Is this programme the same as Sure Slim

[Chicky]

Hello everyone. I am new to this site and have been reading many of the posts which I have found extremely interesting to say the least.
I saw the Cohen programme highlighted on Today Tonight and it sparked my interest however it looks a lot like Sure Slim or maybe it is the other way around. In any event, Sure Slim cost me a lot of money for the eating plan which in all honesty wasn't enough food to keep a pidgeon alive. It didn't work for me as I was constantly hungry. Can anyone please give me an idea of the amount of food one can eat in a day on the Cohen programme. I am not a large eater but I eat often as I always seem to have hunger pangs after a couple of hours.
I am desperate to lose weight both for my health and my self esteem. I have tried just about every weight programme known to man and I lose a few kilos initially and then plateau so when I saw the story about this programme the other day, it gave me reason for hope but the Sure Slim experience is still indelibly embedded in my memory.
I am up for the journey and am not afraid of making sacrifices to achieve the results but I don't think starvation is the way to go which is how I felt with Sure Slim.
I would be grateful for any feedback in relation to my concerns.
Oh, and one final thing.....has anyone had trouble with sagging skin because of the rapid weight loss?
Thank you in anticipation.
Cheers
Chicky

[sundaymorningstaple]

I'll let somebody more familiar with SureSlim answer this, but I believe SureSlim was derived from Dr. Cohen's Diet but unfortunately they didn't have all the data that he has. The person who started SureSlim, I believe was a former consultant or worked for Dr. Cohen. (not sure which) I sure Asy can give you all the details.

It's because they didn't have all the data necessary, that their program doesn't work as it should.

This one rocks!

In the meantime, type sureslim into the search function located in the banner at the top of the first message on the page and you will get about 3 pages of references to sureslim.

The (New) Old Stallion

SMS

[shrinking_moi]

Chciky, SMS said it all
I can tell you now that if we were starving on Cohen's food and amounts, none of us would be on this forum.
The foods we eat take away the cravings and want to have the bad foods.
Check out some of our success stories.
X
Ez

[Nat]

Hi Chicky,

I know exactly how you feel because I asked the same questions about Cohens being similar to SureSlim.

Let me assure you that Cohens is nothing like SureSlim.

I also signed up for the SS program and found that after losing 12kgs, nothing more came off. I was starving ALL the time and the cravings I was getting were amazing. Also all the seeds I had to eat started giving me severe stomach pain and when they substituted all the seeds with extra avocado, i found the program stopped working completely.

I lasted 2 and a half months on SS.

I have now been on Cohens for 7 months and have lost over 45kgs. I am never hungry even though I eat my meals 5.5 hrs apart and have no snacks in between and dont even eat all my fruit and crackers. The only time I do get hungry is a few days before TTOTM. Loose skin does not seem to be an issue.

The differences I have found between SS and Cohens:

1. With SS, the amount of seeds you had to eat were rediculous. On Cohens, no seeds, pills, potions, shakes or seeds to be eaten. Its all good, nutritous, low carb, low allergy food that fills you up and definately gives you all the energy you need. Its all scientifically balanced and even though the portions are small, you will not feel hungry if you follow the program 100%. The only pills we take are a few vitamins.

2. SS states that you have to leave 5 hrs between meals and no snacks in between. On Cohens, yes main protein meals are 5 hours apart but you can have fruit and crackers at any time (but crackers need to be at least 2.5hrs apart). You can basically eat every 2.5 hours if you really want to.

3. The program you get with Cohens really is your own program based on your blood tests. Not sure that SS is the same because a few of my friends and I all had the same program.

4. Life after program and maintenance. Basically from what I can remember, SS just told you to eat 2 SS meals a day and you could have whatever you wanted for the 3rd - not an ideal way to live. With Cohens, you have repeat blood tests every 4 - 8 weeks and from this, a "refeed" program is put together. This refeed program slowly introduces all the food that you havent been eating while on Cohens. Its also a time where you learn what foods your body copes well with and what foods it doesnt. After refeed, you will also be given maintenance guidelines to help you for the rest of your life.

They are the main differences between the 2 programs but I know there are many more - too many to list!

From what I have heard, SS was developed by an X employee of Dr Cohens who didnt have all the details of Dr C's program - which is probably why SS doesnt work so well.

I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, please feel free to PM me.

Nat

[Jamanoha]

Great advice Nat

[asy]

Guys,

A REALLY quick comment with regard to this discussion.

Several posts have had to be edited, and I'd just like to ask that everyone refrain from using the words 'ripped off' or any other eluding to any sort of 'corporate misjudgement' of any sort.

Whatever the means of the initial beginning of the Sureslim (or any other) programme, the relevant thing to discuss is the difference between the programmes, and why this one works and others don't.

By the way, just out of interest, if anyone knows of an online forum for that programme (that's not company owned) would you please PM me and let me know. Thanks,

asy.

[Annabelle Joy]

Chicky, portions are small, and you probably will be hungry in the very early period. This is because your hormones are out of whack at the moment, and in particular your insulin levels are out of control. When you start the diet, your insulin levels mean your body is likely to be crying out to be fed high carb food. Once that settles down, you won't be hungry.

The rules for Cohen's are that all your main meals must be weighed exactly, and you can have limited fruit and crispbreads, the exact quantities depend on your own blood test results. If a food is not listed in the programme you receive you cannot have it. You must not deviate, as the diet aims to stabilise several of your hormone levels.

In some ways, this is the most difficult diet I have ever done, in other ways it is the easiest. I believe that it is the only diet that could get me back to the weight I was thirty years ago. Like everyone else who has responded, I think this is the best diet ever, and I urge you to go ahead with it.

AJ

[lessfatty]

I havent done sureslim and Cohen was the first diet program I ever did, anyway it worked for me. On Cohen the portions are SMALL, not getting away from that, but strangely enough, the portions seem "just" enough food to keep you going, I wasn't never staving as such, but felt a touch hungry most of the time, and the hour before meals I normally felt quite hungry. But honestly it wasn't overwhelming physical hungry. The greatest fight is the mental fight with the "I deserve to eat xxxx" bug! You have to decide that you WILL be slim and you WILL follow the plan UNTIL you are DONE. This is the key mindset to those who succeed!

Welcome to the forum and with the combination Cohen plan and the friendly folks (even those like me standing on our soap boxes) on this forum you can create a newyou. Good luck you deserve to be slim and healthy, you can do it!

[Soon2BSlim]

While this post isn't about the differences between SS and Cohen's I would like to add that I think one of the reasons that Cohen's here is so much more successful is this forum.

So many of us have tried numerous diets, eating plans whatever you want to call them, and after a few months we give up because it's too hard. Yes, they are hard but I think it's harder to diet in isolation than anything else. I'm sure there wouldn't be such success with Cohen's without this forum because here we get constant encouragement and motivation. It's not just daily but even hourly and instant with PM's. Who can ask for more? With other programs you may meet weekly or monthly or not at all but you're pretty much on your own. Here there is SO much support and you can have your own "cheer squad" helping you along. Our families can't always cope with the constant diet talk or challenges we face every day but on this forum we are like minded people, with the same goals and understanding of how important those constant encouragements are.

I still think that Cohen's is far better than any other program, so Chicky, if you're wanting to lose weight and are prepared to follow Cohen's 100% you will lose the weight far easier here than anywhere else. Here you will get the support you need to be able to reach your goal successfully.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you success in your weight loss journey.

Louise

[Annabelle Joy]

Chicky, if you haven't read it already, this thread describes some of the advantages of Cohen's in addition to the weight loss: http://newyouforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5249

AJ

[Chicky]

Hello my friends,

Sorry for not responding earlier but have been tied up with work and have only been able to get back to the site this morning.
Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom and encouragement.
Nat, the information you have given is invaluable to me. As a result of your experience with SS, you know where I am coming from with the SS programme and obviously have sensed my hesitation at going down what my original thoughts were of the same pathway. You have alleviated my negative thoughts and I really appeciate your candor.
AJ, your frankness on the programme is much appreciated. I would much rather know going in what to expect than to be surprised. I will have a look at the link you gave me as it sounds as though there will be valuable info there. This sounds like a programme where you need to have really good organisational skills as I would think that with everything having to be weighed that this is something that you would do say at the start of the week and package away so it didn't become a chore each time you needed to eat.
Again, thank you to all who responded to my query. Your support is much appreciated and I can see why this programme is working for so many of you with everyone being so encouraging and supportive.
I will let you know when I take the plunge.

Cheers
Chicky

[bibabs]

Chicky,
One question that was NOT answered, was the one about sagging skin. Obviously this is going to differ from person to person, on age and also on the amount of weight you lose. I lost 30kg in about 5 months, had crepe skin for the last 4 weeks, but about 2 weeks into refeed, my skin sort of sorted itself out, either shrunk or did something, because it has been fine ever since. ( I am 54)
The water helps, but apparantly the secretion of Human Growth Hormone by the body also has a lot to do with it.
So rock on doll, join the COHEN family, if you follow your guidelines, you will NOT be sorry.

[Francee8]

Thanks to all of you have contributed to this discussion. It has really been encouraging and confirmed that I have made the right decision to join Cohen's. I too havent actually started my program however I am enrolled and will start early in January. I have looked at the pre cohen program and have already gone out to shop for the foods recommended. I too have altered my Christmas menu to fit in with the pre-cohen.
I look forward to receiving my plan and to lose 25kg's.

[Lervly]

Hi, I thought i'd post on this thread. I'm new to this forum, and this is my first post. My story is that in mid 2006 I was 104.5kgs, and I first went to a Dr Cohen information clinic and was ready to join. I hesitated about the price and thought that it would be a lot of money to pay if it didn't work. I just couldn't believe the high weight losses. So, i thought I'd look around and see what other programs were about. I fell upon SureSlim, and to cut a long story short, I tried that and lost 2.7kgs in the first week. Anyway, I kept going with SureSlim and in just short of 12 months, I reached goal and lost 38kgs. I am pleased to say that I kept within 3kgs of my goal weight for about 2 years. I had a change in lifestyle and have put on about 10kgs.

i found the SureSlim diet worked. Like others here in their attitude about the Cohen's program, I found that the Sureslim program worked wonders for me. But, in my getting to know the Cohen's and Sureslim program, I find they are very similar with only a few variations. In Sureslim, there are no snacks. Only 3 meals to be had at least 5 hours apart. Plus the seeds. I found that the Lifestyle information (to maintain) was scant. I'm not sure how the refeed works. My view is that I pretty much have to eat the way that I did to lose the weight to maintain the weight. Pretty sad, but that's maintenance for me. If I eat like I used to, then I'd be as big as I used to be. If I eat like I did to lose the weight, then I keep it off.

Anyway, now I'm on the same program that I had before, and i'm gradually losing weight. I have found it difficult to stay to the 5 hours between meals and no snacks this time around, so I love the Cohen's practice of having a cracker or fruit for a snack. This has really helped me to stay on track.

I'm not sure about the Cohen's program, but the SureSlim program had a number of free foods. ie celery, cucumber, lettuce, watercress. Sureslim is also a restricted program, and I feel i wouldn't be able to survive on the meat and vegetable allowances. I found that by bulking up on the free vegetables (and the seeds), I felt sustained and could make it to the next meal.

The view I took in losing my weight was to take each day at a time. I would say to myself every day "I'm going to stay on my diet today". That was my only aim. Once that day was over, the next day I would say to myself "I'm going to stay on my diet today". I did that until I reached goal, and then into maintenance. I am saying it now as I have to get back down to my goal.

Thanks for listening.

[carrieanne_c]

What seeds did you eat?

[Kohinoor]

Hi Lervly,

I'm confused !!

Anyway, now I'm on the same program that I had before, and i'm gradually losing weight. I have found it difficult to stay to the 5 hours between meals and no snacks this time around, so I love the Cohen's practice of having a cracker or fruit for a snack. This has really helped me to stay on track.

The red bit tells me you are running with your old SS program - yes?

The blue bit tells me you might have switched to Cohens.... Or, are you creating a "hybrid" program for yourself? Or, am I reading it wrong? What ARE you doing?

Koh

[Lervly]

On SS, we ate sesame seeds, pepitas and sunflower seeds daily. I am back on my old SS program, but with some Cohen's additions. So, yes, I am on a hybrid SS/Cohen's program. I had been thinking whether I should sign up with Cohen's to lose my additional 10 kilos, but then I thought I'd stick with my old SS program to see if I could lose the weight that way. If that didn't work, then I'd sign up and go on to Cohen's formally.

I used to be on a Sureslim forum, but that has just about petered out. I hope that people don't mind me being on this forum. I just need some help and support to help me lose (and then maintain) my weight.