Cohen's Lifestyle Bella's Cohen's Makeover- one little day at a time!!

Prefix for Cohen's Lifestyle
B

bella77

New member
Hi all, I am a new cohenite- started April 27 but had lurked here 2 weeks prior reading all your great posts which encoraged me to join the cohen movement (i make it sound like a cult :rotflmao:!)

I feel like I should give you a bit of background to how my journey led me to this place. I feel like I have struggled with my weight all my life, but I think I made it that way! I was quite slim (very normal) up until a teen then I yo-yoed with extreme dieting (1 apple and a bit of chicken and maybe a couple of pieces of vege in a whole day- how could I do that to myself!) and exercise (was a ballerina and swimmer- ballet teacher made us swear of dairy unless we wanted to have fat bottoms and we had to write what we ate that day on the board and she would tick or cross it :rolleyes: what a freak!) from a normal 55kg down to 47kg :)eek:) and up to 72-75kg after school (when alcohol and freedom to eat whatever I wanted came into play!). I lost 13kg on Jenny Craig when I was 22 and sat comfortably at 62kg- photos of me then seem heavy side of healthy- I look really quite nice. I just stupidly always thought I was fat and then lo and behold, in the next 8 yrs I actually became the fat person I always thought I was and put on another 27kg! Isn't the mind is a wonderful thing.....

I started Cohen's at 86.5kg. My goal weight is 55-58kg. I am 161cm tall and am 31 this year. I actually saw a huge difference in the way my body carried the weight in the last 2 years or so- I now really am a fat looking person rather than just "big" or "heavy"- I just think my body fat % (took it yesterday it is about 47%- yes half of me is blubber!) has increased a lot now where it is visable to the naked eye (kind of rippley) and loose. My body looks very soft and squishy and I think a good 20 kilos is in my stomach alone. It is HUGE and overhangs down over my pants. I just hate it!

In fact in the last 6 months I have had two work clients ask me "how far along I was ?" and the other pat my stomach and "say all the best with the birth" It would be funny if it wasn't so shameful!! :eek: It is awful! I just cringe when I think about it. I put that as up there with one of the worse side effects of being fat - this is my list of the other:

- how people say you have such a pretty face, or your hair/dress/shoes/bag/earrings are so nice because they can't say you look beautiful because it isn't true!
- going shopping with size 8 and 12 sisters and being in the change rooms with them
- trying to get dressed for an event and trying absolutely everything on and NOTHING fitting, even your previously bought in desparation "fat pants"
- the extreme panic as summer rolls around - public togs wearing, need I say more???
- chafing :rotflmao: and when it is so bad you can't wear skirts or dresses in summer because by then end of the day you can't walk and have to go to bed with pawpaw ointment slathered on your thighs to stop the pain!
- getting worried if something involves walking up stairs because you know at the top you'll be hot and sweating and panting and nobody else will
- having a red and inflammed belly button as it is permanently closed shut by your fat tummy and never sees the light of day
- wanting to eat all the time and the cycle of binging and guilt and feeling sick from stuffing yourslef with bad food
- looking at old photos when you thought you were fat and knowing that now you are 20kg heavier
- always starting a diet on Monday!

Last year I did Tony Fergusan and lost 7 KG (from 87 to 80) but as you can see I put that all back on! I also hated Tony. I felt like I was putting sugary crappy preservative ridden junky shakes in my system every day and psychologically to me I just felt VERY uncomfortable with doing and paying for that that as I have always been quite a "pure" person (apart from turning a blind eye to beer, wine, hungry jacks, and chips and aioli of course).

Apart from that I am a healthy cook and eat quite well, and by that I mean I eat a lot!!!! I had no idea what a real portion was and I would always go back for 2nds or 3rds when everyone else was full! I shared my theory with my Dad recently (also a great and very keen cook- I inherited that from him, as well as my addictive quite obsessive personality!) that it is so much worse to be a person prone to put on weight who is a good cook because nothing is out of bounds! You can cook yourself anything and know it will taste good! Hence you can get pretty fat off your own cooking. So being a foodie has contributed to my downfall. Plus when I am happy I eat, when I am depressed I eat, I just eat all the time. Anyone relate?
 
continued....

I have also flirted with Weight Watchers (lost a few kilos but there is too much freedom to indulge), lite and easy (expensive and unrealistic and frozen food is too much like airplane food for me - tastes fake), and the aforementioned Jenny Craig and various meal replacement shakes, including Optifast (had to drink them holding my nose due to the taste and I nearly fainted at work by the third day).

So here I am determined to fianlly beat this thing for good and reach my goals! I want to be the best person I can be FOR ME and my life and be happy with myself and wear nice clothes. I love pretty things but as a sz 16/18 even if it is ok looking and it fits I can't make it look good. Until I saw recent photos I think I was suffering from that reverse anorexia delusion that hot kitty describes in her diary! I just had no idea I took up so much space. I think it's when you are next to normal people it just looks SOOOO much worse. My arm is as big as people's heads on the screen! it is damn scary :rotflmao:

So this is the start of my makeover. I did a pretty brutual self audit and took lots of photos of myself with no makeup and in togs (argh!!) so I could cast a critical eye over myself and also to chart my progress. It wasn't pretty but it was necessary. First thing I did was dye my hair from blonde to brunette. It was the quickest thing I could change. As I said to someone -sometimes you just have to look different to feel different! The second thing I did was get my blood tests done and get my program. The third thing I will do is get my teeth fixed that have been crooked since i was 13. I used to always be worried that having braces and puppy fat as an adult would make me look like some weird teenager with wrinkles, but now i just don't care. :)

Cohen's itself is great - I like the food, I like the payoff of eating it after the preparation, I like the simplicity, I like not feeling full to the brim, bloated and suffering a food hangover the next day. I find in a normal day it is easy to stick to but work things and occasions freak me out. In fact I am happy we have no birthdays our special occasions in our family until July beacuse I dread it. I'm ok as long as it isn't a celebration- for instance I share a flat with my sister and she eats pizza and red rooster and kit-kats and crossiants in front of me and I am happy to eat my tasty lil meals or my saladas, baked apple or vita-wheats on an average day. I even took my scales on a work trip for 6 days and prepared everything in the apartment and didn't cheat once- I just didn't go out to eat (very hard as I have a $75 a day food allowance which buys some nice food and wine!!! But it'll still be there when I am slim!)

But (and here comes the confession) in my short time on the program I have had two deviation meals, one at a work function at a japanese rest with japanese clients who would have been offended if i didn't eat (should have found some way around it though) and boy did I feel sick all the way on the 1 hour drive home. Thought I was going to have to find a restroom at a service station the cramping was so bad. The other was mothers day where i had champers, fish and chips and a skinny flat white! I didn't even enjoy the coffee (or the fish and chips- I admit I loved the champagne!!). I felt so bad though, I don't know why I did it! Old habits die hard.

Despite this I have lost 5.5kg in 3 weeks (slow going since the 2 devs last week) and am trying to focus on the positive that in 4 or so more losses of that increment I will be done and slim and I can go to the gym and tone myself up and look good.

Think I have bored you all to tears in my first very long-winded post but I hope that doesn't put you off. I promise to be more succinct in future!

It's great to be here with all you people! I think you are all awesome and doing so well. I am so grateful I found Cohen's. It is just a miracle program. Who knew you could feel good and not starve and still lose weight- it's crazy!

Happy Cohens-ing! :)
 
Last edited:
Bella
WOW you have started off on the right foot, documenting all your thoughts and letting us all read them on the forum in really taking accountability for your actions. Well done.
I too am a foodie - love it love it love it. Markets, reciepe books, providores, resurants, epicure, you name it on the food world I will have investigated it or tried it. Since starting Cohens I have been able to really identify with why I love food so much. Before I would try out new reciepes or ingredients and then try the meal, then try a bit more and more and more, but now I issolated what it is I love about my interest in epicure and I truely just love the thrill of finding the new product or reciepe, making it and serving and watching people reactions. I love having people over to cook for, any excuse really. Whilst the smells sometimes take my breath away and I think god that would be amazing to try I haven't put one morsal of non-cohens food in my mouth since starting the program and hopefully I have only a few weeks left. I have one receipe tagged for repeat when I'm finished - bannana bread with quark - but thats it. It was the only thing I have baked and really had to stop my self from tasting - plenty of sniffing though it is embedded in my brain. As for Cohens meals I love the simplicity, and I am very boring with my choice and only cook a small selection of meal choices. Often I willhave the same thing night after night.
So well done Bella - I gotta run will be back continue later with your pat on the back.
 
Hi Bella,

Welcome to you, you are soooooo gonna love this program and how it changes you, your body, your scales, your attitude, everything , you will love it all just like so many of us do in here...it really is the best program ever.

Your loss so far is awesome 5.5 in 3 weeks, hey don't beat yourself up over that , that is fab!! Well done.

I can really relate to alot of what you had to say, it's so great to have this forum we can all support each other, everyone in here is great, our fellow cohenites are so inspirational and motivating, just one big happy family.

Thanks for sharing your story, I will be looking forward to reading your diary and following your progress.
Once again, congrats on your loss so far :)

TTFN
Annie Lusion
 
Hi Bella! Welcome to the forum and to Cohen's. It's a great program. The immediate results are a great motivator.

I can soooo relate to the looking pregnant. I've taken to wearing very large shirts to cover the belly. Can't wait to wear shirts that actually fit!

Good luck, and keep posting. The support here is just amazing.
 
Bella...my god girl...I think we could be same person!!! Everything you said rings true with me (except I am taller and fair bit heaver than you).

I have my Cohens seminar tomorrow morning. I am really looking forward to starting my new thinner, healthier and happier life.

Lately I have been avoiding looking in the mirror, especially full length ones. I caught a glimpse of myself today and it scared the hell out of me. Even though I have always been a 'bigger girl - with a pretty face' I feel really unattractive as the few kilos I have put on recently have gone to face and stomach ( I used to be a distinct hour glass figure). Its beyond a joke.

I want to healthy, happy and hopefully this will improve my outlook on life and if I am lucky enough my love life.

Well done on your recent weight loss Bella - 5.5kg is something to be proud of girl. Just keep at it...just wait till those fat pants start being loose.

Lukey :)
 
Hi Bella, Welcome to the forum & thank you for sharing your feelings with us all. You will find most of us can relate to what you are saying & you will find the support you need here. If you can, try to visualise how you want to look & keep that image in your head. Try to be positive & not beat yourself up for past mistakes. There are no perfect people. After a short time on Cohen's you will know that you will become slim. You can do it!
I look forward to following your diary. I would be lost without mine! Cheers, Cate.
 
thanks so much!

wow - everyone is so lovely here. thanks so much for your replies and support. it is a great source of inspiration to have so many others going through the same thing! i am so glad i found this board before i joined :) .

well how have I been going? pretty well. have been mega busy with work which helps. this is sort of a "put my head down and get the job done" phase for me in both my work arena and with cohens. it is kind of nice to not be constantly thinking and ruminating on how unhapy i was with myself and what i saw in the mirror. i feel quite relieved to have made the decision and just be doing it because now i don't have the constant battle of what diet to do and why can't i just lose weight going round and round in my head. it is lovely to not have to be beating myself up all the time over my lack of self discipline.

I have had 1 person comment that I have lost weight that doesn't know I am even trying to and even if it isn't that noticeable to me it still makes me feel damn good to have someone say it! A couple of others have said it from work but they know I am on cohens and i think it is just something sometimes people say to keep you motivated or that they think they should say to someone who is "dieting"- they aren't the most sincere of people :rolleyes: which is why i don't have as much stock in that opinion than the other.

The scales are moving too and i can actually see a gap between my arm and my work blouse- which is unbelieveable to me as it always strained against the fabric- sometimes I had to undo the buttons on the sleeve as it ct into me too much! I still can't see a difference in the mirror anywhere else (my fat stomach is still there and that may be all i see for a while!!!)

I still can't get over how good cohens actually is and how it just works in such a simple and easy way. it really is a miracle :jump: I just can't wait to be a normal size and know that if i ever start putting on weight again that i just have to eat in this certain way and it will go away again - yay!!!

had a little deviation this week and after the horrible guilt and general misery and disgustingness (it almost is like having a depressive episode, it really must upset the balance in the whole body, even the brain because I just can't describe how really awful you feel, worse than any other "cheating" on diets I have done before!!) that followed has meant I have felt a bit "cravy" this week. the pizza my sister was eating looked and smelt amaaaaazzzing and then she had a choc iced donut afterwards that spiked my first chocolate crving in a long time. anyway it has passed and i am back to looking forwrad to my cohens foods with anticipation every day like i should be. so all's right with the world again....

as other wise cohenites have stated, it really does help to find foods you like and just eat them all the time. Sometimes I will have a poached egg or little omlette on the weekends for brekkie but otherwise i eat my vallia yog almost every morning (bought jalna natural and it isn't as nice) sometimes with my baked cinnamon and nutmeg granny smith apples. They are a godsend! tastes sort of like apple pie and sooo sweet. they really have helped. My other fruit is mandarins or sometimes an orange. I love my saladas, ryvita and cracked pepper vitawheats. Lunch i usually have mozzeralla, crackers, half tomato, cucumber and lettuce, sometimes with my mayo allowance. If I am at home i melt the cheese sometimes over tinned asparagus on crackers with salt and pepper- this is a fave! Once a week I have fetta cheese stuffed mushrooms which i mix with chili flakes, dash garlic powder, dried basil, sea salt and pepper and bake in the oven until the cheese is brown and the mushies start "oozing" then i know they are juicy and hot. This is a treat for me and i love them. I will also do a prawn salad where i sautee them in ginger and garlic powder and fresh coriander and serve with salad and a dressing with bit of red wine vinegar, mustard powder and pepper or lemon juice if i haven't had all my fruit. Or you can use mayo allowance. Dinner I usually do a casserole with beef or chicken now it is getting cooler, tofu with stir fried veges, a chicken curry if i want someting spicy or am craving thai or indian, poached chicken breast with rosemary, garlic, onion, lemon and veges, and my two fave staples - piece of trim fillet steak, pan fried mush and onion mix with lettuce tomato and mayo or a rissole - lean mince with paprika, dried oregano and basil with zuchhini, tomato and onion cooked with balsamic vinegar and pepper which i pour over it. I love these two meals a lot!

anyway, i should go and do some work (on a sunday i know :( ) only an hour and 20 mins til lunch yay!
 
Hi Bella, Good to catch up with your diary. Sometimes I get so tied up with mine I forget to have a good look around. I loved your intro! I started off slow & unsure but the support I get is amazing & I have really "let it all hang out." All the best fellow Cohenite. Here's to being slim, healthy & loving ourselves, cheers, Cate.
 
thanks cate!

you are so lovely - thank you for stopping by! i really enjoyed getting to know you better too through your diary and your ups and downs have been a surce of great inspiration. i think you are an incredibly strong person and i know sometimes it is hard to remember that about ourselves so i hope you always try to! your journey has really helped me and i am sure others too, so thank you.

have a lovely cohens-y day! :)
 
hey there bella....hows it all going??? what a fab pot you have up!!!! very little info about myself posted but to you.....I am female 42, married, 2 kids and about 15 kg overweight!!! Well I was when I started.....lost 20cm intwo weeks and haven't weighed yet, even tho the tempatation has been there!! I know I've lost a lot already as I can fit into size 12 (stretchy) jeans where as before I started it was ONLY size 16!!!! Congratulations for your continued efforts and dedication - YOU WILL REAP THE REWARDS AT THE END OF IT ALL!!!! Look forward to reading your updates and keep up the good work :)
 
Hey Bella

Love some of your food ideas...keep them coming...I need different ideas so I don't get bored and tempted to stray.

Today is my first day on Cohen's...I was going to do it tomorrow as I only got my program last night, and I thought why put it off for another day...I have done that all my life and it ends up being years.

Good luck and keep up the great work.
 
Welcome and thanks for sharing

Hi Bella:)

Thanks for opening up to us all here and sharing your story. Your story is so relatable to us here so don't ever feel like your alone on this journey.

I have struggled most of my life with weight issues but after I had my kids........well it really spiralled out of control. And like you and so many others here I have tried nearly every diet under the sun, some worked for awhile but then the weight came back on.

Cohen's is definitely the way to go and you will see the results (you already are) so keep up the great work and you will see the weight melt away.
This forum is a wonderful outlet and the people are so wonderful and inspiring.:hug2:

Wishing you the best of luck Bella.
Sam:)
 
getting distracted....

motivation is a bit lost at the moment- am hovering between 78kg and 79kg and only have 2 weeks to a wedding where i wanted to be 70kg which is very dissapointing!

couple of deviations which is VERY naughty.... thought I'd read some forum entries and post to get back on track. Is hard once you have lost a bit of weight to keep going and the winter days are making it really hard as temptations are everywhere and you just WANT TO EAT!

wish i was a stronger gal because I do want to do this and i need to just keep going :)

anyway here's to sticking with it....it is so worth it. can't wait to buy teeny clothes.

thanks for all your support
 
Hi Bella,
thanks for keeping us updated, get back in the zone girl, read back on your first entry and remember why you started this. I just keep telling myself "It's just food, andd it ain't going anywhere, it's still going to be here when I'm finished..just put it on hold for now"
You have made a great start, please keep going.

Annie Lusion
 
Hey Bella

We are all human, sometimes we have moments of weakness. But we just have to move on, take it one day as at a time, and don't beat yourself up to it. You have lost a fair bit already...great going.

Its so hard to resist all your old fav comfort foods...but its only a short satisfaction, then you feel guilty. As Annie said, food will always be there. This is your time to lose some weight.

I used to have some excuses for not losing weight, but enough enoughs!!! I'm sick of using these reasons for not doing what I want in life.

I have just ordered a pair of jeans that I have been eyeing off for a while, they are my goal jeans. I just need to have little treats to keep me going. The biggest treat of all is that I want to travel over and see a special friend of mine in Dubai at the beginning of next year. I want him to see the 'new me'. (I just heard from him today and he said he has just lost 5kg himself but without trying....its the heat and the sweating I guess....not fair....he he)

Well hope to hear from you soon Bella.

Skinny thoughts to you :)
 
well after renewing my priorities and promises to myslef and remembering why I am doing this (and reading the forum posts and everyones diaries! as well as my lovely replies - thank you so much!) I have been back on the wagon for 4 days following everything TO THE LETTER and this morning a reward-
77.5kg BANG overnight! Yesterday was 78.8. I drank 3.5 l water yesterday and actually slept almost 8 hours which is unusual because of how busy work is at this time of year and it WORKED!! :jump: So it is good to remember that Cohens does reward quickly which is why you feel so motivated at the start!

After 7 weeks i think I had blocked out how good that feels and was wanting "comfort" foods. Yesterday I was hungry too- really hungry! Probably my deviation on the weekend- I usually pay for it a few days later by wanting to eat everything in sight. Particularly felt like indian takeaway because I felt a bit head coldy and this is what I normally do because it seems to help, prob would have got samosas, a good vindaloo some raita and rice in the old days! So what i did was go to the supermarket and write down all the ingrediants on the back of an indian sauce bottle then I just picked out the Cohen's friendly spices and bought them all (there were heaps! most I had thank goodness). I added the new spices fennel, cardamon, carraway, cloves, (all powdered with nothing added) to the cinnamon, garlic, ginger, chili, paprika, pepper, coriander and cumin I already had and mixed about a teaspoon all together with fresh squeezed lemon juice (3rd fruit for day allowance) I then got my chicken breast allowance, finely sliced onion, half tomato and zuchinni and threw it all in a casserole dish and baked in oven for an hour. It was AMAZING! Tasted as good as an authentic restaurant curry. Was almost tandoori chicken but a bit hotter and with the yoghurt it would have been damn close! Loved it to bits and am thrilled with a brand new dish to add to my line-up. Have been doing curries with just a bit of curry powder, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic and mustard powder etc but this was so much better. The extra spices were the key! I know we can't be too heavy handed with them but in this case it was the way to go as I WAS SO CLOSE to dialing that number! Thrilled I didn't and I won't be tempted again!

So if anyone is getting the winter blues and wants something different - try the different pure spices to give you a new taste. It was just what I needed.

I have just made my lunch to take out with me for the day - fresh ricotta, baby spinach leaves, layer of mushrooms, sprinkle basil and oregano and pepper and bake in oven, which I'll have on 2 saladas. I LOVE fresh ricotta. Love the other kind too but fresh is the best! Must say I struggle with the cheese 3 times a week thing- most days I would have ricoota or mozzeralla for lunch. Am going to try and cook some chicken or prawns at night instead so I can just throw it in. I know it is easy but I really don't like tuna because it reminds me of every diet I've ever been on- always with the tuna!!!! So i won't look forward to it at lunch. Will just have to cook more at night. Cheese and salad is just so easy and tasty! Never mind.

So there are my thoughts for today, am going to go enjoy my 1.3 kg loss - thanks for keeping me on track everyone.

Have a great day getting skinnier..... :)
B
 
ps. annie you are so right - i love your idea that food is just on hold for now! It is not going anywhere- why do we always think we'll never be able to have it again?????

and lukey - your post is great....a goal like dubai and seeing someone you haven't seen for awhile and tiny jeans is GREAT!

Me - I can't wait to not be the fat one at christmas dinner - had an uncle say 2 christmas's ago that he couldn't remember a time when I wasn't fat, was such a rude comment :eek2: and highly inappropriate for many reasons, even if it was true. but it got me crazy furious seeing I used to be underweight when I was a dancer and then a normal weight, the last 10 years i have yo-yoed and the last 5 when I was actually obese. i fumed for weeks, dieted for 3 months vowing to be skinny by the next time i saw him (didn't happen of course!!!!) but now i realistically can. I can't believe how within reach it is I still can't fathom it. Just cruising on down to 57kg (high school weight) and still have july to december. At this rate I should have a couple of months to spare! Also I want to treat myself to a big overseas adventure as I have not done much travel. Would like to go in January and I want to look great! I think it is something that has always held me back - i think i always thought, when i am skinny I'll go. Silly but true!

So bring on those goal jeans LUKEY! :)

Is it normal to still have a part of your brain that rejects the idea you will really fit into a size 10 or even a 12? I still keep thinking that the scales may say 60kg (for instance) but i will still be a bigger size?? I want to buy this expensive leather jacket but I don't know what size to get (S. M. L - they are a fashion fit so quite a small make- they say if between sizes go up. A M is a 10-12 in aus size, a large is apparently a 14-16). The large doesn't fit me now, I can do it up if i pull it up to my ribs and zip it and sort of see how it will look (with my breasts all squashed!) but it already looks a bit like it could be too wide and bulky across the shoulders if i get any smaller. it is my boobs and tummy and love handles that are making it not go up, it is tight across the back and my arms are restricted but at least it goes on them). I just think the large will be massive after a 20kg loss.

But having not ever lost 20 kg before and not being that weight since i was 18 i have no concept of what size i will be in "adult" clothes. I feel stupid buying the medium as i just still can't visualise it fitting! but with the all over shrinking that is happening i suppose it will. and i don't dare imagine the small! At 161cm and my cohens goal being 55-58kg what size would i expect to be wearing???? They won't be around to buy later so i have to do it but am really stuck!
 
Bella, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to pop back in here. I think it does make it much harder to stay motivated if you do deviate. I loved your intro to the forum & do believe you can do it. You know how great just losing that little bit (9kg is not a little!) made you feel. Imagine how good you will feel & look when you get to your goal weight?! Get back on track & remember all that tempting food will still be around when you get to goal & "Nothing tastes as good as slim will feel" Cheers, xo Cate
 
Hey again Bella,

Good on you for getting back on track. Thanks for your receipe ideas, I am going to try and cook your chicken one. I must say I am not very inventive in the kitchen, and I am getting sick of chicken and meat with vegies and rissoles. I tried cooking some prawns the other night, rather tasty if I do say so myself, but I could have done with a few more prawns. I am learning to eat slowly.

Isn't it amazing what weight you can drop over night. I lost a kilo last night, but then the scales didn't move two days before.

Today was my first dining out experience since I have been on the program. There wasn't much of a choice on the menu for me. I went with the calamari...wasn't deep fried, but in a tiny bit of flour and then cooked on a pan...I got it with salad....but it was the fancy lettuce that looks like weeds...I really only like iceberg...he he. I made sure they didn't give me wedges. I felt fine after the meal....just content not full even though I am sure I ate more than my recommended amount. Unfortunately, 2 hours later my tummy was making funny noises then I had to run to the toilet. I honestly thought it wasn't that bad, but obviously I need to be really careful in what I chose from now on.

Keep sharing your food ideas Bella and keep thinking skinny jeans..he he.

t
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top