Pumbza Refeed Day By Day....................!

[pumbza]

Hi All as YOU by now know I have reached REFEED got my NOTES from DR COHEN last night and read it and reread it and read SHAWN's Refeed comments and SHASHA's correction's and it dawned on me that this REFEED THANG(not a spelling mistake!Ha Ha!) is not so difficult once it's imbbeded in ONE's BRAIN!!!:innocent4:So before I start on DAY 1 I wan't to thank all the past refeeder's who have GONE before me and given me real important FEED BACK to read and absorb!!!!
I also would like to say that I was thinking of skipping the refeed and GOING straight to maintenance and then thought hang on a moment been going for 4 and a half month's cheated once and why now mess it up and after all refeed is only 18 days long I should if all goes well finish on the 16th November 2008!

Day 1 on Refeed.

I have been given 2 to 9 days and then 12,13,15,16,19,21,23,24,27,28,30 in my book that makes 18 days it could extend by a day or four because when one puts on weight one must go back two days and start from there until one finds the right amount of food one's body can take!
First problem I encountered was Like Shawn I had cut my food into portions so I just worked with the mince part (beef) of my diet to rework the portions to get to the new extra portions in!I have also to start eating crackers and fruit which I had dumped after week 4 to rebuild my food amount required by my body!

My New Additions are as Follows:-
30g Old Protien.
40g Old Vegtable.

The rest is as per original Program (new for me as I now start eating crackers and Fruit which was optional and is optional now but I wan't to know exactly what my body can cope with as SHASHA would suggest?)

I must now weigh DAILY and my Goal weight is 98Kg/216lbs I have shed another 1kg/2.2lbs again I am now 99Kg/218lbs I really love this diet I am like a Ferrari Burning Fat for acceleration I know I know I am getting carried away but really I just have never in my life lost weight with such speed and consistancy its just incredable?I was at a office meeting and a lady Running the meeting said to me I look so GREAT Ha Ha she must need a Seeing EYE DOG or some better spectacles (Glasses) but I must admit it does feel rather nice but rather embarrassing but I could get use to it OHHHHHH how VAIN must be my METRO MALE SIDE popping up again!!Ha Ha!Have a GREAT DAY!!!

[Big Pun]

Pumbza....glad y made the decision to do this correctly....you have come way too far not to see it through correctly to the end. Good luck....

Big Pun

[SPDeRosa]

Pumbza - I came on JUST to see if you started your refeed! How exciting!! I can't wait to check in to see how you're doing -- you are most certainly a 1PD star!

Enjoy the reintroduction of crackers and fruit. I think you SHOULD eat them only because it will retrain your body to deal with the natural sugars present in the fruits.... a good "warm up" for when you are off the program and tempted by holiday treats.

I can't wait to hear about how STUFFED you will soon be with all the "new" foods and bigger amounts :)

Bon apetit!
~ Shawn

[lfingers11]

I am so glad you are doing the refeed. All that hard work would have been wasted. I am also glad that you are adding back in your fruits and crackers. Have a great week and I am jealous I am not there yet. In another plateau but hopefully will be out of it soon.
Pam

[LiLNightShift]

Congratulations on DAY 1 OF REFEED!!!! I am so excited to read about yours too! That metro side of you is sassy! haha, enjoy all the new foods!

[PosterGal]

Pumbza-lite - Wow - soooo exciting!! Congratulations - you are going to do so well! I'm looking forward to reading about your re-feed!

Congratulations!!

[Lauren]

Pumbza!

CONGRATULATIONS on reaching your goal and starting refeed!!!! I would have been so mad at you if you'd skipped refeed! That's your little inner demons already talking to you, trying to convince you you're done with the diet. But you're NOT done with the diet until you've finished refeed! You've been so perfect all this time, why throw it (and your money) away now? You would gain the weight right back. So it's super important to gradually incorporate other foods back in as per Dr. Cohen, otherwise your body will be shocked and will hold on to every ounce of food. Maintenance is HARD--you still really need self-control. I've learned that again this time, which is why I'm back on the diet. So take it easy, be patient, and have fun on refeed! You'll be done for real in no time!! :)

[PhyllisRis]

Pumbza....I am sooo proud of you for doing refeed the correct way!!!! You've done such an amazing job wih your diet....and I'm sure you'll do an equally fine job on refeed!! It's so cool that you're almost done!
Watch out world....here comes Pumbza!!!!!
Phyllis

[Sharon]

Hi there you metro man, you deserve to have your ego stroked, you have done so well, {congrats}I have missed you on your thread had wondered where you had gotten to, I was afraid you had been eaten by something other than bugs when you went bush, except there wont be enough of you to make a decent meal now:laughing:. Really great that you are now into refeeding, you have done so well, and with only a kilo to go, that is so awesome{king}.
Have you a SA gersey now that now shows off that lean mean you? You'll have to be ready for the next big game.
Am looking forward to catching up with you and seeing how you go on the refeed. All the best and have a great day.

[pumbza]

Hi Big Pun,Shawn,Pam,LiLNightShift,PosterGal,Lauren,Phyll is and last but not least My Friend Sharon How are YOU all I hope fine!Thanks for all YOU motivation without YOU all I could not have done this DIET and YOU made it a GREAT JOURNEY indeed!Shawn I learn't from YOU when YOU began on YOUR thread so before I started I read my Notes from DR COHEN over and over in fact I try go through them daily just incase I did not pickup things the first or 100 time!Reading YOUR thread a couple of times and going back to OTHER REFEED thread has made this REFEED of mine so very very easy NOW I am not going to get exotic like YOURSELF having smoothies etc I am JUST keeping my SIMPLE and making sure I am using every bit of the DIET!!!:innocent4:Ha Ha!!!Sharon and the other DIET buddies I am sorry I have not been on to regularly but with internet problems and with my new found energy I am throwing myself into my work and I am also preparing for my 5 day trip to the BUSH I hope I am the first DR COHEN DIETER who will be doing refeed in the BUSH waking up in the morning in my BIRTHDAY suite and weighing myself amongst the elephants (I think that should be a FIRST or DO I STAND UNDER CORRECTION)!!Ha Ha!!!I have missed the FORUM but I am GOING no WHERE and I will be here for YEARS to come I am HOPING to start a THREAD that is "AFTER DR COHEN DIET" because my PLAN is to stick as close to DR COHEN for a Year or Two to give the HGH a chance to fix my BODY I have DAMAGED over the last 30 Years!I have missed very very much chatting to OLD and NEW DIET buddies but I will hopefully catchup some time!Just a note I have been TOLD by several people that I look far more mentally alert and not so GROUCHY and Moody which I did not even realise and I went through a stage where I had to sleep in the afternoon daily as my OLD SELF and I even got to the stage where I feel asleep behind the steering wheel while driving home and waking up to the sound of crashing branchs and bush's just avoiding a serious accident and who knows what!!!Now I only sleep at night no more afternoon naps and I have boundless energy!!Lauren its so nice to have YOU in my corner YOU and YOUR sister are such nice and inspiring people I have to meet YOU all one DAY and thank YOU all I had a momentary lapse as 4 and half months is LONG TIME and I thought to overconfidentally I can now do everything MYSELF but I forgot not to LONG ago I did not think I could do this DIET at ALL!!It was just ONE off day and YOU ALL pulled me RIGHT thats why I love this site so if I was on MY OWN who knows what I would have DONE thanks to YOU ALL AGAIN!!!SHARON my buddy I am always there have missed my chats with YOU am preparing for the BUSH and I wan't to get PHOTO's for YOU I hope I get some GOOD ones and YES next YEAR I hope to have a SLIMMER RUGBY outfit and it will be a GOOD before and AFTER PICTURE and I look forward to the TRI NATIONS as WELL!!
So back to Bussiness!

DAY 2 on Refeed.

My New Additions are as Follows:-
30g Old Protien.
40g Old Vegtable.
1 Good FRUIT (As the notes say:-"The term "Good" and "Bad" regarding fruits relates to their ffect on your body") I am at the moment already eating 3 Fruits a Day and 7 crackers!

I have found that going back onto crackers and fruit my blood sugar has started to move around I think because in the 14 weeks with not eating crackers and fruit (which is OPTIONAL) my blood sugar was very very steady and I had a more constant feeling of level blood sugar yesterday was the first time I felt things getting diffrent!

QUESTION FOR SHASHA!
1)SHASHA we go and eat all this fruit work out what our body needs to eat daily and at the end of the diet we are asked to eat fruit only once a day I do understand we are getting use to fruit but to get to the end and to remove it does that not leave a bit of a gap when you remove all that fruit from the required food YOU have been eating would it not be better to leave the fruit to once a day because in the end thats all you will be allowed this at least lets YOU settle in the end to what YOU are allowed to eat with out removing things?
2)I am not there yet But I saw some thread where YOU reckommended removing bread and swapping it with carbo's like rice etc what weight of rice or carbo can you swap bread for is it equivalent to the BREAD or more?

Final NOTE to newbies READ your documentation and threads like shawn and other refeed's over and over and then refeed becomes a Doddle the more YOU know the better there is nothing worse than messing up it messes with your motivation!!

HAVE A ABSOLUTE MARVELOUS DAY!!!:party5:

[Sharon]

Well you certainly wont get a challenge from this Cohen Dieter with regard the bush and elephants.
So pleased you are feeling more alert and especially not falling asleep at the wheel, scarey stuff.
Sound like you have a good grasp of the refeed program, I have started looking at the threads recently and they have been a great help in understanding what is to come, only now its got me geared up to move on mentally but my body is not ready. I've just been "chatting" to the consultant as something is still slowing me down with not only weights but bloods so we are going more in depth as to what I'm taking. My diet is simple and uncomplicated now so I'm not holding my breath, but by the time it comes to refeed it could be interesting.
I agree with the fruit, will be interested in Shasha's answer.
And is that 7 portions of crackers?

[lfingers11]

Hi. You are so funny! Totally crack me up! Anyhow, I think the reason he has you eat fruit and then take most away from you is because you will be replacing them with things such as rice, popcorn and desserts. I could be wrong but it just makes sense to me. He is trying to get your body use to some of the bad things you will be putting in it so you don't get shocked.
I never remember removing bread for carbs such as rice. I remember leaving bread out for your cracker serving. I do remember shawn saying it was such a small serving of rice that he was completely dissappointed with it. Hopefully Shasha (or one of our refeed buddies) will come around soon to clarify.
Hope you all have a great day!

[Sexymama]

Hi Pumbza!! How wonderful that you are on refeed now! You have been such an inspiration to me and I'm so proud of you and your hard work! 3 cheers for Pumbza!! Hip Hip Houray!!! Hip Hip Houray!!! Hip Hip Houray!!! You did it!!!
I'm glad to hear you will be around for a while. We all learn so much from you.
Keep up the good work. Your almost done!!
Julie

[SPDeRosa]

Hi Pumbza --

I recommend NO MODIFCATIONS to the refeed. If I recall correctly you can choose to stick with crackers instead of bread, or swap out bread for crackers on some days, but again I think you should do the bread as the refeed suggests. The goal is to reintroduce bread back into your system.

I believe the concept of post-refeed carb moderation is what is meant with bread and rice and pasta. So during "maintenance" (i.e. rest of your life) if you know you're having rice for dinner (because you've planned out your food for the day), then maybe you should choose NOT to have a sandwich for lunch. Plus, the goal is to have a carb meal only once per day -- so if you had bread for lunch you should be having a "no-carb" meal for dinner.

The 50g of carbs (rice) I ate on refeed was small BUT I also think we're conditioned to put a huge pile of rice on our place and then put stir fry veggies all around it. I've now started mixing the rice into the stir fry and find that I eat MUCH less. The idea came from one of those frozen dinners containing rice, veggies and meat in there. Before the diet I would keep a bag / box in the freezer for an emergency meal -- now I don't buy them -- however, if you pay attention to the amount of rice in those dinners, you'll see that the rice is minimal. So I recommend mixing rice into your meal rather than putting it on your plate. :)

Keep up the good work, and I really don't want to think of you naked among the elephants ... sorry. :)

~ Shawn

[pumbza]

Hi Shawn good idea on the rice I like it!Ha Ha Yeah Shawn I get YOUR DRIFT about me being naked and the ELEPHANTS (I don't think we should Go there??)Ha Ha!:innocent4:Hi Julie and lfingers11 and SHARON Thanks for the SUPPORT as always YES sharon I have 7 crackers 2 in the morning 2 at LUNCH and 3 at NIGHT Don't worry keeping the DIET simple actually works for me as well!!!Ok YOU must be wondering about the Title above well since I have reached my GOAL weight I got all cocky and started getting to GO out more and meet suppliers etc and today I got caught BIG time because I did not PLAN MY DAY!!When the suppliers came they convinced me to ride with them around town from store to store I did not think much about it until we were stranded at a resteraunt and I could not get out of it because it will cause other people discomfort so I was forced to stay and I had to EAT and Unlike YOUR restraunt's we can't get specific cuts of meat etc whats on the menu is whats on the menu!!!Anyway to cut a long story I cheated again for the second time I find it difficult to get down about this especially when I have lost so much weight but I do realise things can BALLOON out of control!!!So my plan is to check my weight tomorrow if its the same then I will just continue where I left of if I have BEEN PENALISED by my body and it takes TWO DAYS to recover No problem as I have more than enough time I will just have to expand my REFEED by some more days!!I don't want to sound blaze about it but I have fallen of the BUS I must just get on and carry on where I left of and it was not because of cravings for food etc JUST PURE BAD PLANNING so newbies NOTE AS SHAWN and co say PLAN PLAN PLAN!!!But I must admit I had to have a GRIN to myself Because as I was CHEATING I was thinking of MY DIET BUDDIES ready to TAKE ME TO TASK!!!Ha Ha Ha!!!I personally think and the proof of the pudding is in the eating (Ha Ha I liked that one!!) that my body will recover OK because I am a thin GUY now and I feel so GOOD but I will see TOMORROW!!!!Have a GREAT DAY!!!:innocent3:

[Sharon]

{oops}Hey the important thing is, you haven't left the tracks, just slipped a bit coming around the corner, and you are finding you balance and popped that balloon. And I love that "thin guy" statement, bet 6 months ago you never thought you would be thinking it let alone saying it for the world to see on this forum. Did they at least pick a decent resturant?
Excellent work Buddy ol pal, but stay on those tracks, cos you better still be on them when I reach that refeeding station.

[pumbza]

Hi all diet Buddies and SHARON the Good news is that I did not go over my 2lb limit so I can go forward and I know in the next couple of days the little extra I gained from the meal will be GONE ...........Yay!!!Ha Ha!Ye Sharon it was a GREAT restraunt and a GREAT MEAL and I did enjoy it while it lasted but it was so GREAT to know that I had mechanism's in PLACE to reverse things the other thing is I was pretty full and it will last me for the next two weeks I have no desire to fall of the bus again BUT as I said I must Plan Plan Plan or I will FAIL a good lesson learn't I think!!!

Day 3 of Refeed!
30g of Old Protien.
40g of Old Vegtable.
add 1 Good Fruit.
Have 1 slice of bread and 2 crackers.

Will be nice to have bread although they do say after refeed that on maintenance diet they want you to eat starch's once a day so thats why I wanted then to convert all bread to starch's to make things easier for starch's once a day!I know YOU may think why am I obsessing about Maintenance NOW well I get my mind into a ZONE for the next step so when I arrive there I know exactly what I must do and HOW so I can cut down the mistakes!!!

Yeah Sharon I am still wrapping my head around the THIN GUY story but it is really GREAT I am still getting people staring at me for a different reason now because I am a THIN GUY and I don't mind this JUST got to get use to it But its not as BAD as when I was a BIG FAT SLOB!!Ha Ha!!Sound terrible I know but it was a PROBLEM that I did not realise and did not deal with it!!
I will be there if GOD wills it when YOU REFEEED and I wan't to READ every step of the way PLEASE!Shawn I must admit I am loving REFEED there's so much food and I love it lots of FRUIT and a Slice of BREAD thats JUST so COOL how does ONE get FULL and STUFFED I am loving it I am a EATING Machine!!!Ha Ha!Have a GREAT DAY ALL!!!

[Mei Mei]

Pumbza,
You have done it, and you are an inspiration to all! Bravo! I, too am glad you aren't giving up. Refeed is the fun part of the diet! When you send the pictures, you don't mean that you will send a pic of you in your birthday suit on the scale do you?>?? That sounded a bit crazy-he he he. I'm so proud of you. Well done my friend. Surely you will inspire others for years to come!
blessings,:cupid:
Mei Mei

[Shasha]

{hi} there Pumbza

First things first {goodjob} on NOT going with the thoughts of skipping Re-feed because I promise you, if you had done this, you would have shocked your system and gained weight very fast and, no doubt, in a couple of months, you would have been back, tail between the legs, rejoined the 1st Personal Diet Program, only to put yourself through a new diet again but this time you would have the wisdom (from your own painful past experience of weight gain) to see the program through the way Dr Cohen designed it to work.

Your body is not a Ferrari racing car {noway} and you cannot go from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds. Maybe you can, but you cannot use your Ferrari to go 4x4 bundu bashing… In the same way that you cannot go from being unfit to running an ultra marathon without injuring your body, you cannot go from DIET to NORMAL without an interim body training phase – so, good job on making the right decision - now you need to implement that decision!


QUESTION FOR SHASHA!
1)SHASHA we go and eat all this fruit work out what our body needs to eat daily and at the end of the diet we are asked to eat fruit only once a day I do understand we are getting use to fruit but to get to the end and to remove it does that not leave a bit of a gap when you remove all that fruit from the required food YOU have been eating would it not be better to leave the fruit to once a day because in the end thats all you will be allowed this at least lets YOU settle in the end to what YOU are allowed to eat with out removing things?
2)I am not there yet But I saw some thread where YOU recommended removing bread and swapping it with carbo's like rice etc what weight of rice or carbo can you swap bread for is it equivalent to the BREAD or more?

I recommend everyone always eat the fruit and the crackers / bread on Re-feeding. This is an interim phase to TRAIN your body to COPE with MORE and DIFFERENT types of food. If you keep this in mind you will understand that the fruit is not just about the fruit and the bread is not just about the bread.

The new additions are training the body to handle more complexity and sugar, not just more fruit / bread. It’s that thing of not going from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds… - this is the training school for your body.

I believe that Dr Cohen uses the simple small increases in fruit and bread to train your body to cope better with foods such as a cookie or a piece of cake later on ie: gently increasing sugar… On the Re-feed you can limit your fruit to once a day, or you can spread it out – which is probably going to be a whole lot more comfortable for your body than trying to eat 4 or 5 pieces of fruit in one go.

After Diet you should aim to keep your fruit down to once a day if you were severely obese. If you had only a little weight to lose, you can have diet fruit more often ie: an apple during the day as a snack. If you were severely obese, it just means your body was more ill and it triggers too much insulin quicker – so you need to be more careful – one way to be more careful is to keep your fruit intake down to once a day.

Keep in mind 3 clear phases:
1) Diet
2) Re-feed
3) Maintenance

There are slightly different rules on Re-feed than what there is on Maintenance ie: starch and fruit on re-feed is not limited to once a day but on Maintenance it is limited to once a day.

You cannot remove bread and swop it for rice or other starch on Re-feed. I recommended to EAT all the BREAD on Re-feed so that you can train your body to cope with more food. If you read ahead you will see that starch is limited to 50 grams cooked weight. NOT a lot! So, after Re-feed, when your body is trained and settled, you can swop the bread by leaving it out and have more starch. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS ON RE-FEED.

How much starch can you cope with after Re-feed? Dr Cohen says: How much starch you can handle will depend on your personal body – ie: try and see. At the same time remember: it’s better to try with less and see, so I would recommend that a couple of days after Refeed that you leave all your bread out and then double your dinner potato or rice or pasta. If you don’t gain weight the next morning – you found the amount your body can cope with. If you were up = too much starch. If you lost weight you can cope with more starch…

{slapfight} WAKE UP CALL!! PLEASE DO NOT EAT WRONG ON RE-FEED!!

Now I know the above hurt and I wanted to take it out, but decided not to because:
1) You're my Diet Hero, and I'm very proud of you - but,
2) Despite your fantastic progress, I want you to know that you can still mess the whole thing up, big time, and
3) I despirately don't want that to happen in your life. Like you said, it's been 30 years of body abuse... enought time wasted.

I'm not sure when you are going to the bush but want to say this up front: your Re-feed is the most important part of your whole diet! You know the saying: "it's not over until the fat lady sings" - well, this diet is not over until you have completed RE-FEEDING.

This is not permission to deviate but I want you to know that if you go to the bush and everything gets messed up you must write to your consultant immediately!! Do not try to handle that on your own.

You cannot go on and off Re-feeding. Again, the point of Re-feed is to train your body to cope with more food when your hormones are stabilized. If your hormones are all messed up you cannot do a proper Re-feed.

To give you an example: if someone was on diet for 5 months and suddenly ate an entire 100 g chocolate, what do you think would happen? BIG TIME hormone unbalance. Now the point of Re-feed is to train your body to cope with more food gradually. In the light of the chocolate shock, do you really think you can go the very next day and try to train the body to gradually get use to sugar with 1 good fruit then another, then later 1 bad fruit, then another??

If think that deviating on Diet set you back far ie: one week, then you can bet your bottom dollar that deviating on Re-feed sets you way, way, way back further – like as in a whole month or more!

If someone where to eat chocolate like in the above example, they would probably end up doing it again the next day and the next… remember hormones play a role and now you awaken a craving monster because you have upset your blood sugar so much…

In such a case, the person would need to go back on DIET for 2 weeks to stabilize their hormones and then do their entire Re-feed again. This is why I say deviating on Re-feed puts you back more than a whole month.

I know what some of you reading this may thing: that’s not so difficult… I can eat wrong and get back on track. But, if you ask anyone who’s deviated on the diet how very difficult it is to get back on track, especially if they deviated for a couple of days… you will find that it is NOT easy to get back on track at all - in fact, it is extremely difficult.

It’s even worse if you allow yourself total FREEDOM to go back on diet, especially when you are already at your goal weight, because simply being at goal means you become very, very, very hungry if you deviate and go back on diet you become very, very, very hungry too that’s why I called it waking up a monster… ie: very, very, very, very, very, very HUNGRY and lots of cravings.

So PLEASE be careful! I know you can do it and I really believe you will – but, I thought my confident metro Bush Diet Buddie needed a bit of a reminder to stay on track and to go forward, not to make a u-turn and go back.

Looking forward to your SUCCESS!!

[Sharon]

:shocked:{oops}

[pumbza]

Hi Shasha thats why we love YOU so First of all I do not take any of the above in any other way than constructive critisisim and I do APPRECIATE it!Some how I have mislead YOU with my WRITING in saying that I wan't to swap out my BREAD for RICE on REFEED it was a QUESTION meant for on MAINTENANCE when all is done I am following REFEED to the LETTER and am ENJOYING it and finding it NOT so bad at all but easy apart from MY slip the other day I am none the worse for wear because I am back to my required weight BUT I DO REALISE one must not play with refeed because of all the reason's given by YOURSELF and I did mention that I failed to PLAN naughty Naughty ME!!Ha Ha!!:innocent4:A further question I would like YOU to answer if YOU could is that DR COHEN tells YOU and correct me if I am wrong that ONCE you gain weight in excess of 2lbs/1Kg you go back two days and start there and if YOU do this and gain weight in excess of 2lbs/1Kg then YOU are done even if thats before YOUR days laid out above in other words as I understand it thats the amount of food YOUR Body can handle BUT ..... If You get to 30 days and YOU are still losing weight does that mean that YOU have not reached the amount of food YOU can handle?(Does that make sense if not I apologise!).Question Number 2 is the mixing of protein and YES I know in SHAWN's thread you explained it in detail but I am a DUMB FROM THE BUSH METRO MALE what I wan't to know is the 120g of protien I must add must it be different from what my original PROTEIN is and somewhere I think YOU said we could mix say chicken fillet with chicken leg say I stand UNDER CORRECTION!!!Another of the topic question for maintenance do we take our DR COHEN weights for protein and and vegtables we land up with on day 30 and use that for the rest of our days and just play around with carb's to figure our usage on the carb's side I know we don't measure in maintenance but do we stick to the weights on our last meal on refeed OR do we just implement the DR COHEN's rules for maintenance and just continue!!!My last question which may be ridiculous but here goes if we have one fruit on maintenance and eat our required vegtables do we not miss out on some essential vitamins the reason I ask we have a HUGE drive on in our country about eating more vegtables and fruit daily?Thats all for now thanks for YOUR help in advance I LOVED your comments (I have this thing about FIESTY WOMAN !! Ha Ha - Just kidding!!) Have a SPECTACULAR DAY!!!:innocent3:

[pumbza]

Hi Mei Mei YOU say the FUNNIEST things YOU had me rolling on the FLOOR YOU always do it don't YOU!!:innocent4:First of all I LOVE YOUR picture YOU look stunning (Picture Avatar??) YOUR HUSBAND is a really LUCKY MAN!!!Yeah MEI MEI YOU will be blinded by the LIGHT if I posted PICTURES of myself in my birthday suit on a scale in the BUSH amongst the elephants I think I might have a STAMPEDE of elephants RUNNING away in PANIC and alarm!!!!Ha Ha!!!

Day 4 Of Refeed!

60g of Old Protien.
40g of Old Vegtable.
add 1 Good Fruit.
Have 1 slice of bread and 2 crackers.

I am enjoying eating BREAD I have to admit enjoying FRUIT and crackers as well and extra portions!

My Weight is 99Kg (Goal Weight 98Kg) so should reach GOAL weight in the next couple of DAYS!!!

Have a GREAT DAY ALL!!:innocent3:

[PhyllisRis]

Ok....there must be an elephant joke in all of this somewhere!!!! Remember Elephant jokes?

What's red and white on the outside and gray and white on the inside??? Campbell's Cream of Elephant soup.
What did Tarzan say when he saw a herd of charging elephants?? "Look...here come the elephants!"
What did Jane say when she saw the herd of charging elephants? "Look, here come the plums!" (she was color blind)
How do you keep an elephant from charging?? Take away his credit cards.

I could go on and on.....I have an elephant joke book!!! (got it in 5th grade!!!):party1:

[Sharon]

Hey Pumbza,
You ask some great questions, and I'm facinated by what Shasha had to say, had no idea you had to be even stricted on yourself during refeed, but after reading what she said it makes sense, and waiting with baited breath on what she is gonna say on the next lot of questions, but its got this little kiwi girl wondering, if you gain weight on lets say day 12 of refeed, you go back to day 10, if that is not where you stay, and you are suppose to challange yourself again do you stay on day 10 until you loose that extra weight?
Your ears would have to have been burning last night, invited our SA mates and their wives around for tea (haven't seen them since pre Cohens - I've been keeping my head down) they were blown away by the results. I told them about the amazing Pumbza the elephant man (just joking, didn't mention any elephants). They knew about the program in SA and its popular, but expensive, very impressed by their fellow SA countryman, one of them is considering following in your footsteps, (the other is a 6foot plus slim jim so needless to say, he doesn't need to).
Mary - agree with Pumbza - love your picture - you look so gorgeous and happy.
Phyllis Ris - LOVE those elephant jokes.

[Mei Mei]

Pumbza,
Do you really think you'd scare the elephants away? I bet they are used to seeing all sorts of what not in the jungle! :thinking:

Keep your nose to the grindstone on refeed. It is worth it. :weights2:don't outmsart the program that works so well!!!

Sharon, You are doing so well! almost there way to go! I would love to post the rest of my pictre, bt I am lame and can't figre out how to resize it properly. It is weird, one time I can put a pic in, the next itme I can't. Maybe Phyllis can help if she isn't rolling on the floor laghting at her elephant jokes...

Hopeflly I will follow my own advice diet maintenance wise, I've been eating yucky stuff today. Very frustrated with my 13 year old. He is doing badly in school and having some other prolems. I get anxious, frustrated, depressed, angry--you name it, am I the one who is 13??? And I turned to food. As I sit here watching our #1 team get beat Texas vs. Texas Tech, my mood isn't improving.
Good news--dh has lost 15 pounds, looks great, hardly grumpy at all!
You guys are awesome!!!
Mary

[pumbza]

Hi Mei Mei I liked this comment "I bet they are used to seeing all sorts of what not in the jungle!" I had a bit of a chuckle YOU are quite hilarious You sure YOU not a Commedian of some sort!!!I think Mei Mei the PROBLEM you are having with the PICTURES is that they are to big so YOU must use a SMALLER size picture and then it will UPLOAD!!Thanks Mary I will stick to REFEED its JUST like coming out of prison one does tend to get OVERWHELMED by the situation lost weight and MORE food and ONE tries to get smart but thats why I have YOU diet buddies and Shasha to PULL me round!!Ha Ha!:innocent4:Mary how are YOU selecting YOUR food now on maintenance and how is it going with portion control on Maintenance??Don't worry kids will be kids especially at 13 and YOU will have to worry for them which is natural because at that age they care feathers but that's why we are the parents!!Ha Ha!!After the FORMULAE 1 racing today there is not to much important sport for us so we will have to wait for next YEAR but sorry to hear YOUR team lost better luck next time!!!Mary Mary Quite Contrary I need YOUR recipe for Peanut Butter biscuits or chocalate chip etc I need to prepare for when I am allowed a biscuit and I think YOU said YOU had a GREAT RECIPE and congratulations to YOUR Husband for losing 15 lbs excellent INDEED!!Sharon the diet may be expensive but I think I saved that in eating alone within the first 8 weeks and now its real cheap over 18 weeks but the way I feel now I would pay all my money to get to where I am now its worth every penny!!I had the oohh aaahhh brigade at the church people coming up to me saying YOU have changed so much what have YOU been doing etc again but I am getting use to it by now!!!!

Day 5 Of Refeed!

60g of Old Protien.
80g of Old Vegtable.
add 1 Good Fruit.
Have 1 slice of bread and 2 crackers.

I have made things easier as I have said by JUST upping one meal with the extra Protein and Vegtables and leaving the other 2 meals the same to prevent confusion with the weight changes and what makes it nice is that one uses the original amounts so all my frozen portion sizes still come into operation I just have to add the extra amounts!Today I had a GOOD big portion of prawns and Vegtable's it was FANTASTIC!!!

Have a GREAT DAY!!:innocent3:

[Sharon]

Hi ya buddy,
Absolutely as far as the $ go, every cent is worth it, and the results make it cheap compared to the effect on long term health if we had remained status quo.

Read in a MD WEB email tonight, for overweight people to concider (not that you are in that catagory anymore, but something we should not forget):-
What is you excess weight doing fo you?
- or another way
What are you getting out of not loosing weight?

my answer is ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOTHING
I pick health over instant gratification.

Mary - two words - TEENAGERS {scream} (but hang on in there {friendhug}it will get better, promise), and as for that man of yours, what a way to go {goodjob}

[pumbza]

Hi There SHARON my YOUNG thin Kiwi Diet Buddy Hope You are WELL!!!I am steadily Plotting My Menu For Life after refeed that is maintenance and I am trying to make it with regular eating every 2 to 3 hours so the body will not wan't for food so no temptation to stray and eat bad snacks!I am also putting in all the good foods and DR COHEN foods for MONDAY to FRIDAY and Friday Night till Sunday Night is CHILL out time And I will try stick to the healthier options as much as I can!Then Monday is weigh in Time and then Monday and Tuesday can be correction time 48 Hr No Carbs Time if needed!The only worry is when I travel but I will cross that bridge when I get to it there are healthier food options there as well!!Shasha Just another question On Maintenance if Apples and other good fruits don't hassle my sugar levels can I use them on maintenance (I know they specified only one fruit but is that for people who react against fruit only??) It is a Much better OPTION than Eating other Banned FOOD Items like chips etc!!Whats the verdict on dried fruit its a big Item in our country is that to much sugar!I loved having Blackberries they are so sweet tasting ONE feels guilty eating them??Ha Ha!!

Day 6 Of Refeed!

60g of Old Protien.
80g of Old Vegtable.
add 2 Good Fruit.
Have 1 slice of bread and 2 crackers.

I love this diet I have officially reached my GOAL WEIGHT of 98Kg and at this pace I may be going past it I think Its nice to know on refeed I am still losing weight!!Ha Ha!:innocent4:I started with light 10 minute bicycle ride to start building some stamina and getting use to GYMM come on SHAWN join me so we can keep a eye on each other!!!

Have a MARVELOUS DAY!!:innocent3:

[lfingers11]

Sounds like you are doing good on refeed now. Stick to it so you don't have to redo any days!!
Pam

[Sharon]

Sounds like you are planning for success, excellent, its great to hear you are doing so well on the refeed. Tell me, you have said add 2 good friut, does that mean on to of your three or two on top of what you normally have? with the fruit season coming on I would not find it difficult, I have to be finished for the cherry season, we have a tree laden with fruit that will be ready for xmas, would be very difficult to stay away from. the apricot, peach and nectarine haven't many on so one a day would be enough.
Good on you getting on your bike and the gym:weights:, well done, you will be wizzing along with minimal wind resistance.

[pumbza]

Hi Sharon and Pam how are things GOING I am loving all the Fruit You must remember I gave up my fruit and crackers on week 4 now it is tasting so GOOD and yes I am allowed to have two more FRUIT on my original 3 fruits which means I am eating 5 FRUITS a day all GOOD FRUITS for the Time BEING!!!The only pity is we will have to give this all up when we finish DR COHEN Refeed or on Maintenance!!!Ha Ha!:innocent4:I am enjoying Pineapple and Blackberries and Tangerine and peach's and apricots!How close are YOU sharon to REFEED???PAM I am enjoying REFEED but I am very impatient to be off WEIGHING things and JUST eating NORMALLY!!!My scale worked out my Metabolic Rate is that of a 37 Year OLD and I am 50 Years old in December so this diet is really amazing I would have just been interested to have seen my metabolic rate when I was at my MAXIMUM weight???Have a GREAT DAY!!:innocent3:

[lfingers11]

If you got to take of 13 years I would have to say you would add at least 13 to the 50, probably more though. I know you are impatient but think you are training your body so you will be able to eat more!! How much fun. I am impatient right now to just get to refeed so I understand why you are impatient about getting to maintenance. At least we know that it will get here sooner or later. Hang in there and have a great week.
Pam

[Sharon]

We are nearly there Pam, am looking forward to refeed, all those 'new foods' will be a novelty. Plus be interesting to see what the program is like and how our bodies respond.
Pumbza, you better watch that age reduction, loose too much weight and the scales will have you in nappies:laughing:seriously - excellent news. Are pineapple and blackberries 'good' fruits? If so bring on the raspberries (later of course)
Make the most of refeed, just remember you get to eat more.

[pumbza]

Hi Pam and Sharon Hope YOU are all well Pam the problem is that I was in FOOD JAIL for 4 and Half MONTHS and I got use to it now I am 12 or More Days away TO total freedom and its so close I can taste it!!!Thanks for YOUR encouragement Its people Like YOU who get me through the day!!!Ha Ha!:innocent4:Ha Ha Sharon I loved tht nappies JOKE the PICTURES are To VIVID and SHOCKING Ha Ha!Sorry Sharon I checked the REFEED for Raspberries and no such LUCK there are Blackberries and Blueberries and Gooseberries and Mulberries and Youngberries (Which are ALL GOOD FRUIT!) and Strawberries (Bad Fruit) BUT alas NO Raspberries and I have some FROZEN ones I must asmit I have never been a BERRY eater but I am starting to LOVE them now with PLENTY of taste and so NICE and SWEET!!Sorry Sharon and PAM I am teasing YOU I just can't get over the extra food and the tastes the other diet buddies LIKE SHAWN moaned about being stuffed I am just enjoying munching more and more!!Ha Ha!!I must be a Little PIGGY!!!

Question for Shasha fat does not increase the blood sugar so I know the fat is restricted for health reasons is that the only reason a GOOD reason but I am JUST enquiring and interested!

Just by the way Shasha I have loads of QUESTIONS that are waiting YOUR attention when YOU can I know YOU are a BUSY WOMAN (OOPS LADY!!).

Have a GREAT DAY ALL!!:innocent3:

[pumbza]

Same as Yesterday and about 11 days to GO with not to much news at the MOMENT other than to say things are GOING steadily!!

Day 7 Of Refeed!

60g of Old Protien.
80g of Old Vegtable.
add 2 Good Fruit.
Have 1 slice of bread and 2 crackers.

Where is OLD Shasha is she working so HARD she can't talk to us !!!Ha Ha!!I will be riding my stationary bicycle for 10 minutes does not sound like much but I am starting excercise very very slowly but suppose its better than nothing!!!Ha Ha!!!:innocent4:

Have a GOOD DAY and ENJOY!!:innocent3:

[lfingers11]

Sharon
You are so funny about the nappies! totally cracked me up. Yea, I can't wait to get the pineapple, strawberries, bananna's.

Papa Bear,
I enjoy hearing what you are eating and realizing that I will hopefully be right behind you quickly!! Keep up the great work.

I have a cold and a sore throat!! Max got me sick again!! I don't like being sick and not being able to take any cold medicine. I especially like taking emergen-c (sp?) but have a feeling it is a no no right now. I am going to get some vitamin c pills tomorrow to see if they help. Crossing my fingers!!

Pam

[Sharon]

Pam, sorry you are feeling unwell, hang in there.
Pumbza, my rasberries have heaps of flowers on them, if I haven't finished I will just have to freeze them, not as good as fresh but they will be lovely on my yogurt later on and the season is long. We have a few strawberries rippening in my tunnel house and I can't have them BOO HOO. But at least I can eat my zucchinis (not the same I know but its all about attitude).
11 days to go and no significant increase in weight, that is so excellent, you will be done and dusted before you know it.
I love reading your thread, and hearing of your journey and success.
Don't fall off your bike now.

[Shasha]

{hi} there Pumbza

I’ve never been heard that question before – but, if you do get to 30 days and with all the extra food, you keep losing weight, then you should increase your food intake… but, let’s not jump the gun… let’s see what happens :flirt:

Yes, mixing proteins is a good idea – remember, it’s about training. So you can have chicken and steak from Day 14 onwards. Or you can choose the egg and onto that add steak or choose the cheese from Meal 2 and onto that add fish etc. You will notice that new proteins come in too – in this case you could have a fish starter as your new proteins ie: salmon and your main course as your original diet steak.

On your last day you will see how much food your body need ie: how much proteins and veggies and starch etc. It is a good idea to keep more or less to this – so, try to use it as your guideline. What happens for many ladies is that they decide the protein is too much and then they reduce protein. But, the protein was in fact not too much for their bodies and so their bodies protest and they feel hungry – result, they grab a quick easy starch snack – result: weight gain…

Rather fill up on food – result: less temptation to snack! When you feel satisfied by a good wholesome healthy meal, even desert is not as tempting – which is great, cos you will end up having less desert and more good food result = {goodjob}

Dr Cohen didn’t say 1 fruit per day. Dr Cohen said: “fruit once a day”. There is a difference and the difference is this: Dr Cohen is limiting how often your body triggers lots of insulin. Remember that fruit is high in fructose = fruit sugar and so it does trigger insulin. Now remember, you get 3 fruit types: Diet; Good; Bad – if you ate a bowl of watermelon which = bad fruit after diet for breakfast, it will trigger too much insulin – result: hungry by 10 am. So, it is best to limit fruit, especially bad and good fruit to desert ie: within 1 hour of your starch meal or as part of that meal. If however you did feel like having a fruit as a mid morning or mid afternoon snack, the best would be to go with a Diet fruit ie: an apple or an orange – these are lower in sugar than the good or bad fruits mentioned.

Also remember one thing: not everyone is equally ill… by this I mean that some people join the program needing to lose 10 pound, others need to lose 100 pounds. The person who is 10 pounds overweight does not have the same measure of problem with hormones as the person who is 100 pounds overweight. Given, anyone can regress by eating wrong and 10 can become 100 pounds. But, the longer you are overweight and the more overweight you have been, the more careful you need to be.

Also look at your past history – what do you think made you gain weight? Was that a beer belly? Was is from fatty meat and lots of butter? Well, in the words of Dr Phil: how’s that working for you? Clearly not… so, there are decisions you will need to make on an ongoing basis. I’m not saying never had an apple as a mid morning snack… but it’s about what you do 90% of the time and you want to learn good habits.

Hopefully Ms Feisty can help you just a little bit – I looked up the word and yeah, that about sums me up {cheerleader}

Still reading...

[Shasha]

{hi} there Phyllis

PLEASE share some more of your elephant jokes – I really enjoyed the how do you stop elephant from charging joke… {rofl}

[Shasha]

{hi} there Sharon

Between you and me, Pumbie scares me with his questions :hypnotic:

So, I’ll get down to yours instead:


If you gain weight on lets say day 12 of refeed, you go back to day 10, if that is not where you stay, and you are suppose to challange yourself again do you stay on day 10 until you loose that extra weight?

If you gain weight on day 12, you go back 2 days – you probably gained weight because your body was not yet use to that quantity or that type of food. Going back allows your body to re-adjust. Dr Cohen says if you then again gain weight on the SAME day, it means that the quantities is the max your body can cope with. In this case you still continue through your entire RF but, you keep the quantities to the day 12 limit. If you find this happens I recommend you write to your consultant immediately.

Here is where the problem comes in: if someone is deviating on their diet before Re-feed, their hormones are not stabilized and their body protests with weight gain. Result is likely to be a lower limit on food that you can eat (for the rest of your life) without gaining weight. So, the moral of the story: follow your eating plan 100% or as close as you possibly can.

YES, Re-feed is very, very important. So is the maintenance guidelines… :bighug:

[Shasha]

{hi} there Mary

I’m going to open up a modeling agency especially for Dr Cohen Diet Buddies and I was wondering if you would like to be one of our super models!!

YOU LOOK STUNNING!!! :jumping2: :bighug:

{goodjob} to your hubby too!!

[Shasha]

{hi} there Pumbza


Just another question On Maintenance if Apples and other good fruits don't hassle my sugar levels can I use them on maintenance (I know they specified only one fruit but is that for people who react against fruit only??) It is a Much better OPTION than Eating other Banned FOOD Items like chips etc!! Whats the verdict on dried fruit its a big Item in our country is that to much sugar!I loved having Blackberries they are so sweet tasting ONE feels guilty eating them??Ha Ha!!

As per my previous post – try having a DIET fruit if you want a fruit snack. Dried fruit is dodgy: too much sugar and you end up eating way too much! Look at how quickly you can eat 2 x half a dried peach vs 1 whole fruit peach… real fruit is much more satisfying!

Don’t go for processed junk – especially not chips – too much fat... yes okay on a weekend or as a treat, but it’s not FOOD! It’s starch and fat and you don’t want that!

Do you have lean beef or better yet game biltong? Thought I would get a big :D cos I remember you making your own on diet! Now, that’s a healthy snack! Remember: low fat and not too much!!! Also, a piece of cheese on a cracker. Some cottage cheese on a celery stick. A piece of lean chicken breast. :cop: Key: eat enough food at meal times and snack less...

[Shasha]

{hi} there Pumbza


Question for Shasha fat does not increase the blood sugar so I know the fat is restricted for health reasons is that the only reason a GOOD reason but I am JUST enquiring and interested!
Just by the way Shasha I have loads of QUESTIONS that are waiting YOUR attention ...

:hypnotic: :hypnotic:

We don’t want you clogging up those arteries. Are you going to have your cholesterol tested again when you are DONE??

To eat lots of fat means not to stay slim.
Remember, if you eat excess fat, it is converted into fat that will be deposited in your body’s grocery cupboards and we don’t want that {noway}

[Shasha]

{hi} there Pam

Sorry to hear you have a cold. Please do get plenty of vitamin C and take it regularly, perhaps with some pain relief tablets. Also up your multi-vitamin to 1 at breakfast, 1 at lunchtime.

You can take sugar free & alcohol free medication while you are on the program – try to avoid fruit flavoring. Yes, it may set you back a bit to take medication, but we don’t want you to be ill, so try your best to still follow your diet 100%, get plenty of rest and be sure to take in lots of fluids.

:comfort: Hope you feel much better soon!

[Shasha]

{hi} there Sharon


...But at least I can eat my zucchinis (not the same I know but its all about attitude).

{goodjob} :applause: for that wonderful attitude!! :bighug:

Now I’m running – FAST!!! – before Pumbie hits me with his book of questions…

[pumbza]

Hi Shasha sorry to put YOU of with my questions I am just asking to wrap my mind around things when I was in jail it was simple not much to think of but now its getting close to that time were refeed meets the real world so I m trying to prepare myself mentally to be prepared for everything HopefullY!Thanks for YOUR answers so far they are GREAT I am rereading my notes from DR COHEN but sometimes we slip up so its good to have YOU pull us straight???Ha Ha!Yeah I reckon YOU are fiesty it suits YOU to the T !!Ha Ha!:innocent4:Hi Pammy sorry to hear YOU are sick Vitamin C will work I even got sugar free lozenges for the THROAT they were YUCK but it helps with the cold and YOU will most probibally struggle to lose weight over this period or let me say I did You may handle it better!!!Sharon I think of YOU everytime I eat a BERRY !!Ha Ha!!I am holding Tightly on my bike and I have few days LEFT and I can't wait!!!Yeha!!!Yes Shasha I am making DIET biltong which is staple diet here and is a great snack option don't worry I won't miss CHIPS especially after I have seen how really bad it is for me I will rather eat fat free Popcorn , cheese etc!!!!Thanks Shasha as always GOOD ideas on mixing protiens I like steak and egg for breakfast and a fish starter thats even better nice ideas thanks a lot YOU are so GOOD for us and we muiss YOU when YOU are not here!

One more question my fat percentage is showing 21% and on more reading its now been shown for my age I should be between 18% to 24% so if I decide to drop a few more kilo's below what DR COHEN suggested would I just after refeed go on Protien and vegtables and fruit and crackers and no protien to slowly go one or two kilo's lower!!!!

I rode my stationary bicycle for 10 minutes and was TOUGH I know it does not sound like much MARY the fitness FANATIC but I have done no excercise for nearly 5 months so I must do things SLOWLY I am sure Shasha will back me here!!!!

But it was FUN starting to do some GYMM how ever little it is!!!!Thanks for all your encouragement and HELP have a GREAT DAY!!!:innocent3:

[lfingers11]

Shasha,
Thanks for all the great info!!

Thanks everyone for wishing me well being sick!! I am going to try to stay away from medicine since I am so close. I would prefer to feel misreable right now to get this weight off faster.:)

Papa Bear,
be easy on yourself with the exercise. You will get there. Maybe a short walk would help with building up resistance!!


Pam

[Sharon]

Thanks Shasha,
Some great answers to the posted questions, we very much appreciate it, its good to have you around. {bighug}

[Mei Mei]

Thanks, Sasha. I feel awesome, which is pretty darn important too!!! I have really been paying it forward Pumbza! Now three friends have, or are about to, join 1pd! And DH--he can order refeed as of today. He went way faster than me! They actually put his goal wieght 6 pounds higher than he is going. He is so handsome!! (He was before, but now he is really striking!) Lucky me :)

Sharon and Pam, you guys are doing great, almost there Keep up the amazing work and progress.

Pumbza, our shining star. Way to go for sticking with the plan, we would have had to come to Africa to kick your skinny little backside if you cheated this far into the diet! So glad you are going by the book. To answer your q about maintenance: It is going really well. Right now I am eating a salad, wtih cucumbers and turkey. I realized when I eat foods that are bad for me it makes me feel aweful. I keep very close to Cohen foods, I just am not as careful weighing out portion sizes. Probably two meals a day I eat pretty close to my diet portions. I've lost another three pounds, was at 116 yesterday. The great thing is, if I want to indulge, I know I can because I won't do it all day long, or for a week in a row. I do it for one meal. I really enjoy this body, and don't want to jeopardize how I look AND feel. i have not added milk back in, really or bread. I think I have put cream in my coffee three times in the past month, but I don't want to start up that again either. It seems if we have gone this far without something unnecessary to our diet, why add it back? Bread instantny bloats my stomach. :( I eat corn chips or a tortilla occasionally, but generally, I feel much better staying away from carbs. I guess I am lucky, they make me feel so bad, this diet has helped me learn that, and I avoid them to avoid feeling sick. I'm still not on the ball with my exercise, which makes me feel disapointed with myself, but my life is so crazy busy. I did sit ups the other night and jogged while pushing the cart into the parking lot. It felt so good to run with this small body, that I would like to get out and run. Especially with this beautiful weather.
Man I have rambled! Great job P bear and all. It is worth it, and maintenance is healthy living.
Blessings to all,
Mary

[Sharon]

I'm so excited, I did a sneaky wieght today ( I have been sticking to 4 weeks) but I felt I had changed alot in the past 2 weeks and my tape measure agreed. I have dropped 2 kg - I'll be able to order my refeed soon which will be great, still at least another 2 weeks till then probably but hey this last lot has just dropped off. The only change I made was not eat all my apple, they wondered if our kiwi apples were too big, Bella (the dog) enjoys them too so we share at the end. I only have one a day of fruit now and of crackers, so the eating 5 will be interesting, but at that stage I wont be trying to loose weight but maintaining. Shasha's words of wisdom are great, its so good to have her around - it makes such a huge difference if you are given the map for your journey.

P.S Pumzba I'll be joining Mary in the butt kicking if you fall off your diet bike.

[lfingers11]

Sharon,
How exciting on loosing your weight. You are hot my tail. I am down another 2 pounds!! I have not been this weight since I was in high school and I definately was not this size!! It is still so funny that everything is smaller than it has ever been.

Mary,
I know what you are saying about running and feeling better in your body. I now chase and run around with my boys. I feel so great that I have the energy to keep up with them. I am so glad that you are maintaining so well. I am a little jealous your hubby is ordering refeed already though. Wish I was there :sadeyes: but will be soon. That is great that you two are so happy and healthy together.


Pam

[Sharon]

Ditto with the high school, I have not seen this weight since my puberty hormones kicked in at 13, and I certainly wasn't this shape (have a couple more bumpy bits).
This program has given me what no other has - hope, a longer healthier future and the confidence in success.
Must admit though - 4 kg's seems alot more to loose when I am fitting a size 10 now comfortably without muffining over the waist band. But I suppose we have to have faith that Dr Cohen knows what he is doing, I gather they not only look at your weight but your measurements as well?

[pumbza]

Hi All DIET buddies Hope YOU are all well!!First of all MARY I can't get over how stunning YOU look in YOUR photo NOW your HUSBAND is getting Handsomer and Thinner YOU two must make a STUNNING couple maybe some relation to the Beckhams???Ha Ha!!:innocent4:(YOUR KIDS are Going to be stunning!!!)You are a real star YOURSELF and its great to hear how things are going with YOU and it would be a HONOUR for YOU to kick my skinny butt all the way in AFRICA and I am especially PROUD of YOU PAYING IT FORWARD You just reminded me that is what I should be doing keep in contact with those newbies and make sure they do it they will owe their LIVES to YOUR efforts and what a CHANGED lives they would HAVE!!I have been watching a program called "COOK YOURSELF THIN" on BBC Lifestyle it is totally amazing and something I would like to emulate they take a LADY who wants to lose a couple of dress sizes and they take the FOOD she eats say in this case a LASAGNE which they checked had a calorie value of 1500 cals which is crazy for one meal very very rich and this lady was living on this stuff!!They then substitute things like adding lean mince and vegetables to the meat part of the lasagne and spicing it up and adding more vegtables and less pasta and changing the sauce from cream to low fat options and cheese to low fat cheese in the end they have a spectacular lasagne which calories count comes in at 490 cals compared to 1500 cals thats just incredible and they do this with teramasu puddings and all kinds of variations the chefs are ladies who are either chefs or in the food industry and they maintain they can help make so called BAD FOOD Good and its fascinating indeed!!!The lady in question started to cook her own healthy food instead of buying pre cooked frozen food from the supermarkets they also made a low cal low fat chicken curry as well!!Don't worry Shasha I am not forsaking DR COHEN its just another way of making our one starch a day meal more healthy on the maintence meal and I thought the DIET buddies would find it very intresting!!!Shasha YOU thought YOU were babbling on I have the proverbial VERBAL DIERERRA (Not spelt correctly??) anyway a interesting thing we went to the GOVERMENT to discuss some things and where I in the past JUST sweated when I ate and for any physical excertion or excuse ; while sitting in this room with temprature close to 45 Degrees all the BIG BEER BELLIED men and some skinny men were all sweating I was the about the only guy not sweating so not only do I have a new body but my NEW BODIES AIRCONDITIONER is really working well!!!!Ha Ha!!!

Day 8 of REFEED.
Add 90g of old Protien.
Add 80g of Old Vegtables.
Add 2 Good Fruits.
Have 2 Slices of Bread + 2 Crackers.

So as YOU can see my Bread slice has gone up by one and my WEIGHT is still at 98Kg it moves up and down by about 0.5Kg so its pretty constant!!!I have stabilised my eating to the same chicken soup and mince balls soup and some tuna shushi from time to time to keep things simple after all my FOOD is my medicine!

Hey Sharon YOU ladies are all wanting to kick my poor skinny BUTT thats why I have to keep on this PLAN else I will have a BRUISED BUTT!!!(NOT FaiR!!Ha Ha!!)Well done SHARON I can't wait for YOU to JOIN us on REFEED before I forget MARY I still await YOUR RECIPE for PEANUT BUTTER cookies PLEASE OH PLEASE!!!Sharon I don't know if the apple sped UP your weight LOSS because its one of the FRUIT that is pretty stable and there were rumours of a apple weighing 160g or so not to sure exactly!!!Pammy POINT taken but I just had to start some excercise and my stationary Bicycle is the easiest and 10 Minutes is so little time its just when YOU are not use to it its a little TOUGH I am NOT a JOCK like MARY!!!Ha Ha!!

SHASHA I could not leave with out a question OK OK I know I am DUMB but I think I was dropped on the head as a wee BABY (If I ever was wee!!Ha Ha) Here goes in the bread section it says no health breads here at home we have a seed bread with low GL rating and its really tastes nice is it ok or would it be classified as a HEALTH BREAD????

Well I have written a BOOK I hope this all submits oh by the by it is my eldest DAUGHTER ROXANNES BIRTHDAY today the one who had a her 21st birthday party earlier and WHAT OH WHAT do YOU GUYS all think about YOUR new PRESIDENT who wants to change the world he does sound very GOOD!!!Comments please from the PEANUT GALLERY please!!!
Have a GREAT DAY!!!:innocent3:

[Sharon]

Is health bread a brand? Don't they give you a definition of which is the right choice like they do with the crackers? we have a huge assortment of grain and seed breads available to us, and alot of our bakers are very conscious at offering healthy options, but if Cohen's has something specific in mind, ie no seeds, avoiding certain grains I hope they are specific. But " no health bread"{uhm}, does that mean we eat the white or high glycemic option, do they give you a slice weight? ie sandwich, toast, SUPERTHICK{duh}.
Peanut butter cookies - tell me more.
When I weighed my our apples they were between 210gm to 250gm, our usual medium size apple, which they wondered if was too much in one snack at the moment.
Like you love the food channel, we have a magazine - the only one I subscibe to that is called healthyfood, that will revamp foods to make them a healthy option, and great recipes with the nutritional lowdown, a good investment - and I love cookbooks.
Happy birthday little Pumbza from me{bdaycake}

[lfingers11]

Sharon,
From another post regarding bread, regular store bought white bread that is already sliced. Do not buy the bread that is already sliced that they make right there. No speciality breads, seeds, potatoe, ect breads allowed. I hate that I remember all these things but who knows where that post is in all the posts. Hope that clears it up.

[pumbza]

Thanks for all your help I am off to Johannesburg and of to the bush will see YOU on the 18th or 19th of November and I would have finished refeed by then I will be talking as a MAINTENANCE Person!!Ha Ha!:innocent4:Don't miss me to much I know I will miss YOU all I will read up on your refeeds when I am back!Have a GREAT TIME hope to have photos for YOU ALL!!Have a GREAT DAY!!:innocent3:

[Sharon]

Miss you already, you have a great time out there and look forward to your return.

Pam - you are a mine of information, thanks, and will look forward to that white bread (when I'm allowed it of course.

[lfingers11]

I will miss you too. I hope that everything goes well when you are in the bush. Watch out for those elephants!!:)

Oo, bread. I am looking forward to a sandwich. yumm.

[PhyllisRis]

Watch out for those elephants, pumbza!!

[Shasha]

{hi} there Pumbza

So, how was your trip? Are you back yet???

Let me be the first to say {congrats} on having completed your RE-FEEDING!!! :bighug: I’m so proud of you my SUPER STAR!!!

Just a note on the fat free popcorn – fat free is much better than popcorn with fat, but still, you need to remember popcorn is starch and after diet starch = ONCE A DAY ONLY… :munchies: remember to limit your portion size – similar to what you use to get in the good old days, not today’s super size stuff and we don't want you munching it all day long either!

See how you look and feel now that you are done… normally if you wanted to lose more weight I would say: original diet – but being so close to the holidays and all, you may want to try and firstly stabilize your eating, exercising portion control etc. If you still want to lose weight, diet 100%, if you diet 14 days or more = do the entire Re-feeding Program. Or, you could try reducing carbs…

Exercises: slllllooooooooowwwwwwwlllllyyyy!!! what you did was great!

About seed bread: sorry, not allowed on Re-feeding – goes under health bread (also no rye, pumpernickel etc.) Machine sliced (not the thick slices so I would say about 35 grams per slice… but you don’t have to weigh it, this is just a guideline…) Careful cos the seeds or health bread can in fact trigger hunger even after Refeeding... so limit bread down to once a day with starch meal...

[Shasha]

PS: About falling off your bike or or anything else for that matter ... even after the Refeeding:

{slapfight} don’t you make me whip you! {pan}

You and I both know that YOU do NOT want to get all unhealthy again!! :sick:

So, all things in M.O.D.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.!!! Is that a deal :flirt: ??

[Shasha]

{hi} there Sharon

So glad to hear that you are just about HOME:love4:SWEET:love4:HOME TOO!!! {cheerleader}

About those apples: I recommend about the size of a tennis ball, cos soccer ball apples will slow anyone’s progress down!

[Sharon]

We do grow good apples here in NZ that is for sure, I didn't pick the big ones to eat, they were just our medium. the smaller ones are marketed here as the Kiddie apples.

Our friend Pumbza must be home by now,
PUMBZA, WHERE ARE YOU

[Shasha]

{hi} there Sharon

Yes, I'm getting worried about Pumbie too!!!

Pumbza, where are you ?? :hiding:

We will just have to put all bush animals on high alert and send out a search party!!


:plane: {motorcycle}

[lfingers11]

I am starting to get really worried. Are you ok?
Pam

[SurferGirl]

Me Too!!! pumbza!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PosterGal]

Pumba-lite - Where are you? Have you lost so much weight that the wind blew you away?

We miss you! Hope you are doing well. Let us know -it's not the same without you!

[PhyllisRis]

Maybe Pumbza is the real Santa Claus....and you know how busy he'd be this time of year!!!

WHERE ARE YOU PUMBZA???? (I hope nothing bad has happened to him....how would we ever find out??)
Phyllis

[lfingers11]

I think one of elephants must have got him!! :jumping2:

Pam

[Mama Lake]

Pumbza?
Where are you? :(
We miss you. Hope you are good and nothing happened to you in the bush. :thinking:
Come back and talk to us. :praying:
Mama Lake

[Sharon]

Its getting to be a bit of a worry, where are you my SA friend?
You are giving us grey hairs.
Send us a sign that you are OK.

[CohenInAz]

Thanks for all your help I am off to Johannesburg and of to the bush will see YOU on the 18th or 19th of November

Hmm...

He should be back by now...

[Rachinnj]

I am really getting worried about him also. Where is my Pumbza : (

[Mama Lake]

Pumbza,
Are you alive? Tell us how you are.
Cindy

[PhyllisRis]

If it makes y'all feel better, I Googled Pumbza (his real name) and there was no bad news about him....so at least he's done nothing to make the headlines!!! He's probably extremely busy catching up with his work after his vacation.
PUMBZA....come back!!!
Phyllis

[Rachinnj]

Or maybe his computer is down. It could be a lot of things. Let's not assume the horrible.

[Shasha]

{hi} there Everyone & Rachel

I’ve been really worried too!!! :sadeyes:

But Rachel’s post has just brought some things into perspective…. :comfort:
Or maybe his computer is down. It could be a lot of things. Let's not assume the horrible.

Thank you Rachel :bighug: Now I’m smiling cos I’m thinking maybe the new, slim, healthy, gorgeous, and most definitely loveable Pumbza has been whisked away – captured by some hot African lady… and she’s not letting him go ANYWHERE!! Especially not a Forum loaded with female fans!!

You are right, we should not assume the negative or that something is wrong... but, one thing is for sure, we are all missing our Pumbie Bear!!