Turkey Meatballs Recipe: Dukan Diet Quick-Start Guide

How I lost 20 pounds eating a lot of turkey meatballs…

I am a foodie and a personal chef. Therefore I eat and drink and eat a lot. I’ve been known to order uni bucatini as a pasta course and again for dessert. I also hate going to the gym and never could be disciplined enough to do it on a regular basis.

With that said, it is not surprising that last summer I hit an all-time high for my weight. Aside from my clothes not fitting (requiring me to binge shop for a multitude of maxi dresses to make it through one of L.A.’s hottest summers), I felt awful. I had no energy, no inspiration, wasn’t sleeping well and was battling some existential demons. I knew I was out of whack. It was around this time that I was dining on an insanely delicious steak at Chi Spacca with a good friend and she was super excited because the diet she was on allowed it.

What is the Dukan Diet

Obviously, I was interested in what this magical diet was. Living in Los Angeles personal chef clients wanted to know what it was as well. Was this Atkins? No, this was the Dukan Diet, conceived by French doctor Pierre Dukan. It’s a high protein low carb diet that essentially resets your body, gets you down to your goal weight and gives you a path to keep off the weight forever. That’s where the turkey meatballs recipe comes in.

As I read more about the diet, I learned that the Dukan Diet is divided into four phases. The first two are for losing the weight. In The Attack Phase, you eat only lean proteins to kick-start your body into fat-burning ketosis. After that, in The Cruise Phase, you alternate days of pure proteins and days of proteins and vegetables to get your body down to its goal weight. The next two phases keep the weight off. The Consolidation Phase keeps you from ballooning back up once you’ve lost all the weight. While The Stabilization Phase gives you a few things you can do to keep the weight off permanently.

How long does the diet last? For me, I determined that I needed to lose about 20 pounds. I filled out this handy questionnaire on their website and they calculated that my timeline would be just under four months.

How to Master the Dukan Diet

I bought The Dukan Diet: 2 Steps to Lose the Weight, 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever book to read up on how and why I was doing what I was doing. This is extremely important to the success of the diet. Otherwise, you’re more prone to cheat if you don’t understand the method behind your regime. It also thoroughly explains each step and outlines what you can and can’t eat. It includes recipes to help you come up with ideas of what you can eat. All things that I found to be extremely helpful.

Following the diet strictly until I hit my goal weight was a must. The first month, I cut out alcohol entirely—the first time I had such a sober stretch since college. I felt amazing. The pounds were falling off. I was sleeping through the night. My head was clear and with all the water the diet recommends you drink, my skin garnered compliments every time I was out in public.

There were a few things that really helped me get through those early months. One of the most important was planning and cooking ahead. On Sunday nights I would make one or two big meals like a roast chicken or a bunch of turkey meatballs, so I could eat them throughout the week and have them ready to go. I would also have a few cartons of egg whites ready to go for mornings (or evenings) where I wanted a quick and easy breakfast or dinner. If I wasn’t having egg whites, I was hitting the nonfat Greek yogurt pretty hard. You get such a protein boost from it that you’re not really hungry until lunch.

Dukan Diet Tips

The best way to achieve success with the diet is to find those proteins that you like and parlay them into your day-to-day eating. For me, it was egg whites, nonfat plain Greek yogurt, nonfat ricotta cheese, smoked salmon, salmon, ground turkey, and chicken. Once I knew what I could utilize, I could focus on the pure protein meals and the protein and vegetable combinations.

Eating out was the biggest challenge because there are always so many temptations. If I had to go out to eat, I’d hit up my favorite Mediterranean restaurant and get a kabob plate without the rice or hummus. Eating out at a Vietnamese restaurant, I could order pho with double meat and no noodles. At taco stands, I’d order chicken tacos or carne asada with no tortillas. Was I self conscious ordering that? No. I live in L.A. people, they get much weirder requests that that. The important thing was that I was losing weight and it was staying off.

Nearly a month after completing the four phases, I successfully made it through the holidays and am still at my goal weight. I continue to walk every morning and work three tablespoons of Oat Bran into my diet, per the diet’s recommendation. My skinny jeans are now too big for me, so as a big Christmas present to me, I bought two new pairs of skinnier jeans. Enough said.

You Can Do It

Why am I writing this post? Because everyone asks me what I did to lose the weight and keep it off, and still eat well. Also, because I know what it’s like to feel stuck. I’d been wanting to shed weight for the last few years, but didn’t know how to do it successfully. Like I said, the gym wasn’t working, going vegetarian and vegan didn’t move the needle, juice fasting was hilarious and cutting calories was just annoying. I really think the Dukan Diet is totally attainable. If you find yourself where I was, it’s might be just what you need to bring you the results you’re looking for.

Make Dukan Diet Turkey Meatballs

Turkey Meatballs Recipe: Dukan Diet Quick-Start Guide

Yum

Cuisine American, Healthy, Dukan Diet

Category Appetizer Entree Recipes Side Dish

Serving Size

16 meatballs

Meatballs were crucial to have around during my time on the Dukan Diet.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb. ground turkey (organic, if possible)
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 egg whites, beaten
• 1/2 c. non-fat cottage cheese
• 1/4 c. oat bran
• 1/2 c. fresh mint, minced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Do not over-mix or your meatballs can become tough.
2. Scoop out one tablespoon of mixture for each meatball and place formed meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Broil meatballs until browned, and the internal temperature reaches 165F, turning once or twice to keep the color even. You can also roast in a 425F oven for about 15 minutes (or until the internal temperature reaches 165F and then broil for about 5 minutes to get a little more color on them, if desired.

Notes

Number of meatballs will vary depending on how big you make them.

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Nutrition Facts

Turkey Meatballs Recipe: Dukan Diet Quick-Start Guide

Serves:

Amount Per Serving: 16 meatballs
Calories		306.89 kcal
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13.67 g		20%
	Saturated Fat 3.6 g	15%
	Trans Fat 0.18 g
Cholesterol 118.64 mg		39.3%
Sodium 578.33 mg		24.1%
Total Carbohydrate 9.87 g		3%
	Dietary Fiber 2.47 g	8%
	Sugars 1.71 g
Protein 38.64 g

Vitamin A 6.44 %		Vitamin C 4.47 %
Calcium 9.15 %		Iron 21.19 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Sweet Greek Personal Chef and Culinary Services Los Angeles, CA

Have you ever tried the Dukan Diet? Tell me about your experience in the comments.

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