Cohen's Lifestyle Really Worried

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Fitby40

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After having read some of the threads in 'Life After Cohen's' I'm a bit worried about how well the weight will stay off once I have completed re-feed. The fact that I spoke to a friend of mine (who completed Cohen's earlier this year)today who tells me she has put all 32kgs she lost back on already!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't seen her since she put the weight back on as she lives away from me, but that sounds really scarey.

I hate the thought that to continue maintaining this new body of mine will need to juggle my carbs for the rest of my life.

Just wondered if there is anyone out there who has maintained for 18 months or longer and how easy/hard has it been.

Cheers

FB40
 
Hi Fitby40

I have made a few posts regarding my own weight loss and the stability of the weight since completing the program.

I finished the weight loss on 24th June at 60 kilos, dropped to 58.5kilos during refeeding, and am still at 60 kilos today 25th November.

I lost 25 kilos in 20 weeks, a total from peak weight of 87 kilos to 58.5 kilos of 28.5 kilos.

That's a heap of weight!

However, as with everything in life, success has to do with our inner resources and overall motivation. I did not like being obese, I have no interest in being a victim, and I like feeling good, looking smart, and wearing size 8-10 in pants and size 8 and small in tops. I am 56 years old and look the best I have done for many years.

Perhaps your friend lost the weight, and while everyone was oohing and aahing it felt good, but once the attention moved on to the next seven day wonder felt that 'who cares anyway' and proceeded to sabotage herself.

I learned a lot while on the program. I took notice of how the food affects the body. I now eat what I like but what I like has changed.

The maintenance advice which comes with the refeeding program is very important and outlines the approach to take for future eating. It doesn't take much to monitor, for example, I have discovered that bread and wheat products cause a rise in weight for me, whereas fat does not. I can eat a reasonable amount of sugar eg dark chocolate, and almonds, and deserts such as cheesecake with cream, but if I eat biscuits I notice an increase.

I do not allow my weight to fluctuate above 61 kilos. If the scales fluctuate half a kilo, I ignore it, but if the scales reach 61 kilos then for the next day or so I limit carbohydrates to crispbread.

Carbohydrates include potatoes, carrots, peas, corn - the fall back vegetables of most households. As a family we are now eating less of these and more of the vegetables from the program list - zucchini, mushrooms etc. A beneficial side effect of this is that we are all a lot happier. They are not called 'magic mushrooms' for nothing!

If your friend has put 35 kilos back on she has done this deliberately. If you are motivated to lose weight and to maintain your new weight it is easy to do if you complete the program to your medical weight range and do the refeeding accurately.

If you don't want to be slim and would prefer to be obese then no program on this earth is going to work for you.

Cheers

Chelsea
 
Thanks for your reply Chelsea. Thats a fantastic loss you've had!! Well done and congrates on the change of eating habits

I started putting my weight on over the last 6 or 7 years. I got to 80kgs and thought there is no way I''m going any higher. I started WW and got to about 69kg before I started spending points on quick easy processed meals and my weight went back up to 74kgs. So I started Cohen's 24th August this year and as of today I've lost 15kgs and am at 59kgs. My goal is 58kgs. So I guess all going to plan I will start my re-feed this time next week.... maybe :) . I have absolutely no plans to put the weight back on. My husband would kill me after buying all my new clothes. plus he lurves my new body even more :D

I've already got my re-feed and have read through it a number of times. The only thing I still don't quite get is on my day 15 and 16 (my last two days) it says 'add 200g new protein and minus 80 g old protein' Then in the guide lines it goes on to say that the last day of your refeeding program is a guide as to how much protein and vegi's you should eatin the future. I haven't spoken to my consultant yet, but I am assuming that if I wanted I could just drop 80g of the new protein and keep a portion of the old once re-feed has finished of course - does that sound alright?

I think you are right about my friend. Although I don't see her often only 1 or twice a year both times I did see her I think she had kind of decided that she would be able to eat whatever she liked. The other thing is that she never did get into the exercise, so that probably hasn't helped.​

Well thanks again Chelsea for your advice, I will definately keep it in mind.

Fitby40
 
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Hi Fitby40

Regarding the final stages of the refeeding:

This is not meant to be taken as Gospel. It is a guide and although the refeed amounts will seem huge after being on the program, they are still a little under what most people would eat without thinking.

For example, before Cohen's, if we had a BBQ dinner, I would eat, say, two or three large sausages, plus maybe a piece of steak or a couple of chops, pile my plate with salad particularly potato or pasta salad, and have at least one bread roll with plenty of butter.

Now, I will have about one third of that. If the bread is fresh, I will have a roll (with butter) but a small serve / serving spoon full (one) of the potato or pasta salad. The rest of the meal will be concentrating on the protein and fresh salad. Sausages are basically carbohydrate, so if I want sausages I won't have the starchy salad but may still have the bread.

However, if all else fails (and it hasn't, yet) then I will simply have a lean day the day after.

Generally speaking, I have a basic (yoghurt) breakfast, a modest lunch, and eat whatever is going for dinner. There is nothing more boring than being with someone who makes a fetish of what they eat. This goes for vegans, vegetarians, chronic dietors, whatever. It's food, for Heaven's sake, not my honour which is at stake.

If I want to eat confectionary, I structure my dinner to enable the sweets to be eaten with minimal impact. The maintenance notes tell you how to do this, or how to drink alcohol, or eat bread, or whatever.

Most of us have never been taught how to eat. We simply don't know. We eat what our parents ate or what our spouse's family ate, and if this was primarily carbohydrates and fats and sugars then that is what we consider 'normal' and is what we will eat.

And so we end up absolutely huge, gross, obese, old before our time, and wonder how that happened?!?

I was at Brisbane airport yesterday. I have never seen so many obese people - particularly young women - in one place before. OK, so they were all catching flights out of Brisbane, I'm not saying that they were locals, but I am very aware since losing the weight at the size and bulk of many of our population. Whatever happened to the bronzed Aussie? We have become a nation of inappropriately huge people. As a population, we are heading towards disaster. Obesity related disease will overtake smoking related disease in the space of a generation. Never mind the aesthetics, once people start having their legs amputated due to poor circulation caused by inactivity and obesity perhaps the seriousness of the situation will start to strike home.

Remember, Fitby40, Cohen's is not 'about' exercise. It is about eating appropriately for our own, individual, unique body. I quite miss the program, it was easy and straightforward and I knew what was expected.

It is much harder taking responsibility for myself and acting rationally, eating appropriately and maintaining what I am truly enjoying - a slim, healthy, and youthful body

Never mind your friend, once you have been off the program for a couple of months you will realise that the new reality - a slim, attractive, vital you - is here to stay. It will be easy to resist eating the fridge out because you will simply not want to be as you were before. Over time, your new appetite will be your normal appetite, and there will be no effort involved in maintaining your weight at all.

Good luck

Chelsea
 
I agree totally with Chelsea, being on your own is much harder than most people think. I have had a few binges here and there and subsequently going on the diet for a couple of days until the weight was gone. That seems to be my strategy for maintaining.

I stopped the program 7 kg before my goal becuase I was hungry all the time and was deviating. I want to eventully loose the 7kg, but I find it hard to get through more than two days of following the plan. The only issue for me is that Dr Cohen has warned that not getting down to his recommended weight range could endanger my maintanance. I have been maintaing 67-69 since August.
 
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