I thought I would start my own thread to record my ups and downs along my cohens diet journey (hopefully more ups than downs!). Also to share my thoughts and recipes, and maybe make a few friends along the way

Today is only day 3 of my diet. I haven't gotten round to getting a tape measure, but here are my stats:

Height: 1.52m
Current weight: 68kg
Pre-pregnancy weight: 56kg
Ultimate Goal weight: 50kg

As you can see, I have quite abit to lose before I get to my ultimate goal - which is heavier than what I was when I got married!! When I got married (nearly 3 years ago) I super dieted and exercised myself to 47kg. After marriage we both let go a little and I got to about 54-56kg. Then I got pregnant and the rest is history!

My baby is now 16months old, so no more excuses for still looking like I'm expecting. Need to FIGHT THAT FLAB!

Today was not so great. Felt hungry alot of the time and also am trying to recover from a flu, so just feeling quite crappy. Having an early night... blog to you later

Felt really tired and hungry all day - I hope my stomach shrinks a little faster so it can stop growling!!! So far I have not been tempted to stray from the diet... altho at the supermarket today I almost put a carton of orange juice in my basket out of habit!

The UP side of my diet-day is that I have discovered how delicious mushrooms can be just pan fried on their own. I had a garlic powder/blackpepper chicken breast and mushrooms dinner and it was AWESOME. Then I had a peach for 'dessert'. Fantastic. BUT now it's been 4 hours since dinner and I'm hungry again... SIGH...

Going to glug glug glug down that water and then SLEEEEP and try to forget the hunger!

I know the feeling about mushrooms!

Good luck on your journey! I look forward to reading about your progress!

Wanndabee, I too started my Cohen's journey this week. I have a little more weight to lose than you but its time to battle that bulge and this time nothing is going to stop me reaching my goal!! Perhaps we can keep each other motivated!!

Hi guys!

I started Cohens four weeks ago and I know everyone says it, but the first week and a half was a killer. I was counting the minutes until I could eat. And yeah, the hardest thing for me was not eating anything after I'd eaten dinner (because I'd eaten all my fruit and crisp-breads throughout the day!).

There is light at the end of the tunnel though! I had to battle through Christmas just two-and-a-half weeks in, and I made it. Now I get through a day without even really needing the crispbreads or fruit.

Good idea going to bed early if you are hungry! Also, I found that brushing my teeth stopped me from wanting to eat.

I'm starting to get a little bored of the food, as I fancy myself a bit of a wizz-bang cook and I miss cooking extraordinary foods. It does challenge me, though, and I'm finding out new things about myself every day.

Good luck, guys. This is my first post and I'm looking forward to continuing to be inspired by everyone here!

CohenInAz - Thanks for the support! According to your ticker you've made incredible progress - so inspiring
Wannabsexee - Sure! Let's motivate each other to reach our goals and stick to diet no matter how crappy we feel!
decisionmaker - Thanks for sharing - makes me feel better to know that after this killer week or two it gets easier... I hope!

ANyway today was a good day - as in I stuck to the diet completely, but also a bad day because I felt hungry quite alot and also at one point in the afternoon I felt faint! Totally low blood sugar and felt abit nauseous. It passed after half an hour and a can of Coke Zero... but I was seriously tempted to eat a piece of chocolate to boost my sugar levels! Thankfully I resisted.

Weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 67kg! It was all the encouragement I needed to force down that Natural Yogurt (yuckkk!!!)... but not so bad when I put spme Kiwi in it.

I am still quite concerned that I am feeling rather weak most of the time. Carrying my daughter up the stairs is as much as I can take without collapsing, when before I was quite strong and could do so with no problems. Well, let's see how I feel after bringing her to playschool tomorrow...

Hope you guys out there are doing well!

Wandabees- Love your new avatar, by the way! It does get much easier as you go. The cravings subside, the "feel good" hormones kick in & you will start to feel really good. With a small child I would imagine that would be enough exercise on its' own. Try to get lots of sleep. It's very important. Try to save a piece of fruit for those times that you are tempted. Is it usually the same time each day? For me it was mid afternoon & then again about 8.30pm so that is when I would have a piece of fruit &/or my crackers. I rarely ate my crackers with a meal. I saved them for about 1-2 hours before my next meal or for after dinner. You are doing well. You can get through this hard part of the program. If your child takes a nap & you are really tired do the same if you can. Take care, Cate.

Yogurt -

You've got to shop around a bit and find the best "plain" brand for you... they all taste a little different.

I love Dannon Non-Fat Plain Yogurt. I add Cinnimon (you have to watch this as it causes hunger for some) and a teaspoon of Benefiber... Yummy!

If I am REALLY hungry in the AM I also mix in a finally sliced apple...

For the feeling faint, try eating every few hours.

This is my schedule:

9am - Meal 3 (biggest meal 1st)
11am - Fruit and Cracker
2pm - Meal 2
4pm - Fruit and Cracker
6pm - Fruit and Cracker (sometimes I have and hour after dinner (If I have dinner between 7 and 8) or not at all)
8pm - Meal 1

I found eating in the last week or so having Meal 3 first I was full for a lot longer... but before that I ate 1-2-3 on that time schedule

I usually go to bed between 10 and 11 and get up between 7 and 8.

Hey Wandabees, I know what you mean about the yoghurt,G.R.O.S.S. gross!!!
But I agree with CohenInAz you need to shop around, some better than others. I decided when I did shopping on sunday to try a new one, BIG mistake!! I was gagging the minute I had it in my mouth. But I like the idea of adding cinnamon(thanks CohenInAz), I might just have to try that. I have tried it with kiwi but reccomend adding mango, yummo!!

Re: Plain yoghurt.

I'm really not a fan!!! I don't mind it at all if I mix in some fuit, but I'd rather save my fruit for later in the day.

I prefer eggs with mushroom and zucchini ANYDAY. And it really takes no longer. I splashed out and bought a tub of pre-sliced mushrooms, and if you just throw those in a little frypan and crack and egg over it, you're done. It seems to fill me up for much longer too.

WANDABEES - I remember being absolutely exhausted for the first two weeks. I tried to play my usual netball, but I only lasted three minutes before I felt faint and had to go off-court. And this was after I had my crispbread and fruit directly before the game!

Three weeks in, and I could play fine. I still save my fruit for before the game, but it's definitely do-able now.

I spoke to the Cohen's people about the fatigue (I live up one flight of steps, and carrying the shopping up was enough to make me want to lie down for an hour!) and they advised me to take another multi-vitamin at lunch. I do this every day now and it makes a huge difference for me.

Hope that helps! Just remember, when you lose all your weight, you'll be running up those stairs with no probs at all!

Hi ladies! Thanks for all the sharing. Seriously - it's soooo helpful to hear from others who are more 'advanced' in the Cohens diet.

I decided to go with cheese and veg for breakfast this morning instead of yogurt. Actually I find that using one fruit allowance for breakfast makes such a big diff - cos I cant have my afternoon snack! Tomorrow I'm going to try CohenInAZ's idea of putting some sweetener into my yogurt. Then the day after I'm going to try the egg/mushroom/zucchini recipe from decisionmaker

Today was another good day with sticking to the plan. Although I went for a movie/ dinner with my in-laws and it was soooo hard to sit there and watch them eat dinner after the movie! I wasnt actually hungry as I had an apple during the movie, but it made me really grumpy. I HATE not being able to eat out. Very bad for my social life!

Have to confess that yesterday was a bad day for me as I cheated for the first time (altho it's only been a week into the plan)... I had a tiny piece of chocolate cos my daughter didnt want it anymore, so I popped it into my mouth. Very very naughty and I cant stp thinking of the damage I've done!!! Really hope its not a major setback.

Tomorrow will mark one week on Cohens for me. Will weigh myself and update you guys.

I know how you feel about not been able to eat out and everything. Been a qualified chef I love all rich foods which tends to mean they are rich in calories!!
As for the chocolate, it happens but just move on and get back on track!! I have kids and I know how easy it is to eat that last sweet, chocolate etc. Out of habit I placed a chocolate biscuit in my mouth, it was only when I began to chew it I realised what I had done and ran to the bin and spat it out! Gross, I know but my point is as hard as it is to break habit, we can find the strength inside to fight it!!

Wandabees, One of the hardest things we have to do to change our mindset about food. It is not "naughty/good", i.e. food is not a reward. It is something to nourish us & to make us healthy. "Food is our medicine". We have an illness & Cohen's food is our medicine . It is possible to be very sociable without eating food that is off-plan. It will get easier as you go, if you let it. Everything will be available when you reach GW.
It's mostly about working out what you want the most. Do you want to be slim & healthy or would you rather eat a piece of chocolate or cake or whatever the next thing may be. It makes you feel so bad afterwards & is just not worth it. "Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".
It's all a learning thing and we do have a lifetime of bad habits to overcome. Some of us (ha ha-me) have had longer than others to try to overcome them but if I had been given this chance years ago I would never have spent so many years overweight & lacking self-esteem. Rather than rue those unfit years I am grabbing life with both hands & there's no looking back.
Sorry to go on in your diary(I won't delete though) but I just wanted to say put the choc episode behind you, get back on track 100%, give yourself a chance to get in the "zone" & you will never look back. Take care, Cate.

Cate - thanks so much for the encouraging words. I like your quote "Nothing tastes as good as slim feels". I have been slim before and I know how good it feels - extra energy and self confidence. I want so much to get back to that old me and you're right, I should try not to think of food as 'good/bad'. Not the kind of thing I want my daughter to pick up on!

Wannabsexee - I didn't know you were a qualified chef! How amazing! You must be good with making up recipes... hehe. Do share some when you come across a winner

Anyway gals, today was an ok day for me. The hunger and faintness has kind of passed but because it was a Saturday, it was the social aspect that I had to overcome. Going out for lunch and dinner and not being able to eat again. However I did not deviate and ate before I went out. There was alot of explaining to do though about why I wasnt eating! And I have more explaining tomorrow as my god daughter is getting baptised and we have a post-baptism lunch. Sigh... I guess the sooner everyone knows the better!

On a more positive note, I tried yogurt with sweetener this morning and I LOVED IT!! LOVED LOVED LOVED IT!! Seriously, thanks for the tip CohenInAZ!

Also today marks the ONE WEEK mark for me on Cohens and my weight is now 66.5kg! That's 1.5kg in one week! Amazing for me cos I have one of those metabolisms that refuses to budge kilos.

Right. Off to drink my weight in water before bed

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!