Kate Middleton eating great and losing weight.
In recent years, a diet known as the Dukan Diet has been in the news. Most notably, it is the diet that Duchess Kate Middleton used to prepare for her wedding, and also to drop the weight after having her babies. So, what exactly is the Dukan Diet? It got us wondering how it compares to the Ideal Protein diet offered at 7Company.
Surprisingly, both diets were developed in France by doctors around the same time. Both diets focus on losing body fat while preserving muscle mass by altering the fuel you put into your body. Both doctors began treating their patients using their methods and were able to achieve real, lasting results.
The Dukan Diet was initially promoted more heavily in Europe while the Ideal Protein protocols gained a stronger foothold in the USA. In fact, Ideal Protein was named the Number 1 Diet of 2015, according to DietsinReview.com, a respected weight loss focused and diet review site. The Dukan Diet came in at number 11.
Dukan Diet and Ideal Protein Similarities
The body naturally uses glucose (sugars and carbs) first because they are the most easily digestible. When those resources are depleted, you body will break down muscle and fat at equal rates as fuel, causing you to lose muscle mass as you lose weight. This is why simply reducing your calorie intake is not the best way to lose weight.
Both Ideal Protein and the Dukan Diet call for reducing or eliminating carbs, but increasing your consumption of lean proteins to protect the proteins in your muscles and force your body to burn only fats. This is known as Ketosis, or the body’s fat burning mode.
Both diets feature a phased approach to weight loss, initially restricting down the foods to a list of approved items focusing on lean proteins. Then you gradually add back in other foods in each phase, helping you lose weight, as well as teaching you healthy proportions of different kinds of foods.
Both Ideal Protein and the Dukan Diet have a focus on education and teaching you to eat right for life-long weight maintenance. On both diets, you don’t have to count calories or go hungry. You are free to eat as much as you want of the approved foods.
Dukan Diet and Ideal Protein Differences
While the underlying philosophies of the two diets are very similar, they differ mainly in execution. The Dukan Diet is offered online for a monthly fee or by purchasing one of Dr. Dukan’s books. Ideal Protein is primarily administered through local clinics trained in the protocol, and equipped with knowledgeable nurses and nutritionists to guide and encourage you in your weight loss goals.
Getting Started
Those who sign up for the Dukan Diet online start by determining their ideal weight through an 80 question survey. Your diet program will be based around the results of this questionnaire.
When you begin the Ideal Protein approach at 7Company, you will be given an InBody body composition analysis, which will be interpreted and explained to you by one of our nurses. This tells us with great accuracy the amounts of water, muscle, bone, and fat that make up your body. With these and other detailed metrics, we can calculate how much weight you need to lose to be in your target zone.
Coaching
While both programs offer coaching, it is delivered in different ways. The Dukan Diet offers all its coaching in a virtual environment. Participating in coaching is an additional fee and the price of your coaching is determined by how much weight you need to lose (figured from your 80 question survey). Participants must take their own weight measurements and report in nightly online. They receive daily emails with encouragement and recipes, and they can participate in daily online chat sessions with a coach and other dieters.
At 7Company, you will come in for a brief appointment each week to personally meet with your weight loss coach. She will take another InBody assessment to accurately track and record your progress. She can help with meal planning, make recommendations, provide encouragement, and provide any other support you need along the way. The weekly appointment provides a level of accountability that helps you stick to your program. Weekly measurements help you stay motivated as you see the results!
Added Benefits of Ideal Protein at 7Company
Not only will you find a supportive environment at 7Company, we have a number of additional resources and services to improve your weight loss efforts.
Supplemental Foods
While we focus a lot on eating natural, regular foods, Ideal Protein also has hundreds of pre-packaged options that taste great. These include everything from snacks, drink mixes, soups, puddings, bars, and meals. These make it easy to keep your diet on track, while still satisfying your cravings for something sweet, salty, or something else otherwise off limits for the time being. Certain packaged foods can also be used as ingredients in other dishes and we love to share recipes using our Ideal Protein mixes. It’s also easy to grab them when you are on the go and will be away from home, where it’s often tempting to purchase something that isn’t as healthy and filling.
Electro-Slim
At the 7Company clinic, we also offer Electro-Slim Therapy which is a great complement to any weight loss program. While the diet is formulated to retain muscle mass, Electro-Slim can be helpful to further tone and tighten your muscles. It can be used to target specific trouble areas, improve circulation, and eliminate toxins from your body.
Cooking Demos
In addition to your coaching, we also hold cooking demonstrations where you can come learn how to prepare various dishes that you can incorporate into your diet. These sometimes utilize Ideal Protein products as ingredients. We always include tasting as part of the demonstration to inspire your healthy creativity.
Lifestyle Maintenance Program
One of the biggest things that sets 7Company apart is the excellent stabilization on maintenance program that we use. It’s a program designed to last for a year following your weight loss to help make sure you keep it off and have established the habits needed for lifelong enjoyment of your new body. Too many people look for quick ways to lose weight, only to find that they put it all back on after they have achieved their goal. With the Lifestyle Maintenance Program at 7Company, you continue to receive lifestyle coaching and motivation for a year after you’ve hit your target weight.
