Hello,

My name is Bec and this is day four of my journey on Cohens. I am 159cm tall and was 70k and I'm 27 yrs old. Yesterday was so aweful I was scared to wake up today! I had horrible stomach cramps which was either the detox or my new multi vitamin. I skipped the vitamin today and had no probs, just to test it out i'M about to take it now, so we will see what happens.

Today I feel great! I woke up with no pains and just felt good. I've been in a good mood all day - even though work was a bit busy and yucky. I have been making my lunch the night before after eating dinner. Its been nice to have hot food at work - even though the portions are so small they keep me full until about half an hour before I'm allowed to eat my next meal, its ok to feel a bit hungry, makes me feel like I am losing weight.

Anyway, tonights dinner was just so awesome I still can't quite beleive it. I made my own version of spagetti bolognaise. I browned 105g beef mince from the butcher, threw in garlic granules, a bit of chilli, and some dried basil. I then put in 30g of a tomato chopped up - it wasn't much so I thought it wouldn't taste much. I then peeled zuchinni ribbons and threw them in with some salt and pepper and a bit of water. YUM. I'm not sure if its because my taste buds are new to all natural foods, but to me it tasted better than the jarred stuff even with so little tomato.

Then for dessert I had 150g of mango. I had saved it from afternoon tea. I'm glad I did its sooo good.

Now I need some advice - I am a bridesmaid this saturday, I was planning on taking a packed lunch and a bottle of diet lemonade to get through the day of getting ready etc, but what should I do at the reception? should I go with water, and diet coke, and just eat the dinner? I don't want to not eat at such a nice event. Or I could try and guess my quota of meat and eat that and eat some of the vegies if they are the ones I'm allowed???

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Well its day five and another good one. I am feeling good at the end of a work day, I'm alert and have energy - it could be from the diet, or it could be from having had a holiday - I'm going to choose to think its the diet.

I copped some flack at work today, I haven't told them I'm doing Cohens because they would freak out. I got the whole 'just do everything in moderation' and 'you'll put it all back on and more' talks. I haven't once complained so I don't think they should lecture me.

Anyway, I'm going to go and watch telly, content with a yummy mango in my tummy!

Hi there WannaBeSlim,

I would love to offer you some advice on what to do at the wedding, but I am yet to even start my cohens diet, however I think if it was me, I would take some water and diet drinks, I would try and guess my quota of meat and eat that and eat some of the vegies, you will be enjoying yourself so much anyways I doubt that you will pay too much attention to the meal you eat whilst there, being a bridesmaid at a weddings has a way of keeping one busy..lol

I look forward to watching your success with this diet as Im just about to start it myself, please keep posting so i can see how you are doing, talk soon.

Cheers ~!

Hi Bec & welcome to Cohen's & the forum. I think you are right to put feeling good down to the program. After the first few days I felt really good & had so much more energy & enthusiasm. Ignore the comments. Trust me, they will get even worse when you are nearer goal. I used to choose to think that they were well-meaning but ....you have to wonder!
About the wedding- it's worth finding out what's on the menu & ringing the caterer's & asking if they can plate you up as close to Cohen's weights etc/vegies as possible. What I did was take my own meal anywhere & everywhere. I would try to make it look & taste really delicious- often a Tiger prawn salad & would get asked how come I got that & how nice it looked! By eating off the program you do risk "wasting" a week or so & possibly losing some motivation. It's very hard to get back on track once you fall off the wagon.(Just my thoughts on it.) No-one should mind you wanting to become slim & healthy. I hope you have a lovely time at the wedding. We had better have a report please, cheers, Cate

Hi bec

Welcome and congrats for starting the best program ever.

I remember after day 4 - I felt on top of the world on this program, like you full of energy and alert! It was very noticeable.

Good plan re: the wedding, I would do the same! Drink lots and lots of water all night - will help with weight loss.

Have a great time! Enjoy the day!

TTFN
Annie Lusion

Well its been one week. The only deviated I have had was one peanut butter m&m - I didn't want it but a girl from work saved it for me to try and to say no to one m&m was going to draw so many unfavourable comments I just ate it.

Is one m&m enough for a set back?

Anyway, tomorrow is the wedding, I've just bought 8 of the best smelling mars bar muffin break muffins for the girls to eat whilst we are getting ready, I'll be eating my 'bolognaise' salada and some honeydew melon and diet lemonade. I rang the hotel to find out about the menu and perhaps changing my meal but I chickened out, if the bride sees I do not thing she would be happy with me, so instead I will hope for the chicken, if hubby gets lamb he will swap with me, and I'll only eat that - not the sweet potato that comes with it. So I may go over in grams but at least I won't be eating carbs. I'll also skip the wedding cake - I make better cake anyway - there will be lots of time for cake (as a treat) when I'm finished.

Hey Bec~!!

Dont beat yaself up over one m & m, think instead of the exciting fact that you have just been through the hardest part of the program the first week ( or so thats what everyone seems to be sayin on here, i wouldnt know, as I start next week). Enjoy the wedding tommorrow, remember lots of water, and you will be fine. Look forward to hearing all about the wedding next week.
Cheers Barb ~!

So its day 8 or beggining of week two. Yesterday was a medium day. All through the day I stuck to cohens. No champagne whilst getting ready, no mars bar muffins that I brought round for the other girls... Not even any champagne when asked to sip it for a photo!

I took my packed lunch and salada and fruit. That was all good until after lunch when we left and I didn't have access to my afternoon tea :o( I waited it out until about 5.30 when I realised that dinner wasnt until about 7.30, I cracked and had to eat canapes, I was just too hungry to go without. Then once that was done I decided to just enjoy my meal at the wedding - I originally was going to start cohens today anyway, so I viewed last week as a test run. I ate a little bread roll, a entree little chicken thingy and main was a peice of chicken with macadamia and some sweet potato mash. Now I am quite proud of myself for not eating cake/dessert, and not drinking at all - infact it was so out of character I have sparked pregnancy rumours, which were not at all helped by the bloating that occured because I had eated naughty food! But I did stay strong under moderate conditions thoughout the day - and it wasn't that hard to do!

My plan now that the wedding is out of the way is to simply hole myself up at home under the guise of 'newelyweds' (I was only married a month ago myself) and to stick to cohens and make it easy on myself!

now off to cook something yummy and cohen for lunch.

Hi Bec,

Glad wedding went well, put that behind you now, I like your plan about holing yourself at home for a little while while you focus on you and Cohen's.

This is so much easier when you are not faced with food in social situations.

Good to see you on board with the 5K challenge. You ready to kick some b*utt?

Chat soon
TTFN
Annie Lusion

Hi Bec, I'm glad you enjoyed the wedding. I love your positive attitude. I'm sure you'll do well on Cohens. I'm so looking forward to Annie's, positive butt-kicking challenge. I've only got back from a bit of a naughty week-end away so am looking forward to some very healthy, non-bloating eating & [B]water[B] drinking!! (I had better not go there!) Cheers, Cate.

Hi Bec's
Welcome to the forum. I am also taking up the 5kg challenege after having an indulgent weekend and I feel pretty yuk. You will do well on Cohens if you stick to the plan and are prepared 100%.
Goodluck.
Sam:)

Well I dont know what day I'm up to but its tuesday of week 2. I think the honeymoon period is starting to end. I probably should have realised it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. I'm quite tired today, not as bad as yesterday though. Walking up a set of stairs leaves me feeling worn out - something which was easy before. I eat lunch at my desk before we head out to a local cafe so the others can get a coffee. Its normally easy but today I found myself staring at everyone eating their fish and chips and curries and pizza. I am still motivated not to cheat myself but its just a bit harder. I don't take my wallet so I can't cheat even if I wanted to. Milkshakes are something I am craving - no dairy feels a bit odd. I wonder how long it will take me to end this? Even if I go one kilo a week then theres only 12 weeks - so its not an undoable amount of time, but I hope its more like 6.

I have a short day today and my music lesson so that should make the afternoon go a little faster, then its steak with mushrooms for dinner.

I went to my lesson and am in a good mood again. I had a concoction of tuna with vegies mashed in it with some curry powder, its a quick easy dinner and I don't mind a bowl of glob everynow and then :o)

Anyway, heres hoping for a loss tomorrow, the scales haven't moved today.

ttfn

Hi Bec, I just thought I would mention. Glob on crackers is delicious! LOL. I used to mix up tuna, onion, tomato & celery, mixed with some mayo, balsamic, salt & pepper. I could take it anywhere & loved it on crackers! Cheers, cate.

Well, another day another bit of weight lost. Yesterday was a great day on the scales 500g I wonder what tomorrow will bring. Only a few diet comments at work today, I think they realise if I don't complain then they shouldn't either! Today is the first day I am not eating my full fruit and cracker allowance, I went to eat my defrosted mango only to find it doesn't freeze well at all, so that is a bummer. Looking forward to weighing on saturday to see how I've done in a full two weeks. My hubby says I am looking better, and my muscles feel firmer which is a nice feeling. Plus I'm sleeping so much better!

I am craving chocolate milkshakes though, I think I should take a calcium tablet as well as my multi vitamin!

Well tonight is the eve of my second week finishing. I"m looking forward to checking the scales tomorrow but I also have a lot of questions about life after cohens. Like is pumpkin a carb? What is icecream? can you have cohen breaky, lunch and then spagetti and a small bowl of icecream after? or is it all cohen and then the icecream?

Anyway, I don't mind eggs for breakfast and will onlyl allow myself my crunchy granola once a week - maybe a big bowl for dinner!!!

I'm getting ahead of myself though.

Anyway, going to go now, must remember feeling slim and healthy is better than the feeling too many carbs gives me anyway!

PS roasted zuchini mushroom and onion with garlic granules and rosemary is yum with steak! Now I just have to find a no nonsence meal for lunch, at the moment I cook my lunch the night before - am not allowed to do this after cohens as I will be pregnant and its a listeria rist.

Hiya Bec,

Firstly , you are doing so great.

Quick lunchtime meals for you and all very easy to prepare the night before.

I love mozarella cheese or ricotta on crackers, and as my vegie allowance I have cucumber and celery sticks.

I do the same with tuna, open up a can of tuna and have it on crackers and same vegies sticks.

Roasted vegies with tuna is also yumm, zap up vegies in microwave and then add tuna.



hope that helps

Annie Lusion

I just cooked the stuffed mushroom from the cookbook wtf??? My ricotta would not melt!!! I had to eat weird grated crunchy bits of cheese over a mushroom. I wish I had that half an hour back again!

Hey,

Well today is sunday and yesterday I learnt the perils of not drinking enough water on the weekend, I only lost 100g but I only drank about 1ltr. so today I will try harder, its easier at work, I drink and go the bathroom all day long!

But then I was thinking - usually on old diets I would lose weight throughout the week and then put 3/4 of it back on on the weekend. Its so nice to not be undoing my good work - and I'm very impressed with myself, apart from the wedding (which I'm not going to include from now on, as I deviated due to avoiding starvation) I have not deviated even the slightest bit. I am officially 1/4 of the way to my goal - I hope I can finish this in another 6 weeks, but I assume it will slow down a little and maybe take a little longer. Either way I will hopefully be finished by the end of june just in time for my friends winter wedding in Katoomba - what an unveiling of the new me that will be, Once everyone has ooed and aahed over the bride and she is away having her photos and we are left to mingle my friends will notice that I'm much smaller and lookin pretty fine!

I'm going out this afternoon but will take a bottle of water, a salada and a mandarin! - say no to cake - actually don't even go where the cake is sold is my motto!

I just popped in to say that I really enjoy the cohens recipes, I hope when I finish I still use them for my no carb meals or when I have been bad, even when I've been good!

Beef goulash is very yummy!

4.2k in 2.5 weeks, very happy with that.

Also I can wear my nice worktops again, and my jeans need a belt!

Just popping in to say I will not be weighing for a while as AF is here, bummer.

Howdy,

Well today marks the beggining of week 4. Again I have only been losing about 100g but I havne't been good with the water over the weekend days. I will try very hard today to drink a lot. I'm now up to 4.5kg in three weeks, thats pretty good, I'm feeling much better about myself, even though this week has been so slow on the scales. AF being here doesnt help matters. I went and had a look in jaquie e yesterday, they have some beautiful work shirts in there, I can't wait to buy some new ones, hopefully in July I can. Today I'm going to go and get a new pair of boots, my current ones are starting to fall apart a bit.

yesterday I walked my friends dog, It was a 45 minute walk involving some of mt ainslie, and I didn't feel all worn out, which means I must be getting used to this diet - this is a relief as 4 months of a set of stairs knocking me around would have been tough.

Well thats 500ml drunk while I've been typing, chow for now.

Am now down 5.2 kilos and nice grey pants are lose, I'm guessing I'll be in a size 10 by week 8!

Well this evening I feel a bit down. We are having a stupid work lunch meeting thing on friday at either an indian restaurant or a thai one. Thai is my favourite food and I am being pressured to go to the lunch. I don't want to go, as removing myself from temptation means I've lost 5.2k in 3.5 weeks! I just want them all to shut up about it and let me decline if I want to. They just don't care that I'll be breaking my diet. At this point I'll be eating my own lunch first and then sufferering through the stupid thing.

I don't think Id feel very well eating rice and noodles and rich sauces anyway.

food is my medicine...food is my medicine.

Am going to hide under my doona, that usually makes me feel better.

Well another yuck day at work today, I came home and ate 120g of tuna with half a tomato. I couldn't be bothered cooking so just scrounged around till I found some food that made up my allowance for the night. Yuck but I don't even care - which is actually a good sign, at least I didn't fold and buy takeaway!

tomorrow is the lunch, I'm going to go and eat a plain chicken salad with no dressing - that shouldn't mangle the diet too badly.

Well,

Its been a tough week, and the weekend was very hard, but I stayed on the straight and narrow. I've totally had enough of the food I've been eating so tonight I bought prawns, tuna steaks and some very lean gluten free sausages. I know its a bit naughty but I pulled out the meat and made it into meatballs and weighed it correctly - no fat came out although I could feela bit on my lips. I cooked up zuchinni and onion and put in some tomato and water - YUM! It was a nice change and I figure very tiny deviations will stop me having a massive blow out - the scales tomorrow will be a good indicator. I'll update tomorrow just incase anyone reads this and is interested.

ooh another thing, I now fit into size 10 jeans!

well I have stayed at 62 kilos for a while now but I've been naughty.

I have just realised I can have mozzarella and tomato on salada for lunch three times per week! I love that!

I am now going to go and re read my posts to re inspire myself

by the way, I bought those size 10 pants! at week 7 yeah.

Well I have made myself a bit of a decision.

I rang Cohens yesterday and tried to order my refeed as I was hungry and didn't want to to do this anymore! The lady was not keen at all. She has ordered it for me but we'll keep it at the clinic for now.

So, since I am half way and not liking it anymore I have decided to cut my journey in two. I have done 7 weeks and lost 8 kilos - I'm not overely happy about the hype of losing 7 kilos a month! But I look and feel great at the moment. I have trouble floating around the middle. As in, look at my ticker, I'm in no mans land. So yesterday was the end of part one for me. I had chinese for dinner and sit here eating date delicious oats for the morning. Lunch is going to be a healthy sandwich and dinner is at a party. I plan on going for a walk this afternoon - yes exercise.

I can hear some of you screaming noooo what is she doing!!!

I'm going to restart my journey tomorrow morning. I'm going to create a new ticker so that I am starting from 0 and aiming to lose 8.5 kilos. I've allowed 8.5 because I'm bound to put on a bit of weight today.

That way when I get to half way and want to stop this time, I will actually be very near my goal and able to order my refeed.

Now things I have learnt:

chinese does not actually taste as good as I remember, and prawn crackers are just vessels to soak up oil. Date oats are nice but a bit sweet.

ok, goodbye old ticker, hello new ticker!

Hi everyone I am so excited to start MY journey next week.

I have been reading up on Cohens for a while now,wondering, is this just ,yet another, diet?
It is only from all the positive stories and friendships formed,I have decided to enrol.
I do hope you will all be there for me!!!!
THIS IS IT,IT HAS TO BE !!!!!!

susan