Fregonese (in green T-shirt) walking through the vineyards in Valdobbiadene with a group of citizens. Photo: dpa
The Italian diet is famously delicious, from cornetto for breakfast to pizza for dinner – and then there's ice cream. And the wine.
No one is more aware of that than Luciano Fregonese, the mayor of Valdobbiadene in northern Italy. He has held the post for 10 years and put on 50kg in that time.
He decided it was time to change and is leaning on his villagers as he works to shed the pounds.
It's all the fault of "social obligations" as mayor, says Fregonese, who is out and about meeting people from morning until night.
All those meetings with community citizens don't leave any time for exercise, he said. And, he concedes, he does enjoy food.
But his mealtimes are irregular – often, he only eats just before midnight. When he finally sits down, then yes, often to a large meal.
Fregonese, 47, weighs around 140kg – and as that is too much, he has turned to brisk walks in order to lose some weight.
At the start of the summer he invited residents of Valdobbiadene to join him on his walks. Some 200 citizens now turn out to stroll through the area's picturesque hillsides for an hour and a half.
After all, Valdobbiadene, home to some 10,000 people, lies at the heart of Veneto, a region famed for Prosecco.
Vintners grow Glera grapes for the famous Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene, and the area is now proudly listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Fregonese (in light grey T-shirt) walking through the streets of his municipality with fellow residents. Photo: Comune Di Valdobbiadene/dpa
Every Thursday, Fregonese and his fellow citizens meet up for a brisk walk. They usually gather in the central Piazza Guglielmo Marconi, then take a turn through the streets of Valdobbiadene.
They also stroll through the local vineyards. Later, the mayor shares photos of their walk on social media.
The idea, which is proving beneficial to citizens old and young, came to him shortly before he was re-elected in June.
He had been suffering from health problems for some time, with the extra pounds making it harder to walk and causing pain in his back and knees.
Friends joked kindly that after being reelected mayor, his first goal should be to address his own health, he says.
Friends were always encouraging him to get some exercise but he kept putting it off.
"About a month ago, a friend said: 'Let's go running tonight!'" says Fregonese. But he couldn't make it because it was during his office hours.
His friend then suggested that they both go together and also invite citizens to join. Forty-five people came out for the first walk, he recalls.
Each week, more and more showed up, with a peak reached in July when more than 200 people came out.
Residents are also finding the idea of a citizens' consultation during the walks appealing, says Fregonese.
"So many people come to cheer me on, to give me the will to keep going, because I honestly wouldn't be able to do it alone."
Now converted, he wants to encourage people to exercise more too and take care of their health.
Excess weight is a problem in Italy, where 47.6% of adults are overweight and 11.5% are obese, statistics show.
Many are unaware of the problem. More than half of overweight and obese people consider themselves to be of normal weight, data says.
That is perhaps unsurprising in Italy, where obesity is a taboo subject.
A few months ago, someone wrote the word "panzone", meaning "fat man", on a wall in Valdobbiadene, about Fregonese.
"That didn't bother me. But it did get me thinking," says the mayor.
In his view, being overweight is not something to be ashamed of. "But you just have to understand that it's not healthy and that you have to do something about it."His main aim is not to change his figure, he says. He has not stepped on the scales since that very first walk.
"I don't know if I've lost weight yet, but I feel better – physically and mentally. And that's the most important thing for me," he says. "It's good to meet people outside."
Often, when he is out strolling, people offer him a glass of wine. Fregonese says "no thank you". But this does not extend to Prosecco. He cannot say no to that.
"A glass of Prosecco doesn't have that many calories," he says. – dpa
