Preparing for Cohen's.
A lot of this post has been copied from other posts and other forums.
To me it's very important for us all to share any information and hints that will help us all on our weight-loss/better health journey & I know that I am very grateful for all of the support that I have had. It would have been much harder without it.
Limit Consumption Of The Following to Zero if Possible
Cereals and Grains. Rice, Pasta, Pizza, Breads, anything made of flours of any type noodles, pancakes, cakes, cookies.
Starchy vegetables- Potatoes, Carrots, Beans, Peas, Pumpkin, Corn.
Sugars except, naturally in your fruit. No sugar in your coffee.
Milk, Cream and things containing them (puddings), except for low fat yoghurt.
Commercial sauces and dressing.
No Alcohol at all.
All drinks containing sugar of any sort- soft drink, fruit juice etc.
Fats, Oils, Butter, Margarine. No fried anything. No fat on any meats, no chicken skin.
Hard rich aged cheeses such as Vintage Cheddar, Edam, Gouda, Emmental
Chocolate!!!!
Ice-cream!!!!
Stay out of fast food shops.
Focus Consumption on the Following
Lean Meats (no fat), Fish, Prawns.
Tofu
Eggs (not many, not often- one or two per day)
Green leafy vegetables such as Spinach, Cabbage, Bok Choy, Lettuces Tomatoes, Celery and Asparagus, Onions (including leeks and spring onions) Mushrooms
Diet soft drinks, coffee and teas (ok in reasonable amounts without milk, cream or sugar). Cut them down gradually so that you suffer less withdrawal symptoms in the first week.
Fruit esp. Apples, Citrus such as Orange Lemon, Stone fruits such as peaches, mangoes.
Natural Vinegars
Soft fresh cheeses in limited amounts. eg Mozarella, Feta, Cottage, Philadelphia, Ricotta.
Limited amounts of crackers or flat breads such as pita bread, Saladas.
Tips
Start eating your meals on small plates.
Eat a mostly protein breakfast -yoghurt with fruit or an omelette with non starchy vegetables. Don't have starches of any kind (toast, corn flakes) .
Just have one kind of meat or other protein in a meal.
Don’t eat starchy carbs with proteins (meats, fish, tofu). Only eat meats with non-starchy vegetables. Better still don’t eat starchy food period! The Cohen's program limits carbohydrates of all types.
Do you have gallstones? Due to the rapid fat loss on this diet and it being a very low-fat diet, if you have gallstones the Cohen program may make them worse. Please see a doctor if you have gallstone pains on the program. They are usually in your right ribcage. The doctor may prescribe something to help keep your bile from getting too thick and causing your gallstones to grow. I had them before I started and had no trouble at all during the program.
Start increasing your water consumption to about 2-3 litres a day.
Write down why you are doing this and look at it and add to it regularly. Keep a diary. Write in it each day. Share all or some of it with us. It helps to "think out loud" and can help you see things more clearly.
Find some motivational books or sayings. Stick some to your fridge or pantry.
Try to start the program when you can spend the first 2-3 days at home or can take it easy.
An alternative is to do what I did in the week before starting & have a little bitof some things that I thought I would miss. My emphasis is on the little bit. I had not read anything about preparing for Cohen's before I started and am not sure if it is a good thing to recommend. It worked for me. I was then quite happy not to have them again for the length of the program and have now found that unhealthy food has lost any appeal. The funny thing was I didn't really feel like eating anything too unhealthy even the day before because I had read what food I would be eating from my program and was focussed and determined to make it work! If you put on weight in the weeks before you start that's even more you have to lose.
Check out the Cohen's site & read as much as you can if you haven't already. Read the recipes, the testimonials etc.
Stock up on your vitamins. You can either buy them from your clinic or follow their recommendations. I use the Blackmores slow release multi-vitamins. They do have quite a lot of B6 which some say can make you hungry but I haven't had that problem with them; chromium (to stave off any sugar cravings you may get); magnesium(to help prevent cramps-I take calcium/magnesium) and fish oil (or flaxseed). The chromium I didn't need until maintenance.
Make sure they are gluten free.
Buy some snaplock bags to freeze your weighed protein portions in. They will save you a lot of time & stress. I used to label mine "Steak, meal 2" for eg. (You'll understand better when you have your program.)
Make sure you have a set of good kitchen scales with 1g increments and buy a spare battery so that you won't ever be caught out & have to guess. Guessing is never a good idea on the program!
Enlist support from family and friends and let them know how important it is to you, for your health, that you have their support. Let them know that you will be monitored and that you will be under a doctor's supervision.
When you get your program, read it, read it again & read it often. It's amazing what you can miss.
If it's not in the program you cannot have it.
No ifs, no buts, no excuses.
If at any time you deviate unintentionally don't give up.
Don't use the excuse that you have stuffed up so you might as well binge.
Draw a line, move on.
Commit to the program 100%.
Don't ever deviate intentionally.
Try not to weigh yourself any more than is recommended by your clinic or you might set yourself up for disappointment.
Your weight fluctuates for many different reasons within a 4 week period.
Know that you will lose weight if you are following the program 100%.
Let the tape measure be your guide.
Take before photos, even though you won't feel like doing so. ( I didn't but really wish I had!)
If you follow the Cohen's program, including the maintenance guidelines, you will never look like this again.
Sounds corny but learn to love yourself. It's hard to be positive if you don't think that way about yourself. A lot of us have found that one of the biggest hurdles.
My favourite saying whilst on Cohen's (and still is)is
Nothing tastes as good as slim will feel!
(but it's now "as slim feels!")
It's very true.
A little taste of something off the program sets you back too much. It's not worth it. It will be there at the end. It will wait.
I will say again that a lot of this has been copied from other posts & forums and a lot of it is my opinion. I get my support and information from wherever I can and I think it's very important that we share any information that will help us on the weight-loss journey. I am extremely grateful for the support I have had from all sorts of places and that's why I like to pass it on.
Cheers and happy losing, Cate.
P.S. I used to use the forum as a way of getting through to my next meal time, along with yet another big glass of water. It's a great time-filler! It's worked today that's for sure. It must be lunch-time now! I'll edit, if necessary later. Bye.
I can't remember ever thinking that! Cheers, Cate
!!!!!!!HA HA HA HA!!!!
But I did laugh...