Ready, Get Set!

Feb. 25, meal plan availability notification.

Excited! Afraid!

Those were the emotions I felt when I received an SMS that meal plan is ready. That was 9 days after my blood chemistry result came out.

Feb. 28, meal plan endorsement at the clinic. 

They took photos of my front and side profiles. This is gonna' be used for the "Before and After" at the end of the program. Do I sound assuming? Nevermind, It's just a wishful thinking! Har har! 

During the one-on-one discussion with the Cohen consultant, and while reading my diet plan, I know that it is doable. With my strong determination and willpower, I know I can do it!

Feb. 28, shopping. 

Me, hubby, and friend went straight to S&R for the grocery shopping armed with the recipe and list. Most items are unavailable or out of stock so we were kind of disappointed. We transferred to Market-Market and luckily we were able to complete everything.

Feb. 29, preparation.

I will officially start the diet tomorrow, March 1. Hoping that day1 won't be a mess, so here are the stuff that I got myself glued to. :))

My non-stick frying pan

 

My Hello Kitty Weighing Scale

My Kitchen Scale

My Food Containers

   

Containers for my Yogurt

  

Poultry, Seafood, Meat in Ziploc, weighed and labeled

My spices

So I guess I am all set. LET'S DO THIS!!!

Acupuncture On The Side

Thank God it's Friday! And it's my ACUPUNCTURE day!  :))

It's my third visit with Dr. Zhang (A.K.A. Sister Zhang, She is also a nun). By the way, Acupuncture is a Traditional Chinese Medicine methodology that uses thin needles to stimulate specific points to correct imbalances or maintain a healthy body. They say that it is also beneficial to those experiencing infertility. That's the reason why I am doing this. Oh well, I've got nothing to lose and besides there's no harm in trying! :)

I arrived 15 minutes late for the 11AM appointment at the TCM clinic due to unexpected traffic in QC area. I signed in on their log sheet. The attendant ushered me to the room. I lay myself down to bed and waited for Sister Zhang. 10 minutes later, she arrived and very apologetic for making me wait. I felt the sincerity in her greeting and smile. :)) A very humble person indeed.

She examined my pulse and tongue to determine her diagnosis. She asked how am I from the past 2 sessions we had, how's my poopoo everyday, how's my sleep, and if I am ovulating already. She advised me to exercise and eat only fruits and vegetables. She plans to prescribe me  herbal medicines and tea drinks to aid ovulation. I told her I am into COHEN DIET and I am just waiting for my meal plan. She isn't familiar so I gave her the extra brochure I have in my bag. I need to inform her with this so as not to create conflict associated with the Cohen diet restrictions. She said she's gonna' check on Cohen in the internet. I said it's Juday's diet. She doesn't know Juday either. Ha ha! I should not be surprised. Sister Zhang is pure Chinese. And she is not into showbiz celebrities. She's a nun. I know, right!? he he!

 

She started to insert needles. 2 in my feet, 2 in my knees, 2 in my legs, 2 in my wrist, around 15 in my tummy area (I lost count because she inserted too fast but painless and I can't look down to count them all), and I think 5 in my head. Wow! That was around 28 needles all over my body. Amazing! :)

 http://www.womenhealthzone.com

The attendant attached an electronic device to the needles to stimulate my nerve in the tummy area for ovulation purposes. And this is called electro-acupuncture. This is not painful, all I can feel is a pulsating sensation that lasted for 20 minutes. Very relaxing. :)

photo not mine

Moxibustion therapy followed. The attendant put a moxa roll (various dried herbal leaves) both on my left and right knees and heated them. The gentle heat was so comfortable and soothing. I hate the smell though. This is basically done to address the underlying chronic cold in my system and expel them. Why? Because I am fond of eating and drinking cold beverages and exposed to too much air cooling system. Anyhow, for now, bye-bye cold drinks. :) But I can't say bye to aircondition. Especially now that its summertime. Awww!

My eyes were shut all the time. I almost slept but I got distracted by the snores from the room next to mine. Lucky him! Sorry me! he he! 

The whole procedure lasted for 30 minutes. Then I got up and left the clinic with great enthusiasm and faith. Faith in God, believe in myself, and believe in the power of Acupuncture.


Bye, Sister! Until next time! :))

The Art Of Waiting

Everytime I look at at my closet stuff, I feel sad. Everytime I face the mirror, I feel down and low. I can't help but ask myself what happened? What did I do to myself? What went wrong? Of course I have answers. In fact, I am very much sure of the answers. It all boils down to my being irresponsible. True! And truth hurts!

But wait! Let me explain first. 

I got pregnant 2 years ago. That triggered my big appetite. I eat everything without control. My miscarriage two months after did not stop me from eating. My appetite remained on the same state. I still can't control. 

We had OB/Gyne work-ups. I was given vitamins of all sorts left and right. I was given contraceptive pills to regulate my menstrual period. That alone contributed to my weight gain. That is a fact. 

photo taken from the internet

After the OTC pills, another set of medicines and injectables for my ovulation and artificial insemination procedures. Oftentimes I was put on bed rest to aid the implantation. That went on for several months. So my life had become sedentary. It was just an eat-sleep-eat kind of life. Who wouldn't get fat doing that?

Oh, lame excuses! I know! :)

Part of me agrees. I wouldn't gain weight if I was extra vigilant. If I was responsible enough to say no when it's good enough to say NO! It was all my fault. My Bad!

Seeing my clothes changed from XS to XL made me realized how irresponsible I become. Shopping and fitting of clothes took longer than  usual until I finally get my size. My Then and Now photos are hard to look at. Reactions and comments from friends I haven't seen for quite a while are humiliating sometimes. So I normally decline reunions to get away from this. Sigh!  :(

Good thing, there's  COHEN on earth! I'm glad we met. You are my last resort! Please be good to me!? he he!

Reading testimonials and hearing first hand information from 'Cohenite/s' (person under cohen program or a cohen graduate) made me realize that all things are possible. Seeing their 'Before and After' photos were all inspiring. I CAN DO THIS!!!  AJA!

But how soon can I start? That I don't know. Yoohooo, MEAL PLAN, where are you???

Meantime, while waiting for my diet plan, I did several research on the food and their preparation. And I came across with these things: 

1. Main source of carbs. Jacob's crisp bread. I am not sure of other brands yet.                                         

2. No pork meat allowed. Source of protein would be fish, seafoods, beef, chicken. So goodbye porky! :))

3. Kitchen Weighing Scale. Food are weighed according to your allowance. It has to be 100% correct. No more no less. Deviation not allowed. Else, it would mean a week delay in losing weight. No WAY!

4. Diet Soda. This is the best thing in the diet because I love them. 

However, I will still ask the consultant why are sodas allowed. I just have to wait for the one-on-one meal plan discussion.

Update: Not all diet sodas are allowed. Diet Rootbeer not allowed. Sprite is allowed. Pepsi Maxx is allowed.

As of time being,  I am still reading and collecting recipe and menu plans from different blogs and forums. Hopefully, I could prepare some of them and share them as well.

 

I will leave you with this beautiful quote:


“Even a snail will eventually reach its destination.” 


by: Gail Tsukiyama, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms.
 


So for now, let's just embrace the ART OF WAITING! 




P.S. 
All photos are not mine. I just copied them from the internet. 

Waiting in Vain for Cohen

Feb. 16, 2012. The date when I had my initial blood test.

I came in early at 9AM. Wow! I was the only patient inside the Healthlab clinic. I was accommodated right away. What a breeze!

All the while I thought they're gonna' extract 3 vials of blood for each category because in the referral slip there were three categories, namely: glucose fasting, urea & electrolytes, and liver function. But thank God! They only took 1 vial. I felt relieved! :)) I don't wanna' go through the same horrifying experience I had before where I almost passed out when 4 vials were extracted for my APAS and thyroid tests. Awww! Good thing, results were ok though. That's the best reward after all. :))

Though I am quite hungry after an 8-hour fasting, I still waited for my friend so we can go together for brunch. I only took a glass of water from the Cohen Office to fill me up while waiting. She arrived an hour later. I accompanied her to the clinic for her blood extraction as well. Hurriedly, we went to the nearby KFC. We feasted on a combo meal. Oh my! BIG GUTOM! :))

I went home and rested. Then I checked my email at 7PM. To my surprise, the lab results were there. That was fast! Really fast! I opened the email attachment and got excited again. But my excitement STOPPED right there and then. Oh no! LDH is not within the normal range. I got 120.44. Normal is within 135-214. Questions popped out. Why? What if I get denied? What will I do next? What will happen to me?... questions which I know would remain a question until I get a call from the Cohen Office for confirmation.

My blood chem from Healthlab Clinic, Medical Plaza

For some peace of mind, I searched on the internet what Low LDH in a blood test means.

"A low result in LDH may happen with high dose of vitamin C".  

Again, I felt relieved. I guess I need not worry that much. It won't be a reason not to accept me in the program. I hope I am right. I wan't to be positive. Let's not entertain negative vibes. Let's welcome positivity! ha ha!

It has been a week since then. I can still feel the excitement. I can feel the hardship. I can't wait to get started. Therefore, I am waiting in vain. haha! OA!

On the lighter side, I still have all the chance in the world to eat. Eat what I want without restriction. Drink all the beverages I need and want without the guilt feeling.

photo taken from http://images.cafepress.com/image/7914853_400x400.jpg

Pig out left and right. Enjoy food, enjoy life!  :))

Cohen Session Information

This post is outdated but I will tell my story, anyway.

photo not mine

Feb. 15, 2012, 6:00PM, my session information schedule. I left the house a little early in anticipation of the heavy traffic going to Makati during rush hour. I arrived about 40 minutes early so I had a short snack at Mc Donalds to kill time and to keep me full because I know I might get hungry during the long orientation. In short, takot magutom! har! har!

Off to the clinic I go.

Elevator ride to the 10th floor was the most exciting elevator ride I ever had. Mixed emotions of fear and excitement enveloped me. Fear that I might not be able to finish the diet and lose the 55K. Excitement that I will be sexier within the next 3 months or so. :) hmmmmn!  :)

I entered Room 1001. I saw plenty of people inside, filling up questionnaires. I gave my name to the lady in the information table. She was very accommodating. Handed me a paper and pen to fill-out. OMG! I can't put on my weight details. I'm a bit shy. I don't know why. hehe! But I wrote it anyway. I handed back the questionnaire to the lady and told me to wait.

The consultant called me in a small room for some question and answer and a little verification on the information details I wrote on. Then I had my weigh-in. Oh no! I'm a bit heavier than I thought. She computed my goal weight based on my BMI. And again, to  my surprise, I need to lose 16kg or 34lbs. I think that is too much. But I have to follow it anyway. hehe! 

So orientation on the diet program proceeded. Lectures on  how to go about the program, Q&A, and success stories. Amazing presentation and stories, indeed.

My friend and I decided to sign up after the discussion. We paid 55K and went home with a brochure and a little paper for the blood work referral in HealthLab.

Because we're excited.... lab test tomorrow!!!  :))

My Cohen Diet – How it all began

It's now 2012. Two years after my first pregnancy and miscarriage. Two years that I am a little chubby. So, my New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. This has been the doctor’s advise since day1 of my fertility consulation with my OB-Gyne/Reproductive Endocrinologist, because I ballooned from 53kg to 62kg. The heaviest weight in my entire existence. The doctor told me to shed fats to address my hormonal imbalance and help me conceive eventually. Temporarily, I stopped all my OB work-ups and tried losing weight by eating no carb, low carb, doing small exercises at home, attending free trial at the gym, and lastly, hot masque in Slimmers. All of these were  futile no matter how hard I try and no matter how much effort I put on.


I know and I’ve read several information and write-ups on Cohen programs but it never enticed me because it is costly. Knowing that I am just a plain housewife, I really can’t afford to enroll in such a program. Until one day, out of the blue, my husband offered me to try this diet program. One of his friends mentioned that friend of a friend got pregnant not so long after joining this program. I have apprehensions as anyone else, but I am willing to give a try anyway. Who knows this might be the answer to our long quest in getting pregnant, right?!


To make this long story short, I am now registered to attend the information session on Feb. 15, 2012, 6PM, Medical Plaza Bldg.


Let's see what happens next...