Annabelle Joy's diary

[Annabelle Joy]

I’ve signed up and had my blood tests. I’m now waiting for my diet. I had hoped to start straight after New Year, but hadn’t allowed for people going on holiday. Maybe just as well to have a few extra days to return some hospitality before I start the diet. I figure that if things go well it’ll be six months before I can entertain again.

I’m quite nervous about this diet, but determined to give it my best effort. I’ve been dieting most of my life. Finally discovered with Atkins that if I stay clear of the high GI carbohydrates I can at least maintain my weight. Unfortunately, I love the high GI foods and once I get onto them I have difficulty getting back off them, and my weight skyrockets up. Christmas has been a disaster.

Usually I’m pretty good at sticking to a diet. Getting the incentive to actually start is a problem. Getting back onto it if I deviate for some reason (special event, or just a social occasion) is the other problem. I now have the incentive to get started on Cohen. Reading the forum posts has been a great help.

The other problems are related to my lifestyle. I do a bit of computer support work, mostly in people’s homes. Regular mealtimes can be difficult. I’m going to have to take water with me, and then I’ll be wanting to use their toilets. One day a week, sometimes more, I work in a winery. At the end of the day the owner and I have some wine and a chat. I like my wine! She’s already said to me “You’re not going to be much fun on a Tuesday.”

A couple of times a month I go out to lunch and to dinner (both with plenty of wine) with friends. That’s usually the only time I see them, so I don’t want to stop going. The dinners are to inexpensive ethnic restaurants, none of which will have food suitable for a Cohen diet. I might be able to eat at the restaurants with the lunch group if I’m careful. Every Friday evening my husband and I have champagne and seafood in our spa. Some days the work’s been difficult and demanding and I really look forward to a glass of wine or three when I arrive home.

So here’s what I’ve decided I need to do. All of this I decided before I found this forum. Not surprisingly, I see that others have had the same ideas.
a) I’ve decided that the only way to keep going is not to deviate – at all, ever – until I get to my target weight.
b) Pack lunch and plenty of water when I go out on a job. Or wait until I get home for late lunch and have a late dinner.
c) Eat before I go to the ethnic restaurants, and just drink mineral water there.
d) Take lunch and drink mineral water at the winery.
e) Prawns (weighed), salad and mineral water in the spa.
f) If I get invited out elsewhere I’m going to either take my meal with me or eat before I go and drink water while I’m there. I’ve taken note of comments in the forum about others not appreciating dieters who do that. I remember having similar feelings when my sister-in-law brought her own special food after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
g) I’ll start telling people that it’s doctor prescribed. I haven’t really done that yet, I’ll wait until I receive my personal diet.
h) I don’t have too much problem drinking water, but when I get busy I don’t get round to it. I’m going to put the water in bottles at the start of the day, and make sure I get my quota each day. I’m thinking of buying a water filtering system to get really clean water. Has anyone done that?
i) If I can see the results I hope I can stick with it. My husband (who can eat and drink whatever he likes, and does, without gaining) is a big help and support.
j) I’m telling everyone I know. That’s an incentive to stick with it. I don’t like failing.
k) I’ve noted that lots of you weigh the food and put it into bags. Sounds like a good idea.
Any additional advice would be most welcome, and please let me know if you think I’m taking the wrong approach on anything.

I’m thinking of going onto Atkins for a couple of days before starting Cohen in the hope that I might avoid the hunger. Pure protein, but as much as I like for a couple of days and I shouldn’t feel hungry when I start Cohen. Any thoughts from anyone who’s tried both?

I’m really pleased I found this forum. It’s great to see how successful you’ve all been, and to know that I can get advice and support from people who’ve been though it when things get tough.

Annabelle Joy

[pandora]

Hi and a very warm welcome to you Annabelle Joy! I see from another post you are 60 yrs old and i am 53 yrs old (and Pudge is close to my age) so we can help you as our bodies do get a tad more resistant to weight loss as we get older, even my clinic confirmed that! Anyway, i am rushing out the door and dont have time right now to answer some of yr questions etc, but will try again later! Meantime maybe someone else wll pick up the thread! Congratulations on a whole new life, i know cos i am at my goal weight, woohoo! I wish i had done it yrs ago! Pandora

[Wendy9]

Hi Annabelle Joy and welcome to Cohenland! I'm 53 also - same as Pandora - By reading your post you sound like you've got it all done pat - congratulations - If you stick to your guns and don't deviate you'll not be sorry. I too have tried Atkins - I'm currently into my 8th week and am not hungry at all - the purpose is to get or HGH, insulin and seratonin levels in sequence and when you do that you'll not be hungry. I find this easier to stick to than Atkins. Don't worry about the wine - it's not leaving the planet and on refeed I believe you can have some. Besides, "Nothing can taste as good as slim is going to feel!" Some other great sayings I've picked up are "Do or Do Not - there is no try!" - "You are the author of your life so only you can decide how it will read - write it for success!" Welcome again and good luck! You'll find plenty of support here!

[Annabelle Joy]

Thanks for the welcome and the support, Pandora and Wendy9. I've tried all sorts of diets over many years. They all work. Problem is, either I deviate after a bit, then can't get back onto it, or get discouraged when I reach a plateau and either way start piling it back on after I stop. I'm quite apprehensive about Cohens as it seems to be particularly strict. However, I'm determined that I won't deviate until I get to the end. I think that's the real secret for me. As you said, Wendy9, the wine (and illegal tasty foods) will still be there at the end. I didn't mention in my first post, and it's not a prime reason for me going on the diet, but my son is getting married next October and I'm looking forward to looking terrific in the wedding photos. January's a good month to start, as it's pretty quiet socially, not that I have a hectic social life.

Annabelle Joy

[FotoHijinx]

Hi Annabelle Joy and welcome - might have to shorten that to AJ heehee

Yep - all pretty scary isn't it. Well let me reassure you - it is the easiest thing I have ever done. I think I needed the strict guidelines - you can either have it or you can't - none of that "if you have a little of this, then you have to cut back on a little of that" - that to me is way more scarier as I think it would be too easy to deviate big time!

Yep - went and got my mate to install a water purifier system on my tap as bottled water is too expensive (can't stand the thought of paying for water), plus bottled water has no nutritional benefits.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things to prepare. Sandwich bags are now your best friend! Find yourself a great butcher because you are going to treat yourself to the best meat possible. Buy the best cuts and buy it in bulk - take it home and cut it and weigh it. Then you put it in your sandwich bags, write the weight on it and freeze it. So simple! No excuses then.

I think you have done the best thing possible for yourself by jumping on here because we are all going to support you 100% so don't be afraid to jump on here and rave on (I do) and you'll be surprised how everyone will keep you on track and cheer you on.

Irene

[Annabelle Joy]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, FotoHijinx. I also hate paying for water. I was thinking of a bench top water filtration system, which I can buy from a client and offset against money she owes me, but after you mentioned your system is on the tap I thought I'd better do some more research. I found this site http://www.crystalline.com.au/index.php to be helpful. Haven't decided yet what to get. I decided today to test myself out on three litres of water for the day. That shouldn't be any problem for me. I'm half way through already and still drinking my regular tea and coffee as well.

You're right, AJ is much simpler.

AJ

[FotoHijinx]

Ooh AJ

Might have led you astray (by accident) - mine isn't through the normal tap - its another tap next to it - you know the ones, the skinny tap next your normal ones so you were probably looking at the right one with your client.

Irene

[Annabelle Joy]

That's okay, Irene. I hadn't assumed anything, just thought I should do a bit more research. I've seen the sort you have. My husband likes the idea of a distillation system as the most effective way of removing everything. My thoughts on that are that it leaves the water 'flat'. Not sure if that bothers me, probably not.

AJ

[Wendy9]

Hi Annabelle Joy - Cohens is the best thing I've done - secret is don't think of it as a diet but as an eating plan to correct a hormonal imbalance which is going to make your body burn fat - and it will - your body will burn in cycles so if you get any days where you don't lose don't panic - I've found those days I seem to lose it in centimetres. By the time the wedding comes along you'll be a stunner! I've got the thin separate water filter which is good but it shouldn't matter what water you drink as long as you drink it.

[hexi2]

Just wanted to say welcome Annabelle!

This is the last, last diet you will ever be on - Cohens is so very different to anything I have tried!

So pleased you have found our lovely little community

[Annabelle Joy]

Well, I managed the water quota without any difficulty yesterday, had drunk 3 litres by mid afternoon, and probably 5 litres by the end of the day, including normal tea and coffee. I won't be on the new 'eating plan' until next week, but wanted to try the water quota. I didn't mean to make a big thing about the filter. I've been thinking of getting one for a while, but generally am happy to drink tap water. However, if I'm going to be drinking more than usual, I wouldn't mind having some sweeter water. At times in the past year they've added bore water plus extra chlorine to our drinking supply.

Thanks for the welcome hexi2. I'm really enjoying the forum. I'm filled with admiration at the successes I'm seeing.

AJ

[Wendy9]

Hi AJ,

Gosh 5 litres - I couldn't do that - 3 is my utmost - actually come to think of it I think my eating plan says to have 2-3 litres a day so maybe check that the extra 2 litres isn't a problem!

[hexi2]

Yeh I have heard that if you do drink too much it can actually slow down the weight loss

[Pudge]

Hey Annabelle welcome
Hexi is right about too much water it can actually flush the needed electrolites from your body. 2.5 or 3 liters of water is plenty. I do well with 2.5. The only time I have drank more is if I was nauty and ate something I wasn't supposed to then I would drink another liter to flush as much of that out as possible.
pudge

[Annabelle Joy]

Well, I'm still waiting to receive my diet, hopefully in the next few days. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying all those things I'm about to give up. The Christmas leftovers have pretty much gone, and I'm still enjoying my wine, and opening special bottles for the last few days. In my case, a 'half diet' as in the suggested preparation, is probably not a good idea. I'm more inclined to deviate if the rules aren't too strict, and I'd then be more inclined to deviate from the real diet, and I think I'm going to find it difficult enough anyway.

The water test wasn't intended as what I'd drink on the diet. I laid out 3 litres then set about drinking that, but still drank tea, coffee and additional water later in the day when I became thirsty, hence the high fluid consumption on that day. I'm convinced that 2-3 litres won't be a problem for me without needing to deliberately push myself to drink water. Thanks, anyway, for the advice from those of you with more experience. BTW, I have an idea that coffee, while permitted, is not encouraged. What are others doing about coffee? Are you restricting it? I like mine white anyway, so giving it up won't be too difficult, but I do enjoy sitting with a hot drink after a meal and mid-morning/afternoon. I'm yet to find a herbal tea that I actually enjoy.

Life's become busy again. I really enjoyed a relaxed few days between Christmas and New Year, I keep coming back to this forum to read of others' successes, just for the encouragement that provides. Once I start to diet I'll post to my diary more regularly.

AJ

[hexi2]

There is a limit of 3 coffees a day after that they need to be decaff. It's funny because before I was on Cohen's I didn't drink coffee only tea, now without milk I have found that I only want to drink camimille tea not normal tea and now I enjoy 1 black coffee a day...so you may find that things seem to change where you least expect it

[Annabelle Joy]

I went to the winery (where I work) for a few hours today. They were planning to bottle the rosé yesterday, but have postponed it until next week. When I said I now wouldn't be able to try it for 6 months (and that's being optimistic), they (owner, her partner and the winemaker) couldn't believe that anyone would go on a diet that meant no wine for 6 months. I'm not expecting that I'll get a lot of support there when I have temptations.

When I arrived home, my husband told me that I'd had a call from Cohen's and my diet is in the mail. Hopefully, it will arrive tomorrow. If so, I'll probably shop on Wednesday and start on Thursday. Tomorrow's my day to work at the winery, so tomorrow may be my last day of having a glass or two for quite some time. I'm looking forward to starting, but I've started so many diets in the last 40 years, and I'm still needing to do it. I'm relying on this forum for support that I've never had in the past. I'm so impressed with the achievements of so many of you.

Annabelle Joy

[losing]

Goodluck AJ

You will be amazed at how "in the zone" you will be after a couple of weeks. If you commit to the first month, you won't WANT to do anything else because of the results you will get.

The winery sounds hard but you will not want it. I used to be able to drink a bottle of red when I was socializing and now after cohens really don't even want any more than one glass. It does change your desires.

Best of luck

Losing

[a healthy life]

Hi AJ

Thanks for the welcome on my diary.

I wish my program was ready so I could start this week too. Like you I wanted to start early in the new year but didnt realise the clinics would be closed.

Guess what?! I also have a wedding to attend, mine is in September.

Im also aiming for zero deviations!

Im not doing anything in particular to prepare for Cohens except enjoying the foods I am about to give up. I do want to have myself in the routine of drinking 3 lt of water daily, so I need to get started on that. I think I'll be giving up coffee as I drink it with milk and 2 sugars. Luckily I like black tea.

Good luck AJ. I hope your program arrives today!

[FotoHijinx]

Hi AJ

Sounds like you've got your mind set - which I believe is the most important thing. You'll be able to do this no worries.

Cheers
Irene