Annabelle Joy's diary

[Annabelle Joy]

I received my diet yesterday morning, as I was leaving for the winery where I work on Tuesdays. Because it's summer and busy, I spent the day on my feet behind the bar, giving the tastings instead of doing the office work. By mid afternoon I was more than ready for the mud crab risotto the chef prepared for me, and a glass of wine. By 7 pm, after I'd spent a couple of hours helping the owner wash all the dishes I was again ready for oysters, a mince pie and more wine. Not sure how I'll get on next Tuesday. Yes I am. I'll go there with my own lunch, and drink the imported mineral water.

I had planned to start tomorrow, but didn't arrive home until late last night, and was out most of today, and feel I need some time before I shop to plan what I'm going to eat for the next few days, so I'm going to start Friday. This will also give me the weekend to cope with the worst of the effects.

Today I went to the hairdresser, and visited a winery across the road from him that's normally not open weekdays. That's my last 'tasting' for many months. I then went to the Clinic for my first consultation. One thing I did learn, and relevant to the water discussion above, is that I should drink about a litre of water per 25 kg of weight. For me, that's 4 litres a day when I start. I haven't done any more about a water purifier.

I've just had my husband take photos of me. He's done three sets, each having a photo front on, side on and rear view. One set I'm fully dressed, the second I'm wearing a bra and long pants, and the third I'm wearing a bra and underpants only. I'm looking forward the seeing the 'after' photos to match the last set in a few months. We're going out tonight for a special meal at a seafood restaurant. He's volunteered to be the designated driver. I'll be able to do it from Friday onwards.

Any recommendations for really tasty (and preferably easy to prepare) recipes from the book, the main web site or this forum?

AJ

[a healthy life]

I plan to start my program on a weekend too.

That's interesting about the litre of water per 25 kg of weight. I had heard that before, but I've read discussions on here that Dr Cohen only recommends something like 3 litres. Gosh, I'd need to drink 4.5 litres of water. I thought 3 litres would be hard.

Im going to take similiar before pic's. It will be so cool at the end seeing the comparison!

Good luck for day 1 tomorrow!

[FotoHijinx]

Good luck for tomorrow AJ

Irene

[samaras mum]

Hi AJ

Welcome and Good Luck with your start tomorrow. You will find this site so beneficial as I have. But I have to say if your looking for some huge motivation and inspiration.................

Then you have come to the right place

I am already excited about your progress.

Sonia

[Annabelle Joy]

Thanks, Sonia and Irene. Today I cleaned out the fridge, threw out anything that my husband wasn't likely to want and that wasn't allowed on Cohen. He's able to eat anything he wants without gaining (and mostly does), but has a family history of heart problems and is very strict about fats. I tried to plan a week's worth of menus, along with dealing with a lot of other issues, didn't get beyond the breakfasts. I think I need to try recipes out one at a time, then I'll find it easier to plan when I know what I'd like. I stocked up on Cohen food at the supermarket and have enough to last the week (possibly the month), just need to decide what to eat when. I'll cut and weigh the meat in the morning. Looking forward to starting. The first few days is always hard in terms of fighting the hunger, but usually very rewarding as water loss results in big changes on the scales. I'm a 'weigh each morning' person. Plateaus and slight gains don't bother me, as I know it will eventually continue.

AJ

[jeannie77]

Welcome and Good Luck for your first day tomorrow!

You will find some great recipes on this forum and on the cohens website.

Sounds like you are foucused and ready to start your journey to the new you

Jeannie

[Annabelle Joy]

Thanks, Jeannie. I've finally started! I'm so excited. I've put on a kilo in the past couple of days, with a couple of meals of special things that I won't be eating again for a long time. I got up early this morning, weighed and measured, and had yogurt, 1/2 an apple grated and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I'm about to measure out water (I've already had two glasses) and cut up the meat I bought yesterday.

AJ

[hexi2]

Good on you..

Off and racing! You are going to be so impressed with your results guarenteed

[Annabelle Joy]

Day 1, Week 1
I managed day 1 okay, felt a little hungry later afternoon and late evening. My husband liked the fish with mango recipe from the web site much better than the expensive (overpriced) blue eye he had at the restaurant the other night. I wouldn't have been surprised if my weight was up this morning, given all the water that I drank yesterday (intake seemed to be greater than outflow ), so I was delighted to find I'd lost 1.8 kg. That's a good day 1 loss on any diet. I couldn't wait to update my ticker this morning so it shows I've started

AJ

[SOS]

Hi AJ,

Good luck with it all. You will breeze through the program and on your road to a being a successful Cohen graduate.

[TheSkinnyMeInside]

Annabelle,

Fantastic 1st day achievement.

Keep up the good work...you are on the right track.

Cindy

[jeannie77]

Well done on surviving Day 1

Fantastic result to lose 1.8kgs in one day. Cant say I know of any other diets out there with the same amazing results. The hunger will ease over the next few days. Sometimes you just have to change when you eat the fruit and crackers, so if you find you are more hungry in the afternoon/evening try saving your fruit and crackers for then. I had a hungry day this week and ate my crackers and fruit together between meals with a big glass of water to help ease that feeling. Hopefully that means I am in for a big loss soon.

Jeannie

[a healthy life]

Congratulations on an excellent first day!

[Kohinoor]

Hi AJ,

GREAT start !! And if you really want to know how much that one day has given you, go find a 2 litre Mik container (almost full of water or milk) and pick it up. That is the weight you have shed overnight.

By the end of the week you could be having to pick up 3 of these to understand how much you have lost by then. After that, it slows down a bit, but hey, what a great start anyway.

Koh

[Annabelle Joy]

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement, and especially healthy life who I somehow missed the other day.

Healthy life, I'm not having any problems drinking the four litres. I have a glass when I get up in the morning, one with breakfast, and one during the night in sips when I go to the toilet. I measure out the rest and sip water throughout the day. Does anyone else drink this much water? I do have reservations about it washing out nutrients, but that's what I was told to drink.

Kohinoor, thanks for the milk analogy, it's really encouraging, but frightening to think how many extra 'cartons of milk' I'm carrying around with me

Definitely hungrier today, but managing. I'm taking things really easy today. No wonder I feel hungry. I calculate that I'm only eating about 700 calories - 3000 kilojoules - a day! Big change from what I've been eating to add all those milk containers.

AJ

[Kohinoor]

Hehe - know what you mean AJ

but frightening to think how many extra 'cartons of milk' I'm carrying around with me

But the idea is to "put them all down and don't pick them up again". After that, this'll be you ----->

So, don't think about them, except to visualise them GONE !!!

Koh

[Annabelle Joy]

Day 2, Week 1
Thanks, Koh. And I've lost another of the old fashioned bottles by this morning -- 600 gm. That's 2.4 kg from the first two days. I'm very happy with that. I'm now expecting to slow down and lose more gradually. I know I'm not supposed to weigh every day, but I've done this so many times that I do know what to expect and am not deterred by plateaus and occasional small gains. I'm enjoying the recipes when I take the time to cook them. Still trying to work out the best times to eat my snacks. I kept a piece of fruit and a crispbread until the evening yesterday, and then wasn't hungry, but have been told to eat everything in the first ten days.

AJ

[jackie]

Congratulations on your decision to start something that will have such an amazing impact on your life. Meal by meal, day by day and within a short period of time you will be enjoying the potential of what your life has in store for you.

If it helps, I space out my snacks to get me through the "munchies" moments throughout the day. I don't have fruit and crackers at the same time and don't have a cracker at breakfast. Plus, when I have my apple, I slice it up thinly and eat it progressively over 1 hour. Seems to keep me satisfied longer.

Best wishes for an amazing week.

[Annabelle Joy]

Thanks, Jackie. I'm allowed 8 crispbreads, but no more than two at a time, and at least 2 1/2 hours between. I think I should aim for mid-morning, mid afternoon and two meals. I agree about not eating the fruit with the crispbread.

AJ

[Annabelle Joy]

Day 3, Week 1
Only 200 gm today, but that's to be expected by day 3. I wasn't as hungry yesterday and generally felt better. I haven't had any headaches, but I seldom do anyway. I'm already getting a bit tired of all that water.

AJ