The second part of our exclusive Dukan summer diet reveals how to broaden your menu options.
The cruise phase is the workhorse stage of the diet, where you alternate the pure protein days of the Attack phase with days when you add unlimited amounts of salads and vegetables to your selection of meat, fish and no-fat dairy products. You stay in this phase until you reach your ideal weight.
You can introduce the following vegetables either raw, steamed, boiled or baked (in foil) with your meat or fish: artichoke, asparagus, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, celery, celeriac, chicory, cucumber, fennel, French beans, leeks, mushrooms, onions, capsicum, pumpkin, radish, salad leaves, sorrel, soybeans, spinach, swede, Swiss chard, tomatoes and turnip.
In principle, you can eat as many of these as you like, but if you want speedy weight loss, Dr Dukan believes it's best to eat until you no longer feel hungry.
Carrots and beetroot are permitted, too, but they are starchy, so avoid having them too often. During the Cruise phase, steer away from starchy foods such as potatoes, rice, corn, peas, beans, lentils and avocado.
Click here to buy The Dukan Diet from Booktopia, Australia's Local Bookstore
You should be aware the weight loss you enjoyed in the Attack phase will likely plateau when you introduce salad and vegetables, but don't panic.
The protein-only diet has a powerful water-loss effect. A diet rich in meat and dairy products raises the levels of uric acid and urea in the blood. These are toxic by-products of protein breakdown, which the body tries to eliminate by sucking water out of the tissues and pumping it into the kidneys and urinary tract to help it flush out.
When you start eating vegetables again, your body will naturally start to retain a little water. As soon as you switch to a pure protein day, the water expulsion will return.
Dr Dukan says you can expect to lose 900 grams for every week you're on the Cruise phase.
Karen Galkoff, 38
"I love food, which is why Dukan has suited me so well. I followed the diet, lost 44 kilograms, and happily glided through two holidays on Dukan, eating like a horse, and continuing to lose weight.
"I don't need to diet anymore, but I still eat the Dukan way. I have protein and salad or vegetables every day, and low-fat yoghurt and oat bran porridge for breakfast. If we go out for dinner, I'll call that my celebration meal, enjoy myself, then follow it with a couple of pure protein days to get back on track.
"I can honestly say there's nothing I miss. I've been doing Dukan so long, if I do have carbs, I don't enjoy them. When I've dieted in the past, I've starved myself during the day and saved my calories for chocolate in the evening. But with Dukan, not only am I allowed to eat as much as I like, but it's all good, fresh food. I'm not just slimmer, I feel much healthier, too."
See our Dukan Diet five-day meal plan and Part one of the Dukan summer diet.
Read our fact sheet on the Dukan Diet.
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