Sirroco's Diary

[sirroco]

Just starting my diary today but have been doing cohens since 4 August 2008 and visiting this site regularly as I'm finding it very inspiring and interesting to know all about those ahead of me on the journey. 'cause I can't wait to get there.

At the start I was 91.45kgs and as of now about 71kgs - just over 20kgs in 13 weeks. I have tried everything to lose weight and this is the only thing that has ever worked so quickly and made me confident that it will work for me in the long term. heaviest pre-cohen's weight was about 107kg 9-10 years ago. Lost 30 kgs about 6 years ago and since then have oscillated between 82 and 92 kgs - losing and gaining the same 10 kgs every year.

Cohens was recommended to me by my lovely personal trainer who has always been honest and told me that exercise is not the key to weight loss. I was sceptical about cohens to say the least because I had literally tried everything. The best a nutritionist could offer me earlier this year was an extremely low calorie diet with the expectation of losing half a kilo a month. I burst into tears. I had already spent most of the year hungry and craving sugar and it was just too much. But a looming milestone birthday and my sheer despair sent me to cohens with my fingers crossed. It is the best thing I have ever done. I sleep better, I feel better and I look better. Have been doing no exercise though so feeling pretty soft but I can wait until the new year to worry about that. My cohen's goal is 56-59kg. I think high school would be the last time I came anywhere close to this. Actually I'm almost certain i was at uni the last time I weighed anywhere near my current weight.

So hello to all, and thanks for sharing your journey's.

[thenewvee]

Hi Sirroco!

Welcome to the forum! Good on you for finding the best weight loss program to get you to where you want to be!
You'll get lots of help, support and advice here on the forum, as well as much needed boosts and feel good fuzzies from the lovely people here.
Get yourself a ticker so that you can watch your weight go down, down, down! It will help keep you motivated.
The instructions can be obtained from here.
http://newyouforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3484

Vee

[sirroco]

Thanks for the welcome Vee.

Hope I got the ticker right.

[shrinkingTam]

Hi Sirroco
You have done so well!! you are roughly 2/3rds of the way in only 3 months!
I look forward to watching your continued progress

Welcome to the forum

Tam
xx

[sirroco]

Monday 3 November. Just a quick entry to update my weightloss to 70.4kgs. Will be doing a little happy dance when i get under 70kgs I can tell you. Quiet weekend trying to catch up on sleep. HAd been slepping very well but last weel back to old habit of waking up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. Draining at the best of time but effect the next day seems worse on Cohens?? Anyway had an excellent nights sleep last night so ready to face the new week.

[Mette]

A belated welcome to the forum, Sirocco! You've done amazingly well on your journey so far!
Keep up the great work!

[sirroco]

A new week. Down 1.2kg this week - not as much as I'd hoped but still going in the right direction. Under 70kgs for the first time probably since the '80s! Actually hard to credit sometimes that it is happening after years and years of hard work. Still no problems staying on track although the weekends are the hardest. Probably becasue the work routine Mon-to friday doesn't give much time to think about food. Struggling a tiny bit with boredom about the food but not to the extent that I have any concerns about going off track. Sleep has improved considerably in the last week. Think it is becuase I've gone back to having saladas not long before I go to bed - which I know is not what is intended but I do sleep so much better that way. Very quiet weekend partly because of the need to reign in the spending - not entirely sure where all my money goes particularly as not drinking or eating out!

[Mette]

I'd kill for a 1.2 kilo loss in a week at the moment! That's excellent! Having a salada before bed definitely doesn't seem to have an adverse effect!

Congrats on hitting the 60s!!


Hope you have a great week!

[sirroco]

Thanks Mette. What a nice surprise to log on this morning to all of the colour and movement in my diary! And yes I sleep so much better if i've had something to eat not long before I go to bed and the improved sleep is almost as good a side effect of this program as the wieght loss (although not quite). Tried on some clothes in a shop yesterday and almost went into shock looking at myself in the mirror. Can't believe it's me - I think my mind has to catch up to my body for a little bit!

[Mette]

It takes a while for the mind to catch up, I think. I still see 92 kilos in the mirror. I think we wear 'fat goggles' when it comes to ourselves. Everyone else sees it long before we do. But it will get there! The smaller sizes tell such a great story!

[katiefrank70]

Hi Sirroco

A very belated welcome to the forum. You are right, it is full of inspiration and great ideas. I know what you mean, looking in the mirror and being shocked at what you see. I guess we have all been overweight for so long, that we are used to it. Won't be long and your mind will catch up.

I got to say, what an impressive loss over such a short time. Keep doing what you are doing, because it is obviously working for you.

Happy losing

Katie

[louise41]

Hi Sirocco, welcome though sounds like your no newcomer to the forum. You are doing a marvellous job, so much more successful than the 0.5kg per month that the dietitian suggested (What the?) You should take her back your weight loss chart and blow her mind!

[Kohinoor]

Hi Sirocco,

So glad I found you - here I was, just following the crowd, and they led me here You are doing so well !!!

I found this comment of yours a bit of a shocker

The best a nutritionist could offer me earlier this year was an extremely low calorie diet with the expectation of losing half a kilo a month. I burst into tears.

Jeez, no wonder you burst into tears !!! 6Kg in a YEAR is like a really bad joke on here (as I'm sure you've seen).

But, aww, how bad that must've been for you... Thank Heavens you kept looking and found Cohens !!! Hehe, I hope you're planning on re-visiting that nutritionist early next year (just to give them a url - this one)

Anyway, welcome aboard Sirroco - keep on running - you're doing fine


Koh

[sirroco]

Thanks everyone for dropping by.

I've been on Cohens since August 4 but am new to the forum. I had been visiting the forum a lot and finally signed up for a couple of reasons. Firstly I wanted to contribute and not just take all of your collective wisdom off the net and secondly I needed to say how good this program is to people who would not, as some of my friends had started to do, say "now you've lost enough weight so perhaps you should stop" - that they were saying this about 10kgs ago left me speechless. I actually think a lot of people have lost sight of what they should weigh. And I've stopped telling them how much more to my goal as it seems to bring on another lecture. Negotiating the XMAS party should be a hoot! Although I intend to do it with a diet coke in one hand and a salada in the other. My family on the other hand have been very supportive.

And yes - I've thought about going back to that nutritionist many times. I find it so frustrating that the mainstream messages about weight loss are misleading and futile. I don't know about anyone else but at times I doubted my sanity because none of the things that were supposed to work worked. And let's face it - many mainstream strategies are devised and advocated by those who have a vested interst in them not working and keeping people in the cycle. Anyway I'll get down off my soap box now.

HAve a good weekend everyone!

[Mette]

It's funny how everyone becomes a diet expert when you tell them you're on Cohens. My personal favourite was a girl telling me that you can't lose weight without exercise. Mind you, she's been going to the gym for a year and not been losing much weight, and at the time I'd lost 16 kilos in just a few months. Sometimes you've gotta laugh!

There is a reason that the diet industry is a billion dollar affair. Everyone is looking for quick fixes but aren't willing to change their habits. Not much you can do about it though. I'd have to say, to be fair, that some people do tend to go overboard with the dieting. No one should be a size 0!! That's why Cohens is so wonderful. It gets your body in balance and gets you healthy again!

Sorry, I'm rambling on in your diary, Sirrocco! What I really mean to say is that you're doing so well! You'll know when it's time to stop! And there are a lot of us that will be having a Cohens Christmas!

Keep up the great work and have a good weekend!

[sirroco]

I think my body decided it would give my mind time to catch up. Weighed myself yesterday morning - I try very hard to weigh only once a week - and was up to 69.4kgs - 200grams up for the week. Yikes. No reason for it. Have been adding a little salt to my meals - don't know whether that was enough. But this morning - 68.2kgs so I'm happy with that!

[Ellabelle]

YEY!!!! Congrat's you are doing so well! Look at you powering through those kg's

[Mette]

Most likely it's just a bit of fluid retention, Sirrocco. It'll be gone before you know it. Adding a bit of salt to your meals is a good thing, the body needs it. And the extra few hundred grams will come off in no time. After all, it's not like you can gain weight on the program!

[sirroco]

Thanks everyone for dropping by. The encouragement is really great. Sorry I don't have too much time to return the favour very often but I do read and learn when I can from everyone else's adventures. Down to 67.5kg this week and anything in a downward direction is good news to me. Had a lovely weekend. Bought a pair of jeans for the first time in about a thousand years! Starting to think about managing the individual Christmas functions througout December. Determined that I will stay on track. I have a couple of work functions and then parties with friends to think about. I am sure I can do it and I am going to focus on the sense of accomplishment that I'll experience after I've got through each one.

[Mette]

It's all about the planning! Most people are too busy stuffing their faces to notice that you're not doing the same, so it's easy to smuggle in your own food. I have found that eating beforehand and being the one that runs around with a camera helps a lot. Keeps you busy and entertained. And of course, soft drink tastes so much better when it comes out of a fancy glass! You'll do fine, Sirrocco, don't worry! Keep up the great work!