Cohen's Diet Weigh In; Week 4.

Wow - who would have thought I could stick to this for 4 weeks and drink NO alcohol!!!!!???? Even I was doubtful but I have done it! I lost 1 kg this week, bringing the grand total to 8.1kg. I can notice that I have lost weight, which feels nice, and I am excited about the end result.

I had my official 'Cohen's weigh in' yesterday also, because they only record weight every 4th week. I spoke to the consultant and she said that most people who stuck to the program lost 7-9kg in the first 4 weeks. I asked what I could expect in the future and she said that 4 kg every 4 weeks is average. Whilst I realise that is a lot compared to other diets that I have tried, I had hoped that this program would be different given how much I have lost already so I do admit to being a little disheartened. It also blew my 12 week goal out of the water, but I am still optimistic that I will lose more than average!!!!

It has reaffirmed my need to stick to this 100% given how my progress will naturally slow down. I'd hate to have 1 glass of wine or eat something I am not supposed to and see a small loss and not know how much of it was normal and how much of it was due to my 'deviation', as they call it.

I also had a blood test yesterday to check everything is functioning properly (and so they can make sure I am not cheating!). I will post more about yesterday on the weekend when I have more time, just wanted to give you a quick weigh-in update.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

M. x

Cohen's Diet; Day 27.

I'm coming up to 4 weeks on the Cohen's Lifestyle Program on Thursday. I feel like I have hit a bit of a plateau and that I haven't lost any weight this week, but then again, this has happened before and then I've dropped a kilo over night so it's hard to tell. The Cohen's Clinic send me an email once a week telling me what to expect at each stage. The one for this week said I should really start to burn fat now after 21 days on the program, but that it might not translate on the scales so I should only weigh myself monthly as to not get discouraged. I certainly see their point, but I don't seem able to ween myself off the scales for more than a few days at a time.

I've notived this week that a little bit of frustration has crept in over not being finished already. It's funny, it's like there has been such a shift in my mind and eating that it feels wrong to still be overweight, like my mind no longer matches my body. Almost as if before I commenced this journey I had the mind of an overweight person, and so it fit with my body. I also ate like an overweight person. Now that I eat like a slim person, and my mind is that of a slim person, it is uncomfortable waiting around in an overweight body until my body catches up. It is just that realisation that I have to keep up this dedication and determination for a long time yet. I can see how so many people give up after a while.

I've started watching MasterChef again, which I haven't watched since I watched the first season with my brother in 2009. I haven't watched the TV for a long time and I've been amazed to see how many advertisements there are for fastfood! I am not sure that watching a show about all the kinds of foods I can't have at the moment is helpful, but I do enjoy watching it. I am starting to really look forward to the day when I can have a glass of wine again though, or a piece of chocolate!!!

Wish me luck for weigh in!

M. x

Cohen's Diet Weigh In; Week 3.‏

Woo hoo! I lost 2.1 kg. That's a total of 7.1 kg in 3 weeks!! :)

I'm so pleased with how well this is going and how I am sticking to it, I've never stuck to something like this for so long. I am also very pleased with where I am tracking, all on track for my lovely graduation dinner with my special friends. :)

My sister Meg is coming to stay this weekend and we are going to hit up DFO, but I'm going to try not to buy anything clothes-related yet. :) Can't wait to do a big clothes clean out at the end and get rid of half my stuff! I am also very excited about Meggy visiting, will be so lovely to have family with me for a while. :) Will be a bit of a challenge though, this is the first time I've had someone stay that's not used to the Cohen's eating plan so I am hoping not to be too tempted by other food. Speaking of which, when I got into work this morning there were 4 Easter eggs on my desk. Sigh. I gave them to the girl next to me. :)

I hope you all had a great Easter, my work place gives the Wednesday off as well so it was a 6 day weekend for me - nearly a whole weigh in week!! Looking forward to the weekend already, he he.

M. x

PS - Photo is of Ange's chicken patties. They contain minced chicken breast, lemongrass, spring onion and coriander - YUM!

Ange's Cooking Adventures

Well, I must say, having Angela move in has been an absolute delight! Not just because it's a pleasure to have her around, but given that she has done Cohen's herself she has lots of helpful tidbits and recipes to offer. Over Easter, she made some little chicken patties and some beef burgers!

I ate one of the beef burgers for lunch with lettuce, tomato and a bit of mayo inside 2 premium crackers. YUM! The celery is there just to make up my vege allowance. :)
One of my lovely friends asked me the other day what a typical day of food looks like for me, so here goes, using the beef burger day as an example (all weights are raw):

8:30 am: 1 poached egg, with 75g total of mushroom and spinach cooked with garlic powder and salt with spray oil (see picture in Sleepy Sunday post).

11 am: 2 premium crackers.

1:30 pm: Beef burger (115g lean mince, fresh oregano, spring onion) with 2 premium crackers, 105g veges (lettuce, tomato and celery) and 1 tsp of whole egg mayonnaise.

4 pm: 1 premium cracker and an apple.

7 pm: 120g chicken breast cooked with 100g total of onion and zucchini, cooked off in spray oil and then boiled in enough water to cover before blending into a soup with added cumin and coriander.

8:30 pm: 1 orange.

So there you have it, a day in the life of Cohen's. Weigh in day tomorrow! I'm a bit nervous given my new and very exciting incentives (see my last post, Incentives...), but I am excited! I feel thinner this week, so fingers crossed!!

Hope you had a great Easter break!

M. x

Incentives...

Well, things are ticking along nicely! A little bit disappointed not to be having my traditional Lindt Chocolate Bunny over Easter, but I'm dealing with it. :)

Still been cooking my lovely meals. To the right is a prawn stirfry with celery, bok choy and zucchini. I used some garlic, cumin, chilli flakes, coriander and lemon juice to flavour it, and it was delicious.

Last night I told my special friend from Uni, who I shall refer to as my 'Student Husband', about my diet and my blog. He had just informed me that he and his lovely partner were planning a trip to visit me in July. Given that when the three of us usually get together, the evening is full of good food, good wine, indulgence, laughter and general frivolity, I thought, 'oh no! I won't be able to eat or drink with them!!!'

I went back to my chart and had a look at my goals. I have said from the start that I plan on doing this in 12 weeks. Whilst I realise that this is very ambitious, the success rates made available by Cohen's indicates that it is possible and has been achieved in the past. So I am to be done by the time they come, or at least in the stage of refeeding where I can indulge, so that we may enjoy our time together as usual.

So I was thinking that I now have a HUGE incentive to prepare myself to enjoy another wonderful evening with my lovely friends at the end of July... and then my Student Husband informs me, get this... that if I make it by then that they will buy me a new evening dress as an additional incentive! I was already stoked just to be able to spend an evening with them and they are offering me another huge incentive! A new dress!!! OMG how lovely is that? I will have no dresses that fit me if I lose so much weight by then so to have a new dress will be magnificent. :) They are going to take me out shopping for a dress and then we will go out for our lovely evening afterwards. I am so lucky to have such lovely friends, totally spoilt! :)

On that note, I hope you all have a wonderful, happy and safe Easter!!!

M. x

Cohen's Diet Weigh In; Week 2.

OMG YAY!!!!! I lost 1.2 kg, which makes a total of 5 kg in 2 weeks. YAY!!!

This makes me very happy. :)

I am totally getting into the swing of things now. Last night I joined a group of wonderful women for dinner, except I didn't stay for the food. I went and had a diet coke as they were all drinking wine and cocktails and left as the food came out. I was so glad that I went, it was so lovely to see everybody, but it did require a considerable amount of strength on my part. Especially when the waitress asked me if 'I was sure I wanted to go home' and 'did I want to see the menu?', told me that the food 'came in little portions' and that 'the chefs weigh it before they serve it so it should be ok.' Sigh. I had to say no about 5 times. It was great though, we were talking so much that it took the girls a long time to order, so I didn't leave until the food came out at 8 pm. I was starving when I got home!!

Now I just have to gear up for an Easter with no chocolate and no champagne. Angela moved in last night, so we have a lot of catching up to do over Easter, and I am planning on completely overhauling my study so I will be busy. I've tried to steer clear of social engagements as I have no desire to test my willpower any more than is necessary, given the amount of times I say no to the offer of lollies and junk at work.

I just want to say that I am excited, and thanks for all of your support. I am so pleased that this is working so well, and am so lucky to have you all in my lives giving me so much encouragement.

Love you all!

M. x

Cohen's Diet; Day 11.

Hello!

I just thought I would put up a quick blog because I was thinking about a few things.

Firstly, I'm not hungry! I've been consistently forgetting to eat my 5th cracker (I'm allowed 5 vitaweats a day), and also often forgetting to eat my second piece of fruit. I tend to get hungry about an hour before I am supposed to eat lunch, but I suspect that is partly due to my Berocca in the mornings. I have gotten used to being hungry, which is another big thing, normally I'd be heading for the fridge the second I had a hunger pang.

Secondly, the meals don't seem so small anymore. For dinner tonight I had a lovely Japanese-style clear prawn soup, it was delicious.

Thirdly, I've noticed that my weight has plateaued for 4 days now, the day after weigh in. So I think I might need to hide my scales so that I don't get discouraged.

Fourthly, thank you so much for your support. I know that nobody (except my lovely Jacqueline) has made any comments, but I get lots of lovely texts and emails from people and I appreciate them a lot. I've also noticed that I've had some page views from the US and from Malaysia! Guess people are finding my blog. So to those people, feel free to follow and leave comments, I need all the encouragement that I can get!

M. x