Yvette's Diary

[Yvetteb]

I have just started on the Dr Cohen Diet. I am only on Day 3 so it is still all new. I have never kept a diary before so this too is new but I've decided to turn over a new forest this year - 2012 is definitely MY year. This year I am going to put ME first - for the first time in my life.

I have never been a skinny but with so much diabetes and heart problems in my family I decided I have to do something about my weight - both for my sake and for my 2 young daughters. I don't want them to go through what I have with always been teased about weight.

Thankfully I have a wonderful supportive husband. It is just the rest of my family (and his) that I need to learn to ignore. I have already had comments like "this diet sounds like a load of rubbish", "how can you survive on such a small amount of food, I could never do it", "I know someone who was on the diet and they didn't loose the weight, infact they put on weight". Hah, I'm going to show all of them!

I know to some 30 kg is not a lot to loose and to others (like me) it is a lot so right now I am going to take this one day at a time. I know the first week is the hardest so that is my first goal - survive week 1. After that hopefully it will be easier. I just hope the empty feeling I have in my tummy goes away soon. I've been drinking lots of liquid in the hopes it fills me up but all I feel right now is squishy. I'm dying for a chocolate (one of my biggest weaknesses) but I WILL NOT crack. I know I can do this, I will do this.

I know you are not supposed to weigh every day or every week but I'm not a patient person and I don't do well with surprises so I am going to weigh once a week as I need that kind of encouragement. I decided to weigh this morning just to see and already I am just over a kg down so here's to the next 28.8kg that have to go!

Thank you to all the motivational posts and helpfull tips. I have been greatly encouraged by reading them.

Thanks
Yvette

[NSS]

Hi Yvette,
Welcome to the forum.. Whatever anyone says, Cohen's is going to be the best decision you have taken for your weight loss.
Good Luck..
-NSS

[Kohinoor]

Hi Yvette,

Welcome aboard. I had to respond to this comment....

I don't do well with surprises so I am going to weigh once a week

... to say "Don't set your sights on weekly losses to keep you on track" or else you could be setting yourself up for a big disappointment !!

If you read around enough, you'll find MANY instances of weight staying the same for up to TWO WEEKS in some cases.... then WHAMMO, the dam bursts, and a couple of HUGE losses (sometimes as high as two Kg in one DAY) will right the scales - and life goes on.

Just be aware - we wouldn't want you to have any illusions.

Daily losses - can surprise (can sometimes go up for 2 or 3 days)
Weekly losses - usually something gone, but not always (see above) - and no, weekly amounts lost ar not "equal" - not even close.....
Monthly losses - NOW you're talking. The 4 weekly loss becomes somewhat consistent. Can still vary, based on many things (sleep, stress, etc) but way mroe consistent than daily or weekly.

That's it for now. I hope you find the camaraderie on here to be of benefit to you,

Koh

[kailey]

Hi Yvette

Welcome to the lovely world of Cohens, well done you for taking the first steps to the rest of your life! I had similiar weight to lose and admittly when I got my goal range I thought I would just go to the top end of my range as that seemed like so much weight to lose but I now sit below my bottom range weight and have done for the last two months since coming off Refeed.
If you follow the plan to the letter and learn from any deviations that you may have then you too will lose your 30kgs in under 5 months its acheivable! Stick to your guns and try and keep any negatives (family) out of it, if your hubby is supportive then that is all you need, your family will be very envious when you eventually are wearing size 8/10 clothing, trust me Ive been there with mine!
I weighed once a week as I needed the encouragement boost for myself but you have to do what you think is best for you thou like Koh said be prepared for gains if you weigh daily.... my lowest loss was 600g and my highest was 5.6kg in the first week. We all lose at different rates the most important thing is you lose!!
So keep up your water, stick to your plan and look forward to the skinny you, you'll be there in no time and trust me its awesome!!!!

Kat

[Yvetteb]

Thanks Koh and Kat,

I'll keep the advice in mind. I know the weight loss, plateaus and gains will differ day to day and week to week so I'm definitely not going to weigh daily. I just had to sneak a peak though after day 2. Now I will wait at least a week or so (maybe the month if I can contain myself) and see what happens. Reading the posts on this forum has been encoraging. I know they will help to keep me motivated too (that and the "before" photos stuck in my cupboard)!

Yvette

[Gigracer]

Hi Yvette,

Welcome to the Cohen's "family"

It sounds like you have the determination to stick this out. One thing that I am learning is that this battle with weight is 90% in the mind and Dr Cohen has sorted out the other 10% for you!

If you haven't already had a look, go over to the completed diaries section and read about some of those amazing men and women who have reached their goal and are now enjoying their lives with the energy and focus that this program has given them.

I'm a weekly weigher as well, so I can empathise with the need for a bit of encouragement. As long as you remember that you will lose weight in more of a monthly cycle, you will be fine. Just don't get discouraged if the scales seem to stay put for a couple of weeks. They will go down. Many find that in the weeks where they are not losing weight they are re-shaping.

A really great thing to do is to take your measurements each week. They are a great way of staying motivated when the scales aren't moving.

I am quite lucky in that my family and my fiance's family are generally supportive, although not all of them understand why I am doing Cohen's. I hope that your husband is really supportive and is willing to back you up when your extended family start getting snarky. They will be eating their words in a few weeks time when it becomes obvious just how well you are doing.

I hope you have a great week and stick to your prescription.

G

[Yvetteb]

Thanks Gigracer, and everyone else. Your words of encouragement are really helpful expecially after the disasterous day I had yesterday. Today looks much sunnier!

[Yvetteb]

Ok, I just have to share my disasterous day yesterday to get it out there and behind me.

Yesterday was Day 4 on the diet. I woke up yesterday morning to my first ever fever blister and it raining - inside. The geyser in our granny flat, where my mom-in-law lives, burst pouring water down the walls and thankfully mostly into her shower. There is a little damage but nothing a good coat of paint can't fix. Anyway, the mop up operation made me late leaving for work so I spent 2 hours in the traffic. About 10 minutes from work I realised I had left my breakfast at home. It was in the chest freezer outside instead of in the fridge with my lunch. Panic set in as I could not think of how to solve this problem as I don't have any scales or food at work. Normally I am quite rational and would have gone to get a youghurt from the first gorcery store but as I know yoghurt does not fill me up much I went into a bit of a decline. I phoned my hubby in tears. Thanfully he is such a wonderful man and he agreed to bring my breakfast to me on his way to work. It is about a 30 km detour for him but he was prepared to do it none the less. Mid morning I had a long strategy meeting with lots of my favourite patries sitting in the middle of the table staring at me. However, with my tummy growling loudly, I managed to pass up the goey delicious treats as I am determined stay strong and not cheat. After the meeting one of my marketing coordinators tripped in her enormously high heels and broke her ankle which sent our assistant into a nervous breakdown. We have had a rough start to the new year. We lost 2 colleagues over the festive season to road accidents and we are going into a really stressful period at work both in terms of our industry (I'm in the educational book publishing industry) and a merger. By now I would have been at my desk reaching into the drawer for some chocolate courage. You could say I am a recovering chocaholic! The rest of the work day was hectic as we had to send the assistant home and my coordinator went to hospital. She has to have her ankle pinned or something. I left the office late with a splitting headache to race home to my daugthers before my mom-in-law had to leave for work. She is a trauma councelor and does a lot of afterhours work. When I got home I found that my 5 year old had a black eye and my 9 year old had a swollen blood nose. Apparently they had been playing outside on the trampoline together and had managed to bump heads. Both were in a sorry state and wanted sympathy. After the day I had already had I was not in much of a mood to deal with tears from them. My head was pounding and I still had to cook diner for them, my hubby and me. My stomach was ready to start eating me from the inside out. Anyway I decided to make spaghetti bolonaise for hubby and the kids and prawns for me to lift my spirits a bit instead of turning to the good bottle of Pinotage I have in the cupboard for days like this. Bad move - normally I only cook prawns for the family when my hubby is away on business as he is allergic to shell fish. Clearly we did not know how bad his allergy has gotten as apparently just the smell of the cooking prawns makes his eyes swell and the rash appear. As he walked through the door and into the kitchen he started reacting. Thankfully it did not close his chest as we don't have any adrenalin left in the house for him. Mental note - get another prescription from the doctor for adrenaline. I gave him a good dose of my daughter's celestamine and sent him off to bed. The girls were in a state as they weren't feeling great either and mom had "tried to off" dad by cooking prawns. And so ended my day..... At least, as we have 2 geysers in the house, I could have a little cry in a lovely long hot shower. The broken geyser will only be replaced on Thursday.

Today WILL be a better day. The sun is shining, it is Day 5 on the diet and the hunger pangs are not as bad as the first 4 days.

On a side note - does anyone have any advice on how to get rid of a fever blister quickly? My daughters get them often and it takes days, sometimes weeks, for them to go away even with the fancy expensive cream the doctor prescribed. This is my first one and I want to get rid of it fast. I am presenting to our Exec memebers on Friday and don't want to stand there with this mountain on my lip!

Cheers
Yvette

[Gigracer]

Hi Yvette,

I'm sorry you had such an awful day yesterday, but today will be better. My consultant warned me that days 3-5 are the worst; but I doubt most people would have had to deal with all that you did - and you still stayed deviation free. That is a great achievement!

I don't really know anything about fever blisters. I hope yours goes away quickly.

I hope today and the rest of your week are far less drama-free and enjoyable than yesterday.

[Skinny Jeans]

Hello Yvette,

I'm so sorry you had such a difficult day yesterday....it only goes to show how strong and dedicated you are that you stayed deviation free! You rock!

I certainly hope you have better days this week. The diet will get easier and I must say I found the weighing and cooking food a little daunting the first week. Especially so because I like you still need to cook for husband and children. Some people find that cooking the same food for your family works well...it doesn't for me but it's definitely worth the try. My children too have quite a few food allergies so I can understand the worry and frustration the reaction must have caused. Hope your husband is feeling better.

Have a happy Cohen's week ahead

[Yvetteb]

Thanks Gigracer and Skinny Jeans. Yesterday was definitely a better day and today should be an easy day too, no meetings whoo hoo! Hubby is on the mend thanks. His eyes were still a little puffy when he woke up yesterday morning. He says his colleagues teased him about his wife trying to poison him but by last night he was back to normal. My hubby and mom-in-law both say my meals look quite yummy so they have both said they won't mind trying them out (except the prawn dishes) so I am going to start cooking the same stuff I eat for the family now where I can - obviously keeping mine separate from the larger protions for them. The kids don't like red meat much (other than mince) and don't like any food with spices, mustard or garlic so I will just make theirs plain or resort to good old fishfingers for them if we have beef.

[Gigracer]

Hi Yvette,

Glad to hear yesterday was a better day and that your hubby is recovering nicely.

It is also good to hear that he and your MIL are willing to try to eat some of the Cohen's style food too - it will make your life much easier only having to make two meals, and generally out of the same foods.

Hope today is another DF day for you!

[Yvetteb]

Hi All,

Thanks Gigracer for your comments.

Today is Day 10. So far, other than my 1 really disasterous day, all has been ok. I weighed on Day 8 again and have lost 3.7kg so far which I am really happy about (I now weigh more or less what my hubby weights ). I haven't yet lost any cm but that will come. I haven't deviated or cheated once which has been a little tough considering I am such a chocoholic. I have banned chocolate from the house. Hubby and the kids can have chocolate as long as it is far away from me. It really is my major achilies heel. My kids had some nick nacks crisps over the weekend and the smell made me long for some but I got out a provita instead.

I am still having hunger pangs though, which I hoped would have disappeared by now. They are certainly not as severe as days 1 - 4 but they are still around especially just after a meal. I also find myself very emotional. I assume this is because horemones are still stabilising. One minute I feel very tearful and the next I am screaming at the kids because they left a wet towel on the floor. Yesterday I really lost it with them because they were fighting over who's turn it was to unpack the dishwasher. I ended up hiding in my bedroom for about an hour until I felt calmer. The headaches are still around but I'm not sure if that is the diet or the general tension headaches I get from time to time.

I must say though that I am already sick of chopping veggies. I chopped up about a week's worth of veggies yesterday. I really need to invest in a decent food processor to do it for me.

I have had 2 dinner invites since starting the diet and have declined both of them as I have no idea how to handle them. I was just hoping to avoid all social events like this for the next 6 months. Now we've just received a wedding invitation to a cousin's wedding in April. I am not sure what to do as we have to attend. I hear it will be a plated meal not buffet style. Any advice on how to hande invites like that?

Heres to a wonderful day and a fantastic week ahead.

Cheers
Yvette

[sugarless]

Hi Yvette,

Sounds like you are doing wonderful so far. So sorry to read about the disaster day, good on for sticking it out...those days are the kind that make us stronger eh? :0)

Dont stress too much about the cm's they will def come off soon enough. I lost 26cm in my first week and hvnt really lost much at all since then....maybe im not measuring right? Who knows!!

The hunger pains will soon disapear...I use to get really hungry after diner in my first 2 weeks...it use to last for about 40mins and then disapear and now some nights I wish I had less food to eat...go figure. I find that drinking lots of water when the hunger pains come on really helps.

I think the emotions come with the diet, I cried almost every day during my first 2 weeks, and it wasnt just little cries it was BIG ones like asif I had lost a loved or somthing lol. the cries were over silly things. That too has passed . I too am a chocoholic...perhaps it could be from the withdrawal too?

Ah the veggie chopping.....its kind of never ending but that too becomes 2nd nature and no longer like a chore.

I have the same problem re: April wedding....and it's interstate!! We will be intersate for 3 days and am really confused if I should just go there and eat Cohen friendly meals or if I should take my food with me. I will be staying at my in laws so not sure what to do. They dont know I'am dieting and I really didnt want anyone knowing until i finish.

I think you will be fine, just maybe dont eat ur fruit that day and "guesstimate" your protein and/salad vege portion on the night.

Goodluck with your journey.
P.S sorry for the long post lol

Suga.

[Yvetteb]

Hi Sugarless,

Thanks. I'm glad to hear the hunger pangs and emotions will settle down. I know the road ahead will be long so I am trying to take it one day at a time. My hubby said I should look at it like being pregnant. When I was pregnant I had to give up things that could harm the unborn baby - like alcohol, caffine, sushi etc and of course I did so willingly. He suggested I think of this as a "pregnancy" but instead of giving birth to a baby in the end I will "give birth" to a new slimmer sexier me! Also it should take less than 9 months!

Good luck for the wedding. A good colleague and confidant suggested that whatever they serve at the wedding only eat half and try to choose the chicken or fish over the red meat. Also avoid the starter if possible and obviously the desert/cake and alcohol. I know how you feel about telling family and friends about the diet. I have only told my immediate family and 2 colleagues about the diet as I know I will get negative reactions from my other family and freinds. I know most of it is just jealousy but I really don't need all the negativity right now.

All the best and never apologise for a long post. I love any and all posts, long or short!
Yvette

[sugarless]

Good idea re: the pregnancy thing...I wont be able to use that one as I've never been pregnant. That is however my main goal after I finish the program.

Sounds like a good plan for the wedding. Stick with that and you should be OK.

Im glad my long post didnt annoy you

Suga.

[Yvetteb]

Gosh, I can't believe it has been nearly 2 week since I have had a moment to log on and see all the new posts. I have been so busy at work I haven't had a single spare second to read emails let alone blogs etc.

I am currently in week 4 of the diet. I go for my 4 week weigh in and blood test on Friday. So far I am coping and am deviation free even with the stress of the projects we are busy with. I won't lie and say it has been a picnic - I have been a little demotivated at times especially when I have to eat such a tiny amount for lunch/diner when my colleagues get to tuck into pizza, or pastas or chinese food etc when we work late. I have tried to make my meals as varied as possible so I don't get bored but sometimes there is just so much you can do with baby marrow or gem squash. I have replaced the chocolate cravings when I am stressed with crackers, but make sure I still stick to my allowances. The hunger pangs are still around but are a lot more managable. I have had a few cravings for something sweet so have been having a stewed apple after dinner every now and again. Who knew they could taste so good. My birthday last weekend was a little tough. One of my friends (that does not know I am on a diet) gave me a huge box of my favourite imported chocolates and one of my suppliers sent over a lovely bottle of Pinotage. I've put them away - far away - until the day I get to goal and finish refeed. My only concern now is how to get through a conference I have to go to mid March. It is for 4 days overseas so it's airline food, hotel food and conferencing the whole time. I think breakfast should be ok but lunch and dinner are going to be a little tougher to get around. We have to attend 1 banquet and 2 "working dinners" while there. My hubby says I should just be as sensible as I can - avoid starters, desserts, alcohol etc. The banquet is a plated meal so I will just have to choose the lesser of the 2 evils when I see what they are serving us. Unfortunately this may set me back a week or two but as hubby says - it is part of my job and I can't not do my job just because I want/need to loose some weight. At least my clothing is a little looser which is what is keping me going, that and my very supportive Hubby who tells me he is proud of me every day.

So, here's to the journey ahead, speedbumps and all - I'm going to take it slowly and steadily so hopefully getting over the speedbumps will not "damange my vehicle" too much!

Yvette

[yummymummywannabe]

Hi Yvetteb
I am a newbie. Just had my blood test today so can't start my own diary until I have my programme. Am wanting to familiarise myself with the forum for much needed support for when I start. I have enjoyed reading your diary to date and note a lot of similarities, so am looking forward to keeping up with your progress. You have done brilliantly so far and I cannot wait to start my own journey. Though it freaks me out coz although I feel committed I am also very afraid of failing which is why I am not telling anybody about being on the diet except for my husband and couple or close friends.
Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself and say keep up the good work. Stay strong you ROCK!!!