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Well, I phoned them at the clinic and they said no probs, its only 5kg difference and we will worry about it when we get there!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for your words of wisdom colwedd. I have so much motivation at the moment it scared me. I have to stop drinking to much water as I could easly drink over 5lt a day but I know thats not really good for my sodium levels etc if I over do it.I find i cant even stand a drink of diet soda because its too sweet and this is coming from a gal who drank at least 1lt of coke every day for the past 8 months since having my daughter. MY motivation for this diet is to loose weight to be able to play with my kids and most of all the be able to take them swimming, all my friends keep asking me to go but I always say ... too busy when I am really too embarressed. I feel even worse that my sweet beautiful kids whom I adore with all my heart miss out on things because mum feels she is to fat to do anything.well all thats about to change cause by summer I plan on getting in the cossie and teaching my 2 sweethearts how to swim and I will be so proud!!!
GOod luck everyone and I am sure those struggling with the water will findit easier in the long run, just think of all that fat going down the loo lol
 
Reload72 said:
Equal sweetener not allowed??? hmm... then use wat?

I am using this artificial sweetner (made of Aspartame) from an MLM brand (totalife). Its leftover stock when my mum bought their health products.
 
*sunshine* said:
Good Afternoon Everyone!

Just a quick post to update my ticker. It has been a slow couple of weeks in the weight loss department for me... no deviations, plenty of water but not much weight loss! :eek: Have started exercising so perhaps that is why.:confused: But all is not lost with 1.2kg down in two weeks. I'm nearly at the "ONLY 10kg TO GO" mark. YAY!

For all of you who are curious about dress sizes - I have gone from a size 20 to a size 12. I've never been a size 12 in my whole adult life. I'm very much looking forward to becoming a size 10 in a little over 10kgs time and remaining there for the rest of my life! The bikini dream won't be a dream anymore, it'll be a reality! :D

! :)

Sunshine, it appears I have just a little more than you had to lose left to go, may I ask how long it has taken you to get there from when you started Cohens. Am needing some encouragement at the moment. I am falling off the wagon again with the sugar cravings and have increased my Chromium and Magnesium intake and am drinking 4 lts of water a day. Will also start the program with a clean slate because I weighed myself today and put on 700g this week!! Damn, damn and damn. I am organising my lunch for tomorrow so clearly back on it again so am happy with that, however the sugar craving over the past 4 days is crazy stuff. Will address it through Cohen's yet again.
 
the old me said:
I just read the message from Cohen's Help, saying don't do what I did! Ah well, can't blame a girl for trying and by the way the bush flower essence is not a tea. Sorry for misleading you Jasmine.

Not a problem, you will see from my earlier scribe tonight that I am still having the problems so am talking to Cohen's tomorrow yet again. But thank you for the information. Right or wrong, it is just nice to know that people truly care enough to provide advice when asked. Thank you anyway.
 
8 Weeks done!

Hi All.

I have now completed 8 weeks and lost 6.2 kg the 4 weeks (13.8 in total). I am very pleased. I have also decided to up my water intake to 4.5 liter per day.

Lizzie: You are truly an inspiration to me. Whenever I start feeling sorry for myself about another 8 weeks to go, I just think of you and your absolute amazing victory. You are a strong woman to be admired! I wish you all the best for the rest of your journey.

In terms of water: my hubby gave me the following idea and it really works for me. I have a 1.5 liter bottle. I start off by drinking about 10 gulps and whenever I remember I drink some more. The moment I need to go to the loo, I quickly down another 10 gulps. Before you know it the bottle is empty. And I keep on forgetting to drink my water, and now I get reminded very urgently, and it does not take long to down the 10 gulps because of the urgency. Before I used to think about the water I am drinking and whether I "feel" like doing it now and procrastinating...

MagicLea: My favourite meals at the moment:
Chicken (already done) with mushrooms, fried in a pan with a dash of balsamic vinager. I fry it until the mushrooms are done and there is very little juice left. You have to add a bit of water every now and again until the mushrooms are done.

I am not really a person who enjoys cooking, but since I have been on this diet I cannot stop baking stuff for other people. My husband is begging me to stop, since he is putting on weight at the moment (not that anyone will notice!). Everything I feel like, I buy or bake him, and he willingly helps out.

All for now. Let's go for it, we can do it!

Ingrid
 
Reply to Jasmine

Hi Everyone

This was supposed to be specifically a reply to Jasmine's question, but I hope everyone benefits from it... sorry it's a long one....

It has taken me since 18 Feb 2006 to get to this point. Which is nearly 5 months and by my calculations that equals a loss of about 5kgs per month… which is really depressing when I think about it, so I won’t! Other people have had much bigger monthly losses than I have, so I suspect I am one of the slower ones like Lizzi…. (You LEGEND… one year, no deviation…. WOW! So proud, so impressed, so inspired). I have a thyroid problem… actually, I have no thyroid and I take thyroxine every day. Whereas other people have the ability to increase their metabolism (and weight loss efforts) slightly through exercise and diet, my metabolism sits in a bottle in the fridge which I take every day and the quantity does not change.

As for motivation, Jasmine, what can I tell ya… I started this program because I thought “I can be fat for the rest of my life and feel crap about it and crap about myself and constantly berate myself over what I eat and what I look like, or I can change it. I can carry this load, or I can free myself from the burden of a low self esteem which is caused by something I can change”. Life is hard enough without having the extra weight of being overweight to bring you down. And since I have lost the weight (even though it’s not all the weight), I have never felt emotionally better. It feels good to break free of the negative self talk, and putting myself down to other people. No longer can I say “I’m so fat…. Geez, I’ll never fit in to that cause I’m so fat” cause I know it’s simply not true anymore. That’s what I call freedom!

So to keep motivated, like most people here I guess, I just take it one day at a time. I wrote a list of what I wanted to achieve by doing this (things like crossing my legs comfortably, buying things from op shops, buying clothes straight off the rack and other ugly things about myself that I hated and wanted to change) and kept focusing on that list and you know what, I have achieved more than ¾ of what I set out to do… and even though 5 months feels like a long time, a lot of that stuff was achieved before I knew it… it wasn’t *that* hard.

I actually don’t take any supplements to suppress my cravings (just a multi vitamin and magnesium for my muscles), I just tell myself “NO! You’ve come too far to go back… do you want to be that negative fatty who was so miserable and bought everyone else down around her? Which one is easier - opening your gob and putting that in your mouth and dealing with how crap you feel about it later, or just saying no and walking away?”. So if I have a craving, I always choose to walk away - I just live with it because I know it will pass. I pretty much did the same thing when I gave up smoking a few years ago. Maybe that was good practice. You just simply have to be hard on yourself, you have to not give in. Being hard on yourself to say no is easier than being hard on yourself after you’ve done the wrong thing.

I know this has been a long post already, but I wanted to share an excellent point about goal setting with you all. When I started this, a good friend of mine (with a keen interest in Psychology) asked me “Mel, when you set goals for yourself, do you set a goal to move towards something positive, or move away from something negative?” And I was like huh? And then he asks “Why are you doing this program?” and I said “So I don’t feel crap about myself anymore.. so I don’t feel uncomfortable.. so I don’t die young… so I am not a bad example for my kids when I have them.. so when I’m pregnant people will be able to tell and not just think that I’m fat”… to which he replied “those reasons are better than ‘so I can wear a bikini in summer’ because psychologically you have more of a chance of reaching your goal when you set it to move away from negative things than moving towards a positive thing. Negativity is much more motivating” Having that discussion with him has really helped me stay on track. Any time I feel like deviating I just think about all the horrible things that I was, and how awful I felt about myself and that is enough to keep me away from the chocolate.

Anyway, sorry to pour my heart out here but I hope an insight in to what keeps me going is a help to anyone else who is having a difficult time staying on track. I’d love to hear from other people about their thought processes and how they bargain with themselves to stay on track.
 
reb: Thanks for your laughter, I had a bit of a chuckle myself – it was a good feeling. About the sugar …. Sugarine and hermesetes are fine – except for the hermesetes granules that are sweetened with fruit sugar ( that jar is the one to avoid)

What I am looking forward to when I finish the program? Free choice – to live without deprivation of food, but to choose responsibly. To be totally off the ‘diet’ necessity and simply to eat to maintain for the first time in my life being where I want to be. I am also looking forward to buying clothes that I expect will continue to fit, and to buy them from any shop I can walk into! Also I am looking forward to becoming toned and living with good health. Many of these things are intangibles, but they are what I am most looking forward to – a consistent normality of being the right weight, fit and healthy, wearing the clothes I want to wear (or the ones I can afford, anyway!).

Baby81: Just concentrate on the basics – lots of water, and learning to weigh accurately and eat within the time frames. The rest will all fall into place.

Jewls: Thanks for the thoughts. It is not that I am really discouraged – but the length of time is starting to jar – and my 4 weekly weigh in was only 2.3kgs lost, when even my lowest goal was to be 2.4!! But although you can’t see it through the written page, I am still fighting on.

And today is a better day just as I thought it might be. Lots of water after travelling, a good sleep, and a trip to the loo, and I am down another 0.4kgs today. So there you go!

I love the encouragement that this program gives and the confidence that the weight issue will change – and it is nice to hear that is resounding in your mind already Jewls!

sunshine: Adjust your goal if you want, but why don’t you wait until you get there? This is to be the last time you diet, so stick with it if you can until you reach the place you are sure you are going to be happy to stay on for life – that way you really do say goodbye to dieting! That is a prize in itself. You are getting closer now, and will probably have a faster spurt soon if you just stay patient.

lisa c.: Thanks, but up off your hands and knees! The struggle is there for all of us whether we have 10 kgs or 110kgs to lose – and we are all making it – and when some of the people on this forum finish they are going to have a great story to tell, which is absolutely fabulous. And totally life changing as well.

rjm: You are so close!! That must be the best of feelings. You have 2 days to go and I have 102 days to go – but I am savouring your feeling in expectation and anticipation and exhilaration and emphatically inexpressible rapture & exaltation!!

the old me:
Aren’t the cravings terrible when they happen? I am not exactly craving, but I am always extra restless when I am on holidays, because food and new dining experiences are part of the holiday special treat thing and you miss out while others enjoy – it doesn’t even have to be too wicked – I would settle for a normal salad meal out and cappuccino – just a basic dining experience that is ‘buy off the menu’!! Nevermind, the end of October and then November is already being anticipated. About the bush flower essence, I wish people would always explain why we can and can’t have things, and then we might not make so many errors! I think the issue is that homeopathic medicines are made from alcohol, and that is the most key problem. Yes it is a flower essence, but predominantly it is alcohol based.

dilfizzle: Donuts are not an issue for me, although I did get a wiff of some hot cinnamon ones the other day, and I thought yum! I have been looking in at food, and realizing, that what I would choose straight out of this diet are not the same things I would once have chosen. I will be very intrigued to check out my tastes in Life After Cohens!

Eendjie: I have to laugh at your hubbie being eaten into oblivion while you cook and buy for him. Good one. Thanks for your nice words. I don’t know that I am more determined than anyone else, I just had to make a choice – now or never, because it has been going on for far too long, and I want to be a healthy person – I have a lot of living to do, because life is precious. I don’t want to miss out on opportunities in life because I was fat or unhealthy. SO that is a very motivating choice to me. I determined that a long time ago, and everything seemed to plot against my achieving it – like it does for some of you. Well, this is my ‘try one more time’ experience, and Cohen’s is the tool that can make it happen. I just wish that Dr Cohen had taken out proper marketing and advertising years ago. I remember seeing a black and white, poor print quality, small print ad over 10 years ago and there wasn’t enough money to ‘waste’ on what could be a fraud – often those kinds of ads were. What a shame he didn’t believe in his own product enough to push it forward and make sure we had enough information to choose wisely!! I certainly didn’t know anyone who had tried it. Fortunately, that has changed, and as a result, so are we all changing.

Well, I got to go and have some holiday fun,
Have a good day everyone,
Began 9th July 2005 … To end 20th October, 2006
Lizzi . . . 101 days to go! … 14 weeks 4 days
 
*sunshine* said:
Anyway, sorry to pour my heart out here but I hope an insight in to what keeps me going is a help to anyone else who is having a difficult time staying on track. I’d love to hear from other people about their thought processes and how they bargain with themselves to stay on track.

Sunshine Dun be sorry for pouring your heart out. Its that kind of posts that keep us in perspective and remind us what we are all trying to do. To make us feel better both mentally as well as physically. Dun mind your long post! I LOVE IT!

To tell you the truth, I think I am in the best mental state now. I sleep better and think better. With all the meals prepared in Cohen style and the multi-vit/minerals I am taking, I am staying away from a lot of preservatives and seasonings that are no good for the body and mind. I find myself more focus now and more determine towards my goal.

Your friend is right, we should focus more on staying away from negativity. My reasons for dieting in the past were more towards being able to wear pretty clothes and get more attractive. I think I should change that. I want to lose weight so that I can stay away from possibility of getting sick due to obesity, stay away from slipping into depression and stay away from having doubts about myself. I am only 30 yrs old! and I have already spent at least 28 yrs of my life living like an elderly person and depriving myself from most pleasures that youth enjoy. I want to stay away from the "old" me!

My dad's family has a history of getting diabetes and I really dun want that to happen to me. Having Diabetes really take a lot of fun out of your life. My mum is suffering from joint pain due to her lately increasing weight problem (she was on med and the med make her gain weight). I have the same body shape as her and that really shake me up to realise that if I keep on having this weight, I may have the same problem as her when I am old! These are all the things that really keeps me going now!
 
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sunshine i really enjoyed reading your post
Lizzie, rjm less of me & the old me + sunshineyou are all legends you have all come such a long way with you journey to good health

things i look forward to
good health
to see my son grow up
being able to walk into trendy shops and being able to buy
being a size 10 or 12 instead of a 18
being able to paint my toe nails
to see my toes when i stand up
to be able to get of the floor with no problems
to have more flexibility
to be able to go to the beach with my son
not having to have to wear the same 3 sets of cloths all the time
to able to bend over and not look like a beached whale
to be a hot mummy
to be able to sit with out a huge belly hanging
to be a more fun person my size holds me back i always sit on the side line watching things instead of joining in :cool:
 
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We all have our desires but here is mine...

Well since you all have made you to do lists it has made me think more about what i want to achieve...

my one goal is to loose all of my weight by next year... i know big call but hey hubby and i have decided it's time for us to start our family. But we agreed our health was our first issue so we were able to carry a baby safely and also to be able to play with our children.

All my other goals are superficial to this.

Tam
 
Hey everyone

Thanks to everyone for your kind words in response to my lengthy post!

Tasm82 I've gotta tell ya.. having children is the main motivator for me too. I want to be healthy when I get pregnant, not at risk of gestational diabetes or preclampsia (spelling?) or put my baby's health at risk.

Also, I want to teach my children good habits. That it's not ok to be over weight, it's not ok to pig out on junk food, and that there are "sometimes foods" and "all the time foods". And i don't want to be one of those mothers who is always dieting and obsessed with food and never happy with themselves and whose poor self esteem is reflected on to their kids. I want to feel good about myself, and live by a few ground rules rather than continually obsess and have that affect my kids.

Oh and Lizzi to answer your question, I've adjusted my goal weight because it feels more achieveable to me right now. I know I may lose some weight on the refeed which will get me to the top of the weight range that Cohens has set for me but to be honest with you, I think their weight range for me is a little low. I can't see that 2 kgs more than their weight range is going to matter too much (especially if people can do the refeed at whatever weight they want). It is helping me keep up my motivation knowing that it is just a little bit closer than it was before. But i'm sure you're right, and I'll probably get to it and go "pah, it's just another couple of kilos, I can do it!"
 
3rd day

Hey guys
I started on my eating plan on monday, and i've been sticking with it, despite the fact that last night i was so hungry i was going mad.
i'm having trouble sleeping, i was wondering if this is normal in the beginning and if so, how long it takes to subside.
the food amounts are really small and i'm worried about variety.
my eating plan says no food after 9pm, is it okay to still drink after then?
i really enjoy reading your posts everyone.
 
I think you hit the nail on the head!!

:)
*sunshine* said:
Hi Everyone

This was supposed to be specifically a reply to Jasmine's question, but I hope everyone benefits from it... sorry it's a long one....

I know this has been a long post already, but I wanted to share an excellent point about goal setting with you all. When I started this, a good friend of mine (with a keen interest in Psychology) asked me “Mel, when you set goals for yourself, do you set a goal to move towards something positive, or move away from something negative?” And I was like huh? And then he asks “Why are you doing this program?” and I said “So I don’t feel crap about myself anymore.. so I don’t feel uncomfortable.. so I don’t die young… so I am not a bad example for my kids when I have them.. so when I’m pregnant people will be able to tell and not just think that I’m fat”… to which he replied “those reasons are better than ‘so I can wear a bikini in summer’ because psychologically you have more of a chance of reaching your goal when you set it to move away from negative things than moving towards a positive thing. Negativity is much more motivating” Having that discussion with him has really helped me stay on track. Any time I feel like deviating I just think about all the horrible things that I was, and how awful I felt about myself and that is enough to keep me away from the chocolate.

Anyway, sorry to pour my heart out here but I hope an insight in to what keeps me going is a help to anyone else who is having a difficult time staying on track. I’d love to hear from other people about their thought processes and how they bargain with themselves to stay on track.

When I read this I realised that I was looking forward to doing things that seemed unreachable such as losing 38kgs (whilst I realise others on this forum have done it) and then wearing the clothes that I love to wear and doing things that I love to do, but then I read about the negative aspects of my current weight and I literally went into a different space in my head - I believe it was called fear!! I think I will focus on why I am on this program - the daily agony of the sciatica pain in my lower back from being overweight, my constant sore back from being overweight, my big stomach from being overweight, my thunder thighs that look awful in anything above the knees and on I can go about the things I hate about being overweight. These are the reasons I am on this program and I will deal with the outcome of losing the weight (clothes, attitude etc., as I get to my goal. Thank you Sunshine -your post was inspirational it has certainly put some things in perspective for me!!
 
Thanks Sunshine for the insights. Fornight your decision to do this is the best thing you could have done to avoid those health issues you mentioned. I consider this a amazing programme that produces fast results ( even for the slower loosers) relative to anything else I know about, and the results keep me motivated. I too gave up smoking cold turkey 13 years ago and have never gone back. I said to myself, I CHOOSE TO BE A NON SMOKER. It was difficult but this is harder as you still have to eat, but I have said to myself I CHOOSE NOT TO BE FAT, and I meanit and whenever I am tempted I visualize my self smaller and the moment passes and I am stronger because of it.

Now some vein news. Today I bought size 18 trousers YEAH down from 24. I stood looking in the mirror and I did not recognize myself from the waist down. Very weird. My pre-cohen trousers come off with out undoing the buttons or zip. I am so excited. I am facinated with what my goal weight dress size will be. I wish I could have a peek. I am watching the tv show where they computer generates images of what kids can expect to look like in the future if they dont change their eating habits and lifestyle. I am wondering if they can do it in reverse same age different weight. How amazing would that be. Oh well for now I will have to make do with my own visualization. Off to an extended family event on Sunday, wearing the new trousers and looking forward to the reactions. I am sure I will be talking non stop answering questions about the programme.

Keep up the hard work everyone, take it a day at a time. Water and sleep keep reminding yourself.:) :) :) :)
 
Getting a little ughh

I have spent the last few days struggling to get meals on time and also getting out of bed- no energy what so ever. I have not skipped meals but i have been a little low with water (2lt). I have done a better job today and i think i will be ok from here on in. I also started taking colloidal silver 3x day in glass of water (and on skin morn and night) so i put that to one reason why i feel a little better today. Im not sure how much u guys no about it but it kills 99.9% bacteria in ur body- a natural antibiotic. My skin has broken out on this diet (detox result i presume) and in 24hr it appears to be clearing somewhat. It is basically pure siver in liquid form. I can only try it and see how i feel after it. I cannot see any reason why i cant take it since it isnt a sugar , carbo or protein based item. No fat gaining property whatso ever.

I just had dinner at 8pm and am trying to get more water down before bed - about 11pm. I will prepare meals in the morn for the day and get organised- that is my problem. I am getting there just a little more time required.

Any one any idea's???? I am not in the car all that often so pointless leaving stuff in there except water. I am scared that if i precook my meat and go out and dont have access to a fridge its going to spoil and we all no what happens then. Im prob over thinking it. Just go with it all and c what happens. Can anyone tell me if canned tuna with other things like chilli or basil and oregano from pouches allowed?? I bort them but have been a lil scared to use them.

Hope everyone is keeping their heads high and making the most of their new found lives. I cert am and despite only 5kg loss so far (how accurate with fluid retention??) i have more energy.

Dee
 
beebee: Isn't it a great feeling when the pants are too big for you? I had 1 pants which is too big after 1 mth. The hip area is so big that the excess cloth at the sides look like fluttering butterfly when I wear them. Now every morning, I tried to dig out some of the "tighter" clothes and test them out. If they fit nicely, i wear them to work! My colleagues thought that I bought new clothes but in actual fact, they are old clothes which I can't squeeze into for a LONG time.
 
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ohhhh, yeah!

Ticker update!

Yay! Short post today, running late - I've now hit the 80's!!!!!!!!!! Woooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! I've been waiting to be under 90! YES! *dancin' I'm dancin'!*

Good day to all!!
 
sickie

Hi everyone, I am a very sorry for myself sick girl today. I have bad cold/virus thing with an excrutiatingly sore throat and all those other yukky symptoms. Sticking to the plan ok but gained weight overnight anyway! Fluid imbalance perhaps? How annoying. Hope it goes again soon. do others find their weight goes up when they are sick?

Why am I doing this plan. Mostly Self esteem, but also:
  • comfort - no chafing thighs
  • no heat exhaustion in summer
  • want to walk without puffing
  • want to buy clothes I like
  • want to fit into clothes I like
  • health- ie avoid or lessen the a effects of future arthritis and diabetes

and ... a zillion other reasons just like all of you. I am sick of being fat. I am sick of always feeling self conscious. This time I am really making the changes for the rest of my life. I have spent a lot of the first half of my life feeling bad about my body shape and would like to change that forever.
 
Well done Ready to Lose

I remember that feeling. Its a biggie. Fantastic effort. Good on you.
 
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