New York Marathon for my 50th birthday!

I'm called Martha, I'm 50 and I have just competed in the New York marathon where I was the first Belgian woman to finish wearing my coach's colours...

My Dukan story...

I've already been doing marathons for some years, on average 2 per year. I like running and for the past few years I've also taken part in the Liège area trials. I belong to a running club called SERUNNER in Seraing, a town close to where I live. Since I was a teenager, I have always battled with my weight which has continually yo-yoed, but since I started running I managed to keep it stable but only by going without food which wasn't easy given the amount of training I do. Each time I got ready for a marathon, I used to follow a rather complicated diet where you had to balance all your different foods every time you ate, even for snacks or light meals! Not easy because compared to the Dukan method you ate very little. This summer, I looked on the Internet for another, less restrictive method and on several occasions I came across adverts for Pierre Dukan's book and also for his coaching website.
In fact I had already completed the questionnaire to calculate my true weight well before I actually subscribed. However, what worried me was not having vegetables because at that time I didn't know much about the Dukan method. I wasn't bothered about not having starchy foods or sugar as I'm hypoglycaemic and can't have carbohydrates, so no pasta (or only very occasionally with proteins in small quantities), very little bread, but I did need to eat loads of vegetables. Reading the Dukan personal testimonies and seeing the weight that people had managed to lose, I finally embarked on the method and at last I have found a diet that suits me down to the ground as I have a huge appetite and even if I'm doing a PP day it doesn't affect my training. Following Pierre Dukan's personal advice to me during a chat session, whenever I have some tough training sessions ahead I eat an extra portion of Dukan cake with some skimmed milk and fat-reduced cocoa, that gives me a big afternoon snack and I eat a solid meal for lunch so that I have plenty of energy to cope with training really hard. I am really happy as I thought that I would never manage to lose any more weight as I'm already quite muscular and thanks to Pierre Dukan and his team, I did manage to fulfil my dream that for 2 years I had been preparing for which was to achieve a good time in the New-York marathon to celebrate turning 50! If I hadn't followed the Dukan method, I would still have run a good race but I would never have managed to beat my own record: 1st Belgian woman to finish and the 21st Belgian competitor, in all ages and categories, out of 319 Belgian runners. At the moment I am on cloud nine and I am overwhelmed by all the congratulations coming in from everywhere because I finished 6th in my category, for all nationalities. I am still in the cruise phase, I am a couple of pounds away from my true weight, but as I didn't have much to lose I need some time as your body has to get used to it but I've got plenty of time. Of course I took all the vitamins and mineral salts that you need to take to compensate for all the energy that gets burnt up in my sport. Indeed with any intensive sporting activity you need extra nutrients from food supplements because if you just rely on the food you eat you'll end up with some deficiency. So even if I'm doing PP, my body isn't going without anything and what's more my body is eating as much as it wants! This is what keeps me going and I will keep going right to the end and once I have consolidated and stabilized my weight I will keep on with my coaching too, you can find so much good advice from previous chat sessions, you can ask questions either by email or during the chat sessions. So I have only one thing to say to all you sports enthusiasts, it works and Pierre Dukan is right to tell us the story of the racing horse that was leading its races until it put on just 6½ lb and then found itself way behind the front runners!
By making myself just a few pounds lighter I have been able to achieve some wonderful performances! It's given me huge personal satisfaction to say nothing of how delighted my nearest and dearest are for me.
What's more, I feel comfortable in my clothes and I am often congratulated on my new figure!
The secret of my performances in New-York: 3 hours before the competition, I ate a Dukan cake that I had made before leaving: oat bran, cooked whole oats (a little), egg whites (no yolks as they overload the body when it's working hard), bicarbonate to make the cake rise but also to remove acidity from the muscles, fromage frais, sweetener, no skimmed milk.

 

• My favourite food: it's always some flavoured Dukan cake. I make a few up for the week and keep them in the fridge. Dukan bread also means I can eat my little sandwiches.
• My favourite treat: Dukan Nutella that I make my own way with a little quark - yummy!
• My favourite exercise: walking, well yes!
• The nicest compliment I've been paid: You look "so trim and slim"!
• What keeps me going: keeping going isn't a problem; I eat as much as I want. And then there are the celebration meals
• The advice I'd give to others: I've only got one thing to say to sports lovers - it works!