Lonniecee, Peter147, Kristine, meagain & Baloo's New Years Cohens Sprint

[Peter 14.7]

Well , Race wise I am coming last. I am in neutral

My Sydney week was a disaster.... Too busy to plan, unexpected social dos and came back 2kg heavier. But been good this weekend and so I have lost that and back at 88.4kg and 25.3% body fat.

On the positive side I did not want to deviate, it was forced upon me, and made easy to say yes, but I did hit the gym so my body fat is lower for the same weight so I have gained some grams of muscle. So if I follow a cohens friendly approach such as salads etc but relax grams, mixing proteins and have some extra fruit I still lose 0.25 to .4kg a day. On this basis, if I can quit the bad deviations from stress and giving up, I can have a life and not gain weight.

What this has to do with the race? is little but to me it helps me to write it down.

Well done to all the others. You inspire me to know we all struggle with maintaining a real life and the good results. Don’t go crazy is my motto, get over it and get back on the horse. At88kg I dont feel fat and don't look it so I feel good. Next goal 86kg and hold.

Peter 14.7

[baloo]

Bad weekend and I know weighing myself will depress me. I'll stay off the scales until Friday. First time I have ever had to do this on Cohens !

[kagiesen]

Originally Posted by Baloo

Bad weekend and I know weighing myself will depress me. I'll stay off the scales until Friday. First time I have ever had to do this on Cohens !

You poor thing, Baloo! I feel with you. I've felt like that before, but I have decided that not going onto the scales was what got me into the overweight area in the first place, so now I'm a slavish weigher. However, as you know it would depress you, I guess you're doing the right thing!

You are all doing a great job! I have not managed to get back on 100% at all, and I am comforting myself with the thought that I am at most 1 kilo above the weight I finished refeed on and 4 below target. But still, I wish I could go back for a week, and lack the enthusiasm/discipline etc.

Good luck this week!

Katrin

[Peter 14.7]

Originally Posted by Baloo

Bad weekend and I know weighing myself will depress me. I'll stay off the scales until Friday. First time I have ever had to do this on Cohens !

Sorry to hear mate. get back on that horse. At our age it is lifelong commitment, unless you are going to chuck the corporate life in and become a bicycle courier. Be slim and poor!

Good Strategy! I didn't weight myself yesterday after coming back Friday and Sat shock of 2kg. It is like "if a tree falls in a forest and no-one is there" thingy. You know, if you gain weight but dont weigh and then I lose it again, then did it really count?

This is race for life, a few days is a short part of the track. And being able to admit it here is a good step, Peter

[Lonniecee]

Wow guys. It seems we've all tripped up this last week. Peter, I like the tree falling analogy. Baloo, must have been bad to get you feeling that way. Good idea to stay away from the scales, you'll be in for a big surprise Friday ( fingers crossed).

Day: 15
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 67.6
Loss kg: 0
Total Loss Kg: 2.0
Loss %: 2.8

Back to the plan full on again. Noticing my skin is getting 'looser' again so that is a positive sign. Belly is looking flatter and softer too.

Lauren

[Tuberose]

Baloo, i can totally relate to what you have mentioned. esp pre-cohens, i almost always negated all my effort in dieting during weekdays and came the weekends, i just ate & ate and i have to face the music on mondays when i weighed in the mornings... it could be depressing. even during the programme, for some reason, my monday weights were never the numbers that could put a smile on my face.

i'm now though within cohen range, still 1 to 2 kgs above where i wanted to maintain at. after 3 weeks of struggle (cohens without weighing)plus being naughty over the weeknds (ie deviations), this week i'm back to cohens 100% with today as day one - a desparate measure to cut down the excess weight before CNY... need to fit into my XS ethnic wear.

for me weighing everyday helps me to keep track of undesirable gains, but i guess you know what's best for you. like Kristine said onwards we go and we can do this and look fabulous again!

Cheers!

[baloo]

Good analogy Peter. Works well.

Tuberose, I wonder if there is such a thing as a Cohen's approved reunion dinner ? Lucky the oranges are cohen's approved and I'm sure Baby Baloo's Red Packets are Cohen's friendly too. Gong Xi Fa Chai !

[Lonniecee]

Day: 16
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 66.5
Loss kg: 1.1
Total Loss Kg: 3.1
Loss %: 4.45

A nice drop overnight.

Have a good one all.

Lauren

[Lonniecee]

Day: 17
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 66.2
Loss kg: 0.3
Total Loss Kg: 3.4
Loss %: 4.88

I'm still happy with my progress. Since 2nd Jan I've lost 6.6kg which is a loss of 9%.

Lauren

[Peter 14.7]

Hi All

Here in Sydney and going well.

I am glad my analogy strung a cord. The fact is, if you eat a hearty pasta meal or porridge you will gain 1kg in a day. Be you a supermodel or super size model. But you have not gained fat but have gained weight. That meal fills your body with carbs hence glucose and water. Do it again and again then you get fat. Then you get cravings, then you are lost…….

Salads do not. There is lots of water and little bulk. After that meal and 2 hours later the tummy is flat again. You feel good and no cravings.

Post Cohens is a challenge.

All of us who have achieved the end weight are so impressed, proud, fanatical, we expect after diet to be easy. We are fixated with holding it and when we slip we freak out.
And is seems when we slip; we give up, let it go and add more misery. I remember my first refeed failure at 2kg gain to 80kg in three days. I was freaking out, its all over man, it all over!!!!! (Aliens move reference here) So silly, I would be glad to be 80kg now.

When not 100% on the diet but in weight reduced focused maintenance as we in the race seem to be, we can get depressed when we gain even 100g but my theory is…. let it go.
Realize unless you are NEVER going to eat another carb loaded food again then you have to accept you will be out with guests, bus. trip, wedding, etc, and the ONLY option is the non-Cohen’s option. The trick is to accept that and get back on that yoghurt the next day to stop any insulin craving. Hold off the scales and reweigh with zero gain or loss. No setback, so no depression and no reason to add misery. “Tree in a forest” stuff.

Cohens has taught me a lot and I think I am getting the post Cohens right.

Such as my ability today resisting my daughters spare chips at lunch and enjoy my large salad with corned beef. Yeah corned beef is NO NO but I will still lose weight today and not feel as if I have beef or chicken again. In the past I would have been all or nothing! No chips on the diet and no oil on the salad, NOT cherry tomatoes! and weigh it all, etc… OR... I would eat the chips and tomorrow… I diet!
That is mentally unhealthy. Cohen Program requires full devotion but post Cohens is give and take. If not you are essentially back on the diet and only going to get down when your deviate like the diet trains us to do.
That is the next step for us all. Being like other people who enjoy all foods in moderation, guilt free and in consideration of our fuel need, or age and lifestyle.

Peter 14.7

[Melissa]

Well explained Peter147,

I am so pleased that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a rosy shade of pink. You have said exactly what my thoughts have been through this entire process. If you go back to old ways then you can expect to go back to old weight. Simple. We do have to watch what we eat each and every day not just for now. We will be the sculptures of our new bodies and everything we put in our mouths will dictate that.

I also think that you are all showing us courage, determination and devotion to the new you to engage in such a public sprint and I applaud you endlessly.

Thanks Melissa

[pandora]

I have just been reading thru the days of our lives for this past week for Lauren, Peter, Kristine and Baloo, and i take my hat off to you all! How powerful and vital it is for all of us at goal weight, refeed, still on cohens 100%, to get a feel for what it is like once we get to that oh so magical goal weight!

So often i read - "i cant wait until i get to goal, or to refeed and beyond" etc - as if we have been somehow smitten with Hexi's fairy dust and can never deviate again - when the reality is (as i found on xmas day and a few other times) - have just a little of the forbidden fruit, and before you know it, puff, all gone, easy as pie!

The reality is, once we do get to goal and beyond, the fight is on to manage our eating (and drinking!) behaviours for LIFE! In fact, instead of the weight loss for life journey being OVER, it is fact only just beginning! The weight loss part is the prologue for the main game! All of the team on this sprint are already playing full out on the main game which is keeping it off! I salute you all ! It gives me hope for the future! Pandora

[Lonniecee]

Day: 18
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 65.8
Loss kg: 0.5
Total Loss Kg: 3.8
Loss %: 5.4

Peter, I had to reread your post a couple of times but I think you've got it right. It is all about choices post Cohens and also being aware of how our body will react to the carbs, be they breads (in any shape or form) pastas, potatoes, etc and deiciding if we are prepared for the consequence of eating them even as a once off meal. If so, then we deal with it the next day (no carbs) or we get fat again. It is the moderation thing I'm having trouble with I guess. So easy to go back to larger servings. The 'freedom' post Cohens is addictive. The freedom of choice, the freedom of amounts, the wonderful foods ( I'm not talking junk here, but cheeses, deli foods, etc) now available after restriction for 8 months (for me) was intoxicating. After my first blow out post Cohens on pasta I hit a low mentally and ranted and raved like a spoilt brat instead of getting over it and dealing with the extra weight I'd gained. Since then I've essentially sterred clear of pasta, rice, potato, and have had bread only on the odd occasion other than mountain bread (filled with salad) for lunches. I'm always thinking of 'how will this affect my weight?' though not apparently not all the time as the weight has obviously crept back on, even when steering clear of obviously fatty, sweet or carb loaded foods. So I need to rethink my life again once I hit my goal and to really be diligent. I do intend to enjoy those non-Cohens foods that I like but I need to do the moderation thing and limit myself to certain days or times. Afterall, I am disciplined when on the programme, so why not in real life post. Just thoughts popping into my head as I'm writing. Hope it makes sense . Better finish getting ready for work. Have a good day folks.

Lauren

[Lonniecee]

Day: 19
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 65.6
Loss kg: 0.2
Total Loss Kg: 4.0
Loss %: 5.7

Yay, I've hit the 4 kg mark.

How are you doing Baloo, Kristine, and Peter?

Lauren

[baloo]

I'm here. Told myself I wouldn't weigh myself for a while but I couldn't resist and clocked in at 83.4 this morning. Hopefully survive the weekend without out too much angst and I'll be back to daily reporting next week.

[Lonniecee]

Great Baloo. You're under your last posted weight so good luck with the weekend.

Lauren

[Lonniecee]

Day: 20
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 65.6
Loss kg: 0.0
Total Loss Kg: 4.0
Loss %: 5.7

No change this morning. Feeling peckish today but managed to stave any nibbling off with a couple of crackers, water and an extra chromium tablet. Still my mind was playing a few games on me and the temptation was strong. Got over the hump though, so all good .

Lauren

[Lonniecee]

Day: 21
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 65.3
Loss kg: 0.3
Total Loss Kg: 4.3
Loss %: 6.1

Another good drop (when is any drop a bad drop? ) overnight. Cra##y sleep. It was ok until pee time at 4.20 and then I think I dozed but I've been awake since 5 something trying to get back to sleep. Finally got up at 6.25 out of sheer frustration. Better get breakfast or it'll be a late day again.

Lauren

[Lonniecee]

Day: 22
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 65.2
Loss kg: 0.1
Total Loss Kg: 4.4
Loss %: 6.3

Only a 100gm loss, but that takes me to 2.4kg for the week. Very nice overall. Hubby commenting on my lack of bum and tummy and the girls are looking rather sad too but never mind, I've had the years of E and F cups and I'm thrilled to be a C so they can shrink all they want. Tried the cauli and feta soup yesterday and yummo. I even went and made some for hubby . Might add a little curry powder next time. Something to make even when I'm finishedthe plan as it is so quick to throw together. My kind of cooking.

Lauren

[Lonniecee]

Day: 23
Start weight kg: 69.6
Weight kg: 66.7
Loss kg: +1.5
Total Loss Kg: 2.9
Loss %: 4.1

Carb blowout at lunch yesterday. Oh well, back on the plan.

Lauren