Oh Sam- I hope I can be brave enough to post photos & hope I can be confident enough to carry off the idea of tres chic. I just like to hold the image in my mind.
I do not want to go to work tonight but have to. Moan, moan.
It is very hard to eat a-la-Cohen's at work, what with set breaks etc & often not knowing what your break times are until you get there. I am not enjoying my work either at the moment & might start looking around for another job. I keep telling myself to wait until I reach goal weight and will have more confidence. Mmm.
Anyway I have to leave soon for work so had better get ready. Thanks for helping me keep my sanity forum/diary/friends, Cate.

Work wasn't too bad last night. Nothing too stressful. Watched a very slim woman demolish a packet of crisps, while telling me that any diet that is so restrictive isn't worth going on!! Was hard not to laugh! She, of course, had not noticed the weight I have lost (don't care about that) & was listening in to a conversation I was having with another woman at work who had asked to read my plan & is about to ring the clinic to start the Cohen's program. A friend of hers has been on the program & is doing very well. Not a surprise to most of us I'm sure.
Anyhow it's great to know that it doesn't matter what is offered to me or what I see anyone eat, or what anyone says, I am sticking with this plan until goal & then sticking to the guidelines for healthy eating for the rest of my life. This life should now be extended or, if not, be a heck of a lot healthier & more enjoyable. I feel very positive about my future.
I will enjoy the occasional glass of a really good wine and a special sweet treat but apres Cohen's I have decided that quality will be the key. No cider or ordinary wine, very little bread, more Asian food, especially Vietnamese(love it). Thinking about eating after the plan is very, very scary (& also very premature!)
Off to work again today. I had to get up early to have my breakfast so it would fit in with my work schedule. Have to eat as soon as I get there. After today I have 6 days off work. Yay!! Woke up to a very foggy day. There goes summer!
Rashmi- how are you going? Still haven't weighed myself. Think I will on Friday as I'm going away for the weekend & weigh in is on Mon so will help with motivation. Does this make any sense? Not sure about that!
Cheers, Cate

Hi Cate

Have a great day.

Want to hear somrthing funny......since finishing Cohen's I feel a little left out, I read through this forum and at times i wish I was still activate with the programme..........silly isn't.
It's probabaly my brain and body starved of nutrients at the moment seeing I am still unable to eat any proper food.

ATB
Sam

Hiya Cate,
How was your Easter? Sounds like you worked through most of the 4 day long weekend but 6 days off after today ...wooo hooo !

Bummer about the weather, it has been pretty hot here in Melb and will continue to be 26 or so all week including weekend (is it this weekend you're in Melb?)..don't think you will be needing those new gloves you recently purchased.... hmmmm but then again it is Melbourne..pack them just in case

Enjoy the break and Good luck with the scales on Friday and then Monday...what are you hoping for?

TTFN
Annie Lusion

Annie-Easter was work, work, work. Someone had to work & I did volunteer so I shouldn't complain. I could give up work if I wanted to but I see it as a way of having holidays & living comfortably. Having only 1 income, especially with Tasmanian wages, restricts spending on extras. You can cope but that's about it. Some days are good at work, some ok but I have to be careful not to get involved with office "politics" & there is way too much bitching for my liking. I guess you would find that in almost every work-place but I'm used to being self-employed & I'd almost forgotten what it's like.
I don't have any trouble filling in my days when I don't work , so I don't think that will ever be a problem. I have many older friends who I could spend more time with, taking them shopping, reading to them, writing their letters etc & I can't imagine ever being bored. I will start giving serious thought about what I would like to do. I don't need full-time work but am not yet at the stage where I want to do only unpaid work.
Today was an absolutely beautiful day & knowing that it was the first day off of 6 was wonderful. We had the day off together & it really was a lovely day.
Annie, I'm coming over to Melb next week but only for the day. You're right about Melbourne weather- 4 seasons in one day from memory. I might bring the cape, probably not the gloves!
I may see if I can buy just 1 pr of pants to help get me by. Won't have much time for shopping but that's never stopped me before.
We have a fire going tonight & it's so cosy. The day was about 20 deg today but it chills off at night now.
Sam, I think I can understand how you are feeling, but you of all people are one of the best to be in the forum as you have been through what we are all going through & can share your experiences with all of us.
We need you Sam!!
Also I think that after Cohen's will be just as big a challenge as the actual weight-loss program & I hope that I will stay in the forum when I get to goal. It should reinforce the idea that I want to stay slim & not slip back into old bad habits. It's probably similar to joining Alcoholics Anonymous. The problem won't just go away when goal weight is reached. I'm sure that I will have to watch what I eat & how I eat & when I eat it for the rest of my life. I know this does not mean that I cannot enjoy food & eating because I know that I always will. I am sure that I will still need support.
Annie, I would like to weigh 87kg, or less next Monday. That will be half way- 18 down, 18 to go! It's just a big hurdle I want to be over. I still won't falter if I'm not there but it would be a great psychological(? spelling ?) boost.
I'll say good-night for now. Spicks and Specks is about to begin. My husband's sitting in his chair, snoring. I'll go wake him up. We both love music-old rockers really. Bit tragic but who cares? We have lots of shared interests.
xo Cate

Quick note tonight as I had a full-on day today. We did some cleaning up of our land & I can now see why excessive exercise is not recommended. I have been hungry all day. Also I got quite dizzy & had to constantly rest. I have felt really tired all afternoon & will get an early night.
I have nothing left of my allowed foods & am hungry. Another lesson learnt.
Nothing serious-no deviations but the diet is much easier to do if you're not hungry that's for sure. Might just have a look about tonight.
Will update my ticker on Monday with official weigh-in,xo Cate

Got an early night & feel a whole lot better. I have been a bit up & down lately. I am looking forward to a week-end away with friends but hope they don't put too much pressure on me to eat whatever & drink grog. I am taking my food except for Sat. night's meal. I will take 1 little tub of dressing for a salad. I'm just too scared to not worry about it. Weigh-in & blood test is Monday. I weighed myself this morning & I'm 87.5kg. Looks like 87 was being realistic. Lonniecee told me to check Metamucil powder. It might not be allowed. Hope it hasn't sabotaged me. I didn't know that there are capsules. When I read in this forum that you could take Metamucil I thought-great I can have that in the morning as a drink with my vitamins instead of the apple juice I used to have. OMG. I've been having it for about 8 wks!!
I won't post tomorrow but will, briefly on Sunday.
My food for the week-end is mango/yoghurt before I leave, Mozzarella & salad, with dressing, either steak & salad or fish & salad for dinner, Mango/yoghurt for Sun morning. Please, please let me be 87kg or less on Monday!! updated ticker coming up on Tuesday.

LOL cate if you check the ingredients it will have a whole bunch of stuff like 'fruit flavourings' or 'citric acid' or 'preservative 928569285' whatever the point is that stuff is full of chemicals!

i wouldnt worry about it too much what i would do is just go to your local supermarket and go to the health food section and buy a bag of 'Psyllium Husks' thats the pure stuff (and a hell of a lot cheaper then metamucil!'

i put a teaspoon on psyllium husks with my yoghurt and apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon and swish it around so its one big yoghurty/apply/psylliumy mess
tastes pretty good too

dont stress the small stuff! just change it asap

happy losing xx

Fatcat I threw out Psyllium husks a couple of weeks ago that I had in the pantry for about a year. I thought I would try having cereal for breakfast with the husks added but I hate cereal. I had a good look at the Metamucil this afternoon & it has citric acid. I will still check with my consultant but I can't see anything not permitted or too bad for you in there. Once I finish the program I am going back to not having chemicals. I usually avoid them like the plague.
My little Food Additives book says -
330. CITRIC ACID
USE: antioxidant enhancer, acidity stabiliser, helps jam to set, Vitamin C retention.
ORIGIN: naturally occurring in citrus fruits
COMMENTS:large doses may result in tooth erosion.
I think diet soft drink & artificial sweeteners are probably worse & I will cut them all out & the Metamucil after the weight-loss part of Cohen's. I had made the decision to cut most chemicals out of my diet before I started this program. I am asthmatic & have to be fairly careful & you're right most of them are bad & we should all cut them out if possible. I have herbs & some vegies (organic) growing in my garden.
I have noticed my asthma/arthritis are a lot better since I started the program. I am obviously allergic to something that I have cut out. I will probably find out what this is at re-feed.
Wasn't going to have another look in the forum today but couldn't resist. My husband is watching the footy & I'm not really interested because the Saints aren't playing.
I love to have forum friends contribute to my diary. I don't really want to feel I'm just talking to myself. I feel funny if I'm not regularly checking.
I welcome all advice/suggestions/ support. I love Cohen's & love this forum!!Cate

Cate, have a wonderful weekend away and relax. You seem to be well prepared, it is the key to potential disasters. Good luck and stay strong.
Lauren

Hi Cate,

way to go on the 87.5 ... you are only .5 away from the half way mark..how cool is that?
Enjoy the weekend

Annie Lusion

Phew, I'm home & I'm exhausted!! Will have an early night tonight. Had 8 hrs sleep but I feel sooo tired. It was a mentally exhausting week-end I think mostly.
Thank you Annie Lusion & Lauren for your good wishes. It certainly helps me with this program. I felt like a bit of a party pooper not drinking but hey I can be pretty silly without grog & don't need it to enjoy myself. Two of the women in the group I hardly knew or had a lot in common with but I still enjoyed the week-end. I am more used to men's company than women's so find them harder to get on with. I am not interested in bitching, especially about husband's & I don't like tizzy things or make-up.
I ate my Cohen's food during the day, drank lots of water, didn't feel funny about it, watched the others eating hot chips, pasta, drinking wine etc & didn't want any of it.
Dinner I found quite stressful. After having owned a restaurant/hotel for a long, long time I know how hard it can be with fussy eaters. I was with people who ordered things, forgot what they ordered, sent things back, only to then complain that they didn't arrive. I could have just run out of the restaurant & hidden myself but, of course I couldn't!!
The look on the waiter's face when I asked him if I could have an eye fillet steak, cooked very rare (blue rare), with a plain salad & no chips was what you would have imagined if I had ordered deep-fried dog! I didn't think it was that difficult. But it must have been. I gave up & ordered a scotch fillet. He said the salad came with an Italian dressing so I said "I'm on a very strict diet. Could I please have a plain salad with no dressing & no chips or sauce of any sort." He almost rolled his eyes!
OMG! My steak was twice the allowed size. No big deal. The salad had some things on it that may have been marinating in something oily or perhaps they had started to put Italian dressing on then stopped. I should have been more specific with my ordering but most of the others had already given him such a hard time that I just tossed my little container of Balsamic/mayo over it & pretended I hadn'd noticed. I did try to leave off anything suspect.
I would say no-one & had ever ordered a blue rare steak before as I kept seeing staff looking my way.
Now- I was faced with a dilemma. I was hungry as all around me had been eating entrees of garlicky prawns, garlic bread, garlic pizza, hot chips etc & I had eaten mango/yoghurt for breaky, cheese salad for lunch with 2 crackers & was pretty hungry. I could have easily stopped half way through my steak as it was enough but would have hated them to think that it was too rare for me-it wasn't. It was too rare for any-one else at my table or my husband to eat (every-one at my table, except my husband had looked horrified at my steak already) so I bit the bullet & ate the bloody lot-except for the gristle & fat. I was so scared that I would suffer badly with pain or just feeling sick but, so far no ill-effects. Touch-wood it didn't stuff up my weigh-in tomorrow. I have only had 2 crackers today after yoghurt & mango for breakfast, watched them all have a full-on bacon/eggs/Continental breakfast with heaps of toast, had coffee only. I've had a tuna salad for lunch since I got home. I didn't have any wine or other alcohol at all, still had 8 hrs sleep, drank lots of water.
Please, please let me be 87kg or less tomorrow!!

That will do for today I think as I'm knackered. Will report in after work tomorrow night (with ticker up-date! Fingers crossed. I am not eating out until after re-feed unless I absolutely have to! xo Cate

Cate - you did bloody well. Congratulations. Hopefully the extra meat won't effect you, and it are well and truly under your 87kg. We got invited out for dinner the other night, but I turned it down. I don't care what people think, and it's only going to be a few months out of my life that people will have to put up with me being unsociable. Can't wait to see your update...xxx

Hiya Cate

Good on you for sticking to it all weekend.
So???? How'd you go today?

Annie Lusion

Cate, well done on the weekend. I have found that it is far better to deviate on Cohen's food. The weekend was a success in so many ways for you and the first time we go away on the plan is always something of a challenge, you could have succumbed so easily.
Lauren