Giddyupgirl's Diary

[Suzieblue]

Jlou i've heard the nail thing had a little to do with hormones?! so maybe a cohens thing!

Gug you have just made me look at my nails in shame! they are normally beautiful but prior to doing cohens i'd been told to go on a brown rice diet.....and since then they have been absolutely disgusting. I have tried to file them but there isn't really anything there to file!!!!

Regarding the apples...i'm addicted to oven baked royal gala! I simply cut it up and in the oven till it looks devine!!! ...glad to hear that the rest of the veges' made it though!

[jlou]

i'd been told to go on a brown rice diet

Gross!

[giddyupgirl]

Oh lil_doll, golden delicious, when I was a child we had a golden delicious tree that used to give us huge amounts of fruit, and so yummy. I haven't had one for years, we don't get them out here. I only have 2 pink ladies left And no mangoes in the shops, this is really going to suck! Stuck with horrid oranges from the USA, grrr. I am working on positive self talk, so hopefully that will pay off on the scales.

Jlou, I love my acrylic nails, I have them relatively short, not great long tallons, so I find them very managable. Because I am messing with horses all the time I could never keep my nails looking good. They cost me $35 a fortnight, but I figure I don't smoke, drink or gamble, and right now I barely eat so I am worth that a fortnight, oh and that includes an eyebrow waxing, so all is good.

Suzieblue, I agree, that hormones and diet do play a large role in the health of our nails, also all the cream you are using won't be doing them any harm, I rub bio oil on my cuticles every day too, that promotes healthy growth. And what the heck is a brown rice diet, I haven't heard of that one before, sounds dreadful. I like the sound of your baked apples, I might have to give that a try. I have seen Royal Gala in the supermarket.

[jlou]

They cost me $35 a fortnight, but I figure I don't smoke, drink or gamble, and right now I barely eat so I am worth that a fortnight, oh and that includes an eyebrow waxing, so all is good.

Right about now I am thinking you are good value

I used to get acrylics but I'd end up leaving it too long for the infill etc - something would come up at work and I'd miss the appointment etc.

[giddyupgirl]

I remember my refills because my appointment is always at 10am on my pay day, my treat.

Dammit this positive self speak isn't loud enough to drown out the screaming of my frustrations with this slow weight loss. I have just updated my spreadsheet and I have only lost 5.2kg in 7.5 weeks. Grrr I wish I knew what the problem is, I have gone over my eating diary with a fine tooth comb and my plan again and apart from my deviations a couple of weeks ago, I can't find anything wrong with what I am doing. I have gone back to absolute basics now, no mayo, no balsamic vinegar, no condiments, even cut my vitamins back to the basics, will see how that goes. And I am 200g heavier than I was last saturday, so bl**dy frustrating. I really feel like I am just torturing myself atm for the sake of torturing myself.

[Gremlin]

Don't beat yourself up GUG, you're at 'the pointy end' of the journey, and things can tend to slow down. I had a plateu, lost about 3kgs in a month, was really bummed. But then last week I lost 2.5kgs outta the blue!

You may plateu for awhile then get a big sudden drop, or a kick start. It's likely you're body is just working on a particularly stubborn fat patch at the moment...might take awhile but how good when it's gone!

And focusing on it too much will just stress you out and slow your losses, vicious cycle! You're doing awesome, just stick with it and trust your body to do it's thing as fast as it can handle...

[giddyupgirl]

Thanks Gremlin, I know if I keep going I will lose it, but to be 200g up on last saturday is ridiculous, and I have not deviated one little gram, grrr.

[Suzieblue]

oh Gug - my naturopath told me i needed to slim down a little and suggested that this was the best way to do it. you have brown rice for breakfast and dinner and have it with either fresh fruit or yoghurt but never mix the two!? I was told that you can eat as much rice as you need to to be full however at dinner i'd have a small bowl with fruit. I actually don't mind it with yoghurt however it was a struggle in the evening at times. the theory behind it worked however i didn't really abide by a 'diet' through the day and still enjoyed the occasional iced coffee...prior to starting this i did weigh 97kg and by the time i started cohens i was 92....not sure if it was due to the rice or gym that i lost those few kilos !!!

[mcpsych]

gug
you are doing great stick with the plan
have you tried moving the meals around ( what you have for dinne have for breKKY ETC)
cheers
mark

[lil_doll]

Hey Giddy,

I am feeling like my losses are a little slow too... but, you know the drill, we have to just keep going!!

I actually really like brown rice... and I used to have pieces of fruit with it as a treat. It's actually quite yum. I would put some apricot slices and some juice (read syrup!) on it... yum! I am hoping brown rice is nice to me in maintenance!

xoxo
Missy

[giddyupgirl]

Thanks Mark will give it a go if the current plan doesn't work. I am trying to work out what is the lowest calorie count meal from each of my meal groups and then eat that. Haven't looked it up yet but assuming iceberg lettuce has very few calories, so if I make most of my vegie allowance that, with the minimum protien from each group, no fruit or crispbreads I should be able to drop my daily calorie intake significantly but still be sticking 100% to my plan.

I like the taste of brown rice too, but with savory dishes or my amazing fried rice, not with sweet stuff. I hope brown rice is nice to you on maintenance too lil_doll.

Suzieblue, I am of the opinion that any diet that says you have to eat this and this at certain times, but at other time you can eat what you like, is destined to fail in the long term as it isn't sustainable. Cohen's is completely sustainable long term because there is no special potions, pills, shakes, or weird food, just good natural food. That is why it is so brilliant.

[jlou]

Hey GUG

I am not sure that trying to restrict the calories is going to help - it could actually make things slower. I remember reading somewhere on here (of course I can't find it now!!) that some people find if they are not eating their crackers and fruits, when they start to again, their weight loss speeds up.

We are already on very low calorie diets and trying to make it even lower - when you are someone doing exercise too - could have the opposite effect...

Hopefully I find that post about the crackers and fruit or someone else knows the one I am talking about....

[giddyupgirl]

Right, I have it worked out now, for breakfast I can have egg and lettuce 63 cals. Then for lunch 3 times a week I can have low fat cottage cheese and lettuce at 73 cals and the other 4 days I can have fish and lettuce at 114 cals and then for dinner I can have fish and lettuce at 123 cals. So on a cheese day I can get away with 259 cals total and on a fish day I can get away with 300 cals. With that I am not deviating from my plan one gram. Drinking only water, surely I have to lose weight with that. Just wish I knew how many calories are in my vitamins.

[mcpsych]

Gug
have you weighed out the lettuce and seen how much it is
I suspect you will get sick of it pretty quickly lettuce Can be quite bitter

[giddyupgirl]

Hi Mark, I had the largest quantity of lettuce of all my meals tonight and using iceberg which is dense and wet for lettuce it was managable albeit relatively tasteless, but something I am prepared to live with to lose weight. I ate a darned sight less than this for the 2 and a half months before I started Cohens.

[jlou]

GUG

I have to agree with Mark - one day I ran out of other veges and had to have lettuce for my whole vege allowance and I nearly gagged. And that was only one meal!

I am concerned that if you restrict the program so much and intentionally limit your calorie intake so low, you risk not being able to see this through. I remember that one of the reasons you started Cohens was because you were finding what you were doing previously was not sustainable. I am concerned that limiting your meals so strictly and your calorie intake - when you are doing exercise - is not going to be sustainable - I know I couldn't do it!

You are also not going to be getting a variety of nutrition if lettuce is your only vegetable. I know yes, you can eat the same thing everyday but I don't know if that is what the good Dr would have intended people to do. I wouldn't want to rely solely on my vitamins to fill up the deficit from not eating a variety of vegetables.

Your plan has been written for you. You know the plan works because other people are here as testament that their plans worked for them. You just have to give it time. Stressing about it and counting calories may make things worse.

We have all had weeks where we have gained weight - it happens to me each month. But you just keep going and it works out in the end.

Hang in there Giddyupgirl...

jlou

[Suzieblue]

Hey GUG I have to agree with you on that! there is no nutritional value that i gained whilst attempting to eat rice and thus my nails are taking their time to come back to me again! Cohens is a lot more logical and balanced! i actually feel like a normal person good luck with all the calorie counting .

[giddyupgirl]

Sorry jlou, didn't see your post until now, as for the fruit and crackers, my plan says that after the first 10 days they are optional, my plan also says it is ok to use the vegie allowance for a variety of vegies or just one. And I am following weights exactly to my plan, so surely that option wouldn't be available to me if it was ok to do that. I have to do something because I fear I will lose control again if I don't, my frustration levels are beginning to peak, and this is me being proactive as opposed to being reactive to the problem.

[giddyupgirl]

Thanks jlou, I appreciate your concern and I understand it, I have been on the program now for 2 months and have only lost 5kg, that is pitiful and I have only deviated once, I know that will set me back a week, and it did, I can't afford to lose control, I really can't.

[Lovely]

Hi GUG,

I am really concerned that 300 calories a day is way too low even for the purposes of radical weight loss. Have you spoken to your clinic about your slow weight loss, perhaps they can offer you some advice. You really don't want to risk your long term health for quicker weight loss. I really hope you reconsider this route.