Six weeks holidays in Europe has a tendency to expand the waistline, so when we returned 4 weeks ago we decided to make a concerted effort to lose a few kilos, before they became permanent fixtures. Several friends we met up with in Europe had lost weight on the Dukan Diet – developed by a French doctor – so we decided to give it a try. Diet food is rather boring, which is why there have been no blog posts from me recently.

The Dukan diet has four phases. The Attack Phase lasts from one to seven days, depending how many kilos you want to lose. It consists of eating only proteins and low fat dairy products and in our case we did that for 3 days. Then we moved onto the Cruise Phase where you alternate days of just proteins with days where you can eat proteins plus certain salads and veggies. When you reach your desired weight, you move onto the Consolidation phase which you need to follow for 10 days for every kilo you have lost. The purpose of this phase is to reset your body clock to its new weight. It involves the gradual reintroduction of foods, such as bread, fruit and pasta and allows you one party meal a week where you can eat pretty much what you like, so long as you don’t have second helpings and stick to just one glass of wine. The final phase is called the Stabilization phase and you stay on that for the rest of your life. According to Dr Pierre Dukan, by having a protein only day once a week forever more – preferably every Thursday – you won’t regain the weight you’ve worked so hard to lose.

There are some similarities with the famous Atkins diet, except that Monsieur Dukan doesn’t condone eating lots of fat. I know quite a few people who lost weight on the Atkins diet, but put it all back on again once they stopped following it. For this reason the Dukan diet, with its four phase approach, appealed to me.

There are a few other important things you need to know about the Dukan diet – such as drinking lots of water and having some oat bran every day – so it’s best to order a book if you decide to give it a try. There are also heaps of sites online with an endless array of recipes, but in the end you tend to fall into your own pattern, eating what appeals from what youre allowed to eat. There are no rules on portion size, so if you’re eating for example steak you can eat as much as you want.

Four weeks into the regime and it seems to be working. Between us we’ve lost 7 kilos – me just under 3 and him just over 4. Very annoying the way men always lose weight more quickly! The protein only days are a bit of a challenge. For breakfast we usually have eggs – either scrambled, poached or in an omelette – with lean ham or smoked salmon. For lunch we have lean ham rolled up with cottage cheese or this recipe I developed for Smoked Salmon Rolls. Then for dinner a large grilled steak or some fish or roast chicken, without the skin.

Smoked Salmon Rolls

8 slices smoked salmon
Half of a 425g can of tuna or salmon in brine (keep the rest for another day)
2 Tbs fat free cottage or ricotta cheese
snipped chives
Balsamic glaze and lemon or lime wedges to garnish

Lay 4 slices of smoked salmon on a plate to form a neat, slightly-overlapping rectangle. In a small bowl mix drained salmon or tuna with cheese and chives. Place half the mixture down the middle of the smoked salmon in a sausage shape. Bring up the sides of the smoked salmon to form a roll. Garnish with balsamic glaze and lemon or lime wedges. Repeat with remaining smoked salmon and filling.

Serves 2