By the way, my pancreas was not inflamed according to blood test results. Reading was a little high, but otherwise ok. My liver is up the creek, but has been the past 12mths. Waiting for more blood work results for that one. I do appear to have a tummy bug tho, that wont shift.
I had the exact same thing "inflamed pancreas", for 39 years I never noticed it existed, but in one week I really felt how much pain it can cause if it was unhappy and blocked up.
However I got some medication "Ureaso" which I have been taking every day and since then no reoccurance, except for the occasional twinge.
My loss on average has been 1.5KG/week and I am quite big so I hope my more "moderate" loss (its still great) means that my Gallstones are not growing much.
Your Dr is absolutely right; we all will gain back our weight at the end of Cohen! However that statement is based on the one assumption "if we return to our old eating habits". If we eat what we ate before! If we return to doing the same things that made us fat before, we will get fat again. I believe we all must see the diet as the start, the begining of a new way of life and new way of eating right, that is why it is called the Cohen Lifestyle Program. Getting the our goal weight, finishing refeed is not the end, it is the "end of the begining" a new begining. Chelsea has kept her weight off, but she has adjusted her old eating habits, still some "naughty" stuff but its only an occasional treat. I hope Chelsea has some comments for us.
The reason for "rapid weight" loss being normally equated with "gain it all back at the end" is that rapid weight loss programs normally are completely unstainable. The extreme is if we starved ourselves (the all you can eat water and tea diet) until thin. If we starved ourselves, then we will get thin quick, but at the end if we return to old eating ways the weight will return.
Slow gradual weight loss probably means the person has changed what they eat and the way they eat and new habits and changes have been adopted. However I think Cohen diet can do both, rapid weight loss, followed by a readjustment phase (refeed), followed by real changes to how we eat, our bodies will take months to heal/adjust to being thin, just like ex-smokers take months to see to full benefits of quitting.
For me I know if I return to the 3 starchy (even if healthy) meals a day, I will be back at 123KG 1-Jan-2008 unhealthy and miserable. The daily mistake of eating to much rice, bread, pasta and potatos made me fat, not the occasional once a week chocolate or take-away. I am looking forward to eating the stuff I have missed but I look forward to eating it as an occasional treat.
In regard to swings, I just havent experience significant swings whilst eating 100% Cohen diet, salt (salty soups) in particular give me a temporary increase in weight due to water retention. Maybe it is because of the inflamed pancreas