Well maybe I can...It started off with some cheese at a party, then onto the buffalo wings, moving swiftly along to the ribs and then some bacon. I just had a bite size of each, I was telling myself that of course 'it wasn't doing any harm, I wasn't having the whole thing! and besides, no alcohol was crossing my lips so I was safe!' Terrible terrible thing I could have done. Only thing is I'm really bored with the recipes, especially the meat dishes, there's only so much one can do with salt, pepper and curry powder. I'm not allowed chillies or anything in that department. Are any of you allowed chicken stock? The homemade kind that is...if that was acceptable I'd live off soup, but alas no...I do however feel good, I've lost 10kg's so far and I'm wearing a jeans today that used to cut into my sides, now I have to keep pulling it up even though I'm wearing a belt! So I understand that in order to lose weight I need to stick with the programme, but what other ways of preparing food are there?
Really, I started this diet loving pepper, i can't take the taste of it anymore...

I am sorry to hear that things got a bit off track... I dont know much about your plan - but I can say is "what is done is done". No amount of punishing ourselves ever means that we can undo what we have done. This is true of all diet plans.

In my experience the best thing that you can do is forgive yourself immediately and get back on track as quickly as possible and as firmly as possible. Feeling bad about ourselves never helps us. We need to focus on our steps forward and making more of them happen.

I can see that a lack of food ideas is at the heart of your problem. Why not start a Cohen's food ideas thread and put in one or two of your recipes that were among your favourites from before you got sick of them. Maybe one or two of your forum friends will throw some of theirs onto the list. It could give you all some new ideas...

If you want soup - maybe you could make some using vegetable stock (from boiling up veg) and then using a blender or food processor... All soups do not have to be based around a chicken or meat stock. Something like that may be able to fit into your plan.

Hun, don't beat yourself up about it. That's yesterdays news. As far as recipes go, there are probably more savvy people here who can put up some links. There are whole threads on forums dedicated to just this.
Try and remind yourself a couple of things. 1) In normal diets, (everyday, non cohens) our imagination can become stunted, and we can get bored. 2) Current food is boring? So what??? Fun and exciting, or fat????? It's just food. It really is only a small part of a very big picture. This is where so many of us have a problem. Food has become too big a thing in our lives. We place too much importance on it. Our culture is spoilt for choice, while other lands some may have 1 meal of rice a day for which they're thankful. What about the rest of your life? Is that boring? If so, then it isn't the food that needs to be changed. Food is there to sustain us. That's it's main purpose. The fact that there is variety is a bonus. Don't get too hung up on it. 3)Our attitude toward food will stay with us on maintenance. If in our heads, we haven't got food in it's proper place, we wont maintain, we will slip back into bad habits. Look at people around you - how do they view food? Then compare their attitude with their waistline.
I hope this helps. I expect the same from you when I need it. Stay strong x

I agree - just get on with it today and don't listen to that "just this once" voice, because disaster always follows if you do. Don't forget the "diet" phase doesn't last forever - we will work back to a more interesting range of flavours and tastes in maintenance land. Excitement comes in many forms, but food isn't a good one because in the end if we overindulge it just makes up miserable and enslaved to our fat cells.

Only deal with the 24 hours you are in - forget what happened yesterday, or how bored you might be with the food tomorrow. Choose something today that fits the plan that you feel like eating.

Wow, I am so humbled by the replies I received, thank you Omega, L-Jay and Niyah. (L-Jay I'm printing out your reply for my daily dose of inspiration) I needed to take accountability for what I did, not try to justify it by making excuses about the 'lack of flavour' of the recipes. I discovered because of this thread, that I'm still obsessed by food, I still look at it as my comfort instead of just fueling my body. This diet has made me look at the person I am, which i haven't done for a very long time, especially since there's no alcohol to cloud my judgement. I thank God everyday, especially since He's put the Cohen diet in my path, I believe that He's made this available to me because he knows it's most important to me to lose all this extra weight, and also because I hated myself, being greedy and consuming food constantly. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, I feel so much better about myself and look forward to continuing this journey, hopefully cheat free. THANK YOU.

I see that Cate has bumped a food ideas thread. I am sure that you will find some interesting things there. I am having an enjoyable read myself as I am 2.5 years into a fairly restrictive project myself. We can all enjoy a change and it can be hard to find something that you can trust yourself to eat.

why can't u use chilli? I use crushed chilli flakes for almost all my meals.

I hope you had a better day today sweets. I was a bit worried that my post might have sounded too harsh, it wasn't meant to be, more just to help you keep perspective. I know how important it is, because I AM the MASTER of justification. I have an extremely warped relationship with food, and while I'm typing that stuff, it reminds me. Mostly it comes to me as I'm typing and I think "Wow, I really need to remember this stuff". So, know you are not alone. We are all in this together, and like I said, give me the good butt kick when I need it. x