One and a half years into maintenance, I had severe family stress. I eventually gained 16 lbs, even continuing to do the up / dn pattern of JUDDD. My UDs were just too high, truth be told. I felt out of control with my appetite, though I did NOT allow myself full reign. If I had, I'd have regained much more than 16 lbs.
I struggled for a long time. I finally came to the conclusion and fully realized that re-losing the same weight does NOT come off half as easily as it did initially. I've heard others describe this. I believe that this may be the crux as to WHY most regain their weight. Usually the regain begins almost directly after achieving goal, but in my case, I was so enamored and excited with my lifestyle and what it had done for me, that my goal "glow" stuck around for a long time.
When the rubber hit the road (stresses of life caved my resolve), I often felt very frustrated. I eventually stopped the gaining, and then went into full blown maintenance mode, which was difficult. I whined a lot in FB forums. Embarrassing, but hey, I'm human, right?
Amanda and I vented with each other, determined to get the handle on the situation. I told my hubby that I'd die rather than regain my weight, which shows my fears and desperation and not necessarily the best situation psychologically.
She and I began to read up on Spiking days (eating lower calories to get in caloric deficits, pressure valve released with higher calorie days) through the "Spike Diet" and "Controlled Cheating" books.
In a sense, the Spike / CC (Controlled Cheating) is JUDDD on steroids. Low days, "earning" calorie deficits", rewarding ourselves with a much higher calorie day (twice my TDEE). These can be further understood reading the books. I'm merely giving you my perspective and how they just fit me like a glove.
Our bodies only burn so many calories in a day. Keeping the higher days revs our metabolism, while the lower days knock the weight off. Calorie consideration is key to losing weight, but Spiking is something I've purposefully implemented within my way of eating which provides the necessary leptin levels needed for maintenance, especially.
The main difference (for me) that I've incorporated into JUDDD is that now I'm eating far more on UDs than I was allowing myself. The UD allotment just didn't seem enough for me anymore, this side of maintenance. To offset the "cheat day", I've been having two 500 calorie DDs. It may sound daunting; however, the first DD is easy breezy after such a feast. The second DD is a typical DD. Nothing fun about it, but it is tolerable if my fare is dense protein. The following day is yet another "Spike" day. In this case, anticipation is not greater than reality. 😂
In the end, also, it IS about keeping a calorie deficit, but changing the amounts from day to day (calorie cycling) to keep the metabolism stoked, having a very high day for the leptin release is necessary. The "Spike Diet" book describes this phenomenon far more than I can in a few words here.
