Cohen's Lifestyle Cohens Lifestyle Support

[heavenlylamb]

not happy jan - had my 3rd weigh in (6 weeks) on saturday - was found in my 4 weeks blood test to have deviated. really? how? i've been following cohen's so strictly. oh wait, did i mention to you, that i researched the crackers? they have a whole bunch of lovely things like gluten, glucose, all horrible things. needless to say, i've collated all the information in a spreadsheet and won't be eating most of the different brands of crispbreads. and also, most of them have nut, milk, etc traces in them - these all show up in our blood tests as deviations.

"dr cohen" (who i don't believe even exists, btw. how is it that the booragoon clinic are the ones who sent us this info???) must be extremely worried with us to be telling us to eat the wrong things.

also, if cohens is as popular as we were told at our orientations, how come there aren't more success stories being printed?

i'm pretty annoyed at the moment about it. sorry all, just letting off steam

p.s. if anyone wants to have a look at my spreadsheet, email me: eleni.chrysostomou@gmail.com and i'll send you a copy. make some informed decisions!

Hi Eleni,
I wouldn't be too concerned..... are you losing weight regularly? Focus on the good things...... I'm pretty sure that Dr Cohen does exist, but whether he checks every blood test is questionable! But from my point of view, it wouldn't matter if he doesn't check them - so long as the person who does has clear guidelines on what they are looking for.
I have had "borderline OK" with both my blood tests. But some of things our clinic said can give a negative result are not drinking enough water in the days before hand, some herbs and spices, obviously actually deviating in a major way.
But our bodies are adjusting to a whole new way of working and it may take a while to get all the biochemistry happening. So, don't give up too soon.
In relation to the crispbread, gluten and glucose in themselves are not actually bad..... lots of the foods we eat will have glucose in them. It is the quantities and combinations that matters.
and with the success stories, surely you just need to look at the tickers on this site to know that its a successful approach...... whether people are able to keep the weight off long term is a more challenging proposition, but it is the same with ANY diet. We need to make long term changes to the way we eat to get a different result.
So, don't be too discouraged, or angry. Just keep taking steps along the way to weight loss.

Are you going to let a bad test result or frustration over crispbreads sabotage your weight loss goals????! I hope not!

 

[heavenlylamb]

Dunno why.. this morning weigh myself... instead of maintaining, i gained in my weight... hai... is it just a phase?? very sadz..... anyway i am going to drink more water and hopefully i will go back to my 75.9kg... wish me luck....

Now, if you are going to break the rules and weigh yourself regularly, you have to get used to the daily fluctuations!!

I weigh myself daily, and have found there are a multitude of reasons why my weight fluctuates....... if I've drunk any water, if I haven't done a #2, during particular times of the month, etc......

I find over 3-4 days, everything evens out. Like others have said, I'll get no weight change for 3 days and then on the 4th move down a kilo, for no apparent reason.

Interestingly, deviating doesn't cause major changes to my weight, unless I deviate for several days in a row with high flour food.

So, if you are weighing yourself daily, make sure that you don't let the weight distract you from following the program. Just let it be a guide to learn about how your body works.

 

[Mermaid_sister]

I like to think of Dr Cohen as being like the wizard of Oz, living in the Emerald city so very far away... he sort of has that annonymity (spelling?) but I don't think his history is medical science and photo on the website has been fabricated, anyway have a weigh in this time next week, I hope to lose some of my spare tire already!

 

[Beautiful Bride]

I'm so excited!

Hi everyone!
I was so excited to hear about this prgram that I phoned up straight away to join. I spent hours last night reading through all your posts and it's hard to believe that it is working so well for everyone! You are all so amazing! I go for my blood test tomorrow morning and i hope to have my plan ASAP so I can start. I am getting married in 3 months time and the lady I spoke with said i may lose up to 20kg by then if I stick with it! AND I WILL! My starting weight is 87kg and I am 160cm tall. I am 21yrs old. I look forwarding to getting to know you all and posting my blogs regularly. I just really can't wait to get started and start losing weight. If anyone has any tips or strategies for me, I would love to hear them! Talk to you all soon...

 

[lessfatty]

not happy jan - had my 3rd weigh in (6 weeks) on saturday - was found in my 4 weeks blood test to have deviated. really? how? i've been following cohen's so strictly. oh wait, did i mention to you, that i researched the crackers? they have a whole bunch of lovely things like gluten, glucose, all horrible things. needless to say, i've collated all the information in a spreadsheet and won't be eating most of the different brands of crispbreads. and also, most of them have nut, milk, etc traces in them - these all show up in our blood tests as deviations.

"dr cohen" (who i don't believe even exists, btw. how is it that the booragoon clinic are the ones who sent us this info???) must be extremely worried with us to be telling us to eat the wrong things.

also, if cohens is as popular as we were told at our orientations, how come there aren't more success stories being printed?

i'm pretty annoyed at the moment about it. sorry all, just letting off steam

p.s. if anyone wants to have a look at my spreadsheet, email me: eleni.chrysostomou@gmail.com and i'll send you a copy. make some informed decisions!

They say you must have "deviated" sounds like more than a bit of BS , do you have the figures from your last blood test and the one before? Lets have a look (if you dont mind) us snooping on your blood sugar level and total protein levels.

Gluten and glucose are hardly the subjects of food horror stories, gluten is a very common protein in wheat and grains and glucose the simple natural sugar which we eat around tablespoon full worth each time we have an apple or orange. For a true horror food, AsyOz mention in her blog Battered mars bars deap fried and if it was fried in oil heavy in trans-fats (hydrogenated vegitable oils) we arrive at a true killer. I am sure there are more than a few traces of milk in the yogurt we eat. Nut traces...well sureslim include nuts in their program, I think this is a weak point of our program, nuts and fish fats have oils in them that we need to be healthy (eg flaxseeds etc) are not included. Logically we should not need vitamin or fish oil supliments if the cohen diet is providing a true balanced diet.

OK before everyone screams at me, Cohen diet is, by design, not a balanced diet, in particular it is a diet low in energy from sugars/starches (starch is just chains of sugar molecules) designed to keep us in on the edge of ketosis so our bodies metabolise our fat! The fruits supply the sugars (glucose) just enough for our brains (nurons need glucose to work) to function well and our normal muscles and metabolism consume the ketone bodies released from our fat.

I think a dietician would describeCohen diet as a protein sparing modified fast (PSMF).

 

[asyoz]

Bridey, I have one tip and strategy for you.

It's a really good one, are ya listening???

Here it is:

Start, and STICK TO IT.

that's it, it ain't rocket science. (bloody good thing it isn't!!!) hehe

I started on 1 July, it's now 24 October, which is 3 months 3 weeks, and I've lost 40kg. So, 20kg in 3 months is not an unrealistic goal. Of course having less to lose, you'll lose it a little slower, but hey, even if ya lost 10, it'd be great, wouldn't it?

asy

 

[lessfatty]

Hi everyone!
I was so excited to hear about this prgram that I phoned up straight away to join. I spent hours last night reading through all your posts and it's hard to believe that it is working so well for everyone! You are all so amazing! I go for my blood test tomorrow morning and i hope to have my plan ASAP so I can start. I am getting married in 3 months time and the lady I spoke with said i may lose up to 20kg by then if I stick with it! AND I WILL! My starting weight is 87kg and I am 160cm tall. I am 21yrs old. I look forwarding to getting to know you all and posting my blogs regularly. I just really can't wait to get started and start losing weight. If anyone has any tips or strategies for me, I would love to hear them! Talk to you all soon...

Welcome it wont be easy, but nothing in adult life is easy.

As I said before Cohens is as much a test of preparation and organization as it is of your willpower. Best is to have a plan for all your meals for the coming week and at the minimum the following day.

If you want to get "prepare" for cohen have a look at my ideas here

It is quite possible to lose 20KG however I think 15KG is absolutely possible.

 

[Beautiful Bride]

Also, I forgot to mention that I am a vegetarian... Is anyone else here a vegetarian? What do you normally get to eat?
Thanks!

 

[heavenlylamb]

They say you must have "deviated" sounds like more than a bit of BS , do you have the figures from your last blood test and the one before? Lets have a look (if you dont mind) us snooping on your blood sugar level and total protein levels.

For a true horror food, AsyOz mention in her blog Battered mars bars deap fried and if it was fried in oil heavy in trans-fats (hydrogenated vegitable oils) we arrive at a true killer. I think a dietician would describeCohen diet as a protein sparing modified fast (PSMF).

(heavenlylamb in her best Homer Simpson voice.... )
Mmmmmm, battered deep fried mars bar...

I thought mentioning food like that was banned on the forum!!! Actually, can you imagine eating something like that now........ its enough to make you vomit.

If Eleni's situation is the same as mine, you never get to see the actual tests, they just give a descriptive answer of whether you are OK, borderline OK, borderline deviate or deviation.

The test that they do is a "UEC" test, non fasting.... when I google it, this is what I find.......

UEC's. Urea Electrolytes and Creatinine. This test is a measure of kidney function. We see an elevated serum urea or creatinine with dehydration or if the kidney function is impaired. The electrolytes are the various salts in the bloodstream...
things like sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate. The potassium level is of particular importance in people on diuretics or fluid tablets. Frequently the level falls in these patients and oral potassium supplements are required.


Because the first test is fasting and the second non-fasting, I don't think you could compare them that well. I think they are more a test of kidney function and whether your kidneys are coping with the extra protein intake. I'm not quite sure how they work out that you are deviating, and like I said previously, things like not drinking enough water in the days previously can affect the results.

 

[Louise1]

Also, I forgot to mention that I am a vegetarian... Is anyone else here a vegetarian? What do you normally get to eat?
Thanks!

I'm vegetarian, I'malso the same height as you. I am hoping to lose all my weight within three months.

I have started weighing myself twice a week - Saturdays and Wednesdays. I have lost 1.2 since last Saturday.

At first my weight loss was quite slow but since I have started taking vitamins I do feel it almost falling off.

Make sure you're organised as this makes it much easier to stick to the program.

Eleni - your post doesn't make sense to me. Are you on the program or not?

 

[8-2much!]

Good Morning Everyone,

Hope you are all 'Cohen' well!

I have to say that I think we are all missing the point regarding this diet. I will be the first to tell you that I am very, very cynical about ANY diet. I just don't agree with them in general. However, through bad decision making and, I hate to say it, but pure laziness I found myself 30 kilos over a healthy weight. Nobodies fault but mine. I don't think any of us are stupid. We came to choose this diet because we felt it could offer us some relief from our overweight lives. We must not look to blame anybody/thing. We must take responsibility and accept that we made the decision to embark on this journey.

I don't even think researching all the scientific facts are going to make any difference. I love having hard evidence and proof but the thing is knowing that there could be changes to this diet just interferes with the process. The reason I chose Cohen's wasn't because Dr. Cohen is my hero or that he personally formulates my diet - bollocks! Unless there is 500 of him! But what's the point of worrying about that??? We are on a mission people - to lose weight FAST. We could chose much 'healthier' options we could choose more 'dangerous' options but we chose Cohen's. So you either do it and keep your head down and get to the finish line or you take another approach.

This diet is difficult at times and anti-social. I can find myself questioning everything but soon realise that this will not help me achieve my goal. We all know that the most effective way to lose weight is to eat in moderation - not the huge helpings we have indulged ourselves, less fat - especially trans fat, saturated fat etc and to do regular exercise. That people is how we will be living once we have lost this excess baggage if we want to remain thin and healthy. Cohen's is simply providing a short cut. Take it or leave it?

We all know that we have our highs and lows. I have come close more than once to throwing it all in. But the disappointment I will feel within myself is not worth it. I for one am tired of not completing anything, of not tasting satisfaction and success. I want it and I will have to sacrifice something for it and at the moment it is the freedom to eat what I like when I like. It is like all things in life isn't it? You take the good with the bad. Pat yourself on the back Eleni - and everyone else - at least you have taken the first step in improving your lifestyle. Hang in there - You will do this and maybe the whole blood test experience has just added fuel to your fire! Keep going!

Ok, I am off to tackle my first litre of water! Just think of life as a skinny healthy person and that should be enough to quash blood test results and thoughts of foods we can and can't have. It is a very small amount of time in the scheme of things and that's why we chose Cohen's.

Good Luck everyone. Let's keep slogging along! I need to know you are all going to stick to it - I need the support - you need the support. Let's GO!

Lot's of understanding and love.....

 

[Jewls]

Hey Jools, (wrong Jewls)

Never a problem

Keep in mind you NEED the anti-inflamatories, and mending your broken bits is more important than sticking 100% to the plan. There's no point being skinny and not being able to walk properly because your leg hasn't healed straight.

Stick to the doctor's orders, then to the clinic's plan, in that order.

Also do what HL said

Oh, and, I take Anti-inflammatories daily (for full body arthritis) and narcotic based pain killers daily for a back condition, and also take panadeine and nurofen as required, and doesn't seem to have made a difference to my loss (but then I wouldn't know what the loss would be without them coz I've been taking them for ages)...

asy

Hi everyone,
Well my ankle is still a bit sore but i'm feel better and the body is starting to heal. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and thoughts on the pain killers.

Asyoz - thanks for letting me know about your pain killer & weight loss, it was good to know that there has been no adverse affects. Also i would like to thank you for saying what was on my mind to Eleni. I have wanted to say that to a few people for a while but you have the balls to actually do it ~ a big thanks. Some people just want to knock this program but i can tell you it does work and it works well. I myself have been trying to lose weight for 22 years with not much success and now 17 weeks later i'm 31kgs lighter there must be something in it and you are right about Dr Cohen i don't really care if he does or doesn't exist i just know that the information i have and the results i'm gaining are more than the proof i need to know that this is a successful program and lifestyle.

Beck ~ thanks for you support and advise and I'm sorry to hear you fell of the wagon. Uni can be soooooo stressful. I only finished uni 2 years ago (mature age) so i can relate. I put on 20kgs over the 4 years i was at uni. Stay strong and hop back on the wagon. I found in times of the mad rush & stress that i would always go to the cupboard ~ so i am going to suggest that you set yourself up with your buccies, fruit to snack on all day (being respectful of the time) and also use your chewing gum as it can help. Sometime i will break one strip in half chew on it for about 10mins, disgard it and drink a big glass of water. Try it to see if this might help allivate the need to deviate. My heart and prayers are with you.

Have a great Cohens day and to anyone wavering and thinking that this doesn't work IT DOES SO DON'T RAIN ON OUR PARADE just be strong and find the confidence to do it properly for yourself and your future!!

Cheers Jewls

 

[asyoz]

Hey Jewls, (spelled it right this time!)

Thanks for your comments, I've been accused of having big balls, sometimes they're so big I trip over them. Good thing I'm not a man! hehe

I need to learn more tolerance but I get rather short with people who, when something doesn't go their way, have to find someone to blame for it.

asy

 

[lessfatty]

Actually I believe there is a Dr Cohen, he has made a excel spreadsheet that after keying in your height/weight/blood sugar/protein levels a updates the food allowance rows that he cut-n-pastes a creates "personal diet". Maybe it is an easy 60minute job to process 60 new customers each morning, easy money.

It would also be a fair that Dr Cohen also deligates other people doing this job in his office otherwise Dr Cohen could never ever take a holiday.

I think it would take him about 1 minute to process each person, I hardly think he sits around for a couple of hours worrying about if lessfatty should have 125grams or 130grams of chicken for lunch. Keeping the spreadsheet private to his office lets him maintain his intellectual property and control over his business interests/licencees. Software companies keep control in a similar way by having licence key generators in safe and secure hands in head office.

"deviation"; just love this word. From my history of "failed" diets, twice I lost over 10KG, only to fail and put it all back on,

I will give you the reason I failed. Psycologically my thinking was like "Well I have lost 10KG I am feeling better; great continue with the diet", then it came to coffee time "Well I have lost weight, feeling better, rather than black coffee I will have it with a spash of low fat milk", the next day I have lost a little bit more weight "great continue with the diet". Then the next day I think "Well rather than a splash of milk, lets just have a low fat latte" again the next day I have lost weight. Then I am drinking low fat lattes or some wine and dinner time or when I travel I start eating "just a taste" of stuff I know I probably shouldnt but time for lie to myself I think "It wont hurt, it will be OK, it doesnt matter". Anyway after a few weeks I have lost weight (but not as much), but I am am now very much eating more foods at most meals than I was at the start of the diet. But I maintain the self lie "It wont hurt, it's OK, I am still on the diet". Then of course something "bad" happens in my life,; and I just eat a normal meal in a resturant that night and/or the next day. Over the course of the next week or so I am 1/2 on 1/2 off the diet. Something else like a business trip will then get me eating "normal" meals as there is "nothing else to eat"....and "suddenly" my weight loss has stalled. Time then for a new lie to myself "OK, things are a bit tough; I will just take a rest from the diet for my body to adjust" and for a month or so my weight stays the same and I am OK with it. But 2 months latter, meals a getting a bit bigger, having second helpings of pasta, and extra few pieces of yummy sushi or the kids left over pizza...the weight starts creeping back on. 1 year latter it is all back on!

Pycologically Cohen works because it has a "zero deviation" policy, weighing all foods, we need to create the "lie" (self-belief) for ourselves and which we can tell our for families that we must stick to absolutely to the correct amounts and types of foods. With no room for deviation in the self believe that this is "our personal diet plan" that must be followed 100% to be successfully, we cannot create a new lie "just a little taste wont hurt" that is the start of the slow falling of the wagon.

Tonight I will have steak, does it really matter if I had 105grams of vegetables or the correct personalized amount of 100grams? Of course not, the next day I will have lost 200grams exactly and I will lose 200grams/day for the next week it really doesnt matter. However if 105grams is OK, what about 110grams and just not trim a little bit of the steak to reduce it from 140grams to 130grams, and if that is OK what about just finishing off the yogurt tub in the morning rather than listening to my wife complaining about why I put back in the fridge an almost empty yogurt container. And if that is OK what about a tasting of my mother-in-laws cooking "it wont hurt", and a few beers with my work collegues after a stressful project is completed.

I (we) need to believe that with foods everything helps or everything hurts, a cohen meal will help our weight loss and a "almost cohen" meal or non cohen meal will hurt our weight loss. There is no room for "it wont hurt" or "it wont matter".


I also have an to tell you some good news; today I weighed 100.0KG, this also will be the last day of my life that I will weigh 3 figures!!! My work collegue told me today that I need to get some new clothes as my clothes just look oversized for me.

 

[8-2much!]

Congratulations Lessfatty! You are very inspirational. I hope you never get to 'that' place again where you need to tell a lie to yourself - I sure as hell hope I can avoid that too! And farewell to three figures! Amazing!

And I appreciate your sentiments. You always make for an interesting read.
Thanks.

 

[lessfatty]

Refeeding Plan

For those who have done the refeeding plan I have a question, was the individualize meals that the refeeding was based on much different from the individual eating plan amounts you used during the diet?

I am not talking about the refeeding plan itself, I have the document in which you can add certain amounts (grams) of food each day and introduce bad and forbidden foods slow record your weight. I mean when you got your individualized refeeding meals "base" food amounts/meals was it different to what you had been prescribed during the diet?

eg. 125grams chicken 115grams vegetable etc.

 

[myshy]

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick hello (is there ever enough hours in the day?).

Have entered day three - some weight loss already which is pleasing. Hopefully I will be entering ketosis today.

Bridetobe - welcome! I'm not sure what sort of weight loss you will achieve, but I also would have thought 15 kilos would be possible. Advice - DONT DEVIATE. A mistake can cost you a week.

RJM - I deferred my uni this semester but I sympathise with you....assignments and exams are the worst stress factors - be strong. You have done it before and will do it again. Good luck with the assignment too!

Lessfatty - Kiss those triple digits goodbye. Hope to see your next post including double digits only! Well done!!

Just a quick question for the vegetarians - things have changed since I was on the program last time - vegetarians were not catered for then. I would be really interested in the types of things you do get to eat and the amounts if you don't mind posting.

Hope you all had a great day.

Myshy

 

[lessfatty]

Congratulations Lessfatty! You are very inspirational. I hope you never get to 'that' place again where you need to tell a lie to yourself - I sure as hell hope I can avoid that too! And farewell to three figures! Amazing!

And I appreciate your sentiments. You always make for an interesting read.
Thanks.

Well when I think about it we tell all sorts of lies to ourselves all the time. The job of marketing is to help us make tell lies to ourselves.

Sorry to all the girls here today but Cosmetics counters at departments stores to my thinking based upon a "self deceit", does a $120 skin cream make a "visable" difference to a $20 one? It does only if we think it does, and the difference is that you will probably feel better and "look" happier as a result. Its not about competion to deliver the best quality face cream at the best price. Sorry to pick on cosmetics but these are #1 highest margin (profit) per m2 of shop space (but feel free to correct me if I am wrong).

Astrology, reflexology, crystal whatever, even MLM, lotteries, all based on feeding our desires but offering very little in the way of measurable results.

Men well we have our own lies, fast cars with big engines etc, younger girlfriends, gadgets, toys etc.

Also the same lies also hold us back "I am too fat to do xxxxx", "who would want me", "I am not good at yyyy so I souldnt do xxxxx"

Some of the adds on this website are wonderful examples of attempts of self deception that are so blatant that they are worthy of laughter, I noted an "Ads by Gooooogle" proclaiming "Lose weight, eat candy and make money"...wow thats 3 desire buttons (weight loss, candy eating, money making) in 6 words!! If I sign up can they order me a new S-Class Benz directly so I can avoid wasting time at the dealer deciding the color of the leather seats, I have another 20 Godiva chocolates to go before I can lose 1KG today!

 

[Brieziel]

Tofu Tofu and more Tofu??? i would imagine! Possibly egg and cheese as other options?
LESSFATTY well done! tomorrow you'll be at your next goal!

 

[Brieziel]

less fatty it is a marketing/sales persons job to increase our "Percieved Value" by as little as 1c and we will buy. Peoples percieved values differ greatly, for some their self worth and percieved value of the $680 we spent for this program is way to expensive, for others it is nothing, and would gladly pay double, even if it was a financial stretch. I am in sales and i see it every day. Same product, different percieved value, different prices..... it can vary from person to person, store to store (and not just due to customer demographics!)