Cohen's Lifestyle Cohens Lifestyle Support

[Chelsea1]

I've noticed that my skin sags a little then tightens. I've been thinking alot of when I get to my goal weight and if I'll have saggy skin! I know people say that you don't but I've had 4 kids and my tummy - well!

Mitmary

Hi Mitmary

I'm 56 and recently completed the program - officially on 24th June then refeed, so really only two months ago. Overall I lost 28.5 kilos.

While on the program there were no stretch marks, but since coming off the high level of HGH stimulation I have noticed a puckering across the midriff. Initially it was a little patch just above the navel, now my skin definitely is puckered. It also feels loose, more like a pelt than a skin, but I figure that's just the body adjusting.

However, I have decided that the trim feeling while on the program was something I liked, and while it would be somewhat fanatical to try and keep on the program indefinitely, I have done some research to confirm the basic foods of the program and the foods most likely to keep the stimulation of the 'good hormones' pumping, while allowing a much wider choice of things to eat.

In the Maintenance program it is suggested that a mild, half hour walk each day would be beneficial, but I really don't have the time nor the inclination to do that on a regular basis. I have just started renovating a property, and while that isn't exactly vigorous exercise it is better than I usually do, which is essentially interviewing people over the phone and across the desk with a lot of computer work in-between.

I had three very large babies during my thirties, and was overweight from mid-fourties for about seven years and then obese for about five years. It is not reasonable to think that the body can simply forget that amount of stretch. However, my skin is not hanging off me in folds, it is simply loose and puckered across my torso. I shrank more than 1 metre in measurements including 20cms from my waist so a bit of puckering is quite acceptable.

I think swimsuits, rather than bikinis, are the way to go, but this summer I shall be wearing sleeveless tops for the first time in years. Size small is quite loose on me so I should be nice and cool even on the hottest day.

Heavenlylamb posted that her consultant suggested increasing zinc intake to improve skin elasticity, and I have put zinc supplements on the shopping list along with the multivitamins & fish oil capsules which I have been taking throughout the program.

In the meantime, just concentrate on the program. Each body will respond differently, and the younger you are when you shed the weight the better your chances of a full recovery. However, even for 'old girls' like me, I would rather be slim and a bit saggy rather than stay obese or even overweight and continue to risk all the medical issues involved with over 40 and over weight. I have never heard of anyone dying of saggy skin!

I am confident that the puckering will stabilise in time, but equally I really think that a lot will depend on how well I eat from here on, and the general quality of my life eg the occasional bit of a ramble on a Sunday afternoon!

Glad you enjoyed your steak and salad, good luck with the rest of the program!

Cheers

Chelsea

 

[Chelsea1]

Having some problems here... my weight have been around the range of 79~80kg... just going up and down as and when... I am not too sure if there are bound to be weeks that are like that but its getting worrying.. I rem one or two of you are like that.. could anyone just share with me on this issue... third week into my third month... and this month i have only lost slightly more than 3kg... can someone help??

Hi Babyegg

You are losing one kilo per week - why is this concerning you? The body has to consolidate and stablise, it is not going into a nose dive and throwing women and children overboard!!! (oops, yes, sorry a few mixed metaphors there!)

If you are following the program, try mixing the meals around and varying your ingredients a bit more. Bodies quickly become desensitised to food - if you always have Meal 1, then Meal 2, then Meal 3, and always have the same fruits and the same brand of crispbread, try some changes to stimulate some changes.

Reading through various posts, it seems that some Cohenites get stuck in a rut - every mention of meals seems to include mince steak! Have a look at the newsletters on the official website and also read up on some of the recipes. OK, I admit it, the only recipe I did was the grilled cheese pizza thingy, but I did try and have as many of the vegetables in the fridge across the course of the week and to have plenty of variety in each meal, even if that meant one slice of tomato, one slice of zucchini, one mushroom, etc etc. Try and not get stuck with repetition, keep your body guessing.

I have a friend who thought that 'salad' meant 'lettuce'. Since coming off the program she has had a constant problem with fluctuating weight, whereas I have held steady despite eating Old Gold Roasted Almonds (four squares) most evenings while watching a bit of TV after dinner. I am also eating whatever my husband cooks for meals - but no, I don't mean gorging myself, just eating 'normally'. Just on this small market sample (two people) who each officially lost 25 kilos, I am drawing the conclusion that the greater the variety you can eat from the shopping list while on the program the easier it will be to adjust to 'life in the wild' and the more stable your weight will be in the long term.

One factor which I think limited the speed of my loss, was my chronic shortage of sleep. I did try and get at least five hours per night (my long term running average) but Babyegg if you can get a bit more sleep you may find that the extra 'Repair & Maintenance' time allocated to your body will pay handsome dividends in extra weight loss.

So my suggestions are: Change what you eat and how you eat it, and aim for an extra 30 minutes extra sleep each night.

Good luck, hope this is of some help

Regards

Chelsea

 

[MellyP]

DAY 1 - Done and Dusted!

Hi all,
I started the program today, and it went well. I was a bit hungry in between and I seemed to inhale my dinner, now you see it, now you don't, it was all over and I was still hungry. After reading alot of the posts in here I know that it is to be expected for the first few days/week. But I must say I wasn't expecting a headache, I hardly ever get them and right now I have a corker!!
Is it ok to have pain killers on this program?
Narn873 thanks for posting a recipe, sounds good I will give it a try. Does anyone else have a favourite recipe they would like to share?
Anyways bed is calling... I'll just go to the toilet for the last and 50 millionth time first. Goodnight Cohenites.

 

[feeling frumpy]

The Skinny on Skin

Hi everyone,
Just browsing the internet and and thought this would interest most people. There is hope for us all.
Taken from:

There are 12 things you should know about loose skin after very large weight losses:

Skin is incredibly elastic. Just look at what women go through during pregnancy. Skin has the ability to expand and contract to a remarkable degree. Elasticity of skin tends to decrease with age. Wrinkling and loss of elasticity is partly the consequence of aging (genetic factors) and also a result of environmental factors such as oxidative stress, excessive sun exposure, and nutritional deficiency. The environmental parts you can fix, the genetics and age part, you cannot. Advice: Get moving and change the things you have control over... Be realistic and don't worry about those things you don't have control over.

How much your skin will return to its former tautness depends partly on age. The older you get, the more an extremely large weight loss can leave loose skin that will not return to normal.

How long you carry extra weight has a lot to do with how much the skin will become taut after the weight loss: For example, compare a 9 month pregnancy with 9 years carrying 100 excess pounds. How much weight was carried has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so much and be expected to "snap back" one hundred percent.

How fast the weight was gained also has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so quickly and be expected to "snap back."

How fast weight is lost also has a lot to do with how much the skin will tighten up. Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to normal. (yet another reason to lose fat slowly; 1 to 2 pounds per week, 3 pounds at the most if you have a lot of weight to lose, and even then, only if you are measuring body fat and you’re certain it's fat you’re losing, not lean tissue).

There are exceptions to all of the above; i.e, people who gained and then lost incredible amounts of weight quickly at age 50 or 60, and their skin returned 100% to normal. There are many creams advertised as having the ability to restore the tightness of your skin. None work — at least not permanently and measurably — and especially if you have a lot of loose skin. Don't waste your money.

If you’re considering surgical skin removal, consult a physician for advice because this is not a minor operation, but keep in mind that your plastic surgeon may be making his BMW payments with your abdominoplasty money. (Surgery may be recommended in situations where it's not 100% necessary). Surgery should be left as the ABSOLUTE FINAL option in extreme cases.

Give your skin time. Your skin will get tighter as your body fat gets lower. I've seen and heard of many cases where the skin gradually tightened up, at least partially, after a one or two year period where the weight loss was maintained and exercise continued.

Know your body fat percentage before even THINKING about surgery. Loose skin is one thing, but still having body fat is another. Be honest with yourself and do that by taking your body fat measurement. This can be done with skinfold calipers or a variety of other devices (calipers might not be the best method if you have large folds of loose skin. Look into impedance analysis, underwater weighing, DEXA or Bod Pod).

Suppose for example, a man drops from 35% body fat all the way down to 20%. He should be congratulated, but I would tell him, "Don't *** about loose skin, your body fat is still high. Press onward and keep getting leaner.”

Average body fat for men is in the mid teens (16% or so) Good body fat for men is 10-12%, and single digits is extremely lean (men shouldn’t expect to look “ripped” with 100% tight skin on the abs unless they have single digit body fat, and women low teens).

Except in extreme cases, you are very unlikely to see someone with loose skin who has very low body fat. It's quite remarkable how much your skin can tighten up and literally start to “cling” to your abdominal muscles once your body fat goes from “average” to "excellent." Someone with legitimate single digit body fat and a ton of loose skin is a rare sight.

Mitmary7 - found this quote on page 56 by Rajah. Makes an interesting read about saggy skin and gives all of us hope. I have developed a CHOOK NECK......I hope this will clear up as it isn't a good look... need to have patience.....

Talk to everyone soon.

 

[Chelsea1]

Hi all,
I started the program today, and it went well. I was a bit hungry in between and I seemed to inhale my dinner, now you see it, now you don't, it was all over and I was still hungry. After reading alot of the posts in here I know that it is to be expected for the first few days/week. But I must say I wasn't expecting a headache, I hardly ever get them and right now I have a corker!!
Is it ok to have pain killers on this program?
Narn873 thanks for posting a recipe, sounds good I will give it a try. Does anyone else have a favourite recipe they would like to share?
Anyways bed is calling... I'll just go to the toilet for the last and 50 millionth time first. Goodnight Cohenites.

Hi MellyP

Yes, I did (warn you about the headache):

MellyP, may I suggest that a Saturday is actually a better day than a Monday to start the program? You may not have headaches but I had the Mother of all headaches on my first day (mind you, I did finish off the sherry, the last of the Christmas chocolates, the Nutella and anything else not nailed down during the day before!) and I was in bed by 4.30pm crook as the proverbial. The Sunday saw me feeling very tender, but by the Monday I was OK and from there on didn’t miss a beat!

So if you intend to have one Last Supper you may find that the first day of the program produces a response not unlike an almighty hangover as your system goes looking for replenishment and comes to an abrupt stop! No more hair of the dog, the program demands cold turkey but if I had known how I would respond I would still have cleaned out the cupboards, but perhaps done the cleaning out two days before the start of the program.

This is the body's response to a sort of 'blood hunger' - but let me encourage you, inthe months since the start of the program, I have not had a headache since, nor did I get the round of colds and other winter ills which the rest of the family managed to succumb to .

So chin up, you are on your way.

Congratulations on your first day

Cheers

Chelsea

And yes - my consultants said 'Take painkillers - the headache will pass but no point in being uncomfortable and on no account break the diet just because of the headache'

 

[Chelsea1]

Mitmary7 - found this quote on page 56 by Rajah. Makes an interesting read about saggy skin and gives all of us hope. I have developed a CHOOK NECK......I hope this will clear up as it isn't a good look... need to have patience.....

Talk to everyone soon.

Hi frumpy

Since I was in my teens I used Oil of Olay (or Oil of Bi-Lo if you're feeling frugal as well as frumpy!!!), but in my mid twenties I switched to Nivea.

I am Taurean and quite proud of my throat and neck, so was dreading the possibility of developing chook neck with weight loss.

During the program I made sure to continue to apply lots of Nivea to my throat down to the collar bones, just once a day after the morning shower, and now that I no longer have a turkey swag under my chin I must say that the slight stringyness of the tendons is within the bounds of acceptability to me.

If you haven't tried Nivea Milk before, it's not expensive if you buy it from the supermarket or KMart or wherever, put a couple of generous dollops on the base of the throat and useing both hands in a sort of repetitive, upwards, rhythmic motion, work the milk into the skin from the collar bones up to the jaw line.

This is not just about massaging the Nivea into the skin, but also about improving circulation - I don't actually 'slap' but I lift the hands off between each movement, it's not a massage but the skin does get a little pink after a couple of minutes of this.

Also take one oil capsule per day - I chose fish oil but evening primrose is also on the allowed list.

Thanks for the article, as I have previously mentioned, I wasn't hungry and am still not hungry, but I went on the refeed because the program arrived as the clinic I enrolled with closed and they ordered the refeeds ahead of time. I still consider that I have fat sludging around on the lower abdomen although I have reached the 'ideal weight' range. The gist of the article implies that the skin may be flabby because there is still too much fat underneath it.

However, the chook neck is a gaunt look rather than a fat look. I would suggest that working on toning the skin externally may be your best bet even though the change has occured from within.

Above all, don't fret. You may have a bit of chook neck but no longer have trouble carrying the groceries in from the car and don't need two hands to lift yourself out of your chair. I'm sure you look terrific!

Cheers

Chelsea

 

[donnasv]

Hello All!

Well I have signed up w/ Cohen's, went this morning for my blood work and now just have to sit and wait for them to get back with me. This all took a little longer than planned but had a friend call up last week asking if I would come work with her part time to help out. So not only am I starting a diet and a part time job - I started online classes this week as well! I can't wait to hear back from Cohen's so I can figure out what all I need to get/do. But did tell my friend that I would only work 4 1/2 hours each morning, figure this would allow me to eat breakfast at home - go to work - and be back home to eat lunch as the office is close to my house. This will definitely be best for me because they eat ALOT and drink lots of sodas all day long. I keep a litre bottle with me at all times so water will not be a problem.

Just a little about myself - I'm 41 and from the USA so doing the internet program. It is just me, hubby and our "baby" (dog). I was small at one time -when we got married 15 years ago I was 128 lbs. I'm now weighing in at around 198-200. I've finally decided that enough is enough that I have to lose the weight not only so I will feel better about myself but for my health.

So all I can say is..... HURRY UP COHEN I'M READY TO START!!!!

 

[Mermaid_sister]

Thankyou for the motivation less of me, you look fantastic now! you must feel a million dollars! well you would be happy to know that I have not deviated- even this morning I got up and had my breakie and the the cow has left a half eaten packet of timtams and a half eaten packet of m&ms on the kitchen table- how selfish can she be? I think I will have to have a calm word with her when she gets up- even though I feel I have the self control, I feel like she is rubbing it in my face- I can't wait to get into a bikini tho, cos then I can rub THAT in her face! but seriously, I live here too and this is stuff I don't wanna see at the moment. I think I have discovered my hungry food- eggs I have had one for breakie yesterday and today and it has left me feeling hungry which sucks because I really like my mini omlettes- much tastier than the yogurt ah well

 

[8-2much!]

For the New "Cohenette's"

Good Morning Everyone,

It's been great reading up on everyone. We are all still plodding along and losing weight - Yay for us!

Just thought I'd put down a few sentiments regarding my Cohen's journey so far with the intention of helping those of you just starting out.

I have been on the program almost 6 weeks and I have lost 8 kilos in the first four. I am certain this has increased but will have to wait for my next monthly check up. I have chosen to weigh only monthly as I am afraid I will be on the scales every five minutes obsessing over weight gains/stability/losses. For me that only increases the pressure. What if I weighed myself after a slip up and the scales said I'd lost? Or, what if I weighed myself this morning and by the afternoon I'd gained a kilo? Stress I don't need - a false sense of security and on the flip side major anxiety and disappiontment. A monthly weigh-in will give me a more acurate reading of my loss. This is a completely personal decision. You may like to weigh yourself more regularly for encouragement.

I am 29 years old with three small children (3,2 and 6 months.) I am a full time mother at the moment and this has been my greatest life challenge! It saw me balloon 30 kilos due to self esteem issues and adjusting to a lifestyle which is far too regularly regarded as a 'bottom of the food chain position!'

However, I decided that to be the best mother, wife, friend and all round better person, I needed to concentrate on myself a little more. A struggle most mother's have - I think they call it 'Mother Guilt'. Losing weight was a decision I made to make myself a happier and healthier person. And it has been the best decision I have made. I am discovering a whole lot about myself and finding strenghts I never knew existed. So whilst this program is about losing weight it can also be about discovering yourself again and seeing all the wonderful traits you have hidden beneath black baggy clothing and butter sandwiches! You need strength to do this program and it is there within you. You just need to harness that negative energy and use it as fuel to rebuild your life.

I never thought I was worth the effort to lose weight. And I let people around me treat me as though I was not good enough either. I have recently stepped back and had a good hard look at this and it is such self destructive behaviour. We are all worth it. We are all good caring people who need to cut ourselves some slack. Be prepared. Some people, even those near and dear to us, will try to sabotage your journey. This is hard to deal with and really quite sad. But stay focused it truly is their insecurities, their fears which they are projecting onto us.

My first few days on the diet were very challenging and cream buns and pizza seemed to grow legs and sing to me begging me to eat them! I was proud of myself that I did not give into the temptation. And better than not eating was actually my ability to say NO and to be true to myself.

I am the cook of the household and this brings me great challenges every single day at every single meal time. For example, I made a huge pot of spag. bol. last night and it took every muscle and every brain cell to stop myself from devouring the whole lot. This doesn't mean I am weak - after all I didn't do it - it just means I am human. And we need food to survive we are just learning to make the right choices. When everyone else is eating I tend to have a shower or hop onto the forum or fold the clothes and put them away. I have become a weapon of mass distraction! Another tip whilst I am preparing elaborate meals is to have some fresh chewy in my gob. This keeps my mouth busy and I am less likely to taste something if I have peppermint flavour in my mouth.

Have realistic goals. I am looking forward to Christmas. It is such a lovely time of year, especially with the kids. To see their little faces light up when the decorations go up. To hear their squeals of excitement when they unwrap a pressie and to see Mummy walk in in a size 8!!! Yippee! Not to mention shorts and a singlet and being able to ward off the ridiculous heat/sweat without hiding indoors or like a beached whale in the bath tub.

Ok, I'll get off my emotional roller coaster now! I just wanted to let you know you are taking control and making a change for the better. It will have it's challenges, you will feel like throwing it in at times but greater than this you WILL see your weight reduce. No doubt about it. Be kind to yourself and be proud of yourself. You have got the ability and strength to do it. And there are plenty of examples of this right here on this forum. Netski, Chelsea, Lizzi just to name a few.

Good Luck and remember you are not doing this alone.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[MellyP]

Chelsea - Thanks!

 

[8-2much!]

Just a quickie...
After shopping on a Saturday morning I will allocate some time to roast some of my chicken portions in alfoil in the oven. This gives me access to some beautiful flavoured lunch options through out the week. Wrap in foil and use fresh or dried herbs on some, lemon slice on another, plain old salt and pepper on another, garlic and chilli powder for more etc etc. Then refrigerate and Voila! Happy lunch time alternatives.

 

[ttt1]

update

Hi all

I like a lot of people have been reading and really enjoying all the different experiences.

Last Friday was the end of my 10th week, and I had lost 14.5 kilos, am so happy about that.

Half way ... it has been a lot easier these past weeks, just not as hungry as in the beginning and the routine seems to suit me.

Hopefully the gentle loss will continue until the end of November and, you never know, I may be having a more normal food plan by Christmas or New Year, fingers crossed.

Thanks to all of you inspirational people!

 

[reb1]

good afternoon everyone,


Netski how are you going now reefed is finished ?. Please keep posting now you have finished

Lizzi how is reefed going?

less of me your photos look great you can really notice the difference

 

[Princessoz]

Mermaid Sister – Yes, I did have a heap of problems with sleeping. I think I spent far too much time thinking about food!!!!

Welcome to Lisa V’s Weight, GB59, Monique83 and Donnasv – this really is the only diet I have ever stuck with. I love my food and love to have a drink. My life basically consists of socializing with friends, food and drink!!! Anyway, although there are times I’ve had enough, I snap out of it really quickly and continue on. The food is easy and surprisingly enjoyable, all you need is a bit of imagination.
From what I understand this diet was designed to help with fertility!
Yes Monique – if you go back to your old ways you will put the weight back on. Once your finished the reefed, it is totally up to you where you want to be!

Lisa V’s Weight – I have been doing gentle exercise since starting Cohens and last night did my first step class, still did not feel hungry. I was advised by a friend who did Cohens to do small amounts of exercise to help with toning, but really is upto the individual.
Jody, you look amazing. Thankyou for the photos and inspiration!

Thanks for the recipe Nanrn 873. Cabbage and I have become best friends so its nice to have a new way of cooking it.

8-2much – really enjoyed reading your post, thanks for sharing!

I saw a friend of mine today who has been doing Cohens fr about 10 weeks, she looks amazing. She’s coming over for tea on Thursday night and instead of picking at a gourmet platter of yummy stuff and drinking the night away with a few bottled of red, I am making a beautiful Seafood salad followed by a yummy fruit dessert. We might indulge ourselves and have a sprite zero!

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[jayce1]

kickboxing~

i always wanted to take up kickboxing, but didn't had the courage to go when i was much much bigger... was quite afraid and intimidated by the thoughts of not able to catch up with the class, or the weird stares by others.... but once i get down to a decent weight... i gonna kick asses~! but to wat i noe... kickboxing is quite a vigorous exercise, can i take it up while on cohens?

 

[cherub1]

Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!

Had my 4 week weigh in and blood test today...soooooooo happy...lost 5.6 in 4 weeks (lower loser...mind you, I did have 1 big binge in week 2).

Quite a few times I felt like "something else" after dinner...but told myself:
1) Don't waste that $680
2) You'll be unhappy with yourself in the morning
3) It's mind over matter...go do something else
4) It's only for a few months of your life
5) Think about all of those "skinny" clothes tucked away in storage...and the ones you're gonna buy!

Small things that I did differently:
-added 1 heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard to my meat meals
-had the occasional extra small piece of fruit
-had one "big binge" in week 2
-was 5/10grams over here and there with meat
-ate yummy skinless bbq chicken occasionally (pre cooked...gasp!!)

.......and I still lost heaps of weight....so don't stress over the little things guys!

 

[Sashie]

Hi again

Just wondering if anyone out there has any breakfast meal ideas that dont include an egg?

Id really like to have my egg for lunch sometimes, any thoughts would be really welcomed.

Keep up the good work everyone your doing great!

 

[narn873]

Breakfast ideas for sashie

Hi Sashie,

My favourite brekky is brownes natural yoghurt with disolved coffee mixed in - ALMOST has that cappo taste and i have found that the youghurt fills me up for longer.

I also have tomato, zucchini on crispbread with cottage cheese and a sprinkle of pepper

if you like tuna (tinned) add some mushrooms, tom's & zucchini, herbs, garlic etc heat it and serv on crisp bead.

Hope these give you a few more ideas

 

[Babyegg]

I should make it clear that I am not complaining that I am not losing weight...I understand very well that 1kg a week is normal... I am just wondering why am I stopping at the weight of 79-80kg... I should say its more of a "questioning myself post" and at the same time hoping that some ppl will give me some idea... Thanks Chelsea for the suggestion.... I will try various ways and hope that I will be losing more than now... Perhaps I am anxious on losing more weight... Hope all will bear with me...

 

[lizzi1]

Good morning everyone.
Thanks reb for asking about me. I hope that you stay strong and things are OK for you, stick with it and you will get there and be thrilled with yourself.

Today is Day 5 on refeed and I am really enjoying this! I so much loved my pineapple!! The rockmelon wasn't bad either. Today I will be having some lychees and some more rockmelen, so that is 2 extra pieces of fruit. I have a slice of bread with lunch and that feels very normal. And this evening I am looking forward to a much bigger piece of steak and extra veg - it feels very normal! And it gets to be more before I finish.

Tomorrow means a whole sandwich, and 90gms of extra protein which I will split between lunch and dinner.

What I am hanging out for is Saturday, when for the first time after 65 weeks, I don't have to worry about getting up for breakfast in time to fit lunch in, because the 5 hour rule goes.

There is so much to look forward to people - and this is only the tip of the iceburg. There is a whole world of normal experiences out there - and fitting in as a thin person. When people are talking about overweight people and food restrictions, they don't look at me anymore, and they don't see me as fitting into that category. And that is the best reward of all!! To notice that I am not the one included in the situation.

I am constantly giving out the information about Cohen's - not sure that too many actually follow it though, but I still feel I need a commission because some do - I could open a weight loss clinic myself with the number of people who want to talk about it. That's a nice feeling too.

Well, may it be really good for each of you this week. Stay focused and do this for yourself. It will change your life experience.
lizzi