Health vs Refeed option

[katiefrank70]

Calling to all Graduated Cohenites

Can I get your assistance please.

I am 2 kg above top goal weight. My BP is dropping too much, so much so that my GP is very concerned. His consultant is also. I am getting dizzy spells regularly, drinking my water, all of my food, salting it also. Taking all vitamins etc etc. I am following all advice.

My GP wants me to start my Refeed ASAP. He is quite concerned about it. And thinks it is my body's reaction to the low food intake.

So I rang my clinic, and they want me to hold out till xmas as planned. That it's my body I can do what I want with it. Now what kind of advice is that

So being torn in 2 right now, I don't know what to do. I read somewhere that starting refeed to early leads to a harder maintenance. I am not exhibiting much in the way of being ready yet. I don't feel that horse hunger as described, but do get hungry after meals even to the point where my tummy growls. I do get hungry after tea and want some more food.

I don't have the backaches badly, they only feel like normal TOM aches, and they come and go. I do feel lethargic nowdays, but have been putting that down to being on the go 24/7 mostly. It is hard to wake up in the morn nowdays, whereas I was up with the sparrows @ 6am

I'm not waking at the "stupid" hour. See above.

Still having decent drops when my body is ready.

I'm praying that someone can lead me to a responsible decision. Health over weight. Easier maintenance over a harder one.

No wonder I'm scared of refeed.

Katie

[shell]

Hi Katie,
You have a bit of a decision to make!

My 2c worth would be that if your Doctor only "thinks" it could be because of the low food intake, I would trust what you think.

You know your body better than anybody else, do you think you have low BP because of the plan?
Did he give you any other solutions?

Trust your own judgement and your body.

Good luck with your decision.
Shell

[new_ruby]

Katie,
I had the same issue, with my pre-refeed BP = 90 / 56 !!
Apparently quite low, but my GP assured me that with the 'extra' food on refeed it would 'stabilise'.
I have always had relatively low BP anyway; but she also said, so long as all the major organs were getting their blood supply, then it shouldn't be a concern.
One thing I did find helpful, pre-refeed, was to start drinking mineral water (the sparkling variety) as well as reducing my water intake to 2.2 L/ day, as the increase in minerals also helped quell my dizziness.
Also, keep in mind that most people do lose more weight on refeed (I am down 1.1kgs from when I started refeed, and am only up to day 12, with 6 days to go!!)... so if you're worried about 'holding on' to a little extra weight on account of starting refeed too early, then you may find it comes off during refeed anyway.
Good luck with it; I'll be interested to hear your outcome.
Take care,
Ruby

[barbarella]

Hi Katie
I was given 55- 58 kgs as my cohen's goal and was really keen to get to the 58 kgs. However, the last few kilos were getting harder and I was constantly hungry. i am down to a size 8 to 10 (body fat is 26%) and, at 56, figured that i was really low enough. I am NEVER going to look like nicole kidman or whoever so, having reached 62.7 decided that enough was enough!

I should add that my consultant told me that when her mother did cohens she got to goal but then decided it was too low and intentionally went back up a few kilos.

at the end of the day you need to be comfortable and you have lost 33kgs which is fantastic....i suspect you're there.

the other interesting thing is that i am friendly with a fitness guru who works with the local GPs to help people lose weight through exercise. i had a chat to him about a fortnight ago and he told me two things I hadn't thought about: 1) 'if you keep going for another 4 or kgs a fair bit of it will be muscle which you don't want to lose; 2) it's very easy to be borderline anorexic - he says there is a mental thing where you gain satisfaction by controlling your body (something along those lines).

also, like everyone says, you will probably will continue to lose weight on refeed. I'm on day 3 and have lost 300grms in the three days.

i think the goal weights are a little general and we all know our bodies and how we look...!

good luck....!

[ConnieK..]

Hi Katie,

I started refeed 3.5kg Above goal weight as I was starving hungry and I have a lot of excess skin on my belly and E cup boobs ( estimated at 4kg worth LOL)

I am not having any trouble maintaining so far (touch wood) and am nearly 6 mths in now.

Your health is a factor in this after all, you need to make that clear to your clinic, that your health is being affected.

Connie

[SuzieQ]

Hi Katie,

I think you should do what you feel is right. If you are at the stage where you do not feel healthy and are concerned about it start refeed. You will most likely lose a bit more on refeed anyway so try not to stress about the last couple of kg's TRUST ME on that, I drove myself mad deciding when to start refeed as I wanted to lose another 1kg first, and it's not worth the worry. I think some of us do get to the point where we are obsessing a bit, and I agree with the points Barbarella had, there is such a thing as going too far, if you are happy where you are at now don't listen to the consultants it is YOUR body not theirs.

You will do fine on maintenance even if you start a bit early, it is all in the head, you will only gain weight if you eat too much, too often and the wrong foods. Losing 2kg more doesn't guarantee that you will not have a problem on maintenance and there are quite a few Cohen graduates who are proof of that, they did the program 100% and refeed 100% at goal but then have problems on maintenance anyway. What happens after Cohens is up to you, all in the head!

Hope you make a decision soon, good luck.

Suzie

[fair rose_za]

Hi Katie
I am NOT a graduate but i am a doctor and i am very surprised that your clinic gave you a very unprofessional telephonic answer. That is not a way one deals with any complaint let alone a medical one. You are WELL within your normal weight so continuing the program is NOT a necessity at this point. So what if the doc is unsure whether your symptoms are related to the diet or not..the point is that there is a possibility that IT IS. The fact that you are hungry after you eat and it's associated with dizziness might be becos you are now becoming hypoglycemic i.e. your sugar levels are dropping. And that is easily treated by eating regularly and increasing your carb intake. Not necessarily refined carbs(sweets chocks and stuff). If you find that u are becomin shivery and shaky with a bit of drowsiness, that indicates a low sugar as well. I agree with your GP, start refeed. When u are well again, then go back on the program for a week or two and u'll lose that excess and please don't always go on others experience, as it is only a guide. Besides, u have done so incredibly well on the program and had the willpower to do it for so long, are u NOW doubting yourself on whether u can come back and lose that measly 2kg(which is probably not necessary anyway) ??? Your body is talking to you and maybe it's actually saying that that's enough(for now)...
That's my medical opinion..
As for my cohenite opinion...YOU ARE A HERO already...who cares abt the other 2 kgs..(has anybody out there asked u.."so have you lost those 2 kgs already, cos i can SO see it all over you?" )
Look after yourself

[Annabelle Joy]

How much water are you drinking, Katie? Every time I got dizzy on the diet I dropped my water intake by 1/2 litre a day, and the dizziness went away. That might help if you decide to continue.

I also stopped above my goal weight. However, apparently that is usual with older women. I did feel even then that I lost a lot of muscle towards the end. My start and end refeed weights differed by only 100 gms and since refeed I seem to have settled about 1/2 kg higher than my end of refeed weight. Not sure if any of that is relevant to you, mainly want to point out that we are all different. Do what you think is right for your body.

AJ

[katiefrank70]

Hi all

I want to thank each and everyone of you for the fantastic replies. I got a lot of help from all your kind replies. It was a difficult decision to make (shouldn't be really) but I do tend to think even though the Recommended Goal weight is a wonderful guide to where we should end, it is NOT the pot of gold that it seems to become in our minds. And we don't fail the diet if we don't quite reach there. I am very disappointed with the clinic telling me to ignore medical advice and all the signs, and keep going till xmas. I really think Dr Cohen should address that as it can be quite dangerous in other situations. Even with my limited medical training I know that a drop of over 30pts in my systolic number in a short time (and definitely no internal bleeding) is not a good thing. My baseline was very stable up until the past 6 weeks.

Fair Rose, I had a fasting BGL reading just recently and that was fine. But my bad chol has gone up since beginning Cohen's. Trust me to have an adverse reaction to healthy food

I have decided to listen to my body and not worry about those last 2kgs. It's just not worth it. I have come to peace with my decision to begin Refeed on Saturday. Gives me time to really go over it, and nut out the changes.

Thank you again all you wonderful people. I wouldn't be at this point without this wonderful forum and all the great cohenites in here.

Katie

PS OMG Connie, size E cups OMG. I will never complain about my DD's again

[SuzieQ]

Good on you Katie, I think you've made the right decision. To be honest I did not feel the healthiest the last few weeks of my program either and my periods have all but stopped the last 2 cycles which is not a good sign. That has never happened to me before and I believe it is a sign I should have perhaps stopped a little earlier than I did but I wasn't listening to my body, I was fixated on the goal weight I wanted to get to.

Everyone is different and as long as you are happy that is all that matters, you have come a long way and have done amazingly CONGRATULATIONS!!

Suzie

[sundaymorningstaple]

Katie, I think you are spot on. When I started the program but prior to actually receiving my program I already knew where I wanted to go. That was 70kg. I was about a year out of the military some 39 years ago and was at my peak at that time. I received my program and surprise, surprise. Doctor C gave me a range of 69~71kg. I figured I leave my personal target where it was. I did so until I was within 2 kg of the upper range. At that point the losses were still being consistent so I opted to go to either hunger or bottom of range at 69 (.5kg more than my military discharge weight 40 years earlier). When I hit 69 kg I started refeed.

Figured once on maintenance and getting stabilized, if I wanted to go lower I could always go back on the diet or even the first week of refeed, and see if I could lose a couple of more lbs. As it it, I fluctuate between 67.5 & 69.5 so it looks like I'm where I should be.

Listen to your body and don't get fixated by numbers. Same thing when you hit maintenance. You will probably have a 2 to 4kg fluctuation between weeks and months due to female issues but as long as you are aware of them coming you don't need to feel any anxiety over them. Just be consistent and they will all work out. You'll see. (Assuming there are no emotional problems still lingering).

SMS