Fallen Angel- All of the above is good advice. I would tell your consultant. Sure she's an advocate for the program but she is also on your side. It sounds like self-sabotage & most of us need help on that front. It may be that you are scared of losing the boundaries. Speak up & ask your consultant for her help. That's what we pay good money for. Finish what you started FA. You will feel much better for it. Cheers, cate

Hey every1,

about cohens diet. The clinic is auzzi based and i live in nz.

can some of you share your meal plans or is it confidential???

I use 2 weigh 125 now at 102 and hopefully end of this year ill
be 80-85 with a nice body.

When im successful ill put before and after pictures on here .

Thanks much.

Hi Fit-2-be & welcome to the forum. Cohen's is not Aussie based & comes originally I think from South Africa. It is available to you in New Zealand & the link is Clinic Contact Details - Cohen's Lifestyle Clinic.
The program is confidential and is covered by copyright so we are not able to pass on our individual plans to anyone else. They are tailored to each of us after having blood tests & we are monitored regularly.
Cohen's teaches you how to eat healthily and I know that, after trying most other 'diets' which taught me very little, I now feel able to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life. It works! Keep in touch with us regardless of what you choose. If you do choose to do the program you will recieve lots of moral support from a wonderful group of people here in this forum. Cheers for now, Cate.

Hey cate, thanks for the info. Unfortunitally there is only one clinic in New Zealand and thats in the South Island, I Live on the North Island. I Think ill just stick 2 my diet. its seems to be working anyway.

Hi Fit-2-be. That's good. Although we have consultants here in Aus mine was 3 hours away & I did not see her once after signing up. I'm sure that you would be able to sign up through the NZ office & have email & phone contact & be able to arrange blood tests. Keepit in mind. I didn't need to have face-to-face contact. Good luck with whatever you choose, cheers, cate.

Hi Fit2be
I am based in NZ as well- In wellington. I started cohens in perth and moved over here a month later- You can do the course by distance as long as you put good support around you. If you would like i will be more than happy to help support you through the course.
The cohens program is put together for the individual person- so while you could in theory use our program it may backfire- in the same way most other diets do. Please go through the program properly- it is so worth it. I have lost over thirty kilos and have yet to weigh myself this month- gone from a size 22 to a size 10- i am almost literally half the person that i was after having my kids.
I am not so far from my goal weight- still about 10 kilos last weigh in.
There is also a clinic that is opening up in auckland- you should check it out. I can get numbers for you if you like.
The clinic that i have been going to has been great for support and information- via the phone and email.

Jodi

Hey Jodi,

Thanks for the reply, and glad to hear there are others in nz on this forum and that your nearly at your goal weight . I've dropped from 125kgs to 100kgs on my own and im trying to become 85 by the end of this year.

If a new clinic opens in auck i might consider going if my own diet doesnt help me. If you can supply me with the number of the auckland clinic that would be very help full.

Faithfully,

Martin.

My thoughts on deviating on Cohen's-
These are some of my thoughts(& some borrowed from Cohen's friends) on following the plan 100% right through until you get to goal weight.
Yes, you have to follow the plan absolutely. If you keep deviating your hormones don't have a chance to settle down. However, what is more important is that you have to realise that this is not a few months of your life. This is your life from now on. Getting your body right is only part of what you need to do. The main part is to get your head right. You have to realise that you are not going to be able to complete this plan then go back to eating exactly as you did before. It's not magic. You have faulty hormones. You can keep them under control, but unless you look after them, they will get out of control again. If you can't get them under control in the first place because you keep deviating, how will you ever manage to keep them under control once you finish? This is for life- your life!

I believe that there are a lot of emotional reasons for many of us being overweight. We are covering ourselves with layers of fat to insulate and protect us against something that has happened to us or has threatened us. We need to identify and address these issues as well as tackle the outward manifestation of the issue, the fat itself.

While it's fine for anyone to consider deviating off the plan (it's your life) I don't think it's fine for anyone to recommend it & I don't think it's ever a good idea. You would be spending your money on Cohen's but not really giving it a chance to work properly.
The saying by Yoda- "Do or do not, there is no try" seems to apply well to Cohen's but really to almost anything you want to do in life. You are not trying to lose weight you have chosen to actually lose weight.
Follow Cohen's 100% & it works. It's strict & restrictive & it's black & white. There are no grey areas. You don't have to wonder whether or not you should eat something. It's all in there for you. For me, that was great. We are surrounded by so much conflicting advice about what we should & shouldn't eat. With Cohen's the only real decision you need to make is how you are going to prepare your meal from the healthy choices available to you. It's simple really.
I think that in order to be successful at losing weight & keeping it off everyone has to address the issue of why they overeat and their slim friends do not. We must learn some self-discipline so that we can face challenges in the future. Learning to cope with hunger & cravings is another. We're not about to starve to death.

To me, a deviation or a planned deviation is a sign that you are not really committed 100%. It's a danger sign & if you're not totally committed perhaps you need to work on your head. It will be hard to maintain your goal weight unless you understand yourself. It's not necessarily going to be easy & is an ongoing process as well & not something that will happen overnight.
There will always be a function, a holiday or some excuse for thinking about deviating. Being on Cohen's is like being pregnant. You either are pregnant or you're not.

Being on Cohen's & feeling great you start to imagine that you might be able to take a night off or a week-end for example & then go back easily onto plan easily.
Wrong! There are many who will tell you just how hard that is. Thanks to reading posts from people who had deviated & then really struggled to get back on plan (some never did!) I decided to stick to it 100% for 28 weeks until I got to goal. I will be forever grateful to them. I learned by their mistakes. I was petrified that I would stuff it up! I will admit to being so scared that I would end up putting all that weight on again if I deviated, even just that once!

I have probably gone on too much about this & if anyone is offended then that would be wrong to be but I would be sorry. It is not personal & never is with me. I just do feel very strongly about it. I so want everyone to succeed with the program & to become the slim & healthy people that you so want to be. Please don't jeopardise it. I actually really care what happens to all of you & I wish the best for each & every one of you xo Cate.
PS Maintenance is not difficult if you follow the guidelines. Everything will be available to you when you reach your goal weight. Nothing is off limits then. It's only a short time that we do this compared to the length of our lives.

Cate I dont think anyone could have ever said it better!!!!!

Thank-you for this post and I can testify 100% that this is the attitude you need to have to succeed on Cohen's! There is no way I could even have imagined loosing any of the 50kg's I have planned on loosing if I was constantly on and off the plan. I tried that at my very first attempt with Cohen's 5 years ago and that set me up in bad stead! This is what caused me to over-eat then go on plan, then binge then go on plan and gain another 35kg's on top of what I inicially started at when I first tried Cohen's! I can tell you the only way that I have been able to loose so much weight NOW is by being on Cohen's 100% deviaton free. Sure I moved country and it wasn't possible to be on plan inicially living in an atic but as soon as I got a room with a kitchen I was back on 100% 100%!!!!! Deviating just doesn't work and it will cause you to have an even BIGGER problem than what you started with. Either do Cohen's 100% stick to everything the good Dr say's and loose the weight- forever or just dont do the plan AT ALL!! This just wont work and if you need I reference for that, here I am!

Thanks again Cate for your honest post, people REALLY need to read that before they consider signing up for the program.

To all of you out there reading this it is designed to help you and stop you from getting into a bigger problem of binging.

With much love and care!! xxx Nicole
Cohen's WORKS if you work it!!!

Hi everyone I am new to this forum and was reading about the Cohen lifestyle "diet" (for want of a better word). All your posts are really helpful.

I have signed up and supposed to do the blood test tomorrow.
Thanks Cate for that detailed post on deviating from Cohens. It helps to know up front. I am looking at this as my life and not just a diet.

Wish me luck!

Welcome Art

good news on you joining up with Cohens. You won't regret it...not if you listen to Cates advice above.

You can open your on diary in here and trace your everyday happenings with Cohens when you are ready.

All the best now - Sam

Hi Art & welcome to Cohen's & the forum. You have made an excellent decision! I wish you all the best & will keep an eye out for you. Cheers, Cate.

Thank you Sam & Cate.

I am waiting for my blood test results and for the program. Should be another day or 2. With your support I am sure I can do it.

Will keep everyone posted.

Good to hear back from you Art....look forward to it.

Sam

Hi Everyone,
It was great to read through the forum again as I became a member back in 2005 when I first went on Cohen's and found it great to be able to speak with other people doing the same thing. It is extremely important for someone who understands to be there if you need help. I stated the diet on 3 Oct 05 and ended on the 9 Jan 06. My weigh in weight was 90.3 k's and in just 99 day I was 57.45 k's. Trust me it works but as Cate said, you can not break it for anything. I stuck to it 110% for 99 days and OMG all I can say everyone who is thinking of it is, JUST DO IT, words can not explain how different you will feel and how different you life will be.
Well 3 years later and going through a break up after 18 years I have put a some back on and now back at 73.9 KGS this morning and feeling disgusted with myself. I just dont seam to have any willpower any more. I am hoping all your help and support that it will give me hope to start and stick to it again.
Looking forward to reading the threads daily.
JOY