AJ has moved to refeed!

[Shanara]

Well I am not sure this is going to work or not - crossing fingers. I have not previously posted anything in the forum although I have been doing a lot of reading in the last few weeks.
AJ your post today just moved me to reply. How beautiful you look in your new dress - I know still to be finished - and I know you will look stunning for your sons wedding. I just wanted to let you know what an inspiration you have been for me. I haven't started Cohens - not sure if I will but if I do you will have been a large inspiration as to why.
Your achievment is amazing and one to be very proud of. I really don't know if I can do the same. Feel like I have been at war with my body most of my life - the last few years have found a way to be at peace with myself - yet I am slowly getting bigger and bigger. I now feel uncomfortable in my body but there is something inside me that just doesn't know if I can do this programme. Don't know if i am strong enough.
The last few weeks have read a lot on this forum and your diary, which I have read right through, speaks to the part of me that does want to do this. Your grace and compassion for others abounds and your actions are inspirational.
Someone once said that if you have affected one persons life for the better than your life has not been lived in vain. Know that you have affected mine. I thank you.
Blessings
Shanara.

[enough!]

Here here!!!

[shell]

AJ,
You look stunning in the dress, just imagine when it is finished!
Shell

[JennyC]

WOW AJ you look fabulous!!! I have been meaning to pop over and read your refeed diary....you are going great guns!!!!! So fantastic you are still losing and with luck on your side you will definately finish before the wedding!!!!!! A big congratulations your a real inspiration.

JennyC

[lou102]

AJ you look fantastic in your wedding outfit. You will knock them out on the day when it is all finished properly.

How do I PM you?

[janine]

Hi AJ

I am so happy for you. We are always told to reward ourselves for reaching our goals. Loking like that at your son's wedding must be just the most fabulous reward to look forward to. Well done, well done, well done!

[Katie6]

Hi AJ,

Wow! You look fabulous.............everything is perfect, the colour, design, fit etc etc..........you will look absoluely stunning on the day!
No wonder you are thrilled, and you deserve every bit of it and more.

I suspect your son will be a very proud man on his wedding day, not only because of his beautiful new wife, but his very elegant, beautiful mother.

My warmest and sincerest wishes for a truly memorable, happy day.

Katie.

[Aslan]

Your dress is fantastic AJ - you look lovely!!!! it is really elegant - and your waist is so skinny You must be so proud of what you have achieved.

Thanks so much for the refeed details - your experience is great tips for us all.

Have a great week

Chantel x

[JJ*]

Wow. Thats a stunning outfit! You look amazing. Congratulations. And being a bit of a shoe-fetish girl, having the shoes in the exact colour just brings it all together to perfection. But most of all, your new figure is being shown off wonderfully - you should be so proud.

Fingers crossed that you dont repeat a day and are all set to go by the rehearsal dinner.

You go girl!!

[Karen67]

You look absolutely stunning AJ..... and a HUGE congrats for reaching refeed, you must be so proud of your amazing effort

[Stoddy]

You look sensational in the wedding outfit AJ ! Absolutely sensational !!

Congratulations on all you have achieved on this program!! and thanks for inspiring, motivating and pretty much making everyone on this program feel supported, special and successful !!

Well done !

[reecy]

AJ, you look amazing your outfit is gorgeous. you should be so proud of everything you have achieved.

reecy

[Annabelle Joy]

Still going well, same weight as yesterday.

Today I can mix proteins, bread increases to three slices and I have my first 'bad fruit'. I decided to have the egg option for breakfast instead of yoghurt and add a small piece of my increased protein allowance. I won't go into all the details out of consideration for those of you still dieting. DH has freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast each morning. As I was not having a fruit with yoghurt, I decided to have orange juice also. We tried Thermomix juice (this could be made in a blender from diet fruit allowance but add the ice cubes one at a time). Peel an orange, add four ice cubes and 75 ml of water and blend until the ice is broken up and slushy. It was delicious and very refreshing, particularly as we had just returned from a morning walk.

So, today I get:
Increased protein and vegetable allowances to the same level as yesterday, and still the same proteins and vegies I have been eating through the diet. I spread the increases across two or three meals. My protein and vegetable increases by now are about the same as one diet meal, so across three meals each meal would be around a third bigger than on the diet.
Three slices of bread, no CBs, or substitute some CBs if I prefer. I'm eating all the bread to test for negative effects. None so far. Interesting, as I had mainly been avoiding bread pre-diet believing that it didn't agree with me.
One new 'good fruit' and one new 'bad fruit' (I'm having a pear) plus the three old fruit I've had all along.

Yesterday I decided to have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch. Given that I had a full portion of chicken and vegetable, and managed to get most of it into the sandwich, it was a pretty solid sandwich. I did feel overfull after lunch, due I think to the two slices of bread. Mostly, I'm feeling very full without feeling uncomfortable. In the evenings I'm still looking for something extra to eat, but I think that's an old habit rather than that I'm hungry as dinner usually leaves me feeling full.

Yesterday was the nine month anniversary of me being on Cohen's. I started 11 January. I've been slower than most, but 40 kgs in nine months is still pretty amazing.

I've heard several programmes on ABC radio in the past week about the problem of obesity and encouraging healthy eating. After hearing two yesterday morning, I sent an email to the ABC telling them about Cohen's and my success with it, and also about Thermomix. As both are brand names, and can't be mentioned on the ABC, maybe nothing will come of it, but I believe the two in combination are the solution to many of the health and obesity problems in our community.

Microsoft close for the weekend, so I couldn't get the Windows key I needed to finish off that computer. I spent a bit of time reading Cyndi O'Meara's Changing Habits Changing Lives, went for a walk, tidied up a little (don't want to overdo things) and generally had a relaxing day for a change. This morning I am going to try making gluten free bread for future DIL (fructose intolerant, including wheat and onions), plus a cannelloni and mint dip for DH for afternoon nibbles. This afternoon we are going to Melbourne to see DF and possibly DS and future DIL.

Thanks for stopping by, Kate, Shanara, shell, Jenny, Lou, Janine, Katie, Aslan, JJ, Karen, Stoddy, Reecy and anyone reading this.

Thanks, Kate. Yes, I've always had a disproportionately small waist. Anything that fits around the hips is too big at the waist. The dressmaker chose that jacket style as it's easier to fit when it flares out like that than something that was figure hugging would be.

Shanara, thank you so much for your post. I was deeply touched by it.

Shell, I love the dress and the jacket. I can't believe how slim I look in the dress. The camera isn't as flattering as the mirror.

Thanks, Jenny. Yes, I'm really pleased with the way refeed is going so far.

Lou, can you imaging how people who haven't seen me since the engagement party when I was more than 30 kgs heavier will react?

Thanks, Janine. I'm feeling pleased with myself, will take your advice and look on the wedding weekend as my reward to myself.

Thank you, Katie. Yes, I think my son will be proud of me, but I suspect on the day he won't have eyes for anyone but his bride.

Thanks, Chantel. I'm trying to give others an idea of what to expect in refeed without breaking the rules about giving too many details. When things are added will change from person to person, as will quantities added.

Thanks, JJ. After years of sensible shoes I'm having to get used to high heels again. I'll leave the really glamorous ones to you young ones. I have someone making me a clutch bag of the same material too.

Thanks, Karen, and yes I am pleased. I could never have done this without Dr Cohen. This is absolutely the best diet ever.

Thanks, Stoddy. I'm missing you on the forum. Looking forward to seeing you've finished, and Jeannie too.

Thank you, Reecy.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ

[Justine]

Hi AJ,

As you know I have been staying away because of the negativity. But I was thinking about you the other day and just had to drop in.

It s funny that you mentioned 9 months on Cohens, because I was think it was 37 or 38 weeks, which is a whole pregnancy. It is like you are doing a reverse pregnancy, gearing up over nine months to give you son 'away' to another girl!

Well done AJ. And you do look so beautiful in your dress. It's a great colour.

Congrats again.

J

[lucylou]

Hi AJ

Well done on your 9 month anniversary. What a major achievement, you have a whole new you in less than a year. The dress looks wonderful, you look like a sophisticated mermaid!

I love Cindy O'Meara's book, and she's a Sunshine Coast girl so I've met her many times, she's a walking advertisment for a healthy life style and she's a whole lot of fun.

You have ten days to go on refeed and I'll be starting in 7 days if all goes to plan, so we may yet get to spend some time together in refeed land.

x

LL

[hexi2]

Congrats on reaching refeed AJ....you look devine in that gorgeous dress I LOVE it! Stunning!

[drexyl]

Hey AJ,
I can only repeat what everyone has already said, you look beautiful in that dress, you'll definitely be showing the bride up on the day, they'll have to lock you up!!
Toodles from me xo

[Shanara]

Aj - 40 Kgs in 9 months is stunning - and I am sure very sustainable - slow and steady gets there.

Thanks for the inspiration.
Shanara.

[Annabelle Joy]

Up 200 gms today. Yesterday my water intake was higher than usual and the outflow was lower. When I weighed last night I was up 2.8 kgs (usually up 1.5-2 kgs), still only out of bed twice during the night as usual, and still had lost nearly all of it by this morning. It makes me nervous though.

I felt tired yesterday, yawned through the day, and went to bed earlier than usual. I slept for about nine hours, instead of my usual 5-6. Not sure why I was so tired.

Yesterday morning I did quite a lot of cooking, bean and mint dip, gluten free bread for future DIL (pretty solid stuff, not sure if it's edible), vegetable stock concentrate. I think there's something else, can't remember what now. In the afternoon we visited my father, and my brother was there, then met with DS, who had been at a party, for a chat over drinks and light food (black coffee only for me), mainly about wedding plans. His fiancee was at home getting over her hen's day, a life drawing class with a male model (I'm now sorry they didn't invite mothers) and lunch, then she spent the night at a girlfriends'.

I have a busy time today, although mainly at home. The weekly Thermomix admin stuff, getting the client's computer going again, I want to make a cake for the NHW meeting tonight to try out the recipe and I need to spend a bit of time looking at my refeed programme now that it is more complicated with mixed proteins.

Yesterday I did feel I was stuffing in food when I was already full. Breakfast was okay, then I had a apple mid morning. Lunch was the problem. I had lunch about four hours after late breakfast (because we went for a walk), so I didn't have to eat it in the car on the way to Melbourne. I had a mandarin mid afternoon, and feta and cauli soup with a roll for dinner, about seven hours after lunch so wasn't overly full in the evening.

Protein and vegetables are both increased again today. I had yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, so have to spread all of the increased allowance over two meals, plus mix proteins.

I've caught up with a few diaries over the weekend. However, when I'm a week and more behind, diaries can extend over several pages. Also, I've been feeling more tired recently and not staying up so late. Backaches are still threatening, haven't given my back a real test in several days.

Thanks for stopping by, Justine, LouLou, hexi, Sharlene, Shanara and anyone reading this.

Justine, I also thought as I put down the nine months that it was the length of a pregnancy. However, my thoughts were that I've lost a lot more than any mother puts on in the nine months. That's an interesting thought about reverse pregnancy. I hope you will reconsider and come back to your diary now that those posts have died down.

LouLou I hope you do get to refeed while I'm here. We've come along together, not spectacularly, but 'all' it takes is remaining 100% and everyone will get there in the end. And this is not the end. We will have to watch what we eat for the rest of our lives. I've told myself through the journey that if I can't remain 100% for a few months, I can't expect to maintain my weight for the rest of my life.

Thanks, hexi and Sharlene. I'm very pleased with the dress. I think it's very appropriate for MotG. I would choose something brighter normally, but I wouldn't want to stand out in wedding portraits because I'm wearing something bright. The bride came with me when I chose the material, and I think I will tone with the colour theme of the bridesmaids and the flowers.

Thanks, Shanara. I'll be watching your journey with interest.

Have a lovely, stress free, day, everyone.

AJ

[Karen67]

Just checking on you AJ.... sounds like eating the extra food in refeed may be a bit hard at times..... I can understand why you would be nervous too... youve spent all that time doing things that you know work, and now you have to change the way you do it...

Im sorry your feeling tired, maybe your coming down with something ???

wow, that hens day sounds interesting to say the least... lol..... no wonder your sorry mums werent invited

Have a wonderful day, and hope your feeling a bit better today

Karen