Alvaro Noboa

Without pistachios and ham, Noboa loses 43 pounds

The former presidential candidate's recipe: rice, fruit, chicken, seared, baked or steamed dolphin and meager fish, plus a healthy dose of perseverance. Silvia Núñez de Escobar has known Álvaro Noboa Pontón since he was a "skinny" 14-year-old. She reminds him now, that she is his nutritionist and the protagonist of a year-long process of getting the former presidential candidate to lose 43 pounds.

The road has not been easy. The Ecuadorian banana mogul has had to stop eating what for him are delicacies: pistachio nuts and Serrano ham. He has also had to be very persevering, given that not only should he maintain a balanced diet both here and abroad, but also carry out exercises and weekly visits to his nutritionist, and friend, who controls how many pounds he has lost.

Along with his wife, Anabella, he uses a walking machine and swims in the pool of his house on the Samborondón highway, Noboa has gone through two weight-loss regimens. When he began at Colovita - Dr. Nuñez's business - in May 2009, he weighed 201 pounds, but had already lost 10 pounds since April. At that time, she measured his abdominal circumference given that a man who is overweight and measures more than 102 centimeters runs the risk of heart problems.

On July 23, just before travelling to the United States and Europe in search of new business deals, his weight was 178.6 pounds. He returned to the country just before New Year 2010, and thanks to his persistence, was able to maintain his weight. A chef who accompanied him on his travels was "well taught." He even knew how to come by the seared, baked or steamed dolphin and meager fish that his boss eats.

From the 29th of January, 2010, the former presidential candidate returned to his friend Silvia weighing the same as when he left. This signified a great achievement.

By April 30, when he visited his nutritionist in her office, he had lost a further 10.75 pounds. The first weight loss was of 22.4 pounds. And on his own account, before taking on the diet, a further ten pounds. 43 in total, the equivalent of 16.5% of his initial body weight.

"It's a lot, because in a little over a year, he was abroad for several months and managed to control his weight. I told him "I want you to return the same weight you left." He achieved that. That indicates that he is super persistent, that he took the decision, and he's giving the message that he's learned how to eat," Nuñez says.

His friends state that Álvaro admired how, in his youth, he was thin, like his oldest son, Daniel (21), and studied Business in New York, in the United States. And that's how he wanted to be: like his son.

In May 2009, when Noboa arrived to the Barroco building, on the Samborondón highway, where Colovita is located, he told his friend Núñez, third time lucky. He'd already tried on two occasions. At that time, Álvaro had made the decision to lose weight. A problem with his blood pressure had put him on alert.