"Rousseff's Beauty Has Impacted Me" Says Argentine Who Helped Her Lose 33 Pounds

05/18/2015 - 13h08

Máximo Ravenna, 68, an Argentine turned into Dilma Rousseff and other Ministers' guru, is in Brazil to visit his network of weight-loss clinics.

He sat on a table and faced an audience of 120 distressed patients from São Paulo who, in a Wednesday sunny afternoon, sought the doctor's answers to lose weight.

Periodically, a doctor, a nutritionist and a physical trainer go to the Palácio da Alvorada, Rousseff's official residence in Brasília, to monitor her diet.

The clinic offers a dining kit, but, in her case, the cooks of the Presidency were trained to prepare the same recipes.

Rousseff follows the ritual of the method to the letter. Before each meal, she has a hot broth to coat the stomach and decrease appetite. Then she eats flourless and sugarless meals - with 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat - ingesting no more than 800 calories per day.

Recently, the doctor travelled from Buenos Aires, where he lives, to Brasilia to join her for dinner at the Palácio da Alvorada. They had salad, light cod (without potatoes) and microwaved banana. They talked for five hours.

"I told her not to cheat; being the President would not allow her to eat or weigh a bit more. I also told her she deserved to weigh less than 154 pounds (70 kg) because she is a very beautiful woman. Her beauty has impacted me."

Rousseff revealed that, when young, she weighed 139 pounds (63 kg). "She likes that number. I said: 'Go for it. You can'. There is no reason to associate age with the unfailing tendency to put on weight. We have to exercise more and eat quality food."

When they had dinner, Rousseff, in treatment since December, had already lost 17 pounds (8 kg). Now, it's been 33 pounds (15 kg). "She is 5'6" (1.68 m). "She surely can get to 145 pounds (66 kg). The doctor estimates that Rousseff currently weighs 152 pounds (69 kg).

Ravenna and the President also talked about "Obama, the United States and China. I was absolutely thrilled. Rousseff is very educated".

They also discussed about Argentina and President Cristina Kirchner. "I reserve myself [the right of not revealing what she said]. We agree on an opinion, that's all." Ravenna does not like Kirchner's administration.

Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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	Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR
	Rousseff, in treatment since December, had already lost 33 pounds (15 kg)