Cohen's Lifestyle Merci's Diary

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Merci

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Well today marks the end of my first week "pre-cohen", ramping up to get out some of the kinks while I wait for my program to come (hopefully this week). I appreciate all the posts that helped me through some early rough spots. As a result I 've added a Multi, and am drinking (alot more) water more conscientiously. That seems to be lessening my headaches and last night I slept alot better. I also take one 99 mg potassium which I think helps with all themuslce fatigue when carb consumption is really low. I've been able to maintain a fairly normal activity (similar to before) and am walking for 30 minutes a day and hope to throw in a bike ride periodically. But I sure am tired by 7 or 8 p.m.

My biggest problem is being hungry almost ALL the time from about an hour after a meal. And, I have a feeling once I get my program it will be even less kcals since I'm just guessing from menus some others have posted. I understand that gets easier and I'll look forward to that. But I did notice that tonight I ate an extra ounce (28.2) grams of veggies and of meat and I actually felt full, almost too full. That shocked me and pleased me.

The thing that most motivates me about this plan is the promise that my body will be reset when I'm done so I will be "normal" and not always on the edge of gaining weight or struggling to lose it. What a gift that would be.
 
Hey Merci

Welcome! Glad to hear you slept a little better. I am also absolutely knackered by the time 7pm comes around, that is mostly because work is so crazy.

But you are starting soon and just keep drinking the water, it helps fill you up after your meals. I squeeze a little lemon juice in the water to help it go down sometimes, this juice is part of your allowance mind you.

Best of luck and keep posting :)

PP1
 
And so it begins

Today after breakfast I went to my computer and there was my program!! I've been waiting for this with such anticipation. I have to say I was bit freaked out when I first viewed and saw how limited it was. I LOVE vegetables, all vegetables and I felt sad and scared about the measily little list of ones I can choose from. The protein quantities seem impossibly small--especially the Menu 1 list. 1 Egg??? I can't believe one egg would ever hold me for five hours!!

So I went through about 15 minutes of bellyaching about that then decided to take the dogs for a walk. I noticed myself feeling sad, not sure why, so I just continued to feel it. The thought popped into my head that I was just going to have to pull my attention away from food because I'd be constantly battling with myself if I didn't. Then I had (what I thought was) a revelation. The next few months for me, however many it will be, will not be about food. Although I've been a very healthy eater for at least 20 years, too much of my attention is on eating, even if I'm not "overeating". I just think about it alot, have too big an attachment to it, spend alot of time shopping, cooking, reading recipes, menu planning, etc. How liberating this will be and what an opportunity this will be for me to bring my energy into other areas of my life.

I actually am now looking forward to this challenge as much as to the results!!
ANs funny thing, I wasn't bothered by my being hungry today nearly as much as I have been. Is that cool or what?

Merci :jump:
 
Slogging through

Today was a hard day. The last three nights I haven't slept well and it's taking it toll. I'm awake every night around 3 a.m. and up for several hours, then sleep an hour or so, then up for work. Struggling with being hungry most of the time day and night. Today was my first full day on the official plan and with even less food I feel like my body is going through readjustment again. Breakfast barely held me for 2 hours, by lunch I was extremely hungry. Lunch didn't take care of my hunger so afternoon was hard. Dinner filled me up for about 30 minutes. Finally by 8:30 I gave in and ate 3 rice cakes--I had to laugh. On the one hand it was definitely off plan but the idea that my "binge" was 3 rice cakes compared to what it might have been before I started all this is funny. I was hoping that by feeling somewhat satisfied before going to sleep I might sleep well all night, but no such luck.

I think I need some min-goals to keep me moving along here.
#1 get below 81 kg

#2 fit easily into the black stretch jeans and the new turqoise top I have waiting for me

More to come.

On a more postive note, I notice I'm feeling much lighter emotionally, and less stress knowing that I've finally found a solution that I've been looking for for a long time.

If anybody has some encouraging words from their experience about the sleep problem, I'd love to hear them.

Merci:sleeping: (hopefully soon)
 
A couple of tips I heard.....

Dear Merci, I feel for what you're going through-I get the same prob of constant hunger too! What you were told about having plenty of water can be added to ; I heard on tv discovery channel in 'the truth about food' that making soup is a good way to assuage the hunger without taking too many cals-it can satisfy for quite a time. I also heard that taking soya protein is quite filling without being fattening. Another thing they said was that taking calcium(as low-fat yoghourt,cottage cheese or similar,is good for slimming as it blocks the absorption of fat into the body. ALl worth a try, i think.
There are a couple of products on the market that are supposed to suppress the appetite(Xenical,Meridia,or Accomplia)-we need all the help we can get,no? You can get the generic versions online,so can save quite a lot of money. Try westcoastdrugs.com for a reliable source of generic drugs.
 
Hi Merci, I am past my first week and the thing that bothers me the most is my vision has become blurry. I emailed the Cohen people but haven't had a reply yet. The only reason I have problems sleeping is I have to go to the bathroom all night long due to all the water. Now I try to drink most of it early in the day. And I have had light headedness and brain fog too which I guess is normal.

I don't think you should try Ali or Xenical etc. while on this diet because we hardly get any fat on this diet anyway and those things pull fat out of the body. Sounds like it might be dangerous. (just my opinion)

I have lost 9 lbs in the first week (I'm in the US) so that helps to keep me motivated. I felt the same way when I saw the small portions but I'm actually not very hungry until 5 hours have passed and it's time to eat. Just keep telling yourself that it's not forever, it will end and you will have a new body. And look how fast time goes by. 12 weeks will be over before you know it. I just think of how hopeless I felt before I started the diet and how hopeless I would feel again if I didn't stick it out and I never want to feel like that again. Hang in there and know that we're all in the same boat with you!
 
Also Merci, have you tried the Chromium supplements? They help with hunger and cravings. I have taken them from the beginning and haven't had cravings or unbearable hunger.
 
Longing2Bthin: Thanks for your response. I was feeling really stressed about it this morning but this afternoon is already better. I agree with you about the drugs--it's not what I woud do and I totally agree with you about the low fat. In fact I emailed them before I started about how low fat it is and they assured me that it was only temporary.

I happy for you that you're having such success! I look forward to that myself. This afternoon I just discovered that I've been counting crackers wrong (and of course eating too many!) I was counting the carb grams and reread my manual to find I was supposed to be counting weight grams. Crap--even less food!! (pardon my whine here for a moment). I will try chromium--Gratefully, I am having no problem with cravings (I wasn't a big carb or sugar eater before this) but if it might help with the hunger I'd give it a whirl.

I hope you get some response soon about your vision--that would be disconcerting. Are you posting in a diary? I idn't see it. But if you are, I'll pop in to see how you're doing occassionally. Oh by the way, I'm in the states too I just though it would good to to be less geocentric and go metric on my ticker!

Merci
 
Merci,

I haven't done the diary yet, I probably should.

The crackers were a little confusing to me because of the part at the bottom of that section about recommended ingredients so I probably eat less to be on the safe side. I eat the Ryvita light rye, one with each meal. I don't want to eat anything with white flour for fear that it would start cravings or slow the weight loss. I can't believe how different my body looks in one week, it's amazing how fast it works. I can already get into some smaller jeans that were tight a week ago. What state are you in? I live in Denver, Colorado.
 
I'm in Michigan.
I think avoiding white flour is smart on your part. I generally avoid wheat althogether. I've found two great crackers--on is a toasted onion flavor rice cracker and the other is a gluten free herb flavored. I"m amazed every day when I get up that my body is smaller! I've only been on my plan for 2 days but I started almost two weeks ago with a close approximation but I was eating more protein and more veggies. I lost almost 6# doing that so I'm optomistic it'll go even faster with the "real" program. It's been fun pulling out clothes I'd packed away because they were too tight.
Someone else recommended a journal / diary to help you stay focussed. At least at the beginning I"m finding it a good thing for me. It also gives me other people to talk to about it and not bug my partner all the time.

Merci
 
Hi Merci,

I really need to start journeling too, I hear it really helps. I bought a journel to begin this program and only did it the first day, the rest of the pages are blank. I have no excuse not to.

It is amazing how fast you can feel your body shrinking. I can already get into a pair of jeans that I couldn't zip 10 days ago. That really helps keep me motivated!
 
G'day, cheers for visiting my diary. I've just read what you wrote here about the 3 rice cakes. Who ever thought we'd consider something like that a "pig out"? I find the water drinking really helps with the hunger, but it's easier when I'm not at work. In a few days, the hunger you are battling with will disappear, and you will feel like you are controlling your body instead of it dictating to you. And in a matter of weeks you will have energy beyond belief, and be sleeping really good. I find the first few nights a bit tricky because hunger keeps me awake. It takes all my self-control to not get out of bed and eat.:drooling: Anyway, congrats on starting your program. I'll check in regularly and see how you're going.
 
Thanks L-Jay for stopping by!

Well yesterday was the first day my hunger seems to be subsiding or at least not very distracting. And I 've slept well the last three nights so I'm quite happy for that. I also didn't exercise at all the last three days (had been walking 30 miniutes daily which I'd been doing before Cohen as well). I'm going to start again today and hopefully that won't trigger more hunger. I finally feel like I'm not shocked every time I make a meal at how small it is! And thank G-d I finally feel stisfied instead of still hungry at the end of my meals. Did anyone else feel that way? I never thought of myself as someone who ate particularly large meals but this has been quite an adjustment.

I was a little discouraged this morning at not much weight lost since I started my program last Thursday. It's only a little over .5kg; most of what I lost (on my ticker) was in the 10 days I was "preparing" for Cohen's. I've been weighing everything and the only deviation I have had was being over slightly on my crackers 2 times. I need to wean myself of weighing I know, but the tempatation is strong to jump on the scale and see the number. I'm having a period now so I'm hoping homones may have something to do with the slowness. This is too hard work for me not to be getting the great results. I'm not any less committed, just a bit disappointed. I know it could all change in a few days.

Has anyone heard anything about whether it's important to complete your meal within a certain time frame? Not that there's alot of food to stretch out over time! but if I'm at work and get involved in something and don't finish I was wondering if it mattered? It's difficult to get timely responses via internet from the consultatns so if anyone could answer that for me I'd appreciate it.

Also, has anyone gotten info form their consultant about what to do if you're going to be travelling and not likely to be able to follow the plan well before you reach your goal? I read some threads that sounded like it was advisable to do a refeed prior to going off plan, then restarting? Again, I have emailed to ask those questions but it's been five days with no response.

I guess I'm a little on the down side today not seeing much change and not feeling like the Cohen people are very responsive. I'm going to up my water to day and see if that makes a difference. I hope everyone else is having a good day or evening!

Merci
 
Hi Merci,

Are you eating all of the food? You said you get busy and don't finish. I think it's important to eat the amounts that were given to you in the diet since it acts "like medicine" in your body. If you are finishing, do you wait 5 hours from the time you finish to the next meal? I know you know that already but what I mean is I wait 5 hours after I finish my meal not 5 hours from the time I started it. I can't think of anything else, maybe your weight loss is slower to begin with because you had kinda started the diet already and lost some weight.

I emailed Cohen about my vision and it took 2 days to get a response and all they said was to add a fruit and more crackers for 2 weeks. That seems to be their answer for everything. I feel like I paid the $249 for the diet only because we really don't get support from them at all just from each other.
Hang in there, with this amount of food there's no way you won't lose weight LOL
 
Hi longing2Bthin. Me not finish all my food?? Not on your life!!! Every last crumb goes in my mouth (but nothing more). I also wait five hours from when I finish the last meal. Boy that last hour is hard. It is getting easier though--last night I actually felt full! I couldn't believe it. This morning I didn't weigh myself but my body had definitely decreased in size so that made me feel better. I think I just may be one of those slow losers unfortunately. At least it's working and I'm losing which is more than I can say for anything else I've tried! I'm also thinking that because I already didn't eat much in the way of carbs and sugar before this, that maybe is why I didn't lose as much initially as some people do at the beginning. But I sure would love to be one of those folks that lost 15-20# a month so I can get off this thing!!

I've been pretty disappointed with the lack of support as well. I got a reply this afternoon to my questions and all they do is repeat stuff that's in the manual, which if it answered my questions, I wouldn't be emailing them in the first place. I asked them about traveling--if it would be advisable to do a refeed first if I wouldn't be able to have control over my food. The suggestion I got was not to go out for meals and if I did, just eat a green salad with low-fat dressing. Huh? It turns out we may not be going on the trip we had planned anyway so I may avoid the problem altogether until I finish the program.

Sounds like they think your vision problem is related to low blood sugar. Have you been hypoglycemic in the past? Let me know how it goes. I'll also pop into your diary to read how you're doing.

take care, Merci
 
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Hi Merci,

Have you measured yourself? Even if the scale doesn't move I know you're losing inches.

I don't think I'm hypoglycemic, not that I know of. When I did my blood work before starting the diet my glucose was slightly high. It was 102 and the highest end of the range was 99. I read that hormone fluctuations can cause blurry vision also so that could be it.
 
Hello, just checking in to see how you're faring. Try not to weigh yourself for awhile, and see how you go. Because you usually walk and you didnt for a couple of days, maybe this affected weightloss?? Like you said, it's probably hormones. I know it makes a huge difference with me. Hang in there. I saw your ? about eating out. I would try and pick the most cohen-like things. Whatever you do, dont worry overly. The weight will come off, and possibly will speed up over time. As Longing2bthin says, measuring is the best indicator. In about 5 more days, you will definitely see a difference. Hang in there. Stay positive. Drinking heaps of water will help with any hunger you may experience between meals in the future. Take heart if you experience hunger in the coming weeks, I usually find my weight has significant drops the next day or two when that happens.
I cant help you with your ? about when to count the 5 hours from, as I am a fast eater (not the best way to be) so I am probably finished in about 15mins. I count from when I started eating.
Hope the next few days are fantastic for you.
 
Yikes, got up this morning at 5:30 for a meeting at seven that I have every Thursday. Because these days are longer for me in the past I usually ate more. I guess today it will be water, water, water! I did weigh myself this morning and I did lose again so I'm happy about that. I"m really going to work on breaking myself of the weighing habit. It's a craziness of sorts since I can clearly see that my clothes are looser, smaller sizes are fitting, and I can clearly see that I'm smaller. Today at my meeting a couple people commented that they're noticing I'm smaller. I guess the scale number just gives me a quantitative measure of how close I am to my goal and how much longer I'll be at this. It's silly really since what ultimately matters is that I feel comfortable in my body whatever the number.

LJ: I love what you wrote about when your hunger is back you know a weight loss is coming. That is such a wonderfully positive way to look at it. And it's true! I was hungry all night and when my SO went dowstairs in the middle of the night to get something to eat, I just lay there thinking I'm burning fat. When I 'm really on top of things I try to step outside myself when I 'm hungry and just observe it as "oh, that's an interesting sensation" and try no to get emotionally involved (a trick from meditation). When I can do it it's great but sometimes I can't.

Does anybody know, does everyone get the same meal 1,2 and 3 patterns with the same number of grams? Does everyone get the same vegetable list?
Mine had Hubbard Squash which surprised me becasue it's a dense, sweet, winter squash. Does anyone have broccoli--mine specifically excluded it.

Wishing everyone a successful day or restful night for those of you south of the equator.

Merci
 
Hey you. Well done!!!! It's amazing the power scales have over us hey? I'm actually too scared to hop on them. I"m worried that if I do, I'll be disappointed and think what the heck I may as well eat something off the plan.
About the meals: I think the basic pattern is the same, maybe slight variations. Eg. Some plans allow a red meat for meal 3, on mine I can only have poultry or fish. The grams do vary. Not sure about the vegies. From what I've seen they are usually the same. I'm not allowed broccoli either. I was sent an email about it when it was removed. I was really wanting to have red meat at meal 3, and my consultant reprinted my program with my meals switched around. I wish you could have my consultant. She is sooooo helpful. She does anything she can to help me. I don't deserve her. Hope you are getting a restful sleep, burning off the fat. Have a good day tomorrow.
 
I love Fridays when I'm done with work and the weekend is here!!! Today was a hard day with hunger. I was tired from a few nights of broken sleep. Between the dog needing to go out and me needing to pee all that water, I haven't had as restful sleep as I need. But I have been dreaming alot which is not ususual for me so I'm getting good sleep just not enough of it. Anyway, when I 'm really tired I just don't have the wherewithall to move throug the hunger. Today was my "worst" day for deviations. Extra fruit (1) and extra crackers (lost count but at least 6). I"m still waiting for the time that many people say they reach in the first week, when I'm not hungry!! Some days are better than others but no day goes without hunger. I think I'm going to experiment with not doing my 30 minute morning walk for couple days and see if that makes a difference. I'd hate to give it up--I enjoy it and the dogs need it--but if it's going to make it continually hard to stick 100% to my program I'll do it. Lord knows I don't want to have to do this any longer than necessary! On a more positive note, had a great dinner tonight. Chopped up cauliflower quite small in the food processor than "sauteed" it with onions, mushrooms, green pepper, and chicken with some curry powder. Yum :jump:
I'm really enjoying the meals I'm making. The clinic emailed me (in response to a question) that Kale, Collards, and Bok Choy were OK for me to add so I was ecstatic about that. I have Kale and Collards in my garden and was sad not to use them. Besides, the Kale is light and has lots of fiber so it really fills up a meal (and me). Can you tell I'm fairly focussed on food today?! I think it's time for me to go drink ALOT of water!!

Off to bed,

Merci

P.S. L-Jay of COURSE you deserve a wonderful consultant; we all do. Why ever would think you don't? Popped in to your diary and sorry to hear you had a hard day yesterday (or was it the day before--the PB day?). I'm rooting for you to have a string of good ones here.
 
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