The Dukan Diet (19 page)
Authors: Pierre Dukan
The ideal weight gain during pregnancy is between 25 and 35 pounds depending on height, age, and the number of previous pregnancies. Women predisposed to weight gain may put on a lot more during pregnancy. Thanks to the many different features of my program’s approach, all possibilities can be easily managed.
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Simple prevention and monitoring
. Prevention is the best strategy for women who have already put on too much weight in previous pregnancies, for women with a history of diabetes or diabetes in their family, and also for those who simply want to take care of their figure. Begin the Consolidation phase, adapted for pregnancy, as soon as possible, and follow it throughout the entire pregnancy, with the following changes:
Eat 2 portions of fruit per day instead of 1.
Instead of nonfat dairy products, use 1 percent and low-fat (less than 2 percent) milk and milk products.
Leave out protein Thursdays.
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If you were already overweight before becoming pregnant
. To avoid becoming seriously overweight, follow the Consolidation phase, eliminating all starchy foods, and the 2 celebration meals, but keeping protein Thursdays.
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If you are clearly obese with a high risk of complications for either the fetus or yourself during pregnancy or delivery
. The Cruise phase may be used, especially at the beginning of the pregnancy. Even the Attack phase may be used at this time, but only with the advice and guidance of a doctor. In such exceptional circumstances, the advantages and disadvantages of such strict dieting have to be weighed against each other for mother and baby.
Now comes the classic situation of trying to get back down to your previous weight by losing the “baby weight.” However, every woman should know that it is not always easy or even desirable to return to her exact pre-pregnancy weight. Based on my experience in this area, I have calculated how a woman’s weight should change depending on her age and number of pregnancies.
For example, compared with a young (20 years) woman’s weight, I
consider that between the ages of 20 and 50 the average weight increase is about 2 pounds for every 10 years, plus around 4½ pounds for each child. So a woman who weighs 110 pounds at age 20 weighs 120 pounds at age 25 (including the 9 pounds she has gained from two pregnancies). At age 30 she weighs 121 pounds. At age 40 she weighs 123 pounds, and now at age 50 she weighs 125 pounds.
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If you are breastfeeding
. However much weight you have put on, if you are breastfeeding, it is impossible to follow an overly strict diet that would affect the newborn baby’s nutrition.
I recommend eating as if you were simply managing your weight during a normal pregnancy, following the Consolidation phase, made easier by
Having 2 portions of fruit per day instead of 1.
Using 1 percent fat milk and milk products instead of nonfat ones.
Leaving out protein Thursdays.
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If you are not breastfeeding
. If you are not breastfeeding, you may start losing weight as soon as you get home from hospital. If your weight gain during pregnancy was normal and a week after the delivery you have between 12 and 16 extra pounds, you can return to your normal weight by following the Cruise phase with a 1/1 alternating rhythm, 1 day of pure proteins followed by 1 day of pure proteins + vegetables. Follow this without interruption until you get back down to your desired weight. Continue on the Consolidation phase of 5 days for every pound lost, and finally the Permanent Stabilization phase and its three measures: protein Thursdays, no elevators or escalators, and 3 tablespoons of oat bran a day for at least 4 months.
If you still have between 22 and 45 extra pounds a week after giving birth, you will have to follow the entire program with a rapid kick start of 5 days on the pure protein Attack phase, moving to the alternating rhythm of the Cruise phase, then the Consolidation diet, and finally the Permanent Stabilization phase with protein Thursdays, no elevators or
escalators, and 3 tablespoons of oat bran a day for at least 1 year, or even longer for women who have not been able to control their weight in the past.
Menopause
Our life expectancy has increased dramatically; currently it’s eighty years for women. The average age for menopause is fifty-one, and this change is no longer considered the beginning of the end but the beginning of the second part of life.
Perimenopause and the first six months of confirmed menopause is a time of hormonal change when women most often put on weight. The body gradually burns up fewer calories with the combined effects of age, reduction in muscle mass, and sometimes lower levels of thyroid hormones. At the same time, the ovaries produce irregular amounts of estrogen and progesterone.
The combined effects of these factors causes weight gain that does not respond to the ordinary dietary measures that most women use to control their weight.
If you have reached confirmed menopause, you may tend to put on even more weight.
Much controversy surrounds the risks connected with replacement hormone therapy. To tackle the difficulties sometimes encountered during menopause, including hot flashes and weight gain, a totally vegetable-based treatment is of particular interest to us here in relation to controlling weight gain during this time.
Soybeans and some other food plants contain compounds called isoflavones and phytoestrogens which produce a variety of mild hormonal actions in the body. Although less active than female hormones, it has been clinically proven that they give protection from hot flashes. Furthermore, it seems that regular use of the phytoestrogens, particularly those found in soybeans, provided they are used in sufficient quantity, enables women, particularly those already overweight or likely to become so, to avoid inevitable menopausal weight gain.
However, since phytoestrogens are 1,000 to 2,000 times less powerful than a woman’s natural hormones, most doses available in gel or pill form are not high enough to deal with weight risks. According to Japanese research, women in that country do not experience hot flashes and their weight is stable throughout perimenopause and menopause because they regularly eat 7 ounces (200 grams) of tofu daily—7 ounces of tofu provides a daily 100-milligram dose of soy isoflavones, a dose that seems to have the best chance of helping with weight control.
All the authors who have studied the nutritional properties of soy insist that, although its protective action very quickly tackles certain menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and aging of the skin, to exploit its preventive effects against breast cancer, osteoporosis, and weight gain it has to be used over a long period of time. Asian women have a surprising immunity to these diseases, which may be due to the fact that they regularly consume a great quantity of soy products.
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Normal menopause
. When you have no history of abnormal weight gain or dieting but simply want to be careful, I would advise you, at the first sign of any perimenopause irregularities, to follow the Permanent Stabilization phase with its pure protein Thursdays, giving up elevators and escalators, and eating 3 tablespoons of oat bran daily. In most cases, this will be enough to prevent normal weight gain. You must keep up this defense for the whole perimenopause phase and continue until the body has fully adapted to menopause.
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Potentially difficult menopause
. You may face a potentially difficult menopause in respect to weight gain if you have always had difficulty maintaining your normal weight and, alone or with the help of your doctor, have continued your tendency to gain pounds. At the first signs of menopause, you are right to be concerned about additional weight problems.
If the Stabilization diet is not enough to prevent weight gain, I recommend that you follow the Consolidation phase, which is based on proteins and vegetables, fruit, 2 slices of 100 percent whole grain bread and 1½ ounces of cheese each day, 2 portions of starchy foods per week, and the celebration meals. And, of course, do not forget the driving power of the pure protein Thursdays.
At certain critical stages of perimenopause, it is vital to follow the Cruise phase, alternating 1 day of proteins with 1 day of proteins + vegetables for as long as there is a threat of weight gain—for example, when your periods become very delayed or virtually absent, or when you are suffering from water retention, bloating, fingers so puffy you cannot remove your rings, and headaches. Normally, this diet is enough to maintain an effective defense.
