Cohen's Lifestyle Dietgrrl's journey

Prefix for Cohen's Lifestyle
WOW dietgrrl!!! You have done absolutely amazing! Well done - you should be very proud of yourself!!

Keep up the positive spirit and you are right - show your brain who is boss over what you eat and how much you eat. I share those sentiments exactly: I might not have power of things happening in my life but ONLY I have the power of what I put in my mouth. I live by this everyday!

Good luck with the refeed and gym!!
 
dietgrrl- You are blitzing this. Lucky you not having the hunger. By the time I was anywhere near my GW I was ravenous!! I would love to have a gym nearby & would not care these days if it was mostly men. At least they wouldn't be sizing you up critically like most women are wont to do. Go dietgrrl!!!! xoxo Cate
 
Thanks for the replies, guys! Cate, I think the no hunger pangs is because I'm Asian with a smaller frame (funny, I always thought I was larger size) so I think my ideal BMI is much lower. There have been studies by WHO that estimates BMI on various ethnicities and apparently if you are Asian, with a BMI of 23 - you are overweight!! I do have extra fat reserves :D so my body is coping well on this weight. Hoping to drop more kgs and see how it goes.
 
Hey Dietgrrl,

Wow you are doing so well and so close to refeed! I really take my hat off to you, you have faced many obstacles being somewhere where not all the food was readily available and not being able to weight everything at the being, you really have done amazingly and you should feel so proud of yourself :)

You are going to get through the rest of the programme no problem at all!!!

Have a great day.

xxx
 
Hey dietgrrl!

Gosh, it's been over a month since I logged into the forum and you're on your way to refeeding already? :p I'm so jealous!

Surprising you started later than me and you've lost more than I did.. I wonder where I went wrong.. Perhaps it's just the different body I suppose..

I'm on Day-53 today and so far I've only lost 6.7kg.. I've noticed it's much harder to loose the weight into the second month. My inches have not decreased in size either.. I've stuck 100% to the programme as well.. I really am dumbfounded.

Anyways, :) I'm really happy for you! Write more! It's great reading your diary..
 
Thanks Angel, and ehrose for writing in! ehrose - good to hear from you again! I was wondering where you went. Have you talked to your consultant about your weight loss? Yes, everyone is different when it comes to losing weight - I have to admit that I am surprised that I have come closer to my goal much sooner than I thought (and relieved too!). I know women with PCOS have a harder time losing weight - or if you've done many diets in your life, your metabolism might slow down. Don't be disheartened though - the most important thing is that you are losing! Keep at it, and don't give up! You are still 6.7 kg less than when you started. :) And that is significant!

Well, lately it's been really crazy in my world. You realize how petty work issues can be compared to family and personal issues. In the end, work is just work - it pays the bills.

I've been travelling a lot and have so far stuck to my programme. This is what happened to me over the weekend:

Friday: one flight + 10 hour journey by bus (overnight - I never sleep on these buses!). I packed a lunch that I ate at the airport. Just boiled chicken with curry and cabbage. I knew that I was going to spend dinner on the bus so I ate my dinner for breakfast instead - and had my usual breakfast (a boiled egg with cucumber) later that night. It felt better to digest something lighter for the long bus journey.

Sat: morning I was still on bus, and I had also brought along a second boiled egg with cucumber. Ate that on the bus. When I was finally at home, it was easier because I could prepare my meals.

Sun: Luckily there was a flight out so I was able to catch that. However that meant that I had to spend one night in transit. So I prepared two meals again and had my usual dinner as breakfast. Ate lunch in the airport again, and dinner was a boiled egg, mushrooms (FRESH mushrooms! Miss this too), and cucumber.

Mon: I had packed a boiled egg that I cooked from home, ate that too for breakfast before heading out to airport. When I arrived mid-morn, I had no more fresh meats in the fridge, and I knew that for the rest of the week, I have to be on a tuna diet because of my work travels. So I broke off my cheese ban, and had that for lunch. And that tasted GOOD.

-----
Currently packing meals for this week's travels. This time, a 10 hour car journey on a bumpy road they call a 'highway'. That's 20 hours in total!

Wednesday: Breakfast would be 'dinner' i.e. calamari and kai lan. By lunchtime I would be on the road, so I will be having oven-baked tempe with button mushrooms and japanese cucumber. Dinner is 'breakfast': i.e. boiled egg & cucumber (I'm still on the road).

Thursday & Friday: boiled eggs (that I've brought from home) and canned tuna. Would also be bringing cucumbers for veg allowance.

Sat: heading back. Same mealplan.

I think I shall be sick of tuna by then! It's so hard to find canned tuna in water here (plus it's so expensive!) so I save it for travels.

Oh, I've ordered my refeed (I think I've said that already?) and although ideally, I'd like to get down to my lowest range (53kg) before I start refeed - my work schedule is going to be hectic for the next couple of months with more travel so I think I would be better off in maintenance. Sigh!
 
hey dietgrrl, hope you're settling in after your hectic weekend....what do you mean by ordering the refeeds? does that mean i've got to pay a separate fee to get my refeed plan?
 
Hi geo - no, it's part of the programme and people say the most significant! When you reach your goal weight, they will send you a refeeding programme where it reintroduces the carbs, and other proteins, etc. that you haven't eaten on the initial programme - in a controlled manner. The programme is realistic because it realizes that you cannot eat like you have on the programme in the 'real world'. So it prepares you for it. You *must* do the refeed so that your body is stabilized and won't be too shocked when you reintroduce it to bread, rice, pasta, etc. It also provides 'maintenance guidelines' aka how to deal with food in the real world.
 
Thanks MissKris! Refeed hasn't arrived yet so am still on the programme.

Survived the 20 hour plus car journey, and one flat tire! Also stuck to my Cohen programme which was a lot easier than I thought. I brought a bag specifically for my food. The first day, I had food prepared so that was easy when we stopped for lunch/dinner breaks on the road and I happily ate my own food. Thing is - I'm not really into Indonesian food in these parts. It's all MSG and deep-fried. Really unhealthy. So it's easy to not feel tempted!

Can you believe it - they wanted to eat at KFC TWICE. Yes, I ate my healthy packed food in a KFC restaurant and the smell of the processed deep-fried chicken wanted to make me gag. Completely not tempted by the fried chicken even though it used to be my favourite.

I love being on Cohen's! It puts you on the right frame of mind. I don't feel deprived, and I feel that I've detox-ed all the unhealthy foods outta me.

The people I was travelling with were very amused with my diet - some made comments but it was easy to brush them off. I think mostly they were impressed with my fortitude to stick with it. But it was easy because I wasn't interested in what they were eating! Everytime we ate together, the only options was fried, fried fried with LOTS of MSG. I could smell the processed foods from where I was sitting and it was gross.

Even in the car ride, when they were passing around the Pringles (used to be my favourite!) - I felt nauseated with the smell. Although they did buy this Pringles where it stated on the can in bold "ARTIFICIALLY FLAVOURED" - ugh! I happily tucked in with my apples and wheat crackers (*love*).

In the hotel room, I was amazed by the mirrors - they must have skinny mirrors because I looked a lot skinner than in my mirror back home! I was so happy with my reflection that for the first time in a long while, I tucked in my work shirt into my pants, and it looked good. :) Well at least according to those mirrors. Now that I am back home, I still look the same. I don't know why that is. I need those skinny mirrors, stat!

Arrived late last night at around 12:30 a.m. (due to the flat tire). Spent my Saturday sleeping and resting. Weighed myself and it seems that I'm stuck at 56.5 kg but my jeans are seriously baggy that I have to fold the waistband to keep it up. Several weeks ago, the (newly bought) jeans fitted perfectly! But here's the weird part because I also bought workpants along with the jeans, and while it's gotten looser, it's not as baggy as the jeans. Maybe it grew in the wash?

I regret not taking my measurements in the beginning because I think that is a more accurate assessment of my weight loss than the scales.

Next week, I have to travel again.... and this time, no fridge to keep my foods.. but there would be a kitchen. As long as I can find fresh chicken and vegetables, I should be ok - I hope!
 
p/s I passed by a bakery and goooosshh... I can't wait till I can eat bread again on refeed! The steamed brownies (brownie kukus) also made me sigghhh... I didn't want to eat it but it smelled too good... So I bought that, and a box of fried fritters filled with bananas & cheese (it smelled good too!) for my housekeeper. :D Wow - I've finally found the secret. I can buy lovely smelling baked goods but I don't have to eat them! And giving them away made me feel good too. hee.
 
Oh, I bought red wine vinegar at that town (was so excited to see that they had vinegar! This is how deprived I am where I'm currently living) and because I haven't had the chance to go to the market yet today, I made this delicious tuna recipe for dinner:

Combine the following:
1. Canned tuna (in water)
2. 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
3. Black pepper
4. Paprika
5. 1 tsp of low-fat mayo

Set aside. Boil with very little water (so eventually it's like you're steaming) cauliflower and some cabbage. When ready, add the vegetables to the tuna.

Wow - I didn't know how delicious cauliflower is when cooked! I didn't add any salt and it has this lovely buttery taste to it. I would be sad when my cauliflower runs out because they don't sell it here. :(

For lunch, I had mozerella cheese with crackers and cucumber & mushrooms. :D I love cheese - it feels like a treat!
 
hey dietgrrl! wow...you can resist KFC & Pringles! that's awesome....i hope i'd be like you in that aspect...i am able to walk away from KFC restaurant...but to sit in the restaurant and not eat it? man, i wanna get there someday....cheers!
 
Hi dietgrrl, That sounded just like me. I used to buy things that I fancied, watch someone else eat them & really enjoyed them by osmosis but without messing up my weight. I sat in restaurants & ate my own food & felt similar feelings- mainly disgust & horror! Your head is so much in the right place to succeed with maintaining your weight-loss. Just hold onto those memories & they will hold you in good stead. You made me laugh about the skinny mirrors!
You are doing so well dietgrrl & should be very proud of yourself, xo Cate
 
geo - believe me, when I say you will be in that zone and would be able to resist! I have never done a "diet" in my life and this feels to me more of a lifestyle change than a diet. Maybe that's why I have stuck on it?? Your Cohen journey will detox your body that you would be able to resist fried foods. Although I have to admit for me my downfall might be sweets. ;) Buy and give away! Buy and give away!

cate - thank you so much for your kind words! I feel happy to be where I am right now and I vow never to go back! And yes, maybe buy some skinny mirrors too... ;)
 
Aaarrgh, weighed myself this morning. I've bumped up to 57 kg again. I know it's just water retention but it buuuuuugggssss me so much! I think I have to start analyzing what I'm doing lately that may be causing the slow weight loss (or crazy ups and downs!).

Hokay, I admit - I've been eating cheese regularly (no more than 3x a week), and hmmm maybe it's my apple cider and red wine vinegar??? I love them so much that giving them up would be hard - I use them to marinate my meats... The red wine vinegar also takes away the fishy smell of tuna and makes it more full-body. Sigh sigh sigh. Also, I haven't been drinking 3 litres of water every day because of my travels so maybe that is part of it.

I don't think it's TOM because it's not due till several more weeks (I think - gah, I never pay attention to it as it comes like clockwork!).

Or maybe this is not uncommon and I should be grateful that I'm not gaining more weight back. :p
 
Hi dietgrrl! Mine was 19 days. I think it's almost the most important part of the program though. Your body is most likely retaining fluid but check your vinegars just to make sure they don't have any sugar in them. Some Balsamics do. Wee hoo refeed!! xo Cate
 
Thanks Cate! :( I guess will skip my vinegars for now. Doesn't say that it has sugar but the red wine is soooo yummy when marinated with meats... so already that is suspect!

So here are my thoughts on refeed:

I have at least two work trips coming up – one is a major one that would take up to a week and no, there won’t be any kitchen (I tried!). The good thing about being on the programme for now is that it makes it easier to travel (compared to refeeding). Why is that? Because with travel = I can eat canned tuna for all meals (not ideal but it works). Now that I have to add new proteins – I need to have a kitchen to do so – unless there is such a thing as canned chicken leg! Or canned salmon in water (haha – I find it difficult just to find canned tuna!) Even with adding skim milk (new protein), I still need larger new quantities of new protein to complete my meal.

If my second major work trip takes off next week, I could possible start then because I don’t add new proteins till Day 13. I should be back in my regular kitchen way before then. But ugh – that’s like additional canned tuna on top of at least two daily meals of tuna!

Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense to anyone who hasn’t done any refeeding yet! I’m just penning my thoughts down for future analysis.

The good thing is that I already have my refeeding programme and will definitely be carting this baby around! If I’m truly hungry, will commence on it – 2 kg down be darned!

Why is my refeeding so long? :(

p/s anyone out there who has completed refeeding on a work trip and had successfully added new proteins (WITHOUT eating out) in a hotel room without being able to cook – let me know! I rather NOT eat out if I have to. I rather delay my refeeding if that is my only option. Really really don’t want to mess up my refeeding! BUT if I become a hungry grouchy bear, then I will eat. Nom nom nom!
 
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