Annabelle Joy's diary

[Soon2BSlim]

Hi AJ

Well done on your loss for the week! You're still doing so well!

I've been thinking about various comments to make when non-cohenites try to tell us when to stop dieting and I've come to the conclusion it may just be best to agree with them. A reply to their comment could go something like this: "Yes, I think I'm nearly done but I can't stop until I get the all clear from my doctor (Cohen) and I just have to do a few tests (or he wants to run a few more tests) before he will be able to give me that all clear".

The tests, obviously, are successfully completing the weightloss phase and refeed, but by seeming to agree with the uninformed person they will likely stop telling you what to do and if they have an inkling that you are still being monitored with tests it should seal things. Who would argue with a doctor wanting to run tests?! In fact they may even feel sympathy for you that you are still suffering health wise and needing more tests!

Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you and let you know that we all think you're doing a fantastic job.

Louise

[louise41]

Dont you just love those diet experts AJ! Congratulations on getting below your husbands weight- it was a bit inconsiderate of him to lose weight and make it more difficult for you to achieve. I am now about 5kgs less than my partner which was a lovely milestone, so I know how that feels.

[janine]

Hi Annabelle. You are a champion. It is so fabulous that you are having such great losses right to the end. Your dedication is fantastic and needs a huge round of applause. Well done. Nearly there. Maintenance land is lovely indeed.

[*Kate*]

Great loss AJ!!
I am so proud of you...and I don't even know you hehe. I can't wait to see you at refeed - whenever your time may come.

[Butterfly_girl]

AJ! Just saw your ticker in my diary and just had to rush over and say WOO HOO!! You're so very nearly there!

YAY YAY YAY!!!

[Annabelle Joy]

Same as yesterday. The scales were all over the place this morning, from 200 gms down to 200 gms up. Same as yesterday eventually won out. Down 3 1/2 cms on my main measurements and 2 1/2 cms on the others. My thighs are getting smaller gradually but very little change from knees down. At the rate my chest measurement is changing I'm going to finish up with an A-cup. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to stick a needle in, suck fat from where we don't want it, and deposit it where we do?

Quiet day yesterday again. I left some of my computer support cards with a new neighbourhood centre who phoned asking if I would be available to assist their students (mainly older women) with hardware related problems. I'm not looking for more work, but happy to help out older people. I left a couple of Thermomix packages with people organising demos for me. Another quiet day today I hope, with one visit to a client who used to do classes with me. She'll notice a difference in me. I'm appreciating the relaxed week I've had, after several weeks that were too busy.

Thanks for stopping by, LouLou, shell, Louise x 2, Janine, Kate, BFG and anyone reading this.

DH has tricked me, LouLou. He's dropped back to 66.6. I told him this morning that I'd soon be 65.8 and out of reach. I think weddings should be special, and needn't cost a lot. DS and his fiancee are having a problem with her father, who is paying for basic reception (about 1/3 of the total cost) and inviting friends of his and his wife who are unknown to the bride and groom. They don't want to be introduced to people for the first time at the wedding, which sounds reasonable to me. In addition, he wanted to add three people after the invitations had been sent out, although he had approved the list in advance. Fortunately, we're not too involved in the arrangements.

Close, shell. I probably could have taken it today, but waiting until I'm sure will help this week's total.

That's a good idea, Louise. I'll start using that. I'll be fibbing a little, as my refeed's been ordered, but it should shut them up -- if I can get them to listen to what I say.

DH has gone back down, Louise. However, he's not going to keep going down, and I hope I have at least another kilo or two to go. Also, I'm feeding him more non-Cohen (from the Thermomix) food at the moment, trying to sabotage him. He can eat an enormous quantity of food and not put weight on. It's not fair. I'm sure people used to think I was the glutton in the house, whereas really it was him.

Looking forward to joining you in maintenance land soon, Janine and also BFG.

Kate, for the duration of this diet I think our closest friends become others on the forum. Everyone on this forum understands my life right now better than most of the people who are normally closest to me. We get excited for those who are doing well, and those who are finishing, and commiserate with those who are finding it a bit of a struggle.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ

[Francesca]

Hi AJ

I'm so glad you managed to get a restful day; I honestly believe it makes all the difference! When I have a busy stretch at work/home or if I don't get a good night's sleep, I see the ill-effects in my loss numbers almost immediately.

You've done so so well and it must be wonderful to be able to touch and feel the ultimate reward (reaching your goal weight) just in front of you! I had thought that Ceb, you and me might have been able to start refeed around the same time, but you're actually closer to your goal weight (on your ticker) than I initially thought. Unless you're aiming to get down to 60...?

Have a wonderful Friday, AJ! Catch up soon.

[Annabelle Joy]

No change this morning. Another quiet day yesterday, but apparently not quiet enough to cause the weight to fall. I did spend a while with a client with a range of interesting problems, but all fairly straightforward. She noticed that I'd lost a lot of weight as soon as she opened the door. She's doing Weight Watchers, but is at a weight where she's fairly comfortable and finding it difficult to go further. I think she still has quite a bit to lose, but I now apply Cohen standards to everyone.

I had another relatively early night last night, and about eight hours sleep two nights in a row, a couple of hours more than I usually sleep. I notice that I'm more tired in the evenings now, find it harder to concentrate on diaries. I'm now getting round them all about once a week instead of every night. Definitely getting close to refeed time, although no sign of hunger yet. My refeed programme still hasn't arrived. If it doesn't arrive by next Tuesday I'll contact the clinic and see what's going on. The Beck Diet Solution on CD arrived yesterday, so I'll be able to listen to that when I'm driving now.

Today I'm going to visit my father and watch the football with him. I'm not a mad sports fan, but, living in Geelong, hope to see them win today. DS is a mad Cats fan, was up at 1 am and queuing outside the Members at the MCG at 2 am this morning so he could get a good seat. We didn't do the right thing by him and put him down for membership when he was born. However, his future FIL has a ticket that converts to associate membership, the rights to which he has assigned to DS. I sometimes tease DS by asking if that had anything to do with him proposing to his fiancee. DH is playing golf, then will watch the end of the game at the clubhouse.

Thanks for stopping by, Francesca and anyone reading this. The forum certainly does go quiet at the weekends. Only a dozen postings between when I went to bed and when I logged on this morning. Usually it's around fifty.

Quiet days seem to have less effect now, Francesca. For most of the diet I was losing Friday to Sunday, when life was a bit quieter. At this point the correlation is less clear. I'm planning to go until I'm hungry, which I'm hoping will be around the goal on my ticker. I'm still carrying a lot on my legs, but it's not moving from there, and I think I'm going to look too thin from the waist up if I go to 60 kgs. However, my upper arms are shrinking in at the moment, which is good. I had thought that I would have loose skin there, but they will be better than I expected. I can still lose some off my hips. My midriff also is shrinking and the skin isn't so loose. I'll just keep going for now. I might still be around to do refeed with you and Ceburoo.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ

[FotoHijinx]

Hi AJ

Sorry I haven't popped in for a while but you are doing great and it won't be long until you have finished too.

Can you believe it - what a journey we've had together - its truly been amazing!!

I hope you guys have got some of our nice weather - its just gorgeous here today.

Enjoy your weekend AJ - talk soon.

Cheers
Irene

[lucylou]

Hi AJ

I hope the Cats win, just to make your Dad happy. My beloved Saints got knocked out dramatically by the Hawks so I'm definitely NOT going for them.

interesting that the quiet days don't have so much of an effect on the weight loss now. If I'm doing a sneaky weigh during the week i won't do it unless I've had enough sleep. I will be doing a sneaky weigh at some stage because I'm so close to my next mini goal.

How long have you been waiting for your refeed to arrive? Mine was ordered by my consultant yesterday.

x

Loulou

[thenewvee]

Hi AJ

Sorry to hear that hubby dropped below you again in weight! I was so excited for you when I read you had passed him!! LOL
I'm glad you are having quieter days, it's probably really good especially seeing as how you are feeling a bit more worn out of late.
Congratulations on ordering the refeed. That will be exciting getting to familiarise yourself with it and preparing for it as well!

Sending you a huge shove to get those last remaining stubborn kgs out of the picture!!

Have a great time with your Dad! I too hope his team wins!!

Vee

[Francesca]

Hi AJ

Curious how quiet days don't have the same powerful effect from before, isn't it? The body works in strange and mysterious ways! 60 isn't too far off from your current ticker goal in the greater scheme of things, but I guess the most important thing would be to - as is always said in these parts - listen to your body and let it tell you when to start refeed. As you said in my diary, for me, this point may well be at a point above my low. Will just buckle in and go along for the ride!

[lucylou]

Hi AJ

Commiserations on the Cats!

x

LL

[Lilamay]

Hi AJ. Good to see the cm are going the right way. Encouraging for me that you are noticing shrinkage. Found an interesting author you might like to check out. Michel Montignac. He has written many books on Low GI eating. I checked out all the veg and fruit that we are allowed and all the veg is rated 15 on the GI scale and most of the fruit is 30. His website has a lot of scientific research results which indicate that eating very low (<35 GI) carbohydrates together with low saturated fat proteins results in rapid weight loss.

[Annabelle Joy]

Up 200 gms today. Definitely a slow week this week. I've not been under any stress to slow me down, but no movement over several quiet days.

I went to see Dad yesterday and watched the football with him, at least most of it. He was taken to dinner shortly into the last quarter, and when it was clear that Geelong couldn't overtake Hawthorn I left to get ahead of the traffic. The only member of the family who gets down over Geelong losing is DS. I haven't spoken with him. His fiancee phoned and said he was despondent after the game. Both my brothers called in, got a bit exasperated with Dad. They keep organising things for him because he complains, and then he complains more about what's been done. Most recently were new teeth because the old ones didn't fit. Now he says the new ones won't stay in his mouth. He won't wear a pair of very expensive specially made shoes, and several other similar items. I think it's a matter of being elderly he doesn't like any change. He's obviously a lot better now than he has been for a while.

I listened to The Beck Diet Solution on the trip up and back; one CD each way. I like some of the ideas to help with maintenance, but others don't seem appropriate for me as I'm so close to finished the diet without problems. It certainly seems like a good plan for anyone about to start. Two of the ideas I liked were not to eat anything (put anything in your mouth) unless you are seated, and planning each day what to eat the following day, and not eating anything not in your previous day's plan. I felt hungry throughout the reading, brought on by all that talk of dieting.

Another quiet day today. Let's hope the fat starts to move again.

Thanks for stopping by, Irene, LouLou, Vee, Francesca, Lilamay and anyone reading this.

It's been a life changing journey, Irene, and it's nearly finished, although the path from here on is different to what it would have been if we hadn't started. Congratulations on being about to embark on the rest of your life, and I hope there will be some significant changes for you in the near future. Yes, lovely day over here yesterday too.

LouLou, I had my blood test and saw my consultant Friday before last. She said she would order refeed as soon as the blood test results arrived, possibly that day and that my refeed could be back by Monday and she would post it straight out. I suspect that she wouldn't have ordered until last Monday. The clinic is closed on Thursdays, so if it arrived Thursday it wouldn't be posted until Friday. I'm going to make an enquiry if it's not here by Tuesday. I'm still quite a bit above my Cohen range, so maybe Dr Cohen doesn't want to issue it yet. I expect there will be an air of gloom over Geelong today, but not noticable in our house.

Thanks for the shove, Vee. It's taken a while to arrive, hope it might help tomorrow. DH weighed this morning (he usually weighs at night) and was down to 65.4 kgs. I'm going to have to feed him more.

Francesca, my body is starting to tell me that it's thinking about getting more to eat. I have backaches, feel lethargic in the evenings, and maybe the slow losses this week, but absolutely no unusual hunger yet. I can easily go an extra hour or two waiting for lunch or dinner. I've seldom been as low as my current weight in the past, never able to maintain it. That may be a reason for slow losses at the moment -- old low point that I have to break through.

Thanks for that link, Lilamay. Dr Cohen doesn't mention low GI eating, but I'm assuming that is likely to be because he developed his diet before low GI became popular. I think that in maintenance, consideration of low GI foods will be important for me. Yes, I can definitely see my skin is shrinking. I think that it will probably take many months to get rid of all the excess, if at all, but it's getting better and I'm still losing weight. Did I point you to Pandora's photos at http://newyouforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4918? I find them very encouraging.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ

[louise41]

Hi AJ

Its hard for people as they get old and lose their independence, sometims complaining about trivial things is their way of maintaining some control. Letting them make even tiny decisions for themselves can really help their self esteem.

Look at your ticker, can you believe how far you have come!

[ceburoo]

I think you will be i re-feed b efore skinny and myself AJ Anyway that will be to our advantage coz you will be the pioneer for us and we will prosper from your expereince.
Bad luck for the Cats. I followed the Hawks before the Swans came to Sydney. So the Hawks are the team I follow if I am not barracking for the Swans. Amazing what pressure can do to a player though. Some of the Cats misses will have some players having recurring nightmares until the new season starts.

[ropemaha]

omg aj you only have 2kg to go....i need to lose more than that...

you are a bloody champion aj....roll on refeed

love your work maam....

pen

[bruni]

Morning AJ..you have been busy on everyone's diaries..you must be exhausted..only 1.8 to go - congrats on your refeed if you start this week..footy - don't understand it and really don't want too!!..took a peek at Miss Penn's pics..she looks stunning..better get into some diaries myself..chookers and all the best

[Annabelle Joy]

Down 400 gms this morning. I've now lost six stone since I started, which is a pretty impressive number to me. For all of you who have no idea what a stone is, but maybe have some understanding of a pound, there are 14 pounds in a stone.

It's still looking like it might be a slow week. I wish I knew where I was going to finish. It would be nice to know approximately how much longer, and to be sure of what size I will be at the end. I need to buy new underwear soon for dress fittings, don't want to buy something that I shrink out of. DH went back up and I'm lower than him again. Just a matter of keeping him well fed.

It looks like being another reasonably quiet week for me. Yesterday I cleaned out some kitchen cupboards, reorganised my kitchen a bit, and visited the suprmarket. I'll keep going with that today. I have one client to see this afternoon, and she's also organised a Thermomix demo for me. The dining room had become the Thermomix room, but I'd like to reclaim it as a dining room. I have some Thermomix paperwork to be done and the NHW newsletter to prepare.

This last bit is difficult. I see why some others have run into problems. Because I'm so close I almost forget at times that I'm still on a strict diet. I've found myself almost popping a leftover bit of vegetable into my mouth, did once eat a leftover bit of celery without thinking about it. I think more often about joining my husband in what he is eating. It feels like I'm there and I have to keep reminding myself that I still have several weeks of diet and refeed before I'm finished. It's not that I'm wanting to deviate, it's more that my mind has moved ahead of reality, and it's no longer always thinking in diet mode. I'm going to have to be very strict with myself over The Wedding weekend. I'll be out of my normal environment for four days, and with lots of opportunities to join in with others. I can see that if I give in, apart from the planned deviations, it would be very difficult to get back to the strict diet again. I can now understand why others have given in to temptation right at the end of their diets.

I caught up on all the diaries last night. I thought I'd never get up to date again with all the reading I had to do when I was days behind in each diary. I doubt that I can remain up to date, particularly as I'm feeling more tired in the evenings, and often going to bed earlier.

Thanks for stopping by, Louise, Ceburoo, Penny, Jules and anyone reading this.

I think you're right, Louise. Dad wants to assert himself. One of my brothers says he's argumentative, but that brother is inclined to dictate his own views. It's harder for my brothers as they see him more frequently than I do, and are the ones who have the responsibility of getting things done for him. Certainly, twelve months ago I would never have believed that I could be this weight now. I've taken longer than most to achieve it. It's become a way of life, and I don't think too much about it.

Ceburoo, I hope I do. However, if I don't get hungry and have to go to 60 kgs you and Francesca will beat me. I have to say that I think that a team that scores as many behinds as Geelong did on Saturday didn't deserve to win. Geelong's an unusual team, being the only Victorian non-metro team. Because the whole city is behind them, they're almost treated like gods wherever they go. Sometimes it goes to their heads, particularly the young players.

Thanks, Pen. It could be up to six and a half kilos to go if the hunger doesn't kick in. I'm trying to decide whether to change my ticker or leave it as it as is if I go below it. My clinic suggested 65 kgs as a goal, on the basis that older women usually finish above the Cohen range. I set my ticker at a nice, even 40 kgs, just under 65 kgs. No signs of hunger yet, but I understand it's not a gradual process anyway.

Not a lot of posts over the weekend, Jules, and I finally had a chance to catch up. I don't follow the football either normally. DH enjoys watching it, but isn't a strong supporter of any team. Because DS is an ardent Cats fan, DH and I like to see them win.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ