Minor setback?

I've been doing research this weekend on the Dukan diet. A few things I wasn't aware of:

• A Food Network post speaks very poorly about this diet.
• "High protein diets can lead to kidney failure, dehydrates and overconsumption of unhealthy fats (like saturated) and cholesterol, which have been linked to heart disease."
• "Side effects of constipation, bad breath, dry mouth and fatigue."
• A USNews Health report rates it very low in regards to health making it risky.
• "No clinical trials have evaluated the Dukan Diet"
• "Shutting out entire food groups, namely grains and fruit, might also put you at risk for nutritional deficiencies."
• "...you may experience lethargy, bad breath, dry mouth, and constipation when on Dukan—notorious side effects of low-carb diets."
• Apparently there is a "pay to play" website dedicated to it in which the 'inventor' charges for advice and monitoring. 
• Most of the blogs I could find following their progress started very high in 2011, but then I couldn't find any in 2015 that post progress or additional advice.

So I fear that Dukan is out. It was a fad, and I'm just late to the party.

The good news is that I've found what I feel to be an extremely comprehensive website that will likely point me to a better, if not safer, dieting plan: USNews Best Diets 2015.  To reiterate: extremely comprehensive.

To make this work, I need to kick off with something trust-worthly, trackable, and most importantly, effective.  Another words, if I don't see progress in a week or so, even a little, I fear I'll end up reverting back to my old ways.  I have strong will-power as long as I see progress.  The moment that progress is undetectable, you can bet I'll be back on couch potato mode in a heartbeat.

I've emailed Marshall Brain in the hopes that he can shed some light on his progress and that perhaps he's moved into the final stage and it's effective.  We'll see.

Also - I've tracked down measurements I need to keep during the diet. For calories, fat, sugar, protein and the like, I'm going to use MyFitnessPal. It's how I lost 80 pounds before, so I know it'll be worth it. I plan to use the pre-made excel file [HERE] called the "MFP Data Export Tool" for the charts.  No sense in building my own if a pro has already done it. 

What to measure: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/07/how-to-track-progress/

• How to measure neck
• How to measure shoulders
• How to measure chest
• How to measure waist
• How to measure hips
• How to measure thigh

Use Bodytrack.it to track body measurements.

Still not sure when to start. Considering the holidays coming up, my "control group" period may extend until after New Years.  Russians have their Christmas feast on New Years so I've got three major over-stuff meals coming my way.  Open to suggestions for those already reading this blog.  

Outstanding to-do's: 

• Determine the best diet for me.  [Thought I had this, but back to the drawing board]
• Determine meals [... and how do I eat out during lunch?]
• Outline steps/tasks - daily-weekly-monthly
• Pictures [I think Bodytrack.it will handle this nicely but this is on the list until I test it]
• Dates - When to start