AJ has moved to refeed! - Page 3

Lulabelle · #41 06-10-2008, 10:34

I just wanted to drop in and say congratulations on reaching re-feed AJ

Your diary and your wonderful supportive posts throughout the forum have been a real inspiration and it's great to see you hitting YOUR goals

I hope that re-feed is a great experience for you!

Tuti · #42 06-10-2008, 10:46

Hi AJ,

Congratulations on reaching refeed. To be able to finish before the wedding is terrific. Although the first week after finishing refeed is quite daunting it is great that you are not in the last week of refeed.

I would give anyone doing refeed one piece of advise...the last week or so of the plan can get quite confusing and to fit in all the food you do have to be organised...so try not to plan too much for that week and it will be a lot easier to handle.

The bread rolls sound pretty good to me and its is great that you can now use the thermomix for yourself.

Enjoy refeed

Cheers

Tuti

ropemaha · #43 06-10-2008, 11:55

all sounds very sensible aj....you will get there no problemo i reckon...and be the stunning mother at the wedding....well done honey....

pen

Francesca · #44 06-10-2008, 13:58

Well done AJ for working through the bloat issues! It makes a lot of sense to make your own bread; the preservatives that are used in processed foods these days are just plain unhealthy for some of us. I really must get my hands on a Thermomix one day.

lou102 · #45 06-10-2008, 19:16

Hi AJ, Just another admirer dropping in to congratulate you on your fantastic achievement. Well done on reaching refeed. It all looks a little scary to me. 40 kgs is fantastic.

Your support to everyone on this forum is invaluable. Thankyou.

I will be following the rest of your journey on refeed and maintenance with interest.

anc · #46 06-10-2008, 21:50

Congratulations AJ!

You have done so well and have always been such a positive influence on this forum

I wish you the very best of luck with the refeed and at the wedding, I have many times seen you on the forum and you certainly have been an inspiration to me.

I am not sure if it works on refeed but I have found that when I retain fluid that if I drink more water it helps (seems to come out in the wee hours of the morn if you get my drift!)

Congratulations again and all the best for the next couple of weeks

Annabelle Joy · #47 07-10-2008, 11:09

Down 100 gms on my low of last Saturday. That seems to confirm that I didn't start refeed too early. I was told that if I gained in the first few days it would indicate that I had started too early. I've now lost more weight, and certainly haven't gained any. I did expect after the long day yesterday that I might still be up a bit with retained fluid. It's actually quite nerve wracking to get on the scales in the morning now in case it's up a lot, particularly as I'm having busy days at the moment and my weight is up 2 1/2 to 3 kgs before bed with retained fluid from the day.

Yesterday we visited DS and talked about wedding arrangements. He thought I might be getting a bit too thin.

I realised that he's probably never seen me this size, I doubt that I've been this thin since he was born thirty years ago. We paid a short visit to my father, who's much better since he had the pacemaker put in. It had to be a short visit as there was a accident on the freeway, which was choked, and we had to find an alternative route home. I delivered DH home and went to the coffee meet in Geelong (photo to follow this evening). From there I went back to Melbourne to a Thermomix meeting, arrived home at five minutes to midnight.

Today is my day at the winery, although I've already dealt with a number of other matters - Thermomix demo arrangements for the next two days, wedding function champagne (they sent two boxes of red and one white instead of two whites and a red), ordering barcodes for the winery for wine that has to be sent today, two computer clients' problems. Helps keep me from being bored.

Next I have to organise my food for today.

Today my vegetable allowance is being increased again. Increases aren't all that large. So I now have increased allowances of protein and vegetable, but not huge, particularly when spread across two meals. I think I'm probably working towards doubling the original quantities by the time I finish. I'd expect that younger people might get bigger increases than me because their final calorie requirements would be higher than mine, but I'm only guessing. I also have an extra 'good' fruit and a slice of bread or, in my case a small roll about the same weight as a slice of bread. I've not had any problems with my home made bread.

Since day 1 I've been getting through it all okay, not bloated or too full, but definitely full enough. I used to feel every evening that I would like a bit more to eat. Since I've started refeed I've felt comfortably full all the time. Of course, the past two evenings I've been busy and haven't had time to think about being hungry anyway.

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I hope to get time to respond to your posts this evening. Fitting refeed in with everything else this week is a challenge.

Have a lovely, stress free, day.

AJ

*dreamchaser* · #48 07-10-2008, 11:31

Way to go AJ. Good to hear you are not having any issues with refeed.

Take care
DC

shell · #49 07-10-2008, 11:35

Good on you AJ,
Glad you are enjoying re feed!
Shell

becca · #50 07-10-2008, 12:19

Hi AJ,

Just wanted to say how fantastic you are looking, when u walked into the cafe yesterday you look so good, nice and skinny, in a good way skinny you just look great.

You have achived so much and you are a true insperation for all of us on how this journey should be done, i follow your footsteps all the way we started one month apart and i can see your results and look at myslef and think i will be there soon too.

Enjoy every moment of the new you, and you will be looking so beautiful at the wedding.

Becca xx

Erra · #51 07-10-2008, 14:05

I'm a bit late, but you see it was a bit of a battle to get through everyone elses posts, and find the Aj ones!!

Just shows you how important you are to us all here woman! Day 4 and already 3 pages in - no surprise really. Well done, and already spreading the joy with you're thourough assesments and analysis! I'm so glad you're here, at this point - and happy for you, to.

Please don't stop.....but I imagine you to be saying someting about hell or high water to that!!

And I hope you make it in to the wedding, at maintenance - but no sweat if you have a set back, you are but so close to your vision of yourself as a slim maintainer lady!

SOON TO BE · #52 07-10-2008, 15:52

congratulations on refeed AJ.
Sounds like you are doing really well and keeping very busy as always.
Hope you get it completed by the wedding, what a wonderful way to celebrate your achievements....watching another of your great achievements get married !!

Enjoy your time.
Happy days
Tara x

Annabelle Joy · #53 07-10-2008, 19:03

Photo from our meet yesterday. Left to right we are: Niblett, AJ, Becca. Ez took the photo, wants everyone to know she is doing well, but not strictly Cohen's at the moment. She's looking well. I hardly recognised Becca this time, big change in a short time.

AJ

janine · #54 07-10-2008, 19:36

Wow AJ, you look fantastic! Very MOG ready!

thenewvee · #55 07-10-2008, 20:58

Hi AJ!

I'm really enjoying your refeed diary, it is interesting to hear what you all get extra and also nice to know that the food is increased incrementally. I'm glad for you that you are feeling comfortably full now after your evening meal, and also glad to hear you didn't have any nasty side effects from your lovely roll last night! You put such interesting tid-bits in your posts, like the fact about if you start refeed too early your wait can go up etc. All very illuminating and something to remember!

You are certainly keeping very busy. Hopefully it will all settle down after the wedding!

The photo is great, you ladies all look lovely! (Sorry we missed Ez).

Vee

ConnieK.. · #56 07-10-2008, 22:20

Aj,

You look wonderful! Just had to say WOW!

Connie

Annabelle Joy · #57 07-10-2008, 22:59

Time I caught up with my diary. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to complete my own diary, let alone catch up with everyone else. With luck I will have a bit more time in the evenings for the rest of the week.

I didn't get to the winery today until about 1:30, although I spent some time this morning preparing barcodes for the export order. It will be interesting to see tomorrow if being home for the morning will help with reduced fluid retention for today.

I have a Thermomix demo tomorrow, and another on on Thursday morning. These two will be the first ones with people I don't know. I think I'm ready for that. My backaches are a real problem in demos. I hope they disappear soon.

Today went well food wise. I had a spell where I felt really hungry about half an hour before my afternoon snack, but I then got busy and forgot it until an hour after I was due to have it, so probably just boredom. Today I had a slice of bread from my little loaf instead of a baby roll. I haven't eaten a lot of bread in recent years, can take it or leave it. It would be nicer with butter, but I don't get that until near the end. It's lovely feeling comfortably full after dinner.

Time to respond to all the messages that you lovely people have been leaving over the past couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by, Irene, Reecy, Suzie, LouLou, Francesca (x 2), Vee (x 2), Janine (x 3), Jenni, Sjl, Sharlene, Pandora, Mette, Lulabelle, Tuti, Penny, Lou, anc, DC, shell, Becca, Erra, Tara, Connie and anyone else reading this.

Irene, I hope you are enjoying the holiday, and finally having a holiday from first weighing everything that goes into your mouth.

I hope to see you over here soon, Reecy. I'm not finding the actual refeed too difficult so far, but having to think ahead to what I'm going to have for lunch and dinner, and prepare it to take with me as happened yesterday for both meals, is a challenge. I haven't tried planning ahead as I don't necessarily know where I will be eating, so I'm doing it day by day.

Suzie, I am enjoying refeed. I feel comfortably full, neither hungry nor over full, most of the time.

LouLou, I hadn't heard that before either. I'm so pleased it came up in my discussion with my consultant. If it hadn't, I'd still be dieting, and I really do think that I'm probably already at the right point. I'm hoping it will help others who aren't sure if they are ready and decide to start refeed.

Francesca, it does seem a lot of food, particularly for the final couple of days. However, I calculate that I will have about 1500 calories on my final day. For my age and lifestyle, that's probably about right for maintenance. I suspect that you will have more to eat at the end than me, as your daily requirements would be higher. I think that Dr Cohen probably introduces us to new foods and increases quantities until we reach a point with is right for maintenance. I think that even though it seems a lot, none of it is high calorie or empty calorie food. My consultant told me that I should eat all the food if possible, as doing so does get us ready for maintenance. So many have said that they felt bloated after the first time they eat bread, and I haven't, so I am wondering if it's the additives that people are reacting to. We need more Cohenintes to make their own bread to get more data on this. It's really worth seeing a Thermomix demo, and there's no hard sell with it. PM me if you would like to see one and I'll pass your details on so someone can contact you.

Vee, I was expecting that bread would have an adverse effect on me, as I have thought in recent years that I had a wheat intolerance. I'm pleasantly surprised, although still don't think I will eat bread often when I get to maintenance. I did try to get Ez to join us but she didn't think she should be in the photo.

Janine, I'm increasing to five fruit tomorrow. My consultant suggested I make fruit salad and eat a little more than one fruit at a time. She also suggested that I could use lemon juice in my meals as a way of using up one fruit allowance. At the moment, I'm enjoying the taste of individual fruits. I think that additive free foods are a major contributor to being able to eat foods we once avoided. That's the main reason I bought a Thermomix and became a consultant. I think it's a great piece of equipment for post Cohen eating as there are so many things that used to be difficult to make at home that become fast and easy with one, and cutting out all additives becomes realistic.

Jenni, my first day I felt overfull. Since then I've been comfortable. As I've already said, I think it's the additives that have been causing trouble, not the natural, additive free, food.

Thanks, Sjl.

Thanks for stopping by, Sharlene. Good to see you. I've been lucky and found the diet easy, and I know that most don't. However, it's really worth the effort it takes to get here.

Pandora, that is so funny. I always think of you as one of my mentors.

Thanks, Mette. The increases in protein and vegetable aren't great, so the meals don't look much bigger. I've had three fruit and eight CBs through my diet, however I am noticing one extra fruit a day. Tomorrow I increase fruit to five pieces a day.

Thanks, Lulabelle. Refeed isn't too far away for you too.

Thanks for that advice, Tuti. I'm hoping not to have to be away from home so much in that week. I'm going to be so disappointed if I have to go back two days and don't get finished before we go to Melbourne. Even if I do finish in time, I'm still planning to eat fairly carefully over The Wedding Weekend. Would love to meet for a black coffee or a glass of wine sometime beyond then.

Thanks, Penny. I'm sure that I'm going to look stunning at The Wedding. I'm planning on posting an engagement party photo and a wedding photo afterward so you can all see the difference.

Thanks, Lou. You're nearly halfway, and have about the same to lose as I had. It's so rewarding to see myself now looking as I did thirty-five years ago (as long as I only look at the bits covered with clothes). Take it day by day, don't deviate, and you'll be surprised at how quickly the time passes.

Thanks, anc. I seem to retain fluid any time I'm out of my regular routine. I just don't need to go to the toilet in those circumstances (does have some advantages). I think it's some sort of stress reaction, my body is dealing with the stress (even though it's not stress in the usual sense) and shuts down on it's regular processing.

Thanks, DC. Not far for you now.

Thanks, shell. I'm looking forward to maintenance.

Thanks, Becca. My first thought yesterday when I walked in was "Is that Becca?". In the last four weeks you've gone from still looking overweight to looking normal weight by today's standards where most are slightly overweight. You will be looking terrific by the time you finish, and it's not too far away now.

Erra, I think that I finally have the skills, knowledge and determination to maintain my weight. I do know that I will not put on 40 kgs again.

Thank you, Tara. What a great quote from you. I've sent it off to my son.

Thanks, Connie. I feel wonderful too.

I need an early night. Last night was late, after a long day, and I didn't sleep well. I'll be back in the morning to post my weight and food for the day, and hope to get to a few diaries tomorrow night.

AJ

louise41 · #58 07-10-2008, 23:19

Hi AJ I hope its not too lonely out here in refeed! I look forward to having that problem- I hope you are enjoying the new foods, you deserve them, its been a long haul but you are finally getting your rewards- mind you the biggest rewards are probably feeling and looking fantastic!

shell · #59 08-10-2008, 05:17

Hi Aj,
You sound as busy as always!
Just be weary that the bread and other carbs can take two days to show up on the scales.
I tried some low carb wraps again on Sunday, weight went down 300g on Monday but went up 100g on Tuesday-not much, but still eating the lower calories, I have been dropping at least something every day.

How is your dress coming along?

I hope you get a couple of relaxing days in your schedule soon!
Have a great day

Shell

Annabelle Joy · #60 08-10-2008, 09:44

No change in my weight today, still down 200 gms on my weight when I started refeed, so seems I didn't need to wait any longer.

Today I add another serve of fruit. My food for today will probably be:
Breakfast: Yoghurt, 1 apple and cinnamon.
Morning snack: Orange.
Lunch: Protein and vegetable, each increased somewhat, but still the old protein and vegetable; mango, slice of bread.
Afternoon snack: New good fruit and 2 CB.
Dinner: Old protein and vegetable, increased by the same quantities as lunch, not noticeably much larger than previously; new good fruit, 2 CB

Remember that I have had three fruits and eight CBs through the diet, so others at this point may not get as much fruit or CBs as I do.

Demo today, then I have to shop. I'm going through fruit faster than I was, and need to buy a few other items also.

Thanks for stopping by, Louise, shell and anyone reading this.

Louise, the biggest difficulty is in being prepared with the extra and new foods, particularly when I have to organise my food around the other things I'm currently doing. You are right, the real rewards are firstly my improved health, and secondly the way I now look. I'm getting used to seeing my new body, but still look in every mirror and window I pass.

Thanks for the warning, shell. One slice of bread seems okay. I'm not losing much at the moment, but after a good drop on Saturday and a couple of hundred grams yesterday, that's in line with what happens to me over a week. More importantly, I'm not putting any on. I'm waiting for a call from the dressmaker for another fitting. She had to cut the dress, jacket and lining out using the calico dress pieces as the pattern, and make them up, so quite a lot of work for her. She said she would be ready sometime this week. Next fitting it should really be looking something like the way it will look when finished. I'm hoping to relax a bit after tomorrow. Next week's not looking too bad, and the following week I'm going to devote to preparing for The Wedding.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ