Six months after I began JUDDD, I entered a plateau phase, which lasted 3 months. It was a horrible time for me, where I began to wonder and fret about a whole lot of things regarding my new lifestyle. What was I doing wrong? (Found out later that it is quite common to hit a plateau after 6 months with this style of eating. Didn’t know that then. Got a lot of bad advice, accused of cheating, etc. Wasn’t a fun time.)
I sought for encouragement in a lot of diet forums, chased a lot of rabbit trails, bought a LOT of books on recommendation from others on the same journey. I ended up in weight lifting forums, as they tended more toward the ADF style of dieting. I bought the “Spike Diet” book, by Russell Branjord. Shortly afterward my plateau broke and the book sat on my shelf.
Six months ago, I mentioned the book to my good friend Amanda, and we began devouring it. This also led us to finding a book by Larry Goldberg, author of “Controlled Cheating”, who sustained a 175 lb weight loss for 32+ years. I don’t know about you, but when I hear of someone maintaining their lost weight for that long, it perks up my ears BIG time. 98-99% of weight losers regain their weight within 5 years, MOST begin regaining their weight near to the time that they hit their goal, most within 1 year. These are scary statistics! Forewarned is to be forearmed!
Russell Branjord, of the “Spike Diet” has been sustaining a 100 lbs loss for 10 years (later on adding 30 more lbs) to bring him up to 130 lbs total lost. His plan goes against what is commonly thought of as a way to lose weight. I lost my weight with JUDDD, but I am now maintaining by Spiking, which is a bit of a spin on JUDDD. I’m thrilled that he has come out with an updated Spike book. http://spikediet.blogspot.com/
How does the Spike Diet fit in with JUDDD? Very easily! Instead of following the JUDDD calculator for the up day, have a much higher calorie amount, followed by 2 or 3 DDs. In the end, it is about creating a deficit, but it is also about allowing yourself to have a very large up day. The higher calorie day gives you the oomph to carry on with the lower days, both keeping your metabolism revved and filling the need to eat a decent amount, thus relieving the pressure of constant day-after-day calorie restriction. Doing this often enough, at least once per week, will give you something to look forward to. It is not just psychological. It is also hormonal and physical. Medical science has not yet caught up with how our bodies work especially in the area of weight loss.
How does the Spike Diet fit in with JUDDD? Very easily! Instead of following the JUDDD calculator for the up day, have a much higher calorie amount, followed by 2 or 3 DDs. In the end, it is about creating a deficit, but it is also about allowing yourself to have a very large up day. The higher calorie day gives you the oomph to carry on with the lower days, both keeping your metabolism revved and filling the need to eat a decent amount, thus relieving the pressure of constant day-after-day calorie restriction. Doing this often enough, at least once per week, will give you something to look forward to. It is not just psychological. It is also hormonal and physical. Medical science has not yet caught up with how our bodies work especially in the area of weight loss.
