The Swiss gynecologist Dr. Rinderknecht took three years to lose 50 kilograms. He is convinced that most other people can do the same (without surgery).

His book “Schlank werden. Stay slim. A doctor’s self-experiment” is not a guide to losing weight, but shows ways to maintain your new weight.

If you have already reached your dream weight with a view to the coming summer, this slim band is a helpful reminder.

The book focuses on maintaining the reduced weight – but there are also many interesting tips on what is important to reduce weight.

Even the little word “will” instead of “must” makes a big difference: the power of language. According to the author, thinking is the most important prerequisite for both losing weight and maintaining the new weight.

“No food tastes as good as the feeling of being slim”

The second most important factor is exercise and only in third place is energy intake through food.

Exercise is more important than diet

Food is responsible for the calorie balance, which you need to keep an eye on.

The obvious reason why exercise has such a decisive influence on keeping the weight off: Exercise changes the way we think about food.

The happiness hormones that are released during exercise have a mood-enhancing effect. The urge to overeat, often triggered by anxiety, frustration and stress, diminishes and the need for fresh, healthy food becomes stronger.

Who doesn’t know it?

Excessive workload and stress were the decisive factors that caused the author’s weight to rise to 133 kilograms at the time. During his time as a junior doctor in hospital, cakes and chocolate were always present and he found it difficult to say no.

After work, he also set up a laboratory and spent many nights working. Two evening meals became the norm for him.

Serious advice from a colleague and the difficulty of keeping up with everyday activities, such as running to the soccer stadium with friends, without getting out of breath, led him to decide to lose weight.

Then there was the desire to take part in an Ironman himself. With a starting weight of 113 kilograms, this was impossible.

Maintain the weight you have reached

The doctor researched what publications were available on successful weight maintenance.

The study that most influenced his thinking and actions in this area: The National Weight Control Registry, a long-term study by the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, conducted by Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

The requirements to be included in this study: To have lost at least 14 kilograms and to have maintained the new weight for at least one year.

The author clearly states that the selection of these participants already contains a strong selection and does not sufficiently meet scientific standards. However, the findings have influenced him the most and have proven to be easy-to-implement success strategies.

This honesty alone, which is lacking in many other authors, is convincing.

Last but not least, he makes no scientific claim with his slim book, but wants to pass on the positive experiences he has had to others.

Joy dog instead of pig dog

According to Rinderknecht, the decisive change must first take place in the mind. The decisive factors are: Curiosity, joy, time and patience.

His curiosity, which had spurred him on to lose weight, was to be able to experience an Ironman himself. In 2008, he actually managed to do this for the first time.

He believes that the joy of movement is crucial for everyday life. It’s not about compulsorily ticking off an hour of exercise a day, but rather finding exercise that is fun, that offers something for all the senses and varying the form of exercise to suit your mood.

Whether it’s running, intensive gardening, swimming, yoga or cycling – it has to be fun. Cycling on ever-changing routes is the author’s preferred sport, as it can also be used to meet work deadlines, takes place in nature and stimulates all the senses.

Hunger is the rarest reason for eating

In the author’s view, it is not just the sport itself, but the feeling of perceiving movement with all the senses that is important in order to keep going and achieve all the positive effects: Running your usual route in a different direction, visiting a swimming pool that constantly changes your view of nature as it changes throughout the year. Variety instead of routine.

In large parts of Europe, hunger is rarely the reason for the next meal. He considers sport and exercise in nature to be essential in order to avoid stress-induced eating, which is usually unhealthy and too much.

It takes patience to stick with a daily training session of one hour for the first three months. After that it works.

Worthwhile

Much of what he describes in his book on the subject of food is familiar to anyone involved in healthy eating, for example:

• lots of fruit and vegetables
• Lots of water
• Eat calmly and without distraction
• celebrate instead of gorge
• Freshly cooked food instead of ready meals

The book keeps many things in mind that are quickly forgotten in hectic everyday life.

This slim volume will certainly never win a literary prize – the language is simple and the illustrations, although done by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung’s in-house illustrator, are not always appropriate.

An authentic book

The concise recommendations on how to actually maintain the lower weight achieved, the optimistic but realistic tone of voice and the credibility of the author, who has now maintained his reduced weight for almost ten years, are all reasons to pick up the book again and again.

Unlike many others, the author does not want to sell a tincture, powder, sports equipment, nutrition plan, coaching, surgery or a master class.

From GloriousMe’s point of view, the investment of 20 Swiss francs, for which you wouldn’t even get two gin & tonic drinks, is worth it.

Photography © GloriousMe