lessfatty - hmmm your words are very wise and very true....the problem does lie within myself! I have issues I am currently working on with a counsellor and we are coming to realise the more weight I lose the more emotional crap keeps being revealed, in some ways I think its easier for me to keep the status quo....because Cohens is forcing me to deal not only with my weight issue, but with life issues ive never had the confidence or will power to face up to...its a great thing - but a haaaaard thing and i just need to get past this stage where im wrestling with myself

Carina - thanks so much for that reminder...to be honest I cannot even remember writing that post, but I do remember being elated about being half way....thanks for the encouragment

Hotmama - thanks also for your encouragement, its funny - even though ive contributed to this forum, ive never really realised that there are real life people on the other end (der haha) and so to have the feedback that you had read my posts is a real encouragment

Ok so well as of this moment...10:31pm 1/3/07 I am (and have to be for my own physical and mental health) officially a 100% cohenite once more....tommorrow I have the day off work so I am going to weigh out all my portions and organise a few things to make the meals easier to prepare

I cant say getting down to my goal weight doesnt scare the hell out of me but I know thats where I need to go.
I will fill you in on how i go tommorrow - no doubt I will experience some of the detox yukkiness I had at the start (oh joy)... its also my sisters enagagement party on sat so its good to get started tmoz instead of pigging out at the party....

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When we are fat we can pretend to be invisible, always in the background.

Work with your counsellor on what is the holding you back, why you cannot reveal your true self. Staying fat is not for you, break out of the Status quo fly with the eagles, challenge those who are holding you back, the life of a grain feed turkey is not for you!

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Status: On Refeed (Started Sat 17 Mar 2007)
My Diary

Losing (Sharon) Congrats on the size 10 jeans and the big loss on the scales. You're very inspiring to me. I went shopping yesterday and bought myself size 10 jeans. I couldn't believe when I tried on size 12 jeans that they were too big. Never dreamed of that happening.

Irene

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Thanks Irene

It feels so nice to hear you say I am inspiring to you..as you are to me (you started around the same time as me, I think). These comments and the support on the forum has been a pleasant surprise part of Cohens for me. It would be awful if you had to go it alone - WW has meetings etc. But I think because of the forum I haven't felt the need to go to the clinic to Sue and get moral support.

So for this I thank everyone. It is such a personal journey and can be a rocky one, it helps so much to talk to people who are going through the same thing as me.

Irene you are so close to your goal and I can't wait to hear how your refeed goes. Will you be posting any photos when you are finished??

Have a great weekemd

Sharon

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Weight loss Nov2006- May2007 27kgs
Current weight 57.8kg
Goal before Tummy Tuck in May 2008 54kg

Hi Sharon,

I've never been to my clinic, though I do call them once a month and whenever I have a question, so I have been relying on these forums for support and they have helped whenever I felt I would crumble, I would find someone to inspire me to keep going on here.

I started on the 13/11/06 and unintentionally deviated the 1st week by eating salmon and double my cracker allowance and intentionally deviated Christmas Day.

To think 10 years ago I weighed 96kgs and 2 years ago I weighed 86kgs and to weigh in at 59kg is mind-blowing for me. I have never reached my goal weight so hopefully when I do, I will never be fat again.

I will probably post some pics when I'm done.

Good luck over the weekend everyone

Irene

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Dear all,

I need someone to talk to but I cannot find anyone whom i feel comfortable to talk to.

Work is stressful and started to crap. And i'm starting to feel depressed. It's like one of those moods again where you feel really sad.

And of course, as what most women might do, they fall into the tendency of emotional eating. And I do not want that to happen to me. I do not want to indulge in eating anyhow because either way, it's going to untame my taste buds.

Also, I'm feeling crappy because i'm just scared that I cannot control my weight, especially now that I have completed refeed.

i'm still trying to assimilate into the real eating world and my weight has been going up and down. It's within a manageable range but I'm just worried that if work is still crappy, i will begin to lose control of everything and thus, my weight will suffer.

I think, looking deep down inside my heart, I just need a solid break from work and its stress. And perhaps mend the emotional wounds inside me.

I really hope i will feel better. Thank you for reading.

Newlife, sorry to hear of your bad time at work. Have you got holiday time accrued that you might be able to use to have a break? Are you in a position to look around for a new job? Maybe you need a new job to go with the new you and your new life!

As for controlling your weight - perhaps now that you are finished refeed, it's time (if you haven't already) to think about getting some structured exercise in your life. Maybe look at joining a sporting team, or joining a dance class or something. Something that gets you out with people that you enjoy so it isn't so much about the exercise, but more about the social interaction.

Once you get a routine of structured exercise happening, along with reasonably good eating habits, your weight should become an issue that isn't an issue (if you know what I mean!). Perhaps also you should cut back on weighing yourself so often also. It is EXTREMELY healthy for your weight to fluctuate. This is not necessarily a reflection of food you have eaten etc. Don't forget, as females we grow a uterus lining every month that adds to our weight So perhaps it's time to put the scales away, keep an eye on how your clothes are fitting, and weigh yourself monthly (or start with weekly if you have to) to keep yourself in check.

Do you have a hobby at the moment? Perhaps you could look at starting something up to help relieve the stresses of your work?

Anyway, I hope things pick up for you soon. You've done the hard part of getting your health back on track, now it's just a matter of putting all the other pieces of life together!

Keep smiling,
Linda

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Hi,
I hit 40kg today! Yippee! Its been a slow month due to my little sojourn in Europe, but I'm finally at the 40kg mark. Thats 40kg in 32 weeks, so the weeks are beginning to catch up to the kilos! But hopefully at least 3 weeks of this month will be OK. I have one week in Beijing, which will cause me some headaches.
after Beijing, I have minimal travel planned for a few months so I can get into a groove again.
I went trying on clothes again today. I tried on size 12 pants at Cue and they fit comfortably! But size 12 jacket was WAAAAY too small, which I was surprised about, because I have always been a bit of a pear shape. (I ended up with 2 jackets from Wombat, which I need for meetings this week with our Regional Presidents from work).
No photo update this month, cause its not much different from last month!

HL

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Hello everyone,

Not sure if you remember me as its been at least a month since I was on last. I went overseas for 19 days. Went to Wisconsin in the US where we experienced weather 55C below zero. Bloody cold. Im guessing I used the weather as an excuse not to drink my water, and the fact that it was too much of a nuisance to cook my own dinner whilst everyone around me ate wonderful meals. Especially as we dined out most nights.

I have stood as solid as a rock throughout my journey on Cohens since Oct 2nd 2006. Didnt even faulter during Christmas, my birthday, my sons 18th etc. I was sooooo proud of myself. And now, I lower my head in shame. Im so devastated that I deviated, and not just a little. I was so close to my refeed weight, and have gained over 4kgs in that time, bringing my weight up so much. I had just on 11kgs to refeed, having lost 31kgs on the first day of my vacation. Now it has gone up to over 15kgs. Im so disgusted in myself.

I thought once I get home, Ill be fine, I wont beat myself up over my decision to eat what I wanted. That I would come home and everything would just go back to the way it was before I left. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ive been back 12days, and Im yet to complete a full day on Cohens. I seem to be fine till after lunch. Then I end up having a salada with ham and cheese. Im craving candy like crazy and worst of all, Im hungry again. I havent really felt hunger since before begining Cohens.

What have I done??????? I refuse to ever be fat again, but Im so terrified of becoming like that again without Cohens. And, most importantly, it has allowed me to see just how important refeed must be in teaching us how to really eat correctly so as not to ever return to our old eating ways.

I didnt eat large amounts, in fact, rather small, and basically no carbs at all. They were my down fall pre Cohens. Havent had any cravings for carbs in quite some time. But I did it sweets and candy. That was my undoing, as well as a little take out foods. I did notice that the lack of water intake made me lerthargic and effected my daily toileting. Since returning, Ive been drinking the 3ltrs I was drinking previous to my holiday. Feel much better just doing that.

Anyways, Ive basically been to frightened to come on to here, or even read, as I am so ashamed, but I know, after reading a few letters again, that you wont judge me, (at least I hope not), but will offer me some hope and suggestions. Please, Please, Please help me get back on track. I know its ultimately up to me, but knowing I have support here, will be such a big help to me.

Thank you for listening to me and my self indulgence. Im really so happy to see how well everyone has managed to do in my absence. Im really proud of you all, and also very envious and angry with myself, but hey, I only have myself to blame.

Thanks so much guys, and hope to hear from someone with some wise words.

Cheers, and hope you are all having a lighter day.

Regina

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Hello Regina I don't have many wise words but I would certainly like to show you support. If you've done it before, you certainly can get back 100% onto the program.

It won't take you long to lose that 4kg u gained if you get back onto Cohen's again - at most a month if you're 100% on the program? I just got back from a holiday not long ago and the first couple of days back onto Cohen's was tough, especially the hunger pangs since my appetite expanded during the vacation. But here's what I did to keep the hunger at bay - see if it works for you:

7am - Breakfast: Meal 2 or 3 type of breakfast, i.e. meat and veg
10am - 2 crispbreads
12noon - Egg and cabbage omelette followed by an apple.
3pm - 2 crispbreads
6pm - meat & veg dinner; with remainder of crispbread allowance if I'm still hungry
8pm - another apple

This helped me managed my hunger and basically had me eating the whole day with very little interval in between.

I hope this helps. I have another 15.8kg to refeed, more than you do. Chin up Regina We can do it together!

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Ended: October 2007

What a shame you are feeling like that, 4KG isnt that much, do you remember how much you lost the first week on the program? You will lose that 4KG quickly and easily once you get back on the wagon.


Here is my getting back on the wagon plan.

1. Decide absolutely the at you will stay on the Cohen program for a full 7 days. No try, if you are not sure you can then you need to take a good hard look at your self naked in the mirror and get motivated! You did it before you can do it again. If you know that there will be some event in the week then have a plan to cope with it, in advance. If your doctor told you you will drop dead tomorrow if you deviated would you wake up in the morning motivated to eat 3 cohen meals?
2. Come up with a weekly menu of all your fav Cohen meals. If you like mangos and steak plan plan lots of meals with those things. Have a hourly plan for when you eat fruits, when you eat crackers, how much water you will drink at breakfast!
3. Now just go out shopping and get everything you need for one week, meat, fish , vegetables, fruit, yogurt crackers, buy 100 zip lock bags
4. Make 5 or 7 lunches for the freezer.
5. Have you dinners meats in ziplocs and fresh vegetables in others.
6. Get your crackers into snack sized correct portions into other zip lock bags for easy picking up.
7. With a plan you can say well I will just be patient another 90 minutes and I can eat 1/2 an apple or have my allowance of crackers...just to keep you moving through each day.

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Status: On Refeed (Started Sat 17 Mar 2007)
My Diary

Hi Regina

Please don't ever feel as though you should be too ashamed to come on the forum - we are all here to help and support each other. You are brave in admitting that you have gone off the plan and need to get back on.

As you said there is nothing I can do to get you back on 100% but I am here to cheer you on when you do.....My consultant suggested to me if you stray write down why you are doing this and what you hope to achieve....What are some of the things that you don't want in your life e.g. thighs that rub together making it uncomfortable to walk.

Regina you can do it - have a look at some photos before and some during and realise the difference the plan is making in so many ways in your life.

I think it would be harder when you travel - but you are home now and the focus needs to go back on yourself - YOU DESERVE TO BE YOUR PRIORITY.

Best of luck and like I said we will all be cheering for you.

Take care
Sharon

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Weight loss Nov2006- May2007 27kgs
Current weight 57.8kg
Goal before Tummy Tuck in May 2008 54kg

Hi Regina

Please don't beat yourself up about this - put it behind you and just think about today and the future ...

Something I do - which might sound a bit, well, ok, a lot, strange .... is when I'm tempted to (eg) eat a piece of chockie, I just visualise/imagine actually putting the chockie in my mouth, eating it and enjoying it - I even say a silent 'YUM'!. This literally just takes seconds to do - but is enough to take your focus off actually weakening and having that piece of chockie ... and importantly ... you demonstrate to yourself how quickly the enjoyment would've been over had you deviated (ie in seconds).

Eating a piece of chockie (or whatever your weakness is) and the enjoyment that brings is over so quickly ... but we know the guilt hangs around for ages ... it really isn't worth it, hey?!

As I said - very strange ... but it works for me ...

You'll do it!

Kind regards

Taffy

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