Jo's Diary

[Jo]

Well, I picked up my programme on Thursday and have spent the last few days going over it and absorbing it. I'll be starting on Monday (everything has to start on a Monday for some odd reason)....so I've been busy eating what I won't be able to have for the next three months...and really enjoying it I have to confess.

I am fairly confident that I shouldn't have too many problems in getting going and sticking to it.

I went grocery shopping today to buy all the food I'll require for the week.

Can anyone tell me...how big are Salada crispbreads? I purchased Nabisco premium crispbreads and to my surprise one crispbread is made up of 2 small squares...I thought they would be the same as Salada and I thought one Salada is made up of 4 small squares...can anyone clarify that for me? And if I'm right is one large (4 square) salada considered one crispbread or two? I might just need to go and buy Salada's instead.

[Kristine..]

Hi Jo

My program did not list Salada, they are a recent addition to the program as another crispbread manufacturer (Premium Lites) had changed their recipe and were no longer acceptable foods.

Lessfatty had a weight for crispbreads, but generally speaking four small squares equals one serving, or two vita weets, or one Rye Vita.

So one 'sandwich size' of one complete square of 4 snaps equals one serving.

I was on the six crispbread per day allocation. If you are on five then that would be 10 small squares (2 x 4 plus 1 x 2)

Hope that helps - perhaps lessfatty can confirm the actual gram weight

Cheers

Kristine

[lessfatty]

http://newyouforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43

4 Little Nabisco squares = 2 standard crackers under the Cohen plan.

http://www.1stpersonaldiet.com/crackers.htm

[Jo]

thanks for clarifying that...

[Jo]

My first day went well I think.

I didn't get hungry until late in the night (about 8.00pm), and I managed to drink almost 3 litres of water which is a miracle; I'm not much of a water drinker.

But, I woke up this morning with a thumping headache! It's easing up now but still there, and I was hungry this morning when I got up.

I didn't realise how organised I'm going to have to be whilst I'm on the program!

[asy]

Hey Jo!

Headaches in the first week or so are par for the course, I'm afraid. They seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

It's sorta like your body saying "OI! Whatcha doin'? Where's the SUGAR!?"

In any case, take comfort in the fact that it'll fade, and quickly. Then you'll feel so good you'll be DANGEROUS!

asy

[Jo]

Hi everyone,

thought i'd drop in a quick update.

My headache lasted only one day, thank goodness, and the rest of my week has been great; except yesterday...not too good since i'm still only in my first week...but it was an honest forgetfulness, and it was only 3 mouthfulls of tabouli (with cracked wheat) so I don't feel terribly bad about it.

I did make a small mistake this morning and didn't wait 2.5 hours between crispbreads but that's it. the rest has been pretty much plain sailing.

I'm quite surprised that i'm not feeling hungry at all as long as i plan my meals for the day and spread them along with the fruit and crackers throughout the day, and it's really made me think about how much i used to eat, quite unnecessarily.

i've decided not to weigh myself at all and will wait for the official weigh in's.

[lessfatty]

Dont worry so much about small mistakes the "one week loss" fear factor with deviations is overrated in my opinion. A few grams of tabouli is not the same as eating supersized pizza

As you can tell success on Cohen's is more about planning, preparation and habit breaking than self control. The toughest part of the plan is preparing or planning for each and everything you put in your mouth for a number of months and having others accept this.

[Jo]

hi everyone,

it's been a week and a bit since I started my programme, and I'm feeling quite good.

I'm not getting hungry as long as I plan properly and spread the fruit and crackers out, and I'm quite used to the portion sizes now.

I'm drinking all my water too...i had a problem in the beginning as I was carrying around a 1.5litre bottle and sipping from that, but I don't think it was working for me; psychologically the bottle just looked too big and imposing to be able to finish in one day. So, I've changed the size of my bottle and I fill it up a couple of times, and the task just doesn't seem as daunting and now it's much more managable. Now I just have to stop the midnight loo stops!

I haven't had a decent night sleep since I've started on the programme. My son has decided to wake up every single night (which he never used to do before)...I hope my broken sleep doesn't interfere too much with the whole hormone thing.

I have had one mistake so far this week, but only minor.....I made some ricotta cheesecakes and 2 little cakes equalled 1 allowance of cheese and 1 crispbread for the base...so I ate it for breakfast as a desert along with some vege's.

I ate my allowance of crispbread for the day, and I had one crispbread left over to have with dinner.

At dinner that night I had forgotten that the cheesecakes included the crispbread, and I had 2 crispbreads instead of just the one..i didn't realise I did that till this morning. That's not such a bad mistake is it??

I can't eat my fetta meal...I did try but I just can't stand fetta cheese.

I really didn't like the yoghurt either..the first time I had it I had baked an apple the night before and mushed it up and mixed it with the yoghurt and some sweetener the night before to let the apple flavour absorb into the yoghurt...but it was horrible! But, I've discovered that if I mix my yogurt with half my mango allowance and some sweetener the night before it is lovely the next morning and much more palateable!

I bought some electronic bathroom scales yesterday so I can start weighing myself regularly...but have resisted the temptation so far to jump on them. With the weigh ins....what does everyone else do; do you do it at home or do you go into the clinic?

I did my measurements on Monday morning, as it was exactly one week on the programme...and I got some strange results...i lost 1/2 centimetre off my arms, 1/2 centimetre off my waist, 1 1/2 off my thigh, 1 1/2 off my hips and I gained 1 centimetre on my boobies! I think I've forgotten which freckles I used as my original marker....

Anyway...chat to you all soon.

[asy]

Hey Jo,

The night time loo visits will settle down, when your bladder gets used to the larger volume...

I can't understand what the problem is with regard to weighing yourself regularly. I think I'll start a thread and see what everyone else does...

Welcome, we're glad you're here, the more the definately merrier!

asy

[Jo]

Hi everyone,

I just had to let everyone know how wrapped I am....I yielded to curiosity and weighed myself this morning....i've only been on the programme for 10 days including today and I've dropped 4.4kg already!

I am so happy...shocked almost..

anyway, just wanted to share...

[Jo]

Hi everyone,

as of today I've been on the programme for 2 weeks, and I've lost 5.4kg, which I'm very pleased about. I decided to update my ticker for the sake of motivation (I had originally said to myself that I wouldn't do it until official weigh in).

I struggled over the weekend, but did not deviate at all. I had an impromptu lunch and dinner party last night with the whole family over and for dinner i made a gorgeous lamb roast with roast potato and pumpkin, garlic bread, home made gravy (which I have finally mastered) and salad, and I did not have even a whiff. My dad was saying, "surely you can have just a bit", but in the end he respected my resolve, and I was proud of myself.

I am really enjoying the programme...I just have to start paying more attention to my evening meals, and start experimenting a bit more and try some new recipes.

[asy]

Wow Jo,

You're doing so well!

Must admit, it's really funny, I've been on the programme just over 7 months now, and I tend to have the same meals over and over and over and over...

I'm not bored. Clothes shopping cures boredom

I cook quite often, all my favourites, and I don't eat a bite. I cooked the most AMAZING Christmas lunch, with ALL the trimmings, not a bite. I have this terror that if I take ONE bite of something I'm not supposed to, I'll blow up like Harry's Aunt Marge... Know what I mean? Besides that, it's not forever.

Keep at it, and keep letting us know how you're going!

asy

[Jo]

ok guys...i have to be honest...i had chocolate...a kitkat to be exact...and how good it was!

BUT, no matter how good it was....i now realise what impact it has had...I PUT ON 1kg....so, that's about 3 days down the drain...

how depressing...but, lesson learned! never again.

i feel so guilty

but geez it was nice!

[dreamer]

Jo! Naughty naughty. I really hope it was nice... just make sure you don't do it again... not that I'm one for rubbing deviations into people's noses. But I've been there, I used to have some biscotti with my black coffee thinking... it doesn't hurt, I'm still losing weight. Wrong! I regret it and learnt from it.

Stay focused and if you are about to put something in your mouth that you shouldn't, take a moment, look at it longingly and then look at a part of your body that you really don't like for a bit longer. I'm sure it will change your mind! Works a treat for me.





Started properly: 21 Jan
Next weigh in: 21 Feb
Goal: double digits ASAP!!

[Brieziel]

I like smelling stuff!!! food seems to often smell better than it tastes!!

for future reference if you are a chocoholic and love it, buy some Palmers Cocoa Butter to rub on your body... It's really good for relieving stretch marks and firming up the loose skin.
PLUS you smell like you've just walked out of the Chocolate factory but without deviating!! :P

it's AWESOME

[Jo]

Hi everyone!

Well, I am just on top of the world, and so in the groove...i feel great.

I jumped on the scales this morning...I've lost a total of 7kg and I haven't even completed four weeks on the programme yet...i am so stoked!!

I took some Before photos about 2 weeks ago, but I'm not going to post them until I'm finished and I have some After photos as well....the Befores are TERRIBLE!

Have a great day guys!

[banana split]

Go Jo Go.

BS

[Jo]

hi everyone,

yesterday marked the completion of 4 weeks on the programme.

I decided not to go to the clinic for a weigh in as they could only see me in the afternoon, so I decided to weigh myself this morning and I was at.....as i type this, would you believe I can't remember what the weight was!!! I'll have to weigh myself again tomorrow...i think it was 70kg even...so that means a loss of 7.6kg...

I've discovered the Jalna yoghurt, which is so much nicer than the Dairy Farmers I had been eating before, mixing it with mango and powdered sweetener the night before and it's just beautiful

I had a sore throat last week so I rang the clinic to ask if there is anything suitable in a lozenge to take, they said no because they all contain sugar and alcohol.. so, i went to the pharmisist and asked specifically for no sugar no alcohol lozenges and they gave me Difflam.

i spoke to the girls at the clinic this morning and asked about deviations showing up in the bloodtest i had yesterday because of the lozenge and the cholcoate, I was concerned because I'm hoping to reach my goal before the 12 week blood test and i was worried that they would do my refeed based on yesterday's test which had the deviations. She said that whilst it could show up as a deviation that DR Cohen actually worked with some room to move, the parametres the Dr Cohen works with a within certain "ranges" of everything he looks at...

I'm feeling great, and have not deviated (apart from those lozenges - which i only had 3 of) since my kitkat incident. I wore a dress the other day and it was falling off me....i washed the dress last night and stuck it in the dryer with everything else and it shrunk; to just the right size now!!

[Jo]

Hi everyone,

I have been weighing myself regularly over the last week and my weight has been quite up and down ranging from 70kg up to 72kg and back down again. This morning I was back down to 70.2kg.

Not overly concerned though and figure it's all just part of the way things work.

I have been diligent in following the programme to the letter, except for the weekend. I had a small piece of my birthday cake the size and width of my index finger, and I had just one mouthfull of the same cake on sunday and 2 macadamia nuts.

I felt incredibly guilty on saturday....it took my family almost an hour to convince me to have that small piece...and i racked myself over the hot coals for the rest of the day...but i figured, it was my birthday, and i've been reasonably good over the last 5 weeks...

looking forward to getting to the dropping fat part of the cycle again.