One small step for man, one giant leap for me!

[trishieness]

Hey Danny! Congrats on your 100% deviation free week! It happens, really. Sometimes, you can't get really tempted to deviate but just keep on thinking on why you started so you won't lose your focus.

Also, keep distracting yourself and drink more and more water so you won't hear your tummy growling on you because of cravings.

[cumulus.inc]

Week Four and Weigh in day!

Hmmm....this week was a challenge for me.

Firstly I woke up friday morning with a hideous calf cramp at 5am that took about 10mins to go away while I was lying there in agony, this is the second muscle cramp I've had in my life (excluding TOM stomach ones) and it was awful! I spent the rest of the day using a wheat bag on my calf as it was still tight and twinged...so I finally started taking the vitamins I had ordered with my program better late than never, right? since then I have had no further incidents, although my pee is now bright yellow lol the first time I saw it I freaked out and thought I hadn't drunk enough water!

Second challenge was meal timing with my work, first evening shift I got a break at 4pm (which was way too soon after my lunch to eat) but then didn't get any other time off until I got home at 10:30pm!! so I had the dilemma of eat less than 2 hours before bed (I had to be up at 6:30 the next day) or skip the meal...I opted to eat dinner and go to bed. Then the following day I ended up having a quite late lunch and needed to have dinner before my evening plans (very physically demanding) so it was only 3 hours between each meal! luckily, by coincidence, both meals were chicken. I asked my consultant about both of these situations and she said it's essential to have all meals in a day, more so than not having eaten 2 hours before bed. And if my meals really had to be less than 5 hours using the same protein is the best option.

Lastly, the other night (you may have seen my post about it)...so many cravings!!! all I wanted was potatoes etc I got pretty frustrated with myself as I'd kind of assumed this wouldn't happen anymore (silly of me, I know). But I was able to distract myself enough (special thank you for fragglerockstar) to get through the evening.

On to the good stuff - Weigh in day today!!! my results were......-7.7kgs!!! I am now in the 70's and feeling good it's funny though, as I was psyching myself up to weigh in, I was thinking that I had longer hair now than last time so that might add some weight that otherwise shouldn't be there....looking for any excuse as I was terrified of having a bad result lol next month I'm hoping to be a lot calmer about it all.

My measurement results were less impressive, -4cm...I'm not sure if I measured badly last time but some of my measurements went up while others went down...so who knows? for the month it's a cumulative change of -25.5cm which I am very happy with.

Well, I'll end my novel now lol hope you're all having a great week!

Thanks for stopping by

[AZ1908]

Congratulations Cumulus!!! 7.7kg is an awesome result.

If you are having cramps, you may need to eat more salt. I get cramps and have dizzy spells on EP when I don't eat enough salt. Try Pink Himalayan Rock Salt for best results.

[Not2Much]

Hey Danni - well done on an incredible loss...and also doing the best you can and not 'losing it completely' during tough times and situations out of your control. I think once you've had your crisis, it gets much easier and you understand what to do in future - but your instincts told you to do the right thing! When I had my first incident of late lunch (5pm) I was so scared and confused, I didn't even eat supper - and as you know now - it is worse than the 2-hour-before-bedtime-rule.

Goodness me! You went a month without taking the vitamins?! This is also one habit that stuck with me after Cohens. I simply cannot survive without my daily dose of multi vitamins, 1 X Omega 3, hair and nails, and Calcium and Magnesium (good for cramps, weakness and cravings). Incidentally, this also helps me to finish my first half liter water for the day...

As AZ said, increasing your salt slightly will also help with the cramps - and Himalayan is the best.

Good luck for the next 4 weeks - you are doing great!

[trishieness]

Congratulations Dani! How was that!! 7.7kg in a month! I'm so happy and proud of what you have achieved so far. You must be more motivated now!

[Andie27]

Hi Dani - well done on your recent 7.7 kg loss. You should be very proud of yourself for sticking to your plan despite your cravings and other challenges! Here's cheers to your success! Hugs Andie

[cumulus.inc]

Thank you all for your wonderful and kind words! I love reading replies on my diary, gives me the warm fuzzies!

AZ - thank you for your lovely words and your suggestion, I do use pink himalayan salt (I agree, totally the best) but I'll have to start using more of it lol

N2M - thank you! so glad to hear it gets better after the first crisis! I am feeling a lot more settled in the program now. Yes, now that I'm actually taking the vitamins regularly I do feel much better, oops! I've always avoided tablets wherever possible as swallowing them makes me gag and sometimes vomit, so it's a trial for me every morning but I'm sticking with it as it makes a difference.

Trish - thank you! I am definitely motivated to stay on plan DF to the end

Andie - thank you for your lovely words I am ridiculously proud of myself right now, this is the longest I have ever stuck to any diet/eating plan etc and also the best result I've ever had!

Wishing you all a great week!

[Nomoreexcuses]

Well done that's so awesome! YOu must feel so much better 7.7 kilos down bet your clothes are starting to look a bit silly I think some people can settle straight into the program…i for one was not so much one of them i struggled with deviations all along the way…but honestly you get there in the end and the more you lose the more motivated you get so it's just builds on itself. Now you know it works, you have faith, you're seeing the awesome positive benefits and know you're losing fat not water anymore so although you will probably still struggle…you will feel a lot stronger! And the forum is so great for fighting off cravings and staying strong. Nothing is worse than the pain of regret and disappointment, it is so not worth it. Just take it one meal at a time and just remind yourself that later that day or tomorrow, it will feel easier again. xxx

[Tes]

WOW - what a brilliant result - WOW WOW WOW - good on you

[cumulus.inc]

Week Five!

Yay! week five has been and gone and I am going pretty strong I did, sadly, unintentionally deviate this last weekend. I travelled interstate to visit family and forgot to bring my book with me so I was trying to remember my allowances.... turns out I was 10g over on my veg allowance for meal 3 So I have now taken a photo of my allowances page so it's always available in my phone.

Successes: I found it so true - one week weight loss the next week measurement loss. This week I dropped 9cm!!! which is 0.5cm off my first week drop

Struggles: Like I mentioned earlier - bringing my book with me when I go travelling! also, I've slacked off a bit on water intake the last few days so I need to get back on top of that asap.

Lesson learned:Take a photo of allowances page so it's always accessible to me in my phone camera album

Wishing you all a great week!

[trishieness]

Oh Dani, not that bad on a week five. It's not like you intended to deviate so keep calm and carry on. You're doing really good dear and improving day by day.

Happy that you feel stronger knowing you've overcome your first month. It feels really good!

I also have the copies of my meal plan on my phone and it's also stuck on our fridge. So it's less hassle during preparation. Good for you for keeping yours too on your phone!

[Andie27]

Hi Dani - way to go with your efforts so far. Thanks you so so much for the idea of taking a pic of your allowances section, a brilliant idea - I'm not an ideas person obviously so any tips like this one is a godsend! Here cheers to your success so far! Hugs Andie

[cumulus.inc]

Thank you Trishieness it was just so frustrating to get home and realise I'd been off slightly! but all good now, just part of the process I guess

I agree, one month down feels fantastic and time also seems to be passing faster now (thankfully), I'm not sure where it's going....probably because I'm also approaching exam time at uni lol

Thanks so much Andie, hugs are always welcome and you're welcome! after I got home I couldn't believe I hadn't done it earlier lol better late than never!

This weeked was super busy for me with work, volunteering, assignments and social engagements and I'm proud to say I didn't deviate at all. I hosted an afternoon tea and board games so when I was shopping for it I specifically chose food I know I hated (eg jam drop biscuits) and I wasn't tempted at all.

[trishieness]

Nice strategy you have there Dani. I actually had slight deviations this weekend. Saturday - I ate my dinner after 4.5 hours from my lunch and didn't wait for 2.5 hours before sleep. Sunday - after dinner, already slept after 1.5 hours.

But see, we can just keep going dear and don't feel discouraged. So cool you've been sticking to your goal as always. So admirable! You must feel so proud of yourself.

[cumulus.inc]

Week Six!! (already?!)

Wow! I am finding it really hard to believe I've been OP for a month and a half already! where did the time go? I'm kinda happy because I want to get to my goal already but at the same time I'm wondering where it went lol

So this week was pretty good, didn't get time to pre-make my lunches this week so I cooked them the night before which worked pretty well

I think I got a little too cocky because then I decided to bake some cookies one of my hobbies and joys in life is baking and decorating cakes and cookies and I've really missed doing it. So I thought things were going fine so I could make some cookies and just bring them to a group I attend no problems....omg!! cravings and old habits were shocking! when I was creaming the butter and sugar I just stuck some in my mouth without even thinking about it..only to realise and desperately wipe it off my tongue! I looked ridiculous lol
And then wanting to taste the dough, just take one bite out of a cookie...so hard!! I am proud to say I didn't cave in and deviate, I stayed strong! really happy with myself for that.

So the next night I have my first "foodmare" where I dreamed I deviated and I just couldn't explain why or anything, I was so upset with myself. Woke up feeling more determined than ever. (Although I might take a break on the baking again).

Successes: This week I dropped 2.5cm which, while small, I am ok with as it is still going in the right direction and last week was a massive drop. I haven't really noticed a big difference in my clothes (I wear a lot of stretchy stuff and was kind of in denial about my weight gain) but this morning I put on a top I haven't worn in a while because it was too right across the chest- and now it is slightly loose!!

Struggles: Habits about trying things as I'm baking them, having my foodmare!

Lessons learned: just because I'm feeling confident on plan doesn't mean I need to make it hard for myself by inviting temptation!

[Tes]

Hi Cumulus

i know exactly what you are talking about I do bake a lot - a big lot and in the beginning I struggled. Now days I don't find it a challenge and I probably bake about 2 cakes a week for the family - I have just this last hour finished baking 5 banana loaves and choc chip cookies for the long weekend. I take great pleasure in being more than able to ignore these baked goods. I think the motivation of fitting in to those smaller clothes becomes motivation enough to keep one on track. AND a big well done on 7.7kgs in one month seriously i say this often but every time i see someone do so well I am so grateful to Dr Cohen and so happy that I found this programme - there is no other like it - ANYWHERE. Saying that it also takes special people, strong people, to stick with it. If you don't have a strong mind it can be tough. All of us on this forum are stronger than most.

Wishing you lots of success with month 2 - You are on a roll now xx

[cumulus.inc]

OMG Tes, your determination and strength is amazing!!! I could do the banana loaves (but that's only because I hate banana :P ) maybe when I'm 3+ months in it'll get better but I'm not sure I want to risk again. This time was a very close run thing, not sure I'll be a strong next time

Thank you so much for your lovely words, you sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself!! I too, am incredibly greatful to Dr Cohen, he is quite literally changing lives.

You are such an inspiration and strength on this forum, I'm very glad I started my journey when I did and got to meet you and all the other wonderful forum regulars!

[trishieness]

Dani and Tes, you are such strong ladies to be able to cook for someone else and not being able to eat it yourself. I'm struggling everytime I'm in that situation. So I salute you both!

Dani, 2 more weeks and weigh in time again! Cheers for staying strong and happy in this journey!

[cumulus.inc]

lol Trish, it was a lot more of a struggle than I needed! there will be no more of that while OP, I don't recommend it

[cumulus.inc]

Week Seven!!!

Another week has been and gone, woohoo!!!

This week went pretty well for the most part, although on tuesday I ended up sleeping late so had to rush to uni and ate my lunch as breakfast so I didn't eat my last meal until 10pm! I knew the important thing was not skip though, and the other good news was that I didn't feel hungry, which is a big change for me.

I still eat my full cracker allowance every day because I'm a crunch addict and no vegetable ever gives me quite the same sensation, but that's ok to me - as long as it's within the allowance I'm cool with it

My parents are visiting me next week, which I am so looking forward to, and they are super supportive of my plan, so that will be nice. I'm also going to find a dress that I really love and looks great and buy it 2 sizes too small and hang it on the back of my door for motivation, when I fit into it I'll do the same again (read it in another post and thought it was a great idea!).

Successes: So........last week was a little drop in the measurements, this week I dropped......11.5cm!!!! I'm super shocked at this one, it's my largest weekly loss ever and I was not expecting it!! kinda thought week one would be my biggest, I'm on cloud nine right now lol and I'm actually starting to see a difference in the mirror too! (I always struggle to see my own weight loss in the mirror) and my clothes are definitely getting looser, yay!

Struggles: My water intake slacked a bit for a couple of days so I have to stay vigilant, now I'm on a roll I can't take it for granted and have to stay focused! and meal timing....I must admit for a few weeks now I haven't had the full 5 hours between breakfast and lunch, going to start using a countdown timer so I can't cheat on it.

Lesson learned: Being in a routine is fantastic but I still need to stay focused or things will start to slip

Hope everyone's having a great week!

PS next week is my two month weigh in!!!!! I already want it to be next week lol