A question...

[New me]

Forgive me if this has been addressed elsewhere.

I love Cohen's - it's the only weight loss that has truly worked for me and I'm thrilled with my results (20kg in 11.5 weeks at 47 yo - pretty impressed with myself!). I am a total convert.

However.... my best friend is a dietitician and she supports what I hear in the media all the time (Dr John Tickell is getting heaps of coverage about it now in particular), that a diet based on minimal meat, wholegrains, legumes etc is the key to long term health.

I know that the food we are eating now is a temporary deal, and that we will gradually be able to have what most of us would consider a more 'normal' diet. But I can clearly see based on my own results that, for me, carbs seem to be a big no no.

My question is, when we are on maintenance will we be able to base our eating around a more vegetable and grain approach, OR as I suspect, will we be protein devotees for ever in order to stay slim?

I know there is tofu (hmmm?) and that everthing in moderation is the best rule of thumb. I also know that the damage done by being obese probably outweights (!) the benefits of grains/legumes.

Just wondering what the experts here would say.

Thanks for any contributions!

[shell]

Hi New me,

My diet now is pretty much still all Cohen's foods plus I have carrot as an extra veg (don't like any of the others!) lamb, pork, ham, heaps of egg whites, tasty & cheddar cheese.

I try to still stick to as preservative free as possible as well.

I also have a "cheat" meal roughly once a week or a bit longer, and that is usually chops!
Tried some other "crap" I used to like (not as nice as once imagined ) & would much rather eat something better and enjoy it.

Probably 98% of the time I don't include carbs at all other than crackers, now I have just started having wraps, Burgen bread or low carb wraps once a week when I do my bigger workout- helps with muscle growth.

I dont miss them at all, but the main thing is by staying off them I feel a lot healthier!.. this coming from some one who pre Cohen's would be eating probably 70-80% of my diet carbs!

Not everyone is the same, and some people are more sensitive to carbs than others, you will work out what works for you when you hit maintenance.

Shell

[Annabelle Joy]

New me, I agree with shell. Like you, I've discovered that carbs are not really good for me. I think that a lot of the newer research into obesity and healthy eating supports the style of eating we are now doing -- plenty of protein, plenty of vegetables, not a lot of carbs. Try searching the Internet and I think you should find a lot of support for this type of diet.

AJ

[New me]

Your new shot looks gorgeous! Thanks for your thoughts, I will do some searching out, but I'm still indoctrinated into thinking grains = healthy bowel, meat = not. I need to get to the bottom of this!

[Kristine..]

Hi New Me

Spinach = healthy bowel

Believe me, once you get into the swing of this, your bowel will be very healthy, indeed, as will the rest of you

The bowel relies on water and roughage. Attracting water to the contents of the bowel is important, and processed wheat products really don't do that, it is cellulose eg bran or seeds or other substances which we actually don't 'digest' which creates the roughage.

Many commercial roughage products are made from husks of cereal, no real nutritional content at all

Or even foods such as corn (cob corn, not corn meal) - but corn is almost straight carbohydrate so not good for everyday eating

But try spinach. High in iron and other vitamins and minerals, baby spinach raw or wilted, sliver beet or the Logan Farm spinach is so easy to use. Although I love a crisp Iceberg lettuce, I don't have lettuce much on the program as I would rather have as much value from the food as I can.

Pop-Eye was right! Spinach can move mountains .... if you know what I mean!

Cheers
Kristine

[Annabelle Joy]

New me, there's plenty of fibre in vegetables and fruit. Once on maintenance you can have some grains if they agree with you. I think that what's important is sticking with low GI foods in maintenance. I'm impressed with Dr Cohen's 'only eat what you can catch or grow' philosophy for maintenance.

You might like to look at the CSIRO diet and the South Beach diet. Both are fairly low carb, high protein, but still include some grains. I'm not suggesting that you change from Cohen's, but I think that their philosophies are similar to Dr Cohen's for long term maintenance. For the relatively short time you will be on the Cohen diet I very much doubt that you will do your body any long term damage (my doctor and several other forum member's doctors are recommending Cohen's for weight loss), and, as you have discovered, you will do it a great deal of good.

AJ

[New me]

Hi Kristine, I am already a convert of the humble spinach - most days I have spinach and rocket mix as my salad lunch. Although.... it sure aint moving moutains for me on Cohens! I'm really surprised you don't have the lettuce. I find having lettuce and spinach mix takes longer to eat and I can get a really big bowl full, compared to a pathetic little bit of veg. I usually add a tiny bit of tomato and perhaps cucumber, but predominantly it's the greens I'm having at lunch. And you're right, lots of the 'fibre' stuff is rubbish, but pre Cohens our family eats really good grainy bread, wholemeal pasta and wholemeal rice (part of the reason I'm in this predicament of course!). Interesting about the water in the bowel bit too. Great to hear from you.

Hi AJ, I have the CSIRO book but hadn't thought about it in a while (understandably!) and yes, it is high on protein, low on fibre. But I do remember at the time that's what made it so contraversial with people like Rosemary Stanton, John Tickell etc. I guess I'm a bit concerned about just having too much meat really but I can eat heaps of vegetarian stuff so that will probably be how I'll go. Yep I know I can do it, but just checking.