Week One complete and I have just had my second Measurements taken.
I lost 14cms!

CRAZY!!!! *GRIN*



This is my reward for being 100% Cohens all week.
I am so proud of myself.

I felt hungry on the second and third nights, but that was all.
I have been a little light headed on the third to fifth days.
Mostly I feel energized, motivated, clear headed, inspired AND impatient I must admit, results cannot happen fast enough!! (just a feeling, nothing I will act all silly over!)

I have had a few food cravings, but I can shrug them off because I am so goal focused.

My Goal: in a month I will be in Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia with a friend for 4 days, and I want to feel comfortable and confident in my new bathers. This goal also offers a challenge. I want to be on holiday with my friend and enjoy a few beverages of the non-Cohens kind... but this is something I will think about closer to the time. For now...

My challenges are only few.
I am coping fine with organising different meals for 3 different people... me, hubby and son. Sometimes it is only 2 different menus; mine and theirs, but often my 2 year old isn't up to "normal hubby dinner". I am coping so far and I hope to continue to do so! Hubby is a great help, he will cook his dinner once I have done all the preparations, he will also feed our Boy so I am not involved with the spooning in!

Our Son, Sacha loves to share, both yours and his. This has been tough. I don't want to give up a gram of my dinner, and cannot gratefully take and consume his offerings. It is hard, but it has also made me realise how much of his food I used to eat, may it be in food prep, feeding him or as leftovers.

Another realisation is that I am a chronic snacker. WAS actually. Well, that's gone now thank goodness.

Anyway, it is brilliant to be here, I am loving reading through this forum. The recipe suggestions are great and feeding my soul in it's state of enjoying the challenge of creating interesting plates with our limited ingredients.

You have also given me food for thought regarding "cheating" or taking a 4 day break, or a more relaxed approach more correctly, on my holiday.

shine

Hello shine & welcome to the forum & to Cohen's. Don't look at my w/e off as an example please. I finished Cohen's over 2 years ago & am just "tweaking" my Winter excess. I lost 36kgs in 28 weeks, Jan-Aug 2007, & did not deviate off the program once. The strongest reason not to deviate is not because it will set you back one week's loss but that it may sabotage your determination & focus. When I did Cohen's I read of people "deviating" off program & they battled to get back on again. Some dropped out altogether.
You can enjoy your 4 days off & still stick to the program. keep your eyes on the prize. Any friend should respect your desire to get to your goal weight. You would be amazed at how much fun you can actually have not drinking. I got the "drunk of the party" once, at an Irish girls party,without drinking a drop of alcohol (or anything else) and had a ball pouring drinks, dancing, singing etc. It's quite liberating really & no hangover!
I love your username! You will shine. That's excellent!
Cheers for now, Cate.

Welcome Shine, and well done for your fantastic start! I'm sure you will find plenty of rewards in following the plan, and hope the plans for Port Douglas are going fantastically well! We were up that way a year ago - I was at my heaviest unfortunately - but it was lovely and relaxing.

Thanks to you both for your welcome and support.

I really appreciate it.

Before Cohens I was going to the gym at least once a week for a Pump Class. This class has kept my back strong enough to comfortably carry my son. I was so keen for today's class after taking last week off so I could settle into this new way of energizing my body. Glad I did it and am keen to take a few more walks this week too.

Thanks for your thoughts on my holiday with Cohens.
I can tell you that I will take everything you said on board. I won't yet make a decision about how I will do it, but I know my scales, sweetener and spices will be coming with me, plus there will be a visit to the supermarket on the main street as soon as we are settled into our room.

I cannot imagine losing focus at this point, even if I do relax Cohens on my holiday. I am not talking Pizza and chocolate icecream, I am talking going out for seafood and salad at a nice restaurant and not taking my scales. OK, and a pink drink with a cocktail umbrella in it. I am way too enthusiastic about reaching my goal weight not to continue on my return.

I also have the added motivation with Cohens in regard to my fertility.
After two miscarriages in the past year, it is SO important to me to correct my hormones.

Still going strong with my second week coming to a close tomorrow. That means measuring on Tuesday night and I am keen for it.

- my jeans were saggy enough today to have to wear a belt. I threaded the belt on and went to buckle only to find that there wasn't a hole tight enough... this never happens to me, well, it does now!!

- have discovered Coke Zero. I was never a soft drink girl in the past, but when visiting a pub with friends, like this afternoon, it totally saved me from feeling like I wasn't having a drink.

- have failed at making 2 soups in the Cohen's Recipe Book.
Soupy Chicken Stew and Beef soup. I love soup. These were horrible. I am disappointed.
Can anyone help me out with what to try next?

- is anyone strong enough to NOT weigh themselves??? Not me!! I have had a couple of goes on the scales just for interest sake; the results have been astounding and interesting and often cause a little happy dance, and sometimes just a learning experience.

- I LOVE the Dutch Red Cabbage in the Recipe Book. Especially when I am feeling hungry, it makes a lot of food to put one of my daily fruits into it.

- I LOVE my morning yoghurt with mango and ginger. YUMMO. It also seems to fill me up the most.

- Is anyone else not always having their crispbread quota?

- Are cravings normal?? I guess it is my brain not my body, but I am still hankering after a lovely big bowl of spicy curry with rice and roti bread. *sigh*

- Any ideas of making the water drinking more intriguing? I am getting to my 2.5 liters a day, which is the minimum, but any more really isn't at all appealing.

- I have never drunk so much water per day, and then consistently in my life before, and I am getting a dry mouth quite often, does anyone else experience this?

- If you are having a crispbread serve as a snack, do you just eat it plain or do you have ideas on something more exciting to do with it??

- I am really curious about the Refeeding Program and would LOVE to hear more about it.

- Today was the first day that I didn't feel hungry before my meal. Although, before lunch I was gardening, and way more sensitive to head spins when getting up! Lunch fixed this.

What an interesting adventure eh!

Congrats on the jeans becoming baggy & needing the belt. Get used to it as it will keep on happening & things will start falling off you. Op shops are great to get you through. I love having to wear a belt. It's such a novel experience. All the best for now, Cate

Cate, thanks so much for going through my questions as you did! You have really helped me out big time.

Ahh, I notice my attempt to format my post failed, and I lost one of the questions in the orange while the rest turned back to black.

What about some good soups that you enjoy?

As for my dry mouth, I think I will add some inner health plus into my supplement routine and see if that helps.

Oh, I re-read my post and realized that I didn't include my stats...

173cm
Starting weight 77kg
Goal weight 63kg

Current weight (sneaky couldn't help myself because I am a curious Georgia) 71.85kg before breakfast this morning.

hmph.



So, arm and waist = the same as last week.

Bust = smaller (of course *eye roll*), and thigh down a little too
Hips = bigger by 3 cms!

So my total is the same as last week, so no loss to record.

This makes me want to weigh myself in the morning.

For all the effort, of sticking to my prescription 100% this disappoints me.
I had expectations obviously, of even just a few cms down ya know??

Dont stress out about your measurements not changing. A lot of people like to go by measurements but I am more concerned about the scales.

Think of it this way; we measure (in one spot alone) our bust, waist, thigh, hips and arm but there is another hundred or so inches of flesh that we dont meaure from- out neck, our fore-arms, our fingers, our calfs, our bum and the rest of our bodies. Those few areas that we do measure are just a small guide yet there are SO many other places in and around our body that we are loosing fat- we just dont know it cause we dont measure it. I wouldn't be concerned about the meaurements so much just go by the scales and how your clothes are fitting.

Your doing SO fantastically Shine, think about how much you would only be loosing on a conventional diet?!? 0.5kg's a week maybe but inconsistantly! Dont get de-motivated now Cohen's IS the answer, just keep persevering and those kg'a will be melting away week by week!

All the best for your journey ahead- your lucky your's will be a short one
xx nicole

Thanks nickychic, so I weighed myself this morning, and there was improvement so I am not so fussed now.

Freaked me out though and went through a moment of "what else can I do to keep things moving forward?? may as well enjoy chocolate then! was it the Coke Zero? Maybe I didn't measure my veggies right for lunch? Is my little amount of exercise, apart from making me a little tired and a little hungry actually damaging my results??"

Wow, all that internal talk, I gotta shut her up! She ain't helping!!!

Gonna go spend some time in the positive affirmations post.

Then I am going to figure out how to post a ticker.

Hi Shine, Measurements can vary as we hardly ever measure in exactly the same spot. Fluid retention some days also alters it. Is Coke Zero on your list? When I did my plan I was allowed a maximum of 1 litre per day of any diet soft drinks including Diet Coke or Pepsi Light (must be caffeine free) & coffee up to 3 cups per day. Sometimes I would be out & they would not have any caffeine-free Diet Coke so I might have 1 Diet Coke with caffeine. Caffeine causes fluid retention. It also is full of artificial nasties.
How often are you weighing and/or measuring? Cohen's recommend-
"Do not weigh yourself more than once every four weeks. Follow your eating plan properly and use a tape measure to check your progress. The scales cannot tell you how much fat you have lost.Your body loses weight in a cycle & not on a daily or weekly basis. Always look at your weight loss as a monthly average and never week by week."
Weighing yourself and/or measuring yourself too often sets yourself up for self-sabotaging thoughts like "may as well enjoy chocolate then!"
Keep reading your program Shine so that you are positive that you are following it 100% & know that your excess weight will go. Sure as day follows night. Cheers, cate

Hi Cate,

Thanks for your words of wisdom.

I am measuring once a week and filling out my chart.
I am weighing randomly, maybe twice a week, but will cut this down, I know I am making progress, I feel it in my body, I don't need the scales anymore to tell me. Next weigh in will be the official one in 2 weeks.

I just got an email from the clinic saying that Coke Zero is on the list, and Philly Cheese is off because we don't get the fat free version here in Australia.

I am allowed up to 4 coffees a day, any more than that need to be caffiene free. I only have one coffee a day and it is a really weak instant one.
So, I have a Coke Zero instead of an alcoholic bevvie a couple of times a week max. Yes, 1 liter is also my limit, but I doubt I will ever get near that!

I am becoming an expert with Peppermint Tea, there are some lovely brands out there so full of flavour. Tea Drop was one I had last night. Delish!

I am also becoming really interested in spices, and am looking for more information on using them in cooking. Anyone got any good leads?

When I was out last night watching friends eat (had mine in the car on the way) my friend ordered a chicken and cauliflower soup... gonna try a Cohens version of this tonight!!

I am doing really well I think. Sacha (my 2yo boy) and I made banana muffins yesterday in pretty little coloured patty pans... it smelled delicious, but I wasn't even tempted. I think my sense of smell is really getting a good work out!

I just moved my Eating Plan from its binding to a plastic pocketed folder which was a good time for a read through as well.

Off to make lunch! Tuna Sandwich and a Rivita!

Curious Georgia Question Of The Day : how come we can have yoghurt but not milk??

Hi Shine

I am currently doing my Cohen's program through the Booragoon clinic in Perth, Western Australia and apparently they are the original clinic and the Cohen's authority in Aus. They said that we must NOT have any diet drink with Caffiene so no Coke Zero or Diet Coke, or Pepsi Max, or Pepsi light UNLESS it is Caffiene free so Sprit Zero is okay and so is Caffiene free Diet Coke and Caffiene free Pepsi Light (which I have never seen).

I think it's strange that your consultant is saying that it is okay when mine say's NO WAY?!?

We can have yoghurt and not milk as milk still has it's sugar (Lactose) but when the bacteria is placed into yoghurt they eat up the lactose so it changes the composition of the milk that the yoghurt is made from- that's what I was told

Heya nickychic,

Thanks so much for your explanation about milk. I just couldn't make it make sense, but now it does and it is all sitting better with me.

As for the Coke Zero, here is a direct section from the email from Cohens Lifestyle (in regard to what product are available in Australia):

"After much research and several studies, other changes that have been made apply to the drinks list and the artificial sweeteners.

Dr Cohen has amended the drinks to read as follows:
Diet soft drinks can now include Diet Coke, Pepsi Light and Coke Zero – however CAFFEINE FREE is best
Coffee (8 cups per day – if you are not drinking caffeine in diet drinks, otherwise 3 cups per day)"

I am drinking less than one coffee a day (really weak instant coffee that I usually don't finish), so if I am going to go to a social occasion, say, twice a week and I have a Coke Zero, I think it fits in okay. I understand that it is better not to have caffeine in our diets as it is, but hey, at the moment I am still feeling sometimes that I need a little vice. This need is fading.

Hubby and I shared a glass of Coke Zero in wine glasses last night!

I think this diet is about being sensible and not pushing the boundaries and allowances to the limit. I am not going to start drinking 8 coffees or make artificial sweeteners a regular part of my diet when I never touched the stuff before.

Also, I have realised we are offered variety with our meal choices and that should be utilized. I really have to give up a morning or two of yoghurt sometime soon and slip in an egg.

Yesterday I recruited 2 more Cohenites! A friend's brother and mother!! They went to the intro night last night and are getting their first blood tests this week!!

This morning my son and I are going to find a T2 tea shop to see what herbal ones are on offer for a bit of variety.

Today I had a short fuse.

Mum irritates me on a good day and I just take a deep breath, today I let her have it, which is so unproductive. Today I feel like it's just easier spending time apart than locking horns which is so emotionally exhausting.

The short fuse probably came from hunger. And from hunger comes awful cravings.

I missed my afternoon crisp breads.... this may have caused the problem.

I was saving my 2nd piece of fruit for dinner as I was really looking forward to the cabbage and apple dish with my turkey.

Anyway, I am fine now, had dinner, probably owe mum an apology for snapping at her to keep myself true to myself.

My 2 year old wouldn't eat his dinner, so I cooked him another option, then another because I really wanted him to eat something.... ughh, all that food in front of me that I would have loved to eat.

At least I am getting used to seeing, touching, smelling food that is off limits, I feel stronger for it, and it will definitely make being out so much easier.

Today goes down as a hard day.

I have my aunt's 60th at a japanese restaurant on Saturday night.
There will be Tuna Sushimi which is on the list, and probably a green salad that will pass, but thinking about it, no way I could weigh anything, and raw fish without wasabi and soy is gonna challenge my swallowing reflex!!!