6 weeks into maintenance and bombing badly

[Belnatjas]

I have decided to get back into the forum, I need help!
I finished Cohen's and moved into maintenance, and I am on a fast track to blubber hell and I feel out of control.

I have put on 5kg's, have stopped walking, stopped consulting my maintenance guidelines and have just starting eating anything and everything, and the scariest thing is I don't know how to stop.

It is a vicious clycle and I have been stuck on this before .... I was so proud of myself that I completed Cohen's and got to goal, and I really believed I had overcome old demons ... but no, all my old demons were still there, they hadn't gone anywhere.

I have always been very black or white, and moderation has always been impossibly hard for me to do.

I have a plan ... and I hope it will work again for me...
I will start my original plan tomorrow and reset my out of whack hormones, and get my weight is down to goal again.
Then I will redo refeed, to slowly again reintroduce the refeed foods.

Is it wrong of me to want to stay on the last day of refeed forever .... I need my clear structure to follow????

I would love some advice

Thanks Bel

[Panda]

Hi Bel, what a disappointment for you. Sounds like you have gone too far on the carbs and insulin producing foods and they in turn are making you want to eat more. I don't know what the Cohen's recommendation is for your situation - what did your exit plan say? I'm sure one of the moderators will enlighten you.

But since it's 5kgs and a lot of it may be water, you can switch off that insulin response by cutting out carbs for a couple of days - just eat protein and vegies and drink lots of water. Also take Chromium and your multi and drink lots of water. That might be enough to switch off the desire to eat everything in sight, and you might find the damage is more like 2kg or 3kg and therefore you may not need to do refeed again?

Just a suggestion - hope you can get back on track.

[jlou]

Bel I am not in maintenance yet but I am sure one of the other mods will jump in here with some advice for you. I just wanted to offer my support as you struggle through this.

Where is Lesley to give you a kick up the bum And where has Mellow gone

[hexi2]

Sorry to hear you are feeling like this - I too have been in the same situation post refeed. Yes, yes jump back on program and get that 5kg off pronto you may not need to do refeed as it may come off before the 2 weeks

Have a look at what I posted about my new guideline rules - you may need more structure.

Nothing wrong with staying and weighing last day refeed options at all - I think thats a wise move til you can work through what yr emotional demons are...

My thread is in this discussion area - also there is the 120gm protein rule and 200gm rule for life in most situations...

Goodluck

[louise41]

Hi Bels, I guess if you are looking for structure refeed is a good place to look. Good on you for trying to get back on track so quickly before you have more to lose. I think sometimes after being on a restrictive diet it can be a reaction to have all the things we think we were missing, personal the lesson I learn is that to maintian my losses I think I will have to stick much closer to the program than I have. Good luck

[sundaymorningstaple]

I am about 3 weeks away from 2 years of finishing my programme. Technically.

In fact, I never finished the programme and I never will. Today, as every day, I wake up and fix myself an omelet. That omelet, with the exception of a small amount of sharp cheddar, is exactly like the Veg omelet I ate on the programme with the exception it's double the size (2 eggs). Lunch is the same as I ate on the programme (actually), Usually Tuna or Boiled Chicken breast (skinless) in a salad of lettuce, cukes, tomato, capsicum and either pineapple or mango. If my office has a function, I'll eat whatever they have but in moderation and forgoing any rice and the majority of breadstuffs if any (unless it's pizza), then my lunch goes home again and it becomes my evening tea. Otherwise, my evening meals are usually refeed weights of cohen foods. I rarely eat any processed foods (usually if I am eating out and don't really know what it is) and if I do, I make sure I have a day or two of Cohen friendly fare to stabilize. I've been doing this for just shy of two years. Is it a problem? No. Why? Because when I started the programme I was told that it is a "Lifestyle" Change. That means the rest of my life, food wise, will never go back to what it was before when I was a fat slug. Today, I weigh around 2 kg above my finish weight of 69kg (which was the bottom of my range). I like what I have become, I like the respect I get from others who know where I was and what I have accomplished. They know I mean business and they don't try to "change" my mind as they know it would be useless. I embraced the programme for what it claimed it was and accepted my life would have to change. If I am to be successful, I was, I am, and I will continue to be a Cohenite. I got rid of HBP after a decade, high cholesterol, and elevated uric acid levels (gout). I've been pill free for two years now after having been on meds for all of them for over a decade.

There is only two ways to do this programme. Successfully by accepting what has to be. Or, unsuccessfully, meaning thinking you can go back to eating normally when it's over. The problem is, with the second, our idea of normal is abnormal. Had it been normal, we wouldn't have gotten into this predicament in the first place.

Now there's some FOOD for though.

[jlou]

Thank you SMS. What you have just said will help me enormously in maintenance land.

[foggyduo]

SMS your food 'philosophy, and your ongoing lifelong commitment as a Cohen-ite are brilliant, and this is also what I WILL adopt as my lifelong commitment. Otherwise, I might as well chuck it all up now. Thank you for showing that it can be done.
Sheila

[jlou]

Bel

Have you had a look through the Koh's Classics on Maintenance?

http://newyouforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6591

Might gain some insight from those who have gone before.... I need to start doing some reading I think!!

[Kohinoor]

Hi Bel,

I have put on 5kg's, have stopped walking, stopped consulting my maintenance guidelines and have just starting eating anything and everything, and the scariest thing is I don't know how to stop.

Print out the "Back on the Bus" thread, and refer to it daily for the next two weeks, Bel ..... The answers are in it.

It is a vicious cycle and I have been stuck on this before .... I was so proud of myself that I completed Cohen's and got to goal, and I really believed I had overcome old demons ... but no, all my old demons were still there, they hadn't gone anywhere.

Darl, you overcame them with your stickability - I guess they were waiting around for you to relax your guard

I have always been very black or white, and moderation has always been impossibly hard for me to do.

Seems you like "rules", Bel - might be time to set some new ones for yourself ??

I have a plan ... and I hope it will work again for me...
I will start my original plan tomorrow and reset my out of whack hormones, and get my weight is down to goal again. Then I will redo refeed, to slowly again reintroduce the refeed foods.

Bel, darl, I'm not so sure your hormones are "out of whack" now. Seems to me this is more "carbs calling for re-inforcements" (a la the Bus thread). Just be careful with carbs, and quantities of carbs, and you CAN overcome this. You are not alone in this either (I hear of it all the time).

Is it wrong of me to want to stay on the last day of refeed forever .... I need my clear structure to follow????

You could do far worse, Bel. At least "last day of refeed" (if it was NOT followed by huge gains) indicates that your body likes that amount of food, ongoing.

If "rules" are what you need, setting your own (knowing what you know now) sounds like a smart way to go. Of course, you will have the "occasional" blow-out, but you can then set it right again with a few days back on track.

Don't give up hope, lovely lady - you are a maintainer, and have the tools to stay as trim as you are !! But, yes, it will take vigilance on your part, and appropriate action when needed, like now,

Hugs,

Koh

[Belnatjas]

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou to everyone who replied to my cry for help! I appreciate the time you have taken to read and respond. Today I finally feel like my head is in the right place ... that I have my focus and my determination back!

Panda: I am hoping that the gain is mostly fluid retention, but I have noticed some of my 'looser' clothes are no longer as loose!

JLou: Thanks for your support ... Lately D28 and I have been sharing the struggle, and we both know we need to 'get back on the bus' .... I am so glad to have her support ... but it is funny, when you are AWOL on Cohen's you often don't disclose what is really going on, and I know I 'sneak' the foodsI shouldn't be eating so no-one knows what is really happening!!! I printed off the article on "getting back on the bus" to read as I eat my Cohen's lunch!

Hexi2: I have read your posts where you struggled last time around, and I have found them to be really helpful and I relate all too well. Thanks for being so honest! I have also printed off the new guideline rules you have listed. (the work printer has been busy today!!) I have also cracked open the Beck Diet Solution ... I have owned it for about 2 months, but only NOW I have decided to read it, and it cuts straight to the chase and I have identified with it ... so hopefully this should help to work out those old food/ emotional crux demons. Funny though, that being 'allowed' the 2 plain sweet biscuits seemed to be when the wheels went wonky on my bus ride!!

Louise41: Thanks for sharing, I guess at this point, I am glad that I have nipped it in the bud, and been able to realise before too much damage has been done, that having structure or a clearer plan works better for me - and to accept that there is nothing wrong with this

SMS: Thankyou, thankyou thankyou for your words of wisdon and sage advice. What is normal? This is the demon that chases me around most and feeling sorry for myself that I can't eat 'normally'. Eating 'normally' per se has me feeling like 'poop' ... whereas eating Cohen's normally has me feeling great. I know how I want to feel long term and that is my new kind of normal ... Cohen's normal ... fresh food, lean proteins, and minimal carbs. I have come to realise that I am better off abstaining from the foods that I can't control and being happy that constantly fighting a losing battle to the sugar based foods that I seem to be addicted to, and can't stop after having one...

KOH: Thankyou for your support and for pointing me back to the right path! I have printed off the article about getting back on the bus ... will keep you posted on my journey now that I have "Got Back on the Bus!!"

[jlou]

Well done Bel - sounds like you have turned a corner..

[Belnatjas]

Thanks JLou ... it is all a learning curve ... I guess I still need my 'P' plates!!!

[louise41]

Im pleased to hear that you feel you head is back in the right place, that is always the first step! The funny this is that in the whole I now think I prefer cohen foods, not that there arent some other things I like, but really I am happy to make cohen friendly foods the backbone of the my diet. I found the thing for me is as I let some of the other foods in a little, it is not always easy to have that cut off point of how much, its easy to allow an occasional indulgence to turn into an everyday one, hence why structure can be good.

Good luck

[littlemiss]

Hi Bel,

Like SMS, I don't feel like I've 'graduated' from Cohen's either although I have tweaked my Cohen-y meals to eat more processed carbs (such as rice, and bread but in small quantities). I am lucky in the sense that it doesn't affect my weight that much but I still have to be very careful. I weigh every day, and even if my weight goes up less than 1 kg, I am careful with what I eat. I do eat oatmeal (like today) for breakfast now and then because it helps me er... go.. So do bananas. And tea.

It is frustrating to be around people who think that since I've reached my goal weight, that I *should* go back to regular eating. They don't understand that if I eat 'normally' as I did in the past, the weight would pile on! I've already gotten criticism on this and quite rude, obnoxious ones too (from my boss).. I try to ignore it and not be bullied into eating more so people would feel 'happier'.

Sometimes, I forget and I eat more than I should - and I do feel rather sick and bloated. For me, it's taking one meal at a time, not worrying too much about the 'what-ifs' I gain the weight back.

I think you can do it - get those pesky kgs off when you go back to the programme. I think the hardest part would be when you commit back to the programme but once you get back into the Zone, it'd be alright.

[hexi2]

Oh Bel,

I found it was the biscuits that sent me on a nose dive too...first time round. I might even give them a miss this refeed ~ will see how I go.

I hope you are reading my second journey as THIS is the one where everything is coming together for me - some really lifelong changing stuff I can feel it in my waters. LOL

To you my friend - life changing energies your way! xx

[Gremlin]

Those refeed biscuits are a challenge!
It took a lotttt of willpower to stop at the prescribed amount at times!

To make extra sure I wouldn't slip, I made sure I put the packet in a sealed placcy box which I then hid at the back of a high shelf once I'd taken out the amount for the day.

[Belnatjas]

Hi there everyone

Day 2 of Back on the Bus and chugging along great.

I purposely did not weigh this morning, mainly because what I have found lately after doing one day of my original program and seeing decent loss ... I then get a tad complacent and then don't do the subsequent days of 'reset' properly. I figured after being AWOL from any semblence of the Cohen's program for the best part of 3-4 weeks, it may take a week or two to undo the damage!

Thankyou to everyone for stopping by ....
Louise41: I am appreciating the simplicity of my Cohen's meals, and how nicely my body responds to the amount and the type of food I am eating. The 'cut off point' for an occasional indulgece is truly where I struggle. Hopefully I can do it with a bit more moderation after finishing the 'Cohen's reset'

Littlemiss: Sounds like you have maintenance sorted, and that you have listened well to your body and what it likes and doesn't like. Good on you And I totally relate to feeling sick and bloated after overindulging. It felt so nice today to wake up and not feel yukky and bloated, and have my stomach feel flatter!! I love being in the 'ZONE', and I hope there is a maintenance zone too, as I found that my Zone really started to weaken and falter as my body got close to refeed .... I didn't deviate but it was one of my signs that the end of the program is near!

Hexi2: I will print off your second journey and have a good read tonight, as well as Vee's journey, as from the glimpses I have seen, she too struggled with emotional stuff in maintenance land!

Gremlin: I agree totally, out of sight ... out of mind. Sometimes I even put things in the freezer we have under the house ... so it seems like too much effort to bother giving in to a craving!!!! Still I aim to work on some cognitive behaviour therapies, so that I can have an occasional treat ... like baked cheesecake or dark chocolate and not go off the rails even though technically these are Cohen's approved desserts!!!! Damn my feeble brain ... always wanting to yield to cravings ... Grrrrrrrrr

Anyway, I shall just keep on chipping away at my challenges to try to overcome... and keep staying on track in the meantime!!

I booked a trip to Melbourne in October for my 7th wedding anniversary, and I will be super peeved if I am not looking foxy in photo's!!!!

Bel

[battler]

I can relate to what you are going through! I am the carb-werwolf and discovered this soon into maintenance. Luckily, when I had that non-stop, out of control feeling, I only indulged in the sugar-free gingernuts that I had made, (and I don't even LIKE gingernuts) but it sure made me aware how easily I could fall off the bus if I wasn't very, very careful. Congratulations to you, for recognising what was happening, and for having the determination to revert back to what ww all know really works. Lets face it.........we missed a lot of those bad foods, or so we thought. They were like poison to our bodies though, and really aren't worth those few moments of pleasure we feel as they are going down!! ( I have to keep reminding myself of this fact!)

Concentrate on the feelings that you have had on your acheivements with this program..............they far out weigh those momentary feelings of elation from something we "thought" we "deserved" after all this time on cohen's. We have successfully eradicated these foods, they are "nice" but we really don't need them do we? An occasional treat, if we must, BUT always think, "is it really worth it?" I have only been on maintenance two weeks myself, so I am NOT really any sort of pro at this yet and probably never will be. But like "morning staple" advises, it has to be a lifestyle change............ and one we have to deal with right now and forever.
Our battle is in controlling that inner voice that says "ah........only a little taste........it won't do that much damage" It'll be right! We know, that it will NEVER be "right" if we think like that. Lets face it, CARBS DON"T LIKE US!! and we don't like what they do to us either!!! WE can survive without them. Down with CARBS, I say!!! ( A pity they taste so damn good, aye!) Why IS THAT! Why can't they taste disgusting! What is it with us anyway????..............DOWN WITH CARBS.

Sounds like you are back on track. Good on you! Keep it up and you will be back to your finish weight in no time. I just hope that I can keep learning from all of you out there..........your successes and your failures all help the rest of us. Thankyou for having the courage to post your dilemma and for giving the rest of us the opportunity to learn from you and encourage you. Isn't this forum great!!!

[louise41]

You will be a real fox by then!!!!