Casey.
I use centrum which is a multi vitamin that has chromium in it to help kerb cravings. It costs about $17 - $19.00 from the supermarket for 100 tablets. Its one tablet per day. I find these really good as I am a junk food addict and haven't really been fussed since I started taking them.

I broke just about all day today. Woke up not feeling 100% and have ended up with a tin of soup for dinner. I know I will pay for it tommorow, but I guess I'll just try to refocus. My water content was way down. I usually drink 3 litres+ a day, but today I havent even got through one.

Its great to see so many posts - Its a real delight to read through them all.

Myshy

Hi Everyone,
IMR: That is great, you have done excellent too. Hope your rash clears up it is probably because you haven't had any flour for so many months that you body has just soaked it up, I'm sure it will go away. Make sure you tell us how its going daily. It will be so interesting.
MYSHY: You'll be o.k. remember we are only human and you can do it. Just wondering how long you have been on the diet and how much you have lost. I just love to hear how people are going.
DEVINMISSNAT: These thing always happen just when you are ready to start. Why don't you enjoy you evening on Saturday night and start on Sunday because once you start you won't want to break it.
Have a good day everyone and speak to you all soon, JOY

HI Everyone
DEVINMESSNAT: Good luck for Saturday, The wait for you is over, I have a few days yet before mie comes through As Joysey has suggested it may be best if you can start Sunday and go out and enjoy Saturday night.
KASEYSMUM and MYSHY : Ta very much for the vitamin Tips will go and see what one i can get my hands on.
JOYSEY: Hopefully I will be starting next Thursday
I have started drinking my water, and having black coffee.
Have a fantastic Day everyone and a lovely weekend keep up the good work -CASEY

Mixy and Moni

Email me at kimpietrini@bigpond.com and I will help you get you ticker working.

Moni - My mum is using cheryl from narrabri as well, where are you from?
Cngratulations to Myshy,Moni and Joysey on your weightloss.

I am feeling really bad cause I am wasting my time but Monday it all starts over again. I am going to sydney for the weekend so I thought, start fresh on monday.

My goal is be at 90kgs by Boxing day with DH (dear husbands) family. I need to refocus and get my mind back into gear that I can do it, I will do it and by the school reunion I will be a slimmer me.

Nat, best of luck with starting it. You will think the meal sizes are small but funny enough, you are not hungry. As the consultant from Narrabri says (Cheryl) for people with alot of weight to lose, try and drink at least 4 litres!

I am near the computer most days so if you need to talk nat, please email.

All the best people.
Kim

Thanks healthymum - I've emailed you!

I'm already on to my second litre of water for the day. It's great that everyone has been giving me pointers before I even start this thing!

Had black coffee before aswell, EEEWWWWWW I'm the queen of dairy normally, that will be interesting!

xx

Got the email...

I hope it works for you

Kim

Hi Everyone!

I always love sitting down at the end of the day and reading about how everyone is going.

lmr- How is your skin going now? Has the rash gone or at least subsided a bit? Did you eat much bread before doing Cohen's? Have you considered that you might have an intolerance?

Joysey & Casey- thanks for the great advice,i certainly considered it but I am still planning on starting tomorrow. I'm all motivated to start, have been food shopping and I guess my thoughts are that there is always going to be SOMETHING- a dinner, afternoon tea etc to come up at the wrong time and I need to learn discipline and moderation and how to incorporate Cohen's into everyday life. I figure Saturday could be a good learning opportunity. And I've been invited out on Monday night...

I'm also feeling a bit spurred on- at my weigh in this morning I weighed less than I thought I did- when does that EVER happen? I have 12kgs to lose and I want to make a big dent in that before I fly home at Christmas. Being quite short weight gain shows up quickly on me but so does weight loss and I just want to see looks of surprise from my family and friends! I am a woman with a mission!

Thanx Kim- your offer is very generous and I just might do that! And please feel free to do the same.

Time for me to say nighty-night.
I will let you know how I go on my first day...
Nat

Hi everyone.

Divinemissnat, good luck today on the diet. It's fantastic that you're feeling spurred on and what a nice surprise to find that you weigh less than you thought. It's good motivation! I ate out to dinner 3 times whilst on the diet. I always ordered a warm chicken salad with no dressing and no carrot and ate about half of it. I found it didn't affect my weight loss at all.

I was the carbs queen before starting Cohens, so I'm surprised that I've had this reaction to the bread. My consultant did say that some people find during the refeed that they are intolerant to foods that they weren't before starting the diet. My skin is a little better but still very bumpy! I didn't have any bread yesterday but I had a slice this morning for breakfast so I'll see if it flares up again. If it does, I'm guessing that it definitely is the bread, which isn't such a bad thing. Although, I did really enjoy my breakfast this morning of a slice of bread with grilled cheese, tomato and mushroom.

Casey, not long until you start. You could, to get yourself prepared for it, start cutting out milk, bread, pasta etc and start drinking a couple of litres of water a day. I did this for two weeks before I started to get myself into the right frame of mind, and I lost 4.5kg in the process.

I take Herbalife Formula 3 vitamins - 2 a day. When I first started, I bought the vitamins from Cohens, and it was 2 different types and they cost about $70. The Herbalife ones are only about $20 a bottle.

Minxy, the first black coffee is the hardest for us queens of dairy, but you will get used to it. Before starting, I used to have a HUGE latte every morning before work, and when I changed to a small long black, it was hard, but I've gotten really used to it.

Joysey, the refeed is going well (except for the bread issue). I put on 200gm my first day, lost 200gm my second day and this morning I had lost 400gm. From what I understand, I think the weight goes up and down during the refeed. If I put on more than 1kg, I have to go back on my original diet for 2 days and then continue with the refeed, but hopefully this won't be necessary. I'm struggling with the quantities of food, and I'm only up to an additional 80g veg and 60g protein a day, but I'll see how I go. It gradually increases to 200g protein a day, but you don't have to go that high if you don't want to.

Hope everyone else is well. Have a great weekend.

Good Morning

Imr: thankyou- thats brilliant advice for eating out! I have to admit its tempting to ignore all calls and stay house bound to make the diet easier but thats just the kind of trick I need for incorporating the diet into everyday life.
On the bread issue, if the bread today makes you flare up you might want to consider changing the type of bread. I'm not sure of the rules for refeed so you might need to check with your consultant but spelt bread is a nice alternative. Spelt is a grain that belongs to the same family as oats and wheat, but is an entirely different species. Its a great alternative for people who have difficulty tolerating wheat breads. It tastes like normal wholemeal bread and its available in supermarket- Country Life Bakery is the brand. Might be worth checking out if you get the same flare up today.

So far the morning has gone fine on the diet. I've had my breakfast, a pot of green tea and am now making a dent on the first litre of water. Normally in the morning i have a pot of green tea and a cup of normal tea with lots of milk. So far I'm not missing it, but I'm sure the time will come... And soon I'll be missing that latte. I have quite a few easy things to do today, which I'm sure will help keep my mind off food. Which will be a good thing as I've not long ago finished my brekky and I'm feeling hungry.

Casey- make sure you get a set of digital scales for weighing your food (if you dont already have some) Some of the quantities are a bit odd, 65g etc and my consultant stressed that accuracy is the key. I've had to pick an easy option for brekky and make do with old fashioned scales this morning but I am heading out to get some this afternoon.

Happy Weekend everyone!
Nat

Divinemissnat; Well done have been thinking about you today, its now 3:11 here hope all going well. I have looked for scales, but the consultant i saw the other day said that she sells digital scales, so buying a set next Wednesday.

IMR- I have a bit of adiction to water as it is once i start i cant stop, so this last few days have been drinking more, 3L yesterday and only 1 today. have slowly cut milk out, but at work today was to busy talking and added milk to coffee and had a scone !!!! THIS WILL NOT BE HAPPENING NEXT WEEK . Thanks for the advise
I have a function to go to tonight, and in my mind I am seeing it as my last foody fix !!!!
Have a lovely evening everyone - Casey

Good evening everyone,

Kim is very right with the water thing. I have alot of weight to loss and cheryl has told me to drink at least 5 liters of water a day. It is making a big difference. For every 2 liters of water I drink I have to have a 1/4 of a teaspoon of celtic sea salt with my food. I have been on alot of different diets and non of them have worked. And I'm not hungry.........
I love milk in my coffee but I have also grown to like it with out.
My goal is to lose another 10 kg's before Christmas, I don't know if this will happen but Hey I can only hope.
Could anyone help me with breakfast ideas? I have eaten that much egg in the past month I can't even look at them and I don't like the yogurt. Would it hurt if i only had a piece of fruit......... Some help with this would be great........... Thanks everyone for all your support.
I send my luck and well wishes to you all for your weight goal for Christmas I know you will all succed.

Hi Everyone, great to read through all the threads.
IMR: have you considered the weight watchers bread, I know it is small and thin but it really reduces the calorie intake and I like it because it is more like a waffer when you toast it, just a thought but and you have probably already thougt of it at any rate.
DEVINMESSNAT: How did you go last night and was the diet one of the main topics. I'm sure you went great. Also I read that you drink green tea. I drink the slimming green tea every night before bed and I find it totally cleans out my system every morning. It is great. I would really recommend it to anyone that isn't already having it. If you want to email me joy@finer.com.au I have taken a picture of it so I can send you a sample of what the pack looks like so you will know which one to buy. It is around $9.00 for 60 tea bags so that's 2 months supply, it really helps with the weight to because it cleans you out every day. Remember though, only 1 cup every night before you go to bed.
HEALTHYMUM: Hope you had a great time in Sydney, it is always good just to get away. I had to go there for work last Saturday, my first time away on the diet, and was I panicing. I had breakfast early, got off the plane at 12pm and took my 175g of Yoghart. Sat there, at that, then caught a cab. Didn't get home till 8.30 so had Prawns and Salad for dinner. Didn't effect my weight but didn't loose much that day because I at so late. These things happen though and we can't stay a hermit until we reach our goal.
MINXY: I use the 750ml Pump Bottle and just keep refilling it. I use to use the 1.25L one when I first started but it just seamedto be to big. The 750ml is much better as you just keep drinking it until it is empty and it doesn't take long. Then you just go and refill it again and again. If you have 4 that is 3 ltrs and you are there with you water for the day, but you will find you will be having 6 or 8 of them in time.
CASEY: It was so funny when I first started. Always make a cuppa in the morning for myself and hubby and I guess for the first few week I just automatically put milk in both cups. It really made me laught how you just get into the habit of things. So I'd just tip it down the sink. Also if just making one for myself I would just automatically go to the fridge to grab the milk. Now I just have black coffee and enjoy it. I do it up in one of those plungers if I feel like a different taste. I really hate paying about $2.50 for a cup of black coffee though, that is a rip off, they should make it cheaper.
CASEY & DEVINMESSNAT: SCALES, check EBAY, they have some great ones on there and really good prices 1/2 price to the shops, so if you can use your old ones for a while it might be worth waiting for. Here is one of the website hope it works, if not just copy and paste it in.
http://stores.ebay.com.au/The-Scale-...ET-SCALES.html
or you can just type in digital kitchen scales and do a search, believe me you will want to buy them all, but try and control yourselves, we only need 1 set.
I'm going to buy one of the little pocket ones for when I travel $19.00
MISSY-MUM: How are you going, hope your o.k. we are all thinking of you.
DANPOL: Great that you are back on track and you weight is coming off again, you are going to be a WINNER, and I am sure you know what that means.......
MONI: I am going to pop some of my breakfast ideas in another thread because this one is getting too long. Hope they give you a few ideas and everyone else too.
I'm not sure who said they typed up a posting and lost it, but this is what I do. For example with this one I just copy and paste it into word as I go along and then if something happens I can just copy and paste it back in here, because it happened to me a few times as well.
Well I do hope you all had a great weekend and weigh a bit less for the start of a new week. Good luck with the scales everyone, speak to you soon. JOY

For Example this is my MEAL PLAN 1. Remember just because it is MEAL PLAN 1 you don't have to have it for breakfast they can all be changed around. You will have to adjust the grams according to what they have given you.
50g Cheese (no feta – only once a week) + 75g vegetables
40g Fish = 80g vegetables
1 Egg _ 65g vegetables
1 Yoghurt ( can be mixed with fruit from allowance)

1. Cheese (no feta – only once a week) + 75g vegetables
30g mushroom, 30g tomato, 15g capsicum, 50g mozzarella (lite) cheese.
Cut up vegies and put into pan with a little garlic powder & mixed herbs.
I add water to cook it in and this will also release all the flavours from the vegies, cook for about 3 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Then turn gas down low and sprikle your cheese over the top. Wait until it melts and presto, you have like a little mini pizza. It is yummy.

2. Breaky on the go, quick and easy. Just 175g natural yoghart. I use the TAMARVALLEY Tasmanian Yoghurt LITE. It is really nice and doesn't have that bitter taste to it. You can also vitamise your fruit up in it if you wish. I must admit I have never had just plain yoghurt but I really like it. I just measure it out in a glass and eat it out of that. Like I said quick and easy.

3. 1. Cheese (no feta – only once a week) + 75g vegetables
30g mushroom, 35g tomato, 10g onion, 50g ricotta lite cheese.
Cook vegies in pan as discribed in 1. and then add the ricotta cheese, stir it around fast for about 30 seconds and then tip into a small bowl. I swear this is TASTY, with a capital T. But it doesn't make very much at all.

4. 1 Egg - 65g vegetables
Mushroom, onion & tomato according to allowance.
Beat up egg in a glass. Get 1 ryvita and put into a freezer bag and roll out with a rolling pin until crushed. Tip it into your beaten up egg, stir it up and then pore over your cooked vegies. Turn gas down low and you have like a french toast topping. You can also have it without the ryvita of course.

These are my 4 main breakfast meals. Also sometimes I like to have meal plan 2 or 3 for breakfast so I can then have a curried egg for lunch.

Hi Everyone, I'm a newbie to this site and have enjoyed reading through all your posts! I live in Sydney and heard about Cohen's through a friend of my mums who lost 32kg on the program....I started Cohen's on 4/11/05 (3wks ago) and I have lost 9kg to date. I still have another 51kg to go until I reach my goal weight of 65kg but I'm positive I'll get there. My mum is also doing the program with me and she lost 8kg. This last week, the weight loss has been a bit slow for me. Has anyone else had weeks were they just havent really lost much at all? Also, I've just recently got engaged, the engagment party is planned for 28/01/06 & I'm hoping to get under the 100kg mark...

Would love an email buddy if anyone is interested! email me - melissa@kurrara.com.au

I look fwd to sharing my experiences wih you all :-) and wish everyone the best who is on the Cohen's program!

Hi everyone just read through all the threads and it seems like everyone is going well except me I just cant get my act together anymore breakfast is fine but liked reading Joysey's breaky ideas I think thats what wrong with my diet no variety same thing day in day out and I think I have to change it around more maybe that will kickstart my weight loss again. Plus missing so many meals and not drinking enough water by the sound of it.
Do any of you girls live close to Wollongong nsw ?

Update on my son-in-law the doctor said if he hadnt caught the cancer and had his first chemo when he did he wouldn't have been here for Xmas so he was very lucky. He isnt too good since chemo all sorts of problems but the doctor is pleased as he said they were all signs that the chemo is doing its job.

Minding my grandchildren a lot and they are always hungry which doesn't help this diet. LOL

Better go and feed them again glad to hear so many are going so well and welcome to the new girls have enjoyed reading the postings. Di