Oh Sam, I hope he's better soon. I do feel for you. What a battle. Look after yourself won't you. Hopefully it will be your turn soon for a little TLC, xo Cate

Thanks Cate

He slept for 3+ hours. And my hubby came home early and took our oldest boy to soccer. Yes I am ready for some tlc. Well I am off to due my little ones ear drops and tackle that tedious job.....ironing.

I also confess to caving and having some choccie today. Thats my bad.

Goodnight all

Sam

Today I kept my youngest at home again......especially after his big sleep yesterday, better to be safe then sorry. He is fine today so he will definitely go to School tomorrow.

Today I baked a batch of scones I gave some to my neighbours they are in their 90's and grow thier own veg and they are always giving some to me so I feel good returning the favour even though insist they don't expect anything in return. So I had some for my breakfast. (NOT A GOOD START TO THE DAY) I know.

I think once my little one is back to School I can return to my normal healthy eating.
I feel a bit overwhelmed by the mess in the house so I tackeled that today and managed to finish the ironing (finally) and then cleaned the lounge which looked like a bomb had hit it and I will make sure the bedrooms and bathrooms are all completed by the end of the week.

Will look back here tonight.

Sam

Hi Sam, pleased to hear your little man is better & that you are feeling brighter as well. Hopefully we're both back on track! Cheers, Cate.

Hi all

Yes my little man went back to School today.......he was glad to see all his mates. I went and had coffee with some Mum's afterwards and I enjoyed a bit of grown up time.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning his room, paperwork and veged as well. I have been a bit tired lately and have also been suffering with pains in my leg which have been going on awhile now so must get that looked at...at some stage.

I have just put the kids to bed and I won't be far behind them......I enjoy my time either on the net or watching a bit of TV once they have settled. Hubby is dining with work collegues tonight.

Well people as you know I haven't been sticking to too much of a healthy eating plan this week but I am very well aware that I can't keep this up for another week......Saturday hubby and I are dining out for our anniversary which was (actually) last Saturday but we have a babysitter booked for this weekend. Hubby and I don't spend much couple time anymore since having the kids.....most of the time we don't mind.......after all we did have 9 years together before they arrived and we do love them desperately so we have no complaints, but also in saying that.... sometimes we can become a bit complacent and not do the going out thing due to time,effort and money. Well anyway after that SUNDAY will become "D Day" for me and back on plan so I am psyching myself up and will make sure I have all the appropriate foods in the house.

I won't even tell you what I ate today ****it was drastic**** but Sunday it is for me.
I hope everyone is doing great with their weight loss.

By the way it will be nearly a year since I found Cohens Time sure flies.

Sam

Today I woke at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep. I had a restless night waiting for hubby to get home which was just after midnight.
I also had a scratchy throat and have been taking panadol throughout the day and even managed a sleep.
Food wise I haven't eaten too much......but what I have has been carb loaded (enough said).

SUNDAY is my day of diet....NO......weight management rebirth.....this sounds better.
I wish at times I could get a handle on this one area of my life........I see other Mum's and they are so slim and toned.....I queried other Mum's at our coffee morning one day and the reply was THESE MUM'S DON"T "EAT". I wish I could NOT EAT...but I love food too much.

Well have a good weekend all......it's been a bit quiet here again except for Cate and I would be nice to hear from other Cohenites old and new.

Keep safe all
Sam

Just got in from our night out for our 17th Anniversary........I am amazed everytime I type it in here, like Cate mentioned in her diary regarding her hubbys birthday it doesn't seem that long....you wonder where the time goes.

Anyway we had a lovey thai dinner we brought doggie bags home. We went to the movies after, we saw Elizabeth the Golden age.....I thought it was going to be riveting but unfortunately it wasn't I loved Elizabeth and I especially love the Betty Davis version but this one was missing that certain something. I must admit I nearly fell asleep...I was up early again today and tackled the house work (had to have a clean house for the babysitter) organise the kids baths etc and info for the BSitter.
Tomorrow I am looking forward to a lazy Sunday and a lie in.

Sunday I will get back into proper eating mode cut out the carbs,increase the water and all that. The first day is always the hardest if I can just get through this one hopefully it will be smooth sailing. My TOM is here as well.....Agh!!!!.

Will catch up on the rest of forum tomorrow.....I'm off to my bed.

Goodnight All

Sam

Hi Sam

Sorry I haven't been about but the internet connect here and at work has been playing havoc. You load up the page write everything in and when you submit it eats it all and puts it into space somewhere because the internet connection just cuts in and out every few seconds.

Just reading back on your posts from the last couple of days - not eating is not the answer... At the end of the day these women may look great now but after a while there bodies will just shut down or be more suseptible to illness and disease because they dont get any nutrients or nourishment they require. Just try to stay focused on healthy and wholesome eating. Maybe get some food magazines like super food ideas and look through and cook a different recipe from there every night etc or use the recipes on the taste website under low carb and low fat etc. Maybe it's just variety you need to make the healthy choices more appealing. I'm writing this now because once I'm finished I may just need to come back and look at it myself. It's probably easy for me to say it because I'm at the stage of the program I am but I really do hope it's something I will take on a do once I'm finished. With your snacks if you have a muffin maybe just cut it in half and throw the other half away straight away or do what Suzie (cant remember her last name but she's a aussie tv personality and has her own morning show now) did when she was out at a cafe or restaurant and have half and cover the other half in salt so you cant finish it anyway - just until you get into the habit of have a smaller portion and dont want any more.

I hope some of this may of helped. If nothing else you are still conscience of the effects and feeling that go with food and working through that is always the answer. Unfortunately like most things its all in our heads and it's hard after years of 1 thing to reprogramme ourselves to do something different. If only we had a microchip we could just go and get changed or upgraded!

Anyway - good luck today and remember you're doing this for you!

Take care and stay postive.

Lauren

Thanks for that Lauren. It's funny how you know all this but having it pointed out you from someone else really does bring the point across more so. I have actually been buying and perusing cookbooks recently and trying out different recipes. I need to teach my kids proper eating choices......it benefits the whole family in the long term.

Well today I had a lie in, I still woke at 5pm checked on the kids...... my little one came in for a cuddle and I went out for it again. Woke just before nine had a shower and I am having a cup of green tea. I haven't forgotten that today is "D Day" I will go and have my breakfast shortly i am all planned (I hope) no seriously.... I find after having a few days of eating whatever I want I get bloated, tired and irritable......and this morning is especially bad due to that TOM. I feel like going and lying down and just resting for the whole day. Yesterday was such a full on day I think I dseserve it.

Hubby is taking the kids out so I might just do that.....and read my book.
I will weigh myself tomorrow......I know I won't be pleased but it's all of my own doing...so I shouldn't complain. It's amazing what a difference a week can make in not eating correctly. So here I go again.... as long as I don't drift out of the 60'skg mark that is my objective.... when i see 70 on the scales I know this is a NO go zone and I have to nip things in the bud.

LAUREN please take my advice here when you finish refeed don't do what I did. Now I didn't go back into my old habits of eating, mine was gradual and the weight creeped back on over a period of time. So I wished I'd listened to my Cohens consultant....she said eat Cohens friendly during the week and have small treats on the weekends but basically eat the Cohens way. It's all about sensibility and portion contol and exercise of course.

Will go check out the other posts now after I have my breakfast of course.

Sam

Just checking in to say I got through my day successfully....Yeah!!!!!!
I feel so much better by putting fresh fruit and veg into me. I had a stir fry for dinner and I couldn't even finish it. So that is me for tonight. Will check in again tomorrow.
I am actually deciding weather to weigh or not tomorrow I know I've gained and I am also extremely bloated from my TOM.......I will see how I feel tomorrow.

Gosh this weekend has gone fast - hope everyone had a great one.
Goodnight all.
Sam

Well as it turned out I forgot to weigh anyway, I only remembered after I'd had breakfast. No worries will make next Monday weigh in day I will feel alot better anyway.

I woke fairly sluggish......about 5am (again) and their was a hot air balloon literally outside our bedroom I had to blink a few times and thought it must be my imagination but then I heard them blow the hot air into balloon. We live high up and I have seen them on the odd occassion but not so close to the houses.

All good here on the eating front no deviations and drinking lots of fluids. Lots of xmas functions coming up and I have had one sprung on me for this Friday.....I am not sure how to handle it I've just back on to plan and we were only informed of it today.

I will let you all know how I go before the weeks through.

Check in later tonight.

Sam

Hi Sam

WOW - What an amazing site to wake up to!!!

Are you back following strict Cohens, refeed Cohens or Cohen's Guidelines? Maybe just treat Friday night and the other Christmas functions coming up as you would your last 1-2 days of refeed re: if you want to have a wine exchange each glass for a carb serve and stay away from anything that looks too processed or sugar loaded.

This is a very hard time of year for everyone I believe when it comes to food, alcohol and weight control. Even my 'skinny friends' who have always been slim and have the behaviour of a slim person struggle. A lot of what is served around this time of year is just processed, packaged and deep fried quick and easy nibbles which can be frustrating for all who choose to live a healthy lifestyle.

Maybe have a yoghurt and fruit smoothie before you to help fill you up and keep you feeling full and then just make sure your acknowledge that feeling so you dont over consume. I will PM you a great pre-party smoothie recipe I have found and am looking forward to using myself over the coming silly season!

Have a great day.

Lauren x

Hi Lauren

I started my reply yesterday and then got sidelined by the kids and homely duties.

Yes I am following the Cohens guidelines. I have actually bought a diet ebook which is very similiar to cohens.............the only difference is their is more choice of foods. You still have to eat fairly plain food like cohens but because you have more variety it isn't so much of a struggle. I am actually enjoying this way eating.....no carbs are allowed and I haven't missed any of them. If you are interest in learning more I can give a more detailed account of the eating plan in your private mail box.

i don't want to turn any newbies off the Cohens way of eating but this is actually a great lifestyle way of eating after cohens and you lose weight on it as well.

So everything has been going great eating well incorperating all the good natural foods and drinking lots of water and feeling very good. I met with some Mum's for a coffee today and I opted for a black coffee with a little milk on the side so I added only a teaspoon (if that) to my coffee (no sugar) I never take sugar in my tea or coffee anyway.......it was lovely I was on a buzz for awhile....drank lots of water after that.

The only thing I haven't been doing is exercising. But on a bright note I am back on track in the toilet department againYipee!!!!!
Weigh in Monday I will have to leave myself a reminder for that morning. No functions this weekend so no temptation.....thank goodness!!!!.

Will check back in here again tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend all.

Sam

:Hurray:Well here I am again people 5kg's lost just over 3 weeks. I was doing something different to lose weight for 2 weeks lost 3kg and then I went on a splurge for a week and didn't weigh for that week and then i started eating properely again and ........viola!!!!another 2 kg gone. So I am now at 67kg but would love to get back to about 63-65kg.
Just an update on my weight I reached 63kg after refeed and then slowly gained 9kg back over a period of 6/7 months.
[COLOR="Navy"]

So I would need to lose ideally another 4/5kg. I am eating Cohen friendly foods with some added extra's but the only difference is that I am spacing it out every couple of hours so I am not feeling so hungry inbetween.....and this has worked a treat. I am also incorporating cashews,peanuts etc I went shopping today and had this to nibble on while I shopped and had my bottled water. [/COLOR

]For those of you who will probably find this post of mine undermining the Cohens way of eating well here's just a friendly reminder that I had completed refeed back in March and since then I have been trying to find a balanced way of eating socially and at home in a healthy and balanced manner for the rest of my life. This has been no easy fate. I have yoyoed with my weight since completing Cohens and have diarised this through this forum close to a year now.

As we all know to maintain the weight after losing is sometimes the hardest part of this journey.........and I have been trying to Maintain my ideal weight range since finishing on Cohens.......so I have gone back on Cohens with some variations to accomadate exercise and then I've fallen off the wagon time after time.....and then I tried another diet (NOT COHENS) with success but for only a short period and then I got irritable and hunger struck and also got constipated so I stopped this. So since then I have been on a similiar Cohens friendly diet which has worked a treat (for me)..... no hunger I eat 6 small meals every 2+ hours drink lots of water. No carbs allowed at all. But you do have more variety to choose from. So I am pretty happy with it. I have been following this new eating regime for 10 days come tomorrow. I will then take a little break only because I have some functions coming up over the next fortnight and as we all know eating healthy out is not an easy job....but I'm aiming to be as sensible with my food choices as I can.

Well people my aim from now until xmas is to lose those 4/5kg Well that is me.
Hope everyone else had a nice weekend.

Sam

WELL DONE SAM!!!!

At the end of the day what you have written has really just reitterated that everything in moderation mantra that 'slim people' live by. But I think what we forget is that we are now actually slim people now too and that's what we do need to make our mantra. If we eat healthily and happily for the majority of the time we can have the confidence that when we go out or have a function we can relax and be empowered by the selections we choose then.

I really do believe that they key for me is going to be getting straight back on the wagon per-say after the function / event / splurge. What I fear for myself is going out to something of an evening and then just being in the frame of mind that it was just one night so maybe I will just treat myself again today and be back on my yoghurt and salads tomorrow. Everyday when I wake up I need to have the same conscience thoughts of what I want, how I want to feel etc.

I also truely believe that this is now where the hard stuff starts. Looking back the last 7 months really hasn't been that hard. To lose the weight it's been a smooth process. Now, well from Sunday morning, I am challenged everyday whether it is by my surrounding, family and friends or myself.

Lauren