Phyllis' Maintenance & Life After 1PD

[PhyllisRis]

Hi All
I finished with re-feed and have been doing well. We took a trip to Mackinaw Island (Michigan) as a reward for our 30th wedding anniversary, my hubby's upcoming 70th b'day (he robbed the cradle!! smile....) AND the completion of my diet! We stayed 2 nights at the Grand Hotel on the island! It was FANTASTIC!!! We both felt pampered and spoiled! The only trouble is that when I weighed in after returning from our trip (Mackinaw Island spells FUDGE) I had gained 5 pounds....so yesterday and today I'm going carb-less!! I had already lost 1 pound when I weighed this morning...
I will write more, and intend to post some pictures in the near future...
Hang in there all of you following your plan (and you better be doing it 100%!!!)
:)
Phyllis

[Sharon]

Great to hear that you are now on maintenance, excellent work, and your trip away sound like it was a real celebration in more ways than one, and you certainly deserved it, and I'm sure it wont take you long to get those few extra pounds off.
Sharon

[Dayanira]

Hi Phyllis,
I've been patiently waiting for your new thread in the Maintenance section. You both deserved that trip.
And yes Phyllis, get rid off those 5 pounds right away before it's too late!

[Key]

Congratulations, Phyllis. As another Michigan girl, I regret that I have never been to Mackinaw Island... and the Grand Hotel at that! You deserve it all - and much more.

Key

[Aqua Eyes]

What a FABULOUS way to celebrate your 30 years together and you reaching your goal! I have a close friend that also has celebrated their anniversary on that island so it must be pretty romantic.

It is so scary to me to worry about putting on weight. I am now afraid of eating any foods that could get me hooked into unhealthy habits. You are such a strong person to be able to go back to the program again and take off those pesky pounds that snuck on. It will have to be the way of our life from this point forward.

[PhyllisRis]

Key...you really should go to Mackinaw Island....it's great! (IF you can steer away from all the fudge shops!!!) We passed a fudge shop the morning we were leaving and there was a stack of 50 pound bags of sugar (Michigan sugar, I may add!!) outside the door. I poked my head inside and asked the lady behind the counter how often they get a delivery like that....she said EVERY morning!!! There must have been at least 10 bags....can you imagine how much sugar is consumed on that island every day???? There must be at least 20 fudge shops along the main street!
Mackinaw Island only has ONE type of automobile allowed on the island....emergency vehicles. Otherwise it's bikes or horses!! It's wonderful!!!! Visiting Fort Mackinaw is very interesting and interactive, too. There are cannon firings, demonstrations about the daily life of the soldiers who lived in the fort. It's very educational. It's one of our State Parks! If you have kids, it's definitely worth it!
Phyllis

[Sharon]

Now I know why the name sounds familiar, we saw it on Dirty Jobs on the sky channel here in NZ, Mike Rowe was working with the the horses, and I'm sure he spent some time in a fudge shop. Hubby and I were really impressed with the place, it looks fantastic.
Sharon

[Mei Mei]

Phyllis,
Mak inaw does sound great! I'm so glad you two enjoyed it! We went as kids and rode the bicycles all over--my parents and six kids. We had a blast. Yes the fudge was great, but skinny active kids tend to be able to eat it without gaining!
good for you getting right back on. Vacation is the hardest.

I think I will probably have a lifelong battle with 3 or 4 pounds. Take it off, put it on. Where did my will power go? :weights::weights:the thing is, we can't and refuse to let it get more than that right!! We all worked so hard we hold fast to that, and keep it off.
Sharon so good to see you!
Aqua Eyes, don't be scared, just watch and get back on track when you get off.
Take care all,
Mary

[PhyllisRis]

Yes...I'm not going to stress out about a 3-5 pound gain at any one time...I know that I have the answer of how to lose it! I don't think it's rational to figure we'll be able to stay exactly at goal weight the rest of our lives....there are going to be fluctuations up and down...so as long as we're conscious of our weight and get control of it before it gets out of hand (over 8 or 9 pounds!) we should all remain healthy the rest of our lives!! (and the way this whole health care thing is going in the U.S. we had BETTER stay healthy or we may be face some scary things!)
We have the "Cash for Clunkers" rebate going on in the U.S. right now where you can get up to $4500 if you trade in your old, gas guzzling vehicle for a new, energy efficient car. After losing all this weight it will be just my luck that the next gov't scheme will be to give everyone $4500 if they are obese and lose 20% of their weight!!! I will miss out on that, too, as we already own decent mpg autos!!! Ho hum.... no one ever said life is fair!! LOL
Phyllis

[Dayanira]

After losing all this weight it will be just my luck that the next gov't scheme will be to give everyone $4500 if they are obese and lose 20% of their weight!!! I will miss out on that, too, as we already own decent mpg autos!!! Ho hum.... no one ever said life is fair!! LOL
Phyllis

That was so funny, Phyllis! :rolling2::rolling2:

[PINKED]

Phyllis, you inspire me!

[SAM]

Hi well done
This my second week only and I have 20kg to loose.I was a bit depressed as I am feeling hungry a lot but when I read your posts I felt more motivated.where the first weeks with you tough too?was was your average loss per week?my sisters already noticed that I have started to loose weigh will this be the same throughout the 12 weeks.I need some encouragement and I hope to be able to get from this forum.

[Sharon]

Hi SAM
Hang in there, its really worth it, you will start noticing the changes every week and the depressed feeling hopefully should lift and replaced with a feeling of real achievement, those around you will really notice too, some of them may get a bit aggitated and tell you to stop because they are use to seeing you as you were and there will be a real transformation if you hang in there and stick with it, you will look and feel amazing. lean on in to the treads for support, I found it a great support and encouragement, as you talk to people who are walking or who have walked the same path.
With regard to the depressed feeling have you put away the scales? - I helped me cope an awful lot more than I thought by only weighing monthly especially as my weight lose was concidered slow at 3-4 kg per month, but every month I was estatic with the results.
Hang in there
TTFN
Sharon

[PhyllisRis]

Hi Sam
I don't remember the first weeks being hard...it was just different and required a lot of thinking, planning and determination! And once I established those habits, they carried me through the whole year it took me to lose 143 pounds! BE STRONG!!! BE DETERMINED!! STAY THE COURSE!!!
If you're having issues with hunger you might want to take 2 multi-vitamins each day (not both at one time....space them out through the day) and chew gum. Shasha recommended chewing a half stick of gum at a time and that was wonderful advice. I still chew my fair share of gum on most days!
I averaged about 2-3 pounds of weight lost per week which is a very healthy weightloss rate! Don't be discouraged by the slowness of your weightloss....it took you a long time to gain the weight, why do you think it should NOT take a while to LOSE it?? Remember the tortoise and the hare...be the tortoise...he actually finished the race!! And that's our ultimate goal...to finish the diet, finish refeed and live a happy, healthy, SKINNY life!!
Phyllis

[Chris68]

Phyllis,

I hope you stick around this forum for awhile. You have been a great inspiration, support and mentor.

Chris

[KMac]

Hi Phyllis~ Just wanted to say "Hi" and hope your doing really well on the outside of DC~ LOL sounds like I'm still locked up~ LOL
Hope you and your hubby are well :)

[Dayanira]

Dear Phyllis,
I hope everything is going well with you, we miss your imput here.

And I just realized that we haven't seen pictures of you at the end of your journey. Are there any new ones that you would like to share?

Take care,

[PhyllisRis]

Hi All
Things are going well! Been really busy lately...I'll have to write one of my "books" to bring you all up to speed, but that won't happen tonight...
Been able to keep the weight within reasonable limits. Labor Day weekend saw the wedding of my nephew and a birthday party for my hubby that we hosted at our house. I gained 8 pounds that weekend but after going carb free for about 3 days it came off!!! Whoo-eee... I'm finding it rather fun to be in the "real" world again and not having to weigh everything! I still get confused looks from people who haven't seen me in a while and recognize me only after I speak to them!! Pretty funky! But, I'm soooo happy that I journeyed through this diet and came out on the winning (or maybe losing...depending on how you look at it) side!
Keep the faith everyone....stay true to your plan 100% and you too will soon see the finish line!!
Phyllis

[Dayanira]

Welcome back Phyllis!
Happy belated birthday wishes for your husband!!

It's great to be able to manage our weight gains in such a speedy way! We just need to apply the rules and see the results right away. We need to keep the Growth Hormone working all the time!!

Any photos of you coming soon? Maybe from your nephew's wedding or hubby's b-day party!

[Sharon]

Hi Phyllis,
Well done on enjoying your nephews wedding and the birthay Party for hubby{bdaycake}, your mangement afterwards is a real confirmation of the program, so great to hear of your success.
TTFN
Sharon

[PhyllisRis]

Hi All.....I'm still alive!!! Life after Cohen's is going fine! I decided that my REAL weight is 5 lbs. above my goal weight. But....the holidays played havoc with that so I have about 10 pounds to lose (4 of which are already gone)!! Life's been busy and GREAT as a skinny person! You all hang in there and be determined to get to your goal weight..it is TOTALLY worth it!
One major health glitch....I had a gall stone attack a week or so before Christmas...ended up being transported by ambulance to the hospital at 3am!! Spent a day and half in the hospital due to high level in my liver enzymes indicating acute hepatitis. The stone must have irritated the liver!! The last thing I told my hubby while I was being wheeled out of the house, down the back porch steps was for him to bring my laptop computer to the hospital!!!! I was then able to communicate with my co-workers AND a good friend of mine who is a surgeon! I had contacted him the week before asking advice for a cardiologist for my hubby (who's doing fine, btw) and told him we needed to get together sometime...little did I know that we WOULD be getting together soon!!! While in the hospital I emailed him and told him what was happening with me. Although he wasn't in his office that day he was accessing my lab records from home. He asked me to check with the attending physician for 3 things....which I did and relayed the info back to him....he told me to contact his office and tell them we needed to meet. Surgery is scheduled for Jan. 14!! Coincidentally, Gail Stout (my 1PD hero...who steered me to this diet) just had HER gall bladder removed on 12/31/09!! She's doing fine. Very much a coinky-dink!
Life after the diet has been great....whenever I gain about 5-7 pounds I just go carb free for a few days and the weight comes off. It's really exciting that it actually works! The holidays were tuf cuz the food does really taste good...but I've been careful and now back on track with watching the carbs!! I wanna be back to my normal weight before surgery. Gail reported to me that she weighed herself the morning of the surgery and then the next morning...she gained 15 pounds!!! Not surprising....they pump you with lots of fluid and air for the laproscopes to manuever inside your body! It's good to know ahead of time, though!
Tom (hubby) is doing well with his cancer treatments. He was chemo free all summer and the PET scan in Sept. showed the lesions had held their own even without chemo. So more chemo was ordered to knock them down some more. After 4 treatments (of the scheduled 6) another PET scan in Dec. showed the lesions had diminished in size considerably and there were no new spots!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! No further chemo was scheduled and he's chemo free again until after another PET scan in early March. Things are good!!! We've visited our daughter twice in Las Vegas where she is stationed in the Air Force. The last visit was between Christmas and New Year's to help her move into her house that she just purchased! It was fun and the "Bank of Risdon" made several trips to Lowes, Home Goods, and Target!!!!
I hope you all are staying true to your diets! DO NOT CHEAT!!!! That's the best advice I can give you....it's hard at the time but soooooo worth it! Just remember....NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THIN FEELS!!!
Good luck.....
Phyllis

[Sharon]

So awesome to hear from you
Great to hear the program is working for you but sorry to hear of you and your hubbies health concerns, sounds like they are starting to, and hopefully will, keep on track to get you and hubby up to peak health soon, excellent to hear about the reduction in size and no new spots.
Christmas season is so tough with all the temptations, thank goodness it only comes but once a year, but sounds like you have your maintenance all sorted - I am so pleased for you, and impressed with your strength and determination in maintaining that slim trim you.

And you are so right about the "NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THIN FEELS!!!"

[Key]

Hi Phyllis! Nice to hear from you, I've wondered how you were doing.

Gail is right about the weight gain from surgery... I also gained 15 pounds when I had my appendix removed in the summer (freaked me right out!). It was so strange wearing loose jeans into the hospital that were tight and uncomfortable when I was released the next day! And such wonderful news about your husband's improvements.

Happy new year and please stay in touch... we want to know about your surgery.

[Dayanira]

So, so, so happy to hear from you Phyllis! Lots of things have happened in your life! No wonder you haven't been around!

Not too happy about your surgery, thought. In old days gall stone surgery was huge! Now, they only do 2 small incisions or something like that. By know you'll be recuperating, so I wish you a speedy recovery!

Dayanira

[KMac]

Hi Phyllis,
Hope all is well with you & your hubby.
How is your life in maintenance going?
:)

[PhyllisRis]

Hi All
My surgery went remarkably well! I think I had the BEST surgeon in the world!! (I'm a little biased as he's also my friend). Anyway, I was feeling really great a couple of days after surgery. He was able to remove my gall bladder laproscopically.....he even saved some of the stones for me in a little jar!!! LOL
But...since the surgery and recuperation I did add some pounds back on....and they are a BEAR to get off. It's been about 3 months since the surgery and I may still be healing but it's getting a little depressing not losing the weight. Any advice would be very appreciated.
Thanks....
Phyllis

[SurferGirl]

HI Phyllis!

I'm sorry to hear about your health problems...ughhh so frustrating when everything else was so in order! I'm so proud of your journey, and i'm sorry the weight is trying to stick around.
I've gained about 5 lbs over the last couple months also. Mainly due to stress and being to busy to fix whats wrong. I feel like if you can get in line with the rules of the program that control will come back and the weight will level off again. That's my plan.
I'm so glad you're feeling better!

SurferGirl

[KMac]

Hello Phyllis!!
I've missed you. I am glad you are feeling better & the surgery is behind you.
I have been struggling in with maintenance, I'm up about 10 pounds & this past Monday I started my dc1 again.
I'm giving myself 2 weeks on the diet & I will see how things go from there. I even thought about going to WW just for the
support & weigh in's and food plan's.
We can do this!!
ps .. I read this post about gaining weight after the diet on the DC facebood page, maybe this will help
:Has anyone here been successful going back on this diet after regaining weight?April 12 at 7:47am ·
Dr. Cohen's 1st Personal Diet We have many clients who lose weight and who manage to maintain the weight loss until something happens ie: they become pregnant and gain back some weight. In this even, the best is to go back on diet as soon as possible and to shed the excess weight, reach goal and do the Re-feeding Program. If you just gain weight back, it simply means that you... See More were not applying the Life After Diet Rules correctly or often enough, in this case, do not allow more and more weight to come back. Rather start with a new diet and then, make a point of keeping a food diary after the Re-feeding Program so that you can see how your body is affected by certain foods and so that you can be sure to follow the rules for Life After the Diet.
April 12 at 4:26pm · Report

[mommabear]

Just hop back on and see, Phyllis! Since I have finished I eat Cohen foods all week and then on the weekends I splurge. I do up my grams of Cohen food during the week and still manage to loose whatever I did gain on the weekend. I've never been more than 4lbs. over my goal.

Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing!

[Dayanira]

I'm so glad that today the first post I saw after being away for far too long was your post Phyllis! Welcome back! I'm struggling to lose the extra kilos/pounds after my trip overseas, I haven't been able to set my mind again. It's so frustrating! I was so disciplined after I started Maintenance like Mommabear but I don't know what has come over me!

[PhyllisRis]

Thanks for the encouragement girls! It helps. After our trip to Vegas next week (business and visiting our daughter), where I'll be careful about what I eat but not fanatical in the sense of taking all my pre-weighed foods along (good grief), THEN I'll jump back onto my 1PD diet 100%. I WILL get these pounds off and back to my maintenance weight! I was trying on summer wear in planning for this trip and there are several crop pants that no longer fit so I HAVE GOT TO LOSE ABOUT 18 POUNDS!!!! I know I can do it....
The things that threw me under the bus were cookies, chocolate, and pizza!! Pizza is EVIL....IF I could just eat ONE piece I'd be ok...but any more than that I gain a couple of pounds! Evil, evil pizza! LOL I was doing the diet foods during the week and then splurging on the weekends thing before the holidays and my surgery and I was managing to maintain my weight really well....but then I "forgot" about that and was splurging more and more often....but no more!! When I get home I'll re-read my plan and get right back on the bus!!
I've got to remember: NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THIN (AND SMALL CLOTHES SIZES) FEELS!!
I'll be baaaaaack.....
Phyllis

[KMac]

I hear you on the pizza Phyliss... to good:)

[Sharon]

Hi Phyllis
Cookies, chocolate and pizza - its hard to stop I agree - I would add nuts instead of pizza for my temptations,
i'm in the same boat after my holiday and have got some work to do.
Hang in there, I know you can do it.

[PhyllisRis]

Hi...
I restarted on my plan on Monday May 24....and as of today I've lost 9 pounds!! whoo hoo!! Hopefully I can keep on this and get back to my goal soon!!
I try to keep remembering my mantra: Nothing tastes as good as thin feels
We've got several high school graduation parties coming up but I'm going to stay tough....I'll just take my own salad along to eat or have lunch before we go.
Right now, though, I'm sitting in the ER with my hubby who's got a rapid heart rate and possible arythmia AGAIN. He had a left atrial ablation on April 8 to correct atrial fibrilation and he's had a few re-ocurances of arythmia since then which is NOT unexpected according to our cardiologist/electrophysiologist. But of course his heart rate went out of whack over night on a weekend so the on-call doctor from Michigan Heart Institute suggested we go to the ER so they can do a cardioversion (zap the heart back into normal rhythm with electricity....and anesthesia). He's had 4 of them already.....this is getting old, but they keep telling us not to get discouraged as it can take up to 6 months after the ablation procedure for it to work. We'll see....
Meanwhile, we are trusting God to take care of us...as He has all our lives! And someday we'll be able to look back at all this and understand why it's all happened. Ah, the tapestry of our lives!
BUT...you'll all be proud....I brought my diet plan lunch along with me in case we're still here at lunchtime!!! :-)
Phyllis

[Sharon]

Hi Phyllis,
Fantastic work on the nine pounds - way to go, you'll be there in no time. Have you gone completely back on the plan, have you sugned up again or are you on a modified? Whatever way sounds like you've got it well undercontrol, there is always one social occasion after another to temp us, while on the program I went into social hibernation, but that is no way to enjoy life.
Sorry to hear about hubby, my hubby went through it a few years ago, we felt like a permanent fixture at the ED and ICU department for a few weeks until they sorted out his meds, luckily he didn't need cardioversion, was threatened a couple of times with it, but thankfully he corrected with medication each time. I will be thinking of you both (loved you taking your diet plan LOL now that IS dedication to the program and planning).
Your determination gives me great strength, thanks heaps for your posting.

[Dayanira]

Phyllis, I don't know how you do it! 9 pounds in 5 days!! I guess that by now you've got rid of all those extra pounds. Your determination is admirable! 9 pounds is exactly what I want to lose :(

I hope that your husband's heart rate is back to normal, that the cardioversion worked and that both of you are enjoying the life that you deserve!

Did you go back strictly to plan A (1st phase of 1PD), weighing everything? Or plan A doing you own judging on the amount of food? Are you going to do Refeed again once you get to your goal?

Love to see you back here. You and your hubby are in my prayers.

Dayanira