ways to reduce your body fat is a pure protein diet. Its success lies in the unique effect of pure protein. You may know that only proteins are indispensable for our existence and that the carbohydrates are at least necessary because the body can itself produce glucose from consumed meat or fat.  So, when the body is deprived of carbs, its starts drawing on its fat reserves transforming them into glucose, which is vital for our muscles and brain. This means that you are losing stored fat and with that also weight. This is the ultimate achievement as you don’t want to be thin and flabby, but thin, firm and toned. Your muscle mass will stay intact, actually, if you are exercising, your muscles will have better conditions to grow and you’ll spend more calories on top of that.

One of the best diets for fat loss is the Dukan diet. It has four stages, but the initial stage is where you see immediate effects of pure protein. The Attack Phase of the Dukan diet is highly specific diet designed to launch your diet and instill lasting motivation. It’s creates a metabolic surprise and a psychological trigger, whose combined effects result in a first crucial weight loss.

In the initial, Attack phase, you are only allowed to eat only pure protein food and a tablespoon and a half of oat bran a day. The foods you can consume must be as close to a pure protein as possible, to achieve unique action and full potential of protein diet. In reality, other than egg whites, no foods are true pure protein; however certain foods of animal nature (listed below) are as close to pure protein as possible.

This phase is short and last from 3-10 days depending on how much overweight you are, or how much you are aiming to lose, your age, gender and previous attempts to diet. After that you are allowed to include certain veggies and achieve more balanced diet.

Soy beans and vegetables are also high in protein, why are they excluded?

Soy beans and certain vegetables have been correctly praised for high protein value; however they are also very rich in carbohydrates and therefore not suitable for this diet regime.

Likewise, certain foods of animal origin also very high in protein are excluded from this diet plan, as they are too rich in fats.

Which food is allowed?

• Eggs
• Lean cuts of beef or veil (no por or lamb)
• Chicken, turkey, quail or any other poultry (except duck and goose), without skin
• All fish, including oily fish such as salmon, tuna and trout  
•  All shellfish (prawns, crabs, squid, muscles…)
• Beef or poultry kidneys, liver, tip of beef tongue
• Non-fat dairy products (skimmed milk, low-fat yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese or crème formagge…)
• Low-fat ham, low-fat sliced chicken

You can drink tea and coffee with skimmed milk and no sugar (artificial sweeteners are allowed), water and mineral water.

You are also allowed to eat any types of onion, garlic, herbs and spices. These are not only allowed but highly recommended as they are great helpers with weight loss. They increase taste of food and felling of satisfaction, and some even speed up your metabolism. Did you know that by adding a half of teaspoon of cinnamon in your coffee a day you can increase your fat loss up to a kilo a month?

The most important thing with any diet is that you make your food interesting, so play with spices and herbs, and try new things.

Dijon Mustard and salt are also acceptable, but in small quantities. You can also use lemon to flavor fish or seafood (but lemon juice or lemonade is not allowed), as well as vinegar, but all oil is forbidden, even olive oil. You will receive enough oil from meat and fish.

It is essential that you:

• eat as often as you like and at any time as you want;
• never skip meals;
• eat breakfast. You can prepare oat bran gallete or egg omelette in the evening, keep it in the fridge and heat it up in the morning.
• drink as much water as you can (at least 2l) and drink whenever you eat;
• reduce salt intake to reduce water retention. Use other spices such as curry powder or coriander to cut down the need for salt.
• keep a list of allowed food handy during the first week, so that you can always check if you are unsure
• don’t run out of the foods you need for the diet. Stack up at home and at work. This way, when the hunger strikes, you will have the right food handy.
• eat one and a half table spoon of oat bran a day.
• don’t consume anything that it’s not on the allowed food list.

The best thing about this kick start phase is that there is no starving. You can eat as many times; at any time and as much as you want, as long as it is from the list of allowed foods.

The most important thing in that you concentrate on what you can eat, rather than what you cannot eat. Keep it interesting and be creative - the more you spice it up and mix it up the easier it will be. Don’t just red meat and tuna cans - you will not last long.

Another great thing about this phase is that you will see results of dieting immediately. It is a great kick-start to your diet. And remember the Attack phase is relatively short. Soon you will have few kilos less and you will be allowed to add vegetables. It’s not hard at all - trust me if I and many other did it, so can you! Good luck.