Faithie, you are an inspiration! You have lost huge numbers! Congrats.

Pumpkins, the cravings kinda go away. I think it's 80% mental, 20% physical! So stay strong and don't dwell on the bad. Learn from it and go it strong!

Thanks so much, Kim, Faithie and Dreamer.
You are a great bunch of people.

I am quite surprised that, after 3 days, I'm feeling really good and the hunger is not too bad. So much different than last time, even though only weeks apart. I feel I am in the right frame of mind, which I think makes all the difference. Hope it keeps going this way - tapping my head (touch wood).

Thanks everyone, for your encouragement.


Lily

GO PUMPKINS!!!...Very soon to be..."String Bean"

It really does get easier too...Yippee...You are on your way!

string bean!!!
Thanks for that Kim - it cracked me up!


Well I've completed my new week one, and have exactly the same weight loss - 3.5 kg. I didn't put my ticker back to zero - so now it is accurate and I don't have to touch it LOL.

This week 1 was a lot easier for some reason - the hunger just wasn't as bad. I did have some cravings, but I realised they were just that - cravings - but not real hunger.

I even managed to take the family to McDonalds (I know it is unfashionable but I love McDonalds - esp the fries and choci sundaes). I had the fat free chicken salad from their 'healthly choice' options - and I reacon is was about the same size as what I would have eaten at home. Of course it had some no no's - like cherry tomatoes - but was still quite Cohen's-like. I really really wanted to sample one of my kid's chips - but I resisted. Mainly cause I knew I wouldn't be able to stop at one. And when the rest of the family had their choci sundaes - I pulled out my crackers and an orange instead.
Such a little thing - surviving Maccas - but I am proud of myself for it.

Anyway, 3.5 kg down. I wonder how much I will lose in the next week? I'm hoping for another 2kg, but maybe that is being optomistic. We'll see.

Good luck to all the rest of you Cohen's devotees - here's to another a successful week for us all.


Lily

Hey Lily

Congrats on the weight loss and your McDonald's achievement. I look forward to being as strong as you in the coming weeks and resisting Hungry Jacks. I know I can do it and you've given me the inspiration to keep to the program.

Thanks

Faithie

Thanks so much Faithie - that is so sweet of you to say.

Wow - you have lost 33kg. That is fantastic!!!! I'd love to know how long you been on Cohen's?


Lily

heya Lily!
WOW congrats on not even taking a little bite of the chippie!
i have avoided all fast food places since i started cohens, and now im into my 11th week...and you know what? its not like we can NEVER have hot chips EVER AGAIN.

for now..we know what they taste like, so why bother trying? we will be able to have them again (in minimal moderation of course!) somewhere further down the track..and who knows..we may not even want them then! (ive heard from cohens graduates that your taste buds truly do change and your love for the things you used to crave dissipates - which is true because doritos nacho cheese chips were my weakness and now i dont even think of them!)

so a huge KUDOS to you and keep on posting so we all see how you progress on this wonderful journey that is cohens

Happy Losing xx

Hi Lily thank you for the compliment.

I started Cohens on the 20th Aug 2005 was on it solidily, and didnt deviate once until the 21st Dec, came off and got back about 20th Jan. Boy was that hard, I was actually wondering whether I could actually do it again. I do feel much better when I follow the program.

I too had oodles of people telling me that I didn't need to lose any more weight and that I couldn't possibly need to lose more. But after my month off I finally decided I am in it for the long haul. I mean we have to be happy with ourselves.. unfortunelty, it is us who look in the mirror and are our biggest critics..

Again congratulations and best wishes on the success of your journey.

Faithie

Thanks for that Faithie. It is so interesting hearing peoples experiences with Cohen's. From the sound of it, your weight comes off relatively quickly (around 10kg a month from what you have written). Yet others get 1kg a week. It will be interestng to see the rate of mine in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping it won't be too slow. Thanks for sharing your story here. It is so motivating to me, at the start of my weight-loss journey.

Thanks FatCat for the positive, encouraging words. I can't see me EVER losing my liking for hot chips But as you said, it is only a matter of time before I can have them again.


Lily

It's after midnight. I have to go to bed!

Just posting my results after week number 2.

3.5 kg lost in the first week.
1.5 this week, for a total of 5kg all up.

I'm very pleased with this, as I did have 2 deviations this week

Silly me, helped my daughter make a chocolate cake, with choci frosting, before she went back to school. It was begging me to eat it. I had a slice (and OMG it was delicious!) and then I just wanted to devour more and more. So I grabbed the sprinkles and covered the cake with them - I hate sprinkles. To me, it's like eating cake with sand on it. So that stopped me eating any more, and my daughter was happy 'cause her cake looked prettier.

Deviation number 2 was having take-away one night. The familiy wanted pasta, but I talked them into chinese. I had a meat and veggie dish and no rice. Okay, not great, but a heck of a lot better than a plate of creamy pasta.

Yes, i've been naughty, but I'm not too concerned. Why? Cause I didn't allow each of these to turn into a binge, as I may have in the past. Also, I worked out exactly how many calories I'm eating in a day. At the absolutle maximum, its around 800 calories. I've lost weight before, on 1200 a day, so I know there is no way I can possibly NOT lose weight, even with the odd deviation - it is scientifically impossible. Sorry, don't mean to upset the Cohen's purists - I know there are more benefits to Cohen's than just the limited calories we are eating.

What makes me really happy is I am no longer suffering from hunger. I can eat 600 cals a day and not be hungry - that is amazing to me. The cravings I have now are all in my head.

2 weeks down, how many more to go? I don't know, but I'm in the swing now, and sticking to it for the long haul.

Hope the rest of you have had a good week. Thanks for reading my musings.


Lily

Congratulations on such a great effort I am just finishing my first week and I really know how you are feeling. I really think you are doing a great job. What do the experts say.... It only takes 21 days to create a habbit so that is what you should aim for. I surely am. I can't wait to see your ticker come down even more!!

Cheers

Jodee

Thanks Jodee,

Weekly Update:
Well I've just finished week number three - one kilo down this week. A little disappointing as I have been good, but figure, as a woman, I've got to allow for variations throughout the month.

Summary so far:
Week 1: 3.5 kg
Week 2: 1.5 kg
Week 3: 1 kg, for a total now of 6kg

There seems to be so many temptatations around. eg. I took my daughter to a birthday party (along with my chicken and salad lunch) and the smell of hot chips and sausage rolls - OMG!!! I knew if I just tasted one, I would lose control, so I didn't. Gee it was hard, but I stuck to my salad lunch, and felt good afterwards.

I'm back in the habit of a good walk 3 times a week, which I had slacked off doing over the school holidays. I always feel really fantastic after one of these. I know I need to drink more water, so that is my aim this week - to finish that 3 litres every day.

Until next time.....

Lily

Week 4 update.

Down 1.5 this week, to 83.5kg.

As this is a warts and all account of my Cohen's journey, I have to admit that I had one BIG deviation this week. I succumbed one night and had my favourite dinner - a plate of creamy pesto pasta. I have been dreaming about it for the last 3 weeks. But, and I am still amazed by this, it really wasn't that great!!! Maybe because I knew i was being naughty while I was eating it, but it just wasn't as good as I remembered. What I usually think of as creamy and delicious, just tasted fattening and stodgy. Though I was bad eating it, the good result is that I don't WANT to eat anything like it again. I think I am less likely to deviate in the future.

Summary of my results so far.

Week 1: down 3.5kg
Week 2: down 1.5kg
Week 3: down 1kg
Week 4: down 1.5kg

Total loss in 4 weeks: 7.5 kgs.
How cool is that, considering I have had the occasional deviation.


Lily

I haven't seen you posting for a while and was wondering how you were going? I am hoping you are still continuing with your program and that even though you do struggle sometimes that you see the results and know it will all be worth it.. Good lUck and I hope to hear from you soon!!

Cheers

Jodee