The Dukan Diet (22 page)

Even if you are overweight, well-maintained muscle tone makes you look firmer and more shapely.

Once your True Weight has been attained, it is time to move on to consolidation and then to permanent stabilization, when eating is more spontaneous and less supervised.

However, we all know that life’s ups and downs can throw the best established routines into confusion, especially because at such vulnerable times, we tend to seek comfort in food. Exercising uses up calories, which actually means that you can eat more. For example, a 20-minute walk cancels out a glass of wine or three squares of chocolate.

And really, really important is the large-scale endorphin production that exercise releases in fit individuals. Finding pleasure in being active while burning up the calories is the best way of protecting weight loss.

In my thirty-odd years working as a nutritionist, I have noticed that the number of patients I term “difficult cases” and resistant to dieting is now outstripping the number of straightforward cases. Who are they? They are mostly women over age 40, and they fit into one or more of four categories:

• Women who have a long history of dieting
  .
  
• Women with a family history of weight issues
  . Mothers who come to consultations with an already overweight child and who themselves have a mother, father, aunts, and uncles who are overweight and very often diabetic.
  
• Obese people who are so overweight that their condition is impossible to completely reverse
  . Surprisingly, they are not bothered as much by their extra weight as one might think. Often I find them to be less determined to lose weight than patients with only a few pounds to lose.
  
• People who lead a confirmed sedentary lifestyle
  . Those who experience modern times as all hustle and bustle and with the accumulation of chores and fatigue are “allergic” to any additional effort.
  

When people in one of these categories decide to try a new diet, I know that they are vulnerable. They embrace the regime wholeheartedly and lose the first pounds quite quickly, especially if very overweight. Then slowly resistance sets in, weight loss slows down, and one day the body resists a little more than on other days and weight loss comes to a halt. The diet is followed just as carefully but the scales refuse to budge. The danger here is that motivation wavers, temptation rears its ugly head again, and small lapses fuel the stagnation.

A large number of women who reach the stagnation plateau give up, try again, and sooner or later abandon their diet altogether. With women, it is extremely important to make sure there is no abnormal water retention, no hormonal imbalance, and no thyroid deficiency, because these conditions can derail the very best diet. If test results prove negative, the diet needs to be stepped up—and certainly not toned down.

Especially in a stagnation plateau, when the risk of giving up is high, the role that exercise plays becomes crucial. A body that has started to resist dieting cuts down its energy consumption and extracts every last calorie from its food intake, blocking weight loss long enough for the diet to fail. But when exercise is added to the equation, resistance gives
way, weight drops, spirits rise, belief in the dieting program is reinforced, and the vicious circle becomes a virtuous one.

When one of my patients reaches a stagnation plateau, I prescribe what I call a “blitz operation” over a very brief period of time:

• 4 days of the Attack diet’s pure proteins without any deviation
  
• Restricting salt intake as much as possible
  
• 2 quarts of water with a low mineral content
  
• Getting to sleep as early as possible (sleep before midnight is much more beneficial than after)
  
• Adding a gentle herbal diuretic to eliminate any hidden water retention
  
• And, above all,
  walking for 60 minutes a day for four days
  

These six elements make up my antistagnation shock prescription, and very often it is the walking that makes all the difference.

Since I have been prescribing exercise as a medicine with a specific dosage and frequency I have seen that even the most recalcitrant or over-scheduled people, and in particular those most resistant to dieting, are astonished by their results. What is more, they claim that they always knew the importance of exercise but did not truly believe it. Prescribing is vitally important because of this gap between knowing and believing.

I am asking you, therefore, to look upon exercise with different eyes, as a formidable weapon that has not before been properly deployed.

I guarantee that if you follow the Dukan Diet from its Attack phase through to Permanent Stabilization, and my prescribed exercise program, you will achieve your True Weight and you will maintain it, however resistant to dieting you are. Not only will you lose weight, you will be cured of being overweight.

Many times, doctors have been happy simply to recite politically correct commonsense advice such as “Try and be a bit more active, find time,
and make an effort.” Put like this, there is absolutely
no
likelihood of such advice being followed.

There are some countries in which over half the population is overweight. Should we say no to obesity, and do we have the means to say no? My honest belief is that without consciously asking these questions, society is choosing by default to tolerate widespread obesity. Of course you will hear politicians warn us about overeating and sedentary behavior, but not enough is actually being done to put a stop to it.

Since you are reading this book, you know my opinion. I see in exercise the strategic element that, together with my diet, gives you what you need to make a personal choice about your body. If you really want to lose weight permanently, as effectively as possible, and with minimum frustration, you
must
follow my exercise instructions.

The most frequently cited reason for avoiding exercise is lack of time, which is a poor excuse. People put themselves through beauty and body treatments that are infinitely more inconvenient and time consuming than any exercise. Here again, it all comes down to being convinced that exercise and diet together form a coalition that doubles your chances of successfully shedding pounds in the short, medium, and, even more so, the long term.

After humans stood on their legs and walked, all our activities changed forever.

However, in our stressful and unnatural environment, walking has turned into both a waste of time and a loss of earnings for those who manufacture ways of transporting us. Why walk when we have escalators, elevators, cars, and motorcycles?

Of All Human Activities, Walking Is the Most Natural
I have deliberately chosen walking to be my ally in the fight against weight problems as it is part and parcel of our humanity, inscribed in our nature and our genes. Walking is one of the best ways of fighting against the artificiality of our way of life. By walking we do ourselves good, and as we gradually find pleasure in it, we end up needing to walk.

Walking Is the Simplest of All Physical Activities
Once we learn how to walk, we walk as naturally as we breathe. Indeed, walking is so simple and automatic that it allows you to do almost anything else at the same time. When you are out walking, you can observe and enjoy your surroundings, think, plan your day, talk to your fellow walker, even make a phone call. Life does not come to a halt when you are out walking.

Walking Is the Least Tiring Exercise and Is Feasible for Almost Everyone
You can walk for hours without getting tired. The physical effort is spread widely over areas of bones and muscles. For a serious hike, you need proper walking shoes, but normal shoes, even shoes with a moderate heel, are fine for everyday walking to lose weight. Walking does not make you sweat to excess, and you can walk whenever there is an opportunity, wearing whatever you want. There is no need for any sports gear, showering, or change of clothes.

Walking Exercises the Greatest Number of Muscles at the Same Time
It is hard to imagine the muscular complexity of such a simple and spontaneous activity. What is more, the muscles most involved in walking are the body’s biggest load bearers—that is, they burn up the most calories. The muscles most involved are

• The quadriceps
  . At the front of the thighs, they are by far the body’s biggest muscles. They raise and push forward the thigh and leg.
  
• The hamstrings
  . These form the back of the thigh and move your leg backward.
  
• The buttock muscles
  . Very powerful and bulky, their job is to complete the backward movement of the step. When these muscle masses sag, this shows that they are not being used enough for their primary function, which is walking.
  
• The stomach muscles
  . These contract with each step forward.
  
• The calf muscles
  . These are smaller, but are among the most heavily used muscles when you take a step.
  

Secondary muscles that are also involved are

• The pelvis’s stabilizing muscles
  . These form a muscular crown around the pelvis and include the external abductors, the internal adductors, the abdominal muscles at the front, and the spinal muscles at the back.
  
• The symmetrical tibialis anterior muscles in front of the calf muscles
  . These raise the foot up so that it does not flatten or scrape the ground as you take a stride. Walking greatly develops these muscles.
  
• The arm and shoulder muscles
  . These contribute less than the others, but they can be used a great deal in power walking.
  

That we use all these muscles, many of them fuel guzzlers, and at the same time, explains why so many calories get burned.

Walking Is the Exercise That Most Helps You Lose Weight
This may come as a surprise, but walking burns up as many calories as playing tennis and many other sports. Calorie burning is optimized because it is a constant and uninterrupted activity, whereas in a tennis match half your time is spent with breaks in play and waiting for the ball to return. And unlike tennis or other equipment-dependent sports, walking can be undertaken at a moment’s notice to fill in some spare time, anywhere, and at any hour of the day or night.

In Permanent Stabilization, Walking Is the Most Useful Exercise
As the only activity that can be accepted as part of your core of new habits, and for all the reasons previously mentioned—it is easy, natural, healthy, and free from danger of injury or cardiovascular risk—walking is the activity that people will most easily agree to undertake regularly.

For Obese People, Walking Is the Only Risk-Free Exercise
The heavier you are, the better it is to walk. An obese or even an overweight person is carrying a load. Carrying an extra 30 pounds may be looked upon in its own right as a sport, but only if it is moved around through walking.

Walking Is the Exercise That Best Protects Against Aging
Walking for 30 minutes a day, as well as helping us lose and stabilize our weight, can help us live longer and in better physical condition. Walking also enhances our mental health. The activity activates the production of endorphins—the neurotransmitters for pleasure—and serotonin, the “happiness hormone.” Serotonin deficiency contributes to the onset of depression.

In the Attack phase, walking is practically the only exercise prescribed capable of maximizing results without producing fatigue and an increased appetite. I prescribe a 20-minute walk per day. Unless you already have particular habits and affinities, any more or less is not recommended.

In general, with 2 days of pure proteins you can expect to lose between 1 pound 12 ounces and 2 pounds 4 ounces, or 2 pounds 11 ounces if you add walking. For seriously overweight people, especially if their hips, knees, and ankles are fragile, I recommend splitting the walking into two 10-minute doses.

In the Cruise phase, I prescribe a 30-minute dose of walking per day. Walking is particularly crucial in this phase. During the Cruise phase, despite the diet, your body will inevitably slam on the brakes and succeed in slowing down and then putting a stop to your weight loss. When no cause for a plateau can be identified, such as high water retention, thyroid deficiency, hormonal imbalance, or use of medicines that induce weight gain, such as cortisone and antidepressants, it is advisable to increase walking from 30 to 60 minutes a day for 4 days. This can be split into two 30-minute periods.

In the Consolidation phase, the aim is to make the transition from dieting to eating spontaneously again and having an adult relationship with food. In the Consolidation phase I prescribe a non-negotiable 25-minute dose of walking per day.

In the Permanent Stabilization phase, the aim is to return to normal life and never put on a pound again. This “never again” dictates a minimum but permanent prescription.

In this phase, which I consider to be the most important
by far
, I prescribe a 20-minute dose of walking per day. It is not much, not much at all, to ensure that you maintain your hard-won results.