Hi Cath
Don't take the 'Two Hours Before Bedtime' routine too seriously. Enjoy your holiday without putting strain on yourself.
You may find this article interesting as it explains what we are actually doing with the food.
The 'doses' of protein and other foods actually stimulate the body to do certain things. Our careless eating over the years has stimulated the body to convert food to fat and to store the fat for a rainy day. As we are 'hunters and gatherers' this is what our bodies are meant to do. Actually, we resemble camels more than any other animal - we can survive long periods without water, and even longer periods without food. We are remarkable!
In modern life, the most active hunting and gathering we do is to put the cornflakes in the supermarket trolley, and we eat and graze continuously. The rainy day never comes and we end up with these reserves sufficient to survive an ice age!
Cohen's reverses the storage pattern and stimulates the body to draw down the reserves.
Human Growth Hormone is most effective when blood sugar is lowest. As the largest 'pulse' of HGH occurs between midnight and 2am, it makes sense if we are asleep at that time and that our blood sugar is low.
Blood sugar is lowest about two hours after a protein meal, hence the 'don't eat after 9pm' guideline.
However, if you have had Meal #1 at, say, 11am, and Meal #2 at 4.30pm and Meal #3 at 10pm, don't fret, just go to bed with a book, relax, and go to sleep when you are ready.
Don't start doing the ironing at 11pm just to stay awake. There is no need to take this to extremes, and it is far better to wake up refreshed (and probably earlier) and to have Meal #1 at 10.30am because you got to sleep at a reasonable hour.
If you can, try and wake up, get your Meal #1 (yoghurt takes 3 minutes to eat), have a glass of water and go back to bed for a bit of a snooze. After all, you are on holidays!
Remember that you can eat the Meals any way you want. It is not 'Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner', it is simply 3 Meals per day. Make yourself a cheese and veg 'pizza' the night before, then just grill it on a rice cake for a quick preparation breakfast while you are boiling the kettle for a cup of tea. This sort of breakfast fare is more in holiday mode, anyway, than just endless yoghurt.
Alternatively, have the pizza for supper, rather than meat and veg. I work very irregular hours (mortgage broker) and would often do a savoury supper for myself rather than a meat & veg meal if I came in late after an evening appointment.
Check out the Cohen's website for lots of meal ideas. Don't forget good old savoury mince or casseroles or hotpots, things which can be prepared and cooked ahead so that you aren't cooking at midnight.
Above all, enjoy yourself. It really is great fun and can be a very creative and pleasurable experience.
I took 20 weeks to shed 25 kilos. Your 39 kilos will be gone in no time!
Ciao!
Chelsea
Remember: Play the Mexican Bean Game - have Meal #3 for breakfast, Meal #2 for lunch, and a light Meal #1 for supper! Mix and match for what suits you - if you were a Night Nurse you would be eating to your circadian clock, anyway, so keep to the 5 hour guidelines but eat the Meals in any order you like!