Everything and anything. Post your feelings, tips questions, help and support.


This thread is just the contination of the orginal Cohen Lifestyle Support Thread that was locked after an 4867 posts!

---- Background ----

What is the Cohen Diet


Dr Cohen lives in South Africa and according to the information in the website was a doctor specializing in reproductive medicine. Reading between the lines it appears that in his medical practice he noted that many women needed to lose weight to regain their fertility and he devised this diet after much refinement and testing over a few years. But it not just for women, the author of this post is a man, a man who was obese and is now just overweight and who will be in normal range in another 6 weeks . For the author Cohen is not a false hope.


1st PersonalDiet and in Australia it is Cohen's Lifestyle Clinic

Attributes of Cohen diet.

• Low Carb, most carbs are in the fruits that are eating during the day, 2 or 3 servings and each serving is around 170grams. eg 170 grams of kiwi (2 medium kiwi) or 1 medium apple. Starches (wheat, potatos, beans, bread, donuts, rice, pasta ) are very strickly limited, zero except for 5 or 6 small crackers per day
• Based on your profile, height, weight, and blood test profile (Urea, Total Protein, Electrolytes etc) Dr Cohen will prepare a personal weight loss plan (basically how much of what can you eat when) for your needs. Marketing material of the Cohen diet website suggests by following the eating plan you will "trigger" the Human Growth Hormone and Seratonin production which will create a rapid loss in weight.
• All meals, and all foods are weighed to within 1gram and prepared. There is no room for a little more or a little less, 120grams of chicken means we must eat 120grams exactly of chicken (or Turkey) breast.
• Vegetables Around a dozen or so types of vegetables all of which are non-starchy vegetables. Spinach, Asparagus, Onions, Tomato etc. These are eaten with each meal and weighed as mention above to 1gram.
• Meals must be eating 5 or more hours apart, this apprently gives your lots of time at low blood sugar level.
• No Alcohol.
• No mandatory exercise. I keep active and the more a lose the more active I am becoming. Dr Cohen recommends that if you dont exercise now, dont start, start after you have lost weight. Reading between the lines he doenst want 300lbs people dropping dead of heart atacks trying to run up mountains. However if you currently exercise you dont need to stop.
• There is zero room for any alternative foods or even extra portions. You must eat the amounts that are specified and only from the list of acceptable foods. These are known as *Deviations*, you deviated from the Cohen plan. Naturally if you eat out you cannot make sure the proportions and food types are correct ie this is a deviation. For those who need to eat out frequently or socialise with friends or business partners, this is the biggest issue with following the diet.
• Because of the higher % protein intake for many you dont feel (very) hungry for long periods of the day. Note that the actual amount of protein consumed is very much in the normal range for American and Australian diets.

What I would eat in a typical day

• Breakfast: 175 grams low fat yogurt mixed with 2 diced kiwi fruit, sweatener. 2 Nabisco crackers, Black coffee
• Lunch: 125 grams Chicken and 115grams of vegetables, on a work day I would have it as a soup (so I can bring it to work and warm in a microwave) and on non work day I would have it grilled with the 115grams of vegatables as fresh salad. Another 2 crackers
• Dinner: 140grams of tuna that I grill and have with 100grams of stir fry vegetables (fried without oil in a non-stick pan). Other days maybe 130grams of lean steak or 120 grams tofu. Another 2 crackers.
• Lots and lots of water 3~4 liters per day drunk at room temp, around 2 liters before lunch, 1 in afternoon, 1 at night.

Actually Cohen eating is dead boring, and as night follows day, I have lost and am losing weight around 1.5KG/week (3lbs), for the last 12 weeks.

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

hmmm well I felt like someone had to kick this thread off....hmmm....im feeling like i cant beleive i used to carry around 20kg more....where did it all go??


my mum has this theory that there is an amount of weight that stays around the world, and fluctuates....so when one person loses weight one person puts some on....so i just hope my 20kg goes to someone really skinny who needs some extra bulk haha

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BRIEZIEL - Im so excited about Monday and being able to move my ticker along. I have had quite a few people commenting on the wieght loss already and its only been 3 wks or so. This truly is an amazing program. You and Jewls and Living It are making this journey far more enjoyable and certainly supportive. Hope we all have a wondeful result on our 4wkly weigh in. Keep up the fantastic work.

JEWLS - Just curious about Saturday coffee. Do you get to meet many others from Cohens? It sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Id love to come, but my sister just happens to be doing her first dressage event at Werribee Park and it starts at 11am. Im driving down from Hampton Park so wont make it unfortunately. If you do have another coffee morning, Id love to come and meet you. Take care of that ankle. And keep up the great work with your weight loss.

LESS FATTY - Ive been following your journey for a number of wks now and you must be over the moon with your results thus far. I do enjoy your somewhat dry humour and find you totally inspirational, and rather wity. Keep up the amazing work. HOORAY for double figures!!!!!

Hope all had a light day today and an even lighter one tomorrow.

Cheers

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Thats an interesting theory. And I agree, hopefully it does go to someone who needs it. LOL

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Hi Everyone!

Congratulations on everyone for doing so well!

I am just completing Day 10 on the program and I am loving it!
I, too, am a serial weigher and just jumped on the scales before bed and 77.9kg!!! So then I had to run off and find the tape measure and check my measurements and it shows a loss of 18.5cm!

I can't believe it! I am so happy that I am not even tired anymore! But have lots of computer training tomorrow so must try to calm down and get some sleep!

You all give me so such motivation from reading about your experiences - Thank you!

Janine

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Good Morning everyone!

Gosh..I nearly took a heart attack when I saw the forum was gone! That happened to us once before and we all only met up when RJM made the thread on this forum.

No weight change for me yesterday...not sure why.

Have a huge day today work wise and my boss will be working with me....that means having to avoid coffee & cake and a big lunch. Loading up on water now, hoping to pee it all out by the time she comes down form Melbourne. Don't want to have to explain my loo visits and my bladder isn't used to all the water again.

Hope you see a drop in numbers!

Myshy

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Hi Everyone,

So, excuse me for being so simple but what's the difference between this thread and the old one??? I am a bit daft when it comes to technology! And what about the other thread called 'Welcome to your new Cohen's Forum' started by maleficent???? Is it different to this one? I don't get it! Doh!

Ok, aside from all of that techno-jumbo, I want to throw something out there - hopefully get a bit of a debate going! My husband and I were arguing over the best time you should weigh yourself to get your 'true' weight. If you weigh first thing in the morning are you cheating? If you weigh in before bed are you adding those extra grams from a tough day? Should you weigh at the same time every time to get the most accurate weight? I know that I love weighing first thing in the morning as I am always at my lightest - but is then right to change my ticker? Proclaim I have lost another kilo? I personally do not want to cheat myself by believing I have lost more weight than what I truly have - you know what I'm saying!!! Anyway, would be interested to hear what you have to say.

Hope everyone is having a lovely day.
Bye.

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8-2 Much






Began Cohen's Friday 18th August

I weigh first thing in the morning, I believe this is the time of the day when you are at the most consistent in weight (from day to day, week to week). If you weigh at night you may have had extra water that day and you will have a bigger pee in the morning because of it.

Naturally it is not cheating, because we are only interested in the change to our weight from one point in time to another, thats how we say truthfully I lost 6.3KG last month. We are really just using our weight as a indicator to our body fat %, our real goal is not to weigh less but to reduce our body fat %. I certainly wouldnt mind being 2KG heavier if it was good healthy muscle.

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

This is a ticker update

woohoo im over the half way line....I really really really never thought I would actually be doing this, I thought this would be another failure but hard work does pay off.

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8 2 much i also weigh in the morning, i have a u-beaut set of digital scales which give you decimal points (woohoo!) i find i am always 1kg lighter on my scales at home than the ones at the clinic. the reason for this, i believe is cause you can't weigh yourself naked at the clinic (watch out for the streaker!), plus you usually have eaten and drunk water by the time you get there. the early morning weight is more accurate as it is YOUR WEIGHT not the weight of consumables (i remember when i was 11 doing an experiment of weighing my self and my dinner before and after eating to see if my weight changed by the weight of my dinner! my weight always increased after a meal - did that make sense???) or clothing.
I too freaked out when i realised i couldn't post on the old thread, i wanted to tell ichooselife that we do see you (well the virtual you) so don't stress. i know you can feel left out and want people to converse with you when you first join the forum, but just post how you're travelling and people will respond when you need it most! the support is here, so welcome on board.
My weight loss has slowed the last week and a bit, to start with i was melting rapidly (i assumed it's all the most recent fat!) and now i think my body is adjusting to being 94 kg and thinking about it's next melting stage. i think the body goes through a four week cycle... loss, shrink, stablise... or Shrink, Loss, Stablise... what ever, i would expect the time frame is different for each of us, for some the cycle is every few days, others each week, and others monthly. i would imagine this is why refeed is so important cause it causes the cycle to stabilise.

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Started cohens 2nd Oct 2006. Goal weight 57-60kg

Ok - Thanks for the info Brieziel and Lessfatty - therefore, please note a ticker improvement!!! YEE-HA!

We have tickets to the opening match of the Ashes in a months time. I was hoping to sink my first beer and eat a pie!!! (I sound like a bloke don't I!) It may have to wait but I will enjoy myself all the same. And who knows? It would be great even to have only a few kilos hanging over my head by then. I am really loving losing this weight. That's not to say I don't have my moments (like right now - just made the kids sandwiches and thought it was going to kill me!) but I think it is because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I am really excited! I am soooooooo much happier these days. Life is wonderful - hope I can spread the love your way! Keep going everyone.

Talk cyber later....

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8-2 Much






Began Cohen's Friday 18th August

Good moring all,

Its cold in melbourne today and i'm bored with lying in bed. The doctor said I can get a my plaster changed to a boot in about 10 days time YEAH as it will give me more mobility YEAH and i can (pain free God willing) weight bare on my ankle.

Lessfatty - You make me LOL & contrats for the double digits

Wildskyz - There has been a few ladies come, it would be great to see you, I will let you know about the next one

As to the de bebate about when to weigh and not weigh, I was always told to do it first thing in the morning but at uni we were told to do it at the same time and clothing amount each week with our clients. I personally like weigghing in the morning as it gives you a beautiful tick to start the day and hopefully a hip hip hooray when its gone down a kilo or 2.

Anyway Welcome eveyone to the new Cohens Forum, this is going to be great. Have a beautiful cohens day all

Cheers Jewls

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this a new thread?

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Started:18th July 06(24 wks) B.M.I: 26.9
4th m.g: 66kg by end of jan~

new but just following on from the old one...nothing has changed! Feel free to talk about whatever you talked about before.

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

As long as it's not in depth period discussions! (He he - joke O.K? no offense intended!)

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Started cohens 2nd Oct 2006. Goal weight 57-60kg