My Take On JUDDD - How I lost 130 lbs

Before: 293+ lbs; After: 163 lbs with JUDDD & CAD combined (maintenance since March, 2014).  I HIGHLY recommend getting Dr. Johnson's book if you're serious about this journey.  The book is jammed packed with information.

JUDDD will work if you follow the protocol outlined in the book and therefore creating deficits.  JUDDD, in basic terms, is an alternating up / down pattern of eating.  There's a bit of magic (namely, the SIRT1 gene), but mostly it's math.  If it doesn't work for you, you are eating too much or not enough protein.  This lifestyle works because it keeps your metabolism primed with the UDs, while the DDs knock the weight off.   Follow the JUDDD formula outlined in the book, which will give you the UD amount appropriate for your size and age.


How I did it:
  
     1.  On DDs, 500 calories, eating them all within 1 meal, I ate to live, keeping carbs low for satiety's sake.   I did drink 1 or 2 diet pops and/or Crystal Light almost every DD, chewing a lot of sugar free gum to keep from eating.
     2.   UDs, I ate 100 g protein, letting carbs fall where they may.  I indulged in whatever dessert I was craving at the time.  
     3.   I do not recommend cutting out any food group.  Cutting out carbs is something I can't do long term, so to expect that wasn't reasonable.  
     4.  I followed "carb concentration" in weight loss mode, which helps curb cravings.
  
There are an unlimited number of ways you can do JUDDD; however, eating a lower level of protein will lessen any diet's effectiveness.   Calorie and carb cycling is the pattern that worked for me, but I do not believe that there is a better formula for weight loss.  (For maintenance, the only thing I've changed is to increase my DD calories to 1000+.)
  
     Protein go-to's are:

• Cottage cheese
• Beef gelatin
• Poultry
• Fish
• Whey protein
• Jennie O turkey burger
• Oscar Mayer turkey sausage
• Oscar Mayer turkey lunchmeat
• Eggs
• Mozzarella

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Overthinking: Making JUDDD Work for ME

     In my initial JUDDD forum, I was often accused of overthinking the process.  As-is, it's a totally calorie counting regimen, but I needed more structure.   From the get go, I was also paranoid of regain.   Maintenance is something I've voraciously studied, and at the same time, worked at fine tuning exactly what my mind/body need for this lifelong journey.
     "Just tell me what to eat!"  I often hear people say.  They want a diet plan they can follow and go on autopilot.  Isn't it better to eat the healthy foods that you're currently craving, fitting them into a bare bones outline, making it fit us individually?

     JUDDD the Jeneric way was quite simple:  500 calories (almost no carb); 2200 (100 g protein, filling the rest in healthy choices, including an "unhealthy" dessert if you so choose).

     Diet programs all have one thing in common:  they curtail calories.  If they curtail carbs, they're basically really sneakily curtailing calories.   Yes, curtailing carbs helps with satiety, protein helps keep the metabolism stoked, but the bottom line is calories, whether we want to admit it or not.  There have been studies proven to show that eating within a specific window does burn more calories, BUT... the percentage is too minimal for me to concern myself with adding another "rule".  What's 1-3%?  Forget it.  I don't need another restriction.  Keeping my calories low and protein up, is enough of a restraint, and it's worked for me.
     I established my pattern of very low carb on down days, with 100 g protein on up days through trial and error.  My rules are that simple.  However, I have taken a day, here and there, and eaten nothing but junk on an up day.  It's not something I do weekly, because the aftermath of a higher carb up day makes the following down day harder.  Carb overloading revs my cravings, which is something I'm always trying to prevent.  Carb restriction is a tool I use to control cravings.  It doesn't control the scale one iota.
     Enjoying holidays, even going overboard with calories/carbs, in the large scheme of things, it doesn't make things worse if it's compensated for afterward.  The afterglow of a bigger-than-average eating day spills over into the next day or two, paving the way for easier down days.
     I believe it is important to overthink this process, to make JUDDD work for you, in order to learn how your minds/bodies work.  To go on autopilot may work for awhile.  I often express to DH that I can't understand why so many balk at counting calories.  We balance our checking accounts, so what's the difference?  He is quick to point out that most probably don't.  Ahhh... there in lies the difference in personalities, perhaps.
     We often think of our diet in terms of our daily calories.  However, I plot out my menu and calories like a checking account:  If we overeat today and the scale doesn't reflect that tomorrow, I assure you, the scale will play catch-up in time.  By the same token, undereating may not show up on the scale tomorrow, but it will eventually reflect the work we've put into it.  It really is mostly math.
   

The Elephant in Every Diet Forum: Weight Regain

     My hobby horse is the elephant in the room in every diet forum: post diet regain. Why do I keep bringing it up?  From age 15-22, I lost 60 pounds, and I don't want to have to lose it again for a third time! No one wants to hear me say that statistically 98% regain their lost weight by year five. If we keep our heads in the sand, good luck with that.

     Staggeringly, 90% begin regaining almost as soon as they arrive at goal, gaining it all by year's end, usually with a bit more in tow. If that's the case, it stands to reason that once you get to goal, you MUST be more alert than ever. Get your head out of the sand and plan ahead. Fail to plan or you may as well plan to fail.

     My plan is to continue maintaining... one carb at a time. I refuse to go the keto or LCHF route. They don't have any better stats than I do, so why suffer?

     This is a good video about how to help prevent regain.  Lots of wise information:

https://youtu.be/A3gTGLulLnI

1000 Calorie Down Days

   

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

     Okay, bad analogy coming from a gal that owns a Siberian Forest cat cattery, but you get the picture.  😀   JUDDD can be done in an almost limitless fashion.   In most people, one higher day per week may be sufficient.  My body lowers its metabolic rate within a few days of starting a typical diet.  So in order for weight loss to not stagnate, I need at least 2 higher days per week.  This has been key for me, having done a lot of experimentation, including 2-3 down day stretches to offset days to fit in a lovely up day holiday.
     At 293+ lbs, I used 2200 / 500 until calling "goal".  (I ought to have started out with 2400, but my scale was defective.)   However, is it necessary to stick with this type of two day set only for this to work?
     Take these figures and stretch them out over three days, to arrive at the same calorie average, creating calorie deficits.  This is how a three day stretch would look, giving you the same deficit:

• Up day - 2100
• Dn day - 1000
• Dn day - 1000

     Your figures will be different depending upon the JUDDD calculator.  Having a decently high up day is crucial for this pattern to work both physically and mentally.  I'd shoot for at LEAST your TDEE, to reap the best benefit.  Of course, if your metabolism isn't compromised, this may not even matter, in which case, about any diet would work for you.

Food Police - Go Home!

     

It is Better to be Thin and Eat "Bad" Food Than it is to be Overweight and Eat "Good" Food... While I'm not advocating bad eating - in fact, it's just the opposite - it is important to understand that body weight supersedes other risk factors.

Dr. James Johnson, author of "The Alternate Day Diet", pg. 10

Your body weight is more important than the precise balance of healthy and unhealthy fats or whole grains versus refined carbohydrates or the number of servings of vegetables you eat.

Dr. Walter Willett, Harvard Medical School

     Food policing is putting the cart before the horse.  We are all a work in progress, and almost all of us work better when we take baby steps.

     We all know that we should be eating more healthfully.  We don't need to necessarily be told that organically grown vegetables are better for you than the moldy ones Walmart puts out.  We all know that drinking water's better for us than drinking diet pop, but if diet pop is keeping me from eating a donut, it is a better choice... at that moment.  Baby steps are what got me on board with weight loss, and baby steps are still how I make sustainable life changes.
   
     Dr. Johnson encourages us to eat what we normally would.  This is partially what intrigued me about this lifestyle.  He tells in his book that in time, our taste buds change, and we begin to crave healthier foods.  That has most definitely been the case for me.

     This will be a short addition to my blog because I'm craving Brussels sprouts, so I must run.  😀

Diary of a Binge

Diary of a Binge... 

I follow JUDDD, an up / dn pattern of eating, dovetailing it with CAD. Today was a planned 2200 calorie day. Spent the day out with a friend, I followed the "rules" of the basic CAD, ending my meal with dessert at around 4 pm, calories spot on. It was a good day, with a pat on the back.

At 7 pm, I showed DH a package of Dreamsicle flavored licorice I found at Walmart today, offered him one, and he said it was "close" to the real thing, telling me, "Come on, try one." I told him no, because if I did, an hour later I'd be sniffing out the kitchen looking for more, "Please don't push it."

"Come on, it's an up day. So what. It's only 55 calories. Come on." So I had one. It WAS good.

An hour later, I found myself in the kitchen eating a big bowl of Lucky Charms. Then I saw the bag of tortilla chips, calling my name. Haven't had those in ages. Probably going to be outdated soon. Those would be so good with refried beans and cheese, dab of sour cream. Mmmmm Made up a plate, figuring, I've already blown it.

It's just one piece of licorice, right? I'm like an alcoholic. As long as I stick with the CAD prescribed hour, I have more control. Outside of that hour, especially still early in the evening, it's just asking for trouble.

Tomorrow's another day.

UPDATE:  Next day, ended with 900 low carb calories, stuck to my plan.  😀