Cohen's Lifestyle Hello! first time dieter... trying the Cohen Diet

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Campari182

Campari182

New member
Hi Everyone!

Today is my third day on the Cohen diet and I hope I'm doing ok :hurray: My first 2 days were not as bad as expected, I thought I'd really resent the fact that i don't get to eat what I want, but I seem to have more will power than i give myself credit for. I think the only thing that really irks me is that the food is pretty tasteless, coz we're not supposed to put any sauces in. I'm Asian, so I live by soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilli sauce, fish sauce.... seems like everything we use for flavouring is a sauce! :willy_nilly:

This is my first time trying (in earnest) to diet. My past attempts have rarely lasted through a few days. Lets just say, I tried to ignore a growing problem, but the problem got too big for me to ignore. I've always been slim, I'm really tiny. 5'. So even half a kg weight gain shows on me. however, since I entered college, i've gained 20kg. Freshmen gain 15 pounds usually yeah? I gained 15kg. then add another 5kg from working infront of a computer all day. I'm a designer, in marketing. So finally i had a good long talk with myself, and realized that I really need to do something about this, or it won't end! and i'll find myself desperate and alone for the rest of my life. So here I am, third day on the diet.

I read so many encouraging stories on this forum, and many said that having a diary of my diet would help me stay focused. My greatest fear is my non existent willpower. So I hope this will help.

Big hello to eeryone here! :grouphug:
 
Hi Campari, Welcome to the forum! My husband is the cook in my household & he loves to use Asian sauces. I had to do my own stir-fries as I didn't trust him not to add 'just a little bit' of soy or fish sauce or oyster sauce etc. I missed the flavours for a while as I love them but was so determined to lose weight this time that I adapted. I used to use balsamic vinegar for flavour and/or dried spices. I accidentally used chinese 5 spice before finding out that was a no no because of the filler added to it. I then used the individual spices. Even using chilli flakes I learned to cope with & dried parsley.
Just remember it's not forever. If you stick to Cohen's 100% you will lose your weight & then learn to maintain it. It is so worth it! All the best, Cate
 
Hi Campari,
Welcome to the forum. I totally agree with Cate. the program is really short term and you do learn to cope with the limitations. I wouldn't go so far as to say you learn to enjoy the food, but you learn to cope with the food. I have been on the program for 9 weeks and I am down 18kgs, so just think, if you stick to it 110% you could be at goal in a matter of months. You go down through sizes in clothes so quickly that this helps to keep you motivated. I will be totally honest, the first week or so is the hardest and once you get through that it is not so hard, but I still do occassionally think "just one cappucino won't hurt" or "I could have just one meal off and start again tomorrow", but I know that one of anything "bad" would ruin it for me and make it all the harder to get back on track 100% so I talk myself out of breaking on that day and carry on in hope that the next time I have those thoughts I will also be able to discourage myself from breaking. I find the forum is great to help me distract myself and if I am having a really hard day I will read back over my old posts from when I completed Cohens last time or read back over other peoples posts and this takes my mind off eating.
Anyway, good luck. I hope you do really well and remember that missing those sauces is only short term and you can have them again in the future.
Take care
Beck
 
Wow! Thanks for the encouragement! I feel really motivated to really stick to the diet 110%! 18kg in 9 weeks Becks! That is simply awesome! I was wondering tho, for do you guys really stick to exactly the weight appointed? or can we deviate by 1-2g? My mum was laughing at me, while i painstakingly shred my last lettuce leaf to fulfill EXACTLY 120g. And Cate, there are fillers in the 5 spice? oh dear!! I better go back and check all my labels!
 
Hi Campari,
Yes, I weigh everything exactly to the gram. Never even 1 extra gram of anything except for a few times when I really couldn't eat 100% Cohens (you can read them in my diary if you're interested).If I have to eat non cohens I order as close to Cohens as I can and I eat what I think would be Cohens portions. I also put very few additives in my food. Usually just a little bit of fresh garlic and maybe some balsamic vinegar and I also use my teaspoon of mayonaisse.
Take care
Beck
 
Today is my 4th day on the diet, and I'm getting rather demoralized actually. I haven't lost even half a kg yet, and no inch loss yet either. I've read so many glowing reports on the first week being the biggest weight loss, yet, I didn't really lose anything at all! I don't believe that I'm going to dip 2kg in 3 days, that's not really possible, at least not for my weight level, so I'm really down. Also, not being able to eat with my friends and colleagues is getting me depressed too. I'm not the unofficial "office man-er" because I stay in the office when everybody goes out to have lunch. ( I can't bear the sight of all that good food and not being able to eat it, so I try to to see or smell it) Sigh... is this worth it?
 
Hi Campari,
Don't be disheartened. Maybe phone your consultant and ask her advice. She could have some suggestions but even if she doesn't stick with it for at least a couple of weeks and see what the results are I'm sure the weight loss will kick in soon.
Take care
Beck
 
Tomorrow will be one week on Cohens and I honestly don't feel any changes to my body yet. But a colleague of mine mentioned that I looked slightly slimmer since she had just came back form a 2 week holiday, so I was really happy.

However, work has been pretty frustrating for me these days, I work at a charity that promotes art education to the children. We had a big bank sponsor and event that we did for them, in which we organized a day whre we take children from various welfare homes on a public sculpture tour. The banks own volunteers help out as well. This is mostly to drum up publicity for the bank. It was agreed at the start, that they will accept whatever invoice that we submit to them. So after the event, I sent them our invoice. In which I put down costs that are market priced, even though we managed to get most of the things sponsored or at a discount. We also put in a lot of our own time and effort and office resources to keep the cost down so that we can have enough left over funds to organize a volunteer drive, which we sorely need, as no volunteers = no teachers to teach art in the classrooms. However the bank in question refused to pay anything that we could not produce receipts with, and they would only accept receipts with 3rd party vendor costs. so in the end, we lost quite a bit of money on this event.

You would think that a large bank wouldn't bother to bully a tiny little charity, but I suppose that's how they got so rich. It's so sad, all my staff are really demoralized. Seeing us so sad, our office tea lady decided to be nice and bought us all noodles to cheer us up. Noodles!!! how heavenly the smell!! O couldn't refuse... as my staff were all waiting for me to start so they could start (it's an asian custom is suppose) So i had a bite. Oh the bliss!! So i had another bite, and another and another... until it's all gone. I feel so guilty!!! This is my first deviation... and it's not even been a week! oh weak I am.

So afterwork today, I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill for an hour. Super tired now, but hopefully I've gotten rid of all that noodle!! But it was worth it. So goood!!!

ince I was at the gym, decided to weigh myself again. I haven't gone on the scales since I last wrote here, too depressing. But lo and behold! i've dropped 1.5kg! nothing to shout about, as most of your here have dropped much more in your first week, but I am pleased. I was so depressed that Cohens seemingly didn't work for me. I feel much more reassured now. You have no idea how much i've been badgering my poor consultant at the Cohens clinic!
 
Campari182,

Don't be too disheartened by what happened with your charity. After the NKF and more recently (currently) Ren Ci, most contributor's and sponsor are being much more careful. Especially when it comes to paying padded invoices as it would seem your charity was doing as well. They have to be because you know how it is here when the gahmen here get a bee in their bonnet. It's their normal kneejerk reaction just like with the JI leader that they let escape. :rolleyes:

Of course, deviating for something like that is not the way to go. Regardless of what happens at work, Number One always has to be YOU. Seriously, if you don't take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of others? Time to buckle up. I didn't lose at a fantastic rate but I did finish and managed to reach my target and then some. I'm now just over 1 month past refeed and I'm still fluctuating between target and -1.5kg below target. Each of us will lose at a different speed and water consumption, sleep, and not deviating are the only things that will do it for you. Stress isn't good for you either but sometimes we can only control some of the things. Sleep was my biggest problem - normally only got 5 to 6 hours a night. Sundays mornings were usually my best drops because I had a lie-in for a couple extra hours.

SMS
The "New" Stallion
Cohen Singapore Graduate
Class of June 08
 
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Hi Campari, How are you going? Are you back on program 100%? I hope all is well with you. Take care, Cate
 
Just tagging on to Campari's thread.. As I've also just started on my program, in fact this Mon!

No deviations but i do have difficulties getting my quantities right. Either my mother who helps me with the cooking misproportion them, or that eating out compromises it. I do hope that a slight quantity difference 'does not matter'?! Another worry is upcoming holidays which ive planned way in advance, one next month and another end of the year. Which means a total week of incorrect porportions! :willy_nilly:



 
wuzu,

You need to get your head in the right place. Are you serious about losing the weight? If so, you will do whatever is necessary in order to follow the program. Read some of the dairies around, all of us on the various Cohen boards have been there and done that. The successful ones are those who didn't pay any attention to way other thought but single-mindedly were determined to follow the program the ONLY WAY it will work successfully.

The quantities DO matter and that's why they are given to you in grams. The clinic also advised you to buy a digital kitchen scale that measures in 1 gram increments. The weight of the various protein & Veges are designed to cause the serotonin levels in the brain to fool the body into thinking it's full on what is essentially only about a 800 calorie diet. If you don't weigh properly you will be heading for trouble in the long term. You have to cook separately from the rest of the family otherwise the food will not be balanced according to plan. Instead of throwing it on your mother, you should do the weighing and prepackaging yourself. I didn't let my wife do any of the measuring at all, but I did let her do some of the cooking.

If you don't get yourself into the "zone" you are wasting your time as you will not be reprogramming your HGH. If that isn't accomplished, you will still lose weight but you may struggle with hunger and craving off and on throughout the program. Additionally, if you do not complete the program like it is supposed to be done, the odds of you putting the weight back on are just about 100%. Please do yourself a favour and get on the program 100%.

Need an excuse not to deviate at social functions? Remember all those UFO's and local eateries are NOT GOOD FOR YOU. (UFO : Unidentified Fried Objects) If you are at a local chinese dinner no problems. Just tell your host that you are under strict doctors orders regarding your dietary needs. Worked a treat for me, Had 3 local wedding in 6 months (2 Chinese & one Malay - made sure my meal was halal so no problems there either). You can do this thing. Even on Holidays if you plan ahead.

One thing I've always used is a chicken salad in a biokips container in my bag. I used to get caught down on Orchard Road all the time and there are not any Cohen friendly eating places there at all. The chicken salad works a treat. Remember this: there are NO SHORTCUTS on this program. Deviations will cause you to either slow down the weight loss or even stop it all together and also cause cravings and hunger. If you do it the first time it subsequently gets easier and easier. Ask anybody who didn't complete the program properly what has happened.

SMS
The "New" Stallion
Cohen Singapore Graduate
Class of June '08
 
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hey folks from singapore! do you have to pay another amount for the refeed or is it part of the first payment?
 
Hi Geo, No-one has used this thread since 2008 so you may not get an answer, xo Cate
 
keep up the good work.....
 
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