JUDDDD / Alternate Day Diet April 2009

[Ilpirata]

WELCOME TO APRIL JUDDDD!!!
(also know as Dr. Johnsons Up Day Down Day Diet or The Alternate Day Diet)

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES DIRECTLY FROM DR JOHNSON UP DAY DOWN DAY DIET SITE:



Getting Started

There are two phases: weight loss and maintainance. To lose weight, calorie intake on the “down” day is limited to 20% to 35% of daily calorie requirement, although it is strongly recommended that calories be below 25% when starting a weight loss diet. To maintain weight loss and for optimal health, down day intake is kept at 50% to 60% of calorie needs.

Use the following tool (go to Dr JOhnsons website for this) to calculate the down day calorie requirements. There is a strong tendency for overweight individuals to overestimate the "Activity" level, thereby allowing themselves high calorie allowance on the down day. To avoid this problem, for the first two weeks, you should consume no more than 500 calories on the down day regardless of your activity level.
Calorie Calculator
Gender Male Female
Input Height cm in
Input Weight kg lb
Input Age yrs mos
Activity
Restriction

Normal Calories* = kcal/d
Down Day Calories = kcal/d
*This calculator provides an estimate of your calorie requirement so that you can determine your down day calories. The "Normal Calories" shown may be more or less than you actually feel like eating on the up day. The important principle is to adhere to the down day calorie limit as closely as possible. You do not have to eat all the calories shown as "Normal Calories".


Hunger Management

The key to success on the down day is learning what works for you. Remember that you can eat tomorrow. The book will detail useful techniques for down day hunger management.


Diet Stress

Other diets require daily reduction in calorie intake or limit the type of food eaten. This requires intricate meal plans and menus, cooking separate meals, and often more expensive foods. This wastes a lot of time and creates great stress. With the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™, you are allowed to eat whatever you want on the up day and your choices are greatly simplified on the down day, markedly reducing stress.


Energy level/mood

We have observed a consistent, measurable dramatic increase in energy level which is noticeable within 7-10 days which peaks around three weeks on the diet. This is consistent with animal studies in calorie restriction. This is a desirable and reinforcing sensation which encourages you to keep going.



The Up Day

On the up day, you can eat anything you want and as much as you want, but do not intentionally over eat.

When starting out, it is important to not concern yourself with up day calorie intake because of the phenomena of diet stress and diet fatigue. Focus on staying under 20-25% on the down day.

Based on animal research, the type of food eaten on the up day is unimportant compared to adhering to the down day calorie limit. This will activate genes (SIRT1) which set in motion the beneficial processes which produce optimal health.

The Down Day

It is important to commit in advance to a certain number of calories on the down day. We strongly suggest 20 – 25% for the first two weeks, but find that 30 - 35% is more tolerable for some people for a prolonged period of dieting. The lower the calories on the down day, the better, but the most important thing is to find a caloric intake you can comply with on ongoing basis.

We strongly suggest using only commercially prepared shakes in the first two weeks. Later, prepared foods with the calorie content marked on them can be eaten.. This is critically important to help guard against the universal tendency to underestimate how much we are eating.

Body Weight

How much you lose depends on several factors, the average in our study was 2.5 pounds per week, more the first week or two.

You should weigh yourself only on the morning after a down day and not more often than once a week or fluctuations will lead to frustration.

Down Day Recipes

It is important to choose a shake which is personally tolerable and satisfying. There are a number on the market including Atkins Advantage, Slim Fast Optima, MetRx. For weight loss diet, it is highly advisable that for the first two weeks, you consume only shakes on the down day.

Delicious, easy, very low calorie recipes are available in the soon to be published book, The Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™.

What People On The Diet Have To Say
“I will never diet any other way. I lost 30 pounds three years ago which I have kept off without the awful feeling of being on the diet.” – Heidi P.
“There was never a time in my entire life when I wasn’t wheezing from asthma until after being on the diet for two weeks.” – Theresa G.
“I couldn’t walk 50 feet without resting. After three weeks on the diet, I spent all day walking around the shopping mall.” – Ellen M.
“My rheumatoid arthritis got better 31 days after starting the diet.” – Judy L.

(I dont believe we are allowed to link directly to another website here, but Dr Johnsons's plan is very easy to find if you google it.) We recommend that you BUY THE BOOK -- though much information is avaliable at his website and it is the simplest plan in the world once you have the basic information.

More information can be found on Dr. Judd's Website.
__________________

[Maryposa]

My birthday is April 7th. The only thing I want is a WHOOSH!

[vanilla_latte]

Yikes, I forgot it's APRIL already! Thanks, Kisha, for reminding me to get on over here. (I just love emoticons, can ya tell?)

Mary, my oldest son's bday is Saturday. I hope you get the Whooshie Fairy for your bday. Then send her to my house - I am 5 months overdue for a visit!!

[Clannad]

Yesterday's UD was good, but I had a lot of sodium. I'm trying to drink a lot of water now. And my DD today has gone very well. Kept the calories under 500.

My daughter has been waking up in the middle of the night for the last few days with bad dreams. I'm a zombie ...

[Redeemed]

I hope everyone has a great month. I look forward to reading the testimonies of success. DD for me. Cream of Wheat cereal with sf maple syrup. 2 fried egg sandwiches on LC bread. One cup homemade vegetable puree. What's a Whoosh?

[Ilpirata]

My birthday is April 7th. The only thing I want is a WHOOSH!

OMG! I bet you get one!

MY GOAL FOR APRIL IS:
Lose Four Pounds of body fat GONE FOREVER. That will be one pound per week average and i think i can do it. Hoping to weigh in at 190 by the end of April. And would be OVERJOYED if I could clock down into a new decade! 180's HERE I COME!

Additional Goals:
Not miss my meds - take ALL doses
Drink my water EVERY DAY
Stick to solid UD DD alternating
Not exceed 2000 cals on UD (not by much at least lol)
Not exceed 500 cals on DD
FOR THE WHOLE MONTH!

[Ilpirata]

What's a Whoosh?

Weeeeeel... I wish I could find the post explaining it in medical terms. Does anyone have that? My most basic explaination is that:

As the body loses body fat from the fat cells it tends to replace them with water in an attempt to maintain the fat cell size. Thus, we can be losing fat but not showing a loss on the scale. The FAT LOSS is masked by the water retention our body is putting into our fat cells. EVENTUALLY our body realized that the fat aint coming back and gives up the water - causing someone to lose several pounds of scale weight overnight. This is a COMMON phenomenon in Low Carb.

Okay, who has the link to the REAL explaination?

[Redeemed]

Thanks for the explanation, Kisha. I'm with you guys - I want a whoosh too!

[Maryposa]

I don't want to put a timeframe on it, knowing how my body likes to take this weight loss thing reaaaaaaal slow, but my mini-goal is to get down to 274, because I have not been below 275 in years. So my goal this month is to get closer to that goal.

Other goals for me are: Continue 6 days a week of exercise on current schedule. Drink more water. Keep AS servings to 2 a day max (oops might be hard on DD with using shakes and all ).

My UD will be around 2500cals
My DD will be around 500 cals (might be adjusted due to exercise, but I will try).

[Maryposa]

OK I adjusted my UD menu today to total @ 2500 cals.
Fat (65%) Carbs (2%)
Protein (33%) Alcohol (0%)

[brandyxoxo25]

Okay, I am pretty interested in how this works! Are you all doing this LC? This might be just what I need! But I dont think I could handle eating "anything I want" on the up days. I would be affraid it would send me off onto a year long carb binge. I would think though that this would be pretty easy to do LC. Are you all finding it successful?

[Maryposa]

Hi Brandy

oh h*ll no, I could not eat anything I want... tried that on weight watchers and stayed ON PLAN and gained 8 lb in two weeks!!!!! Yes, I am staying VLC, and Kisha is also LC, don't know about anyone else yet (new here! Yesterday was my first down day!)

[brandyxoxo25]

I think I might just try this! My only issue is, I HATE ******!! Lol! I loath having to plug my stuff in! But, if it means losing quicker, then I might just give it a go. Do we know how long it usually takes to find out if it is working or not? I am assuming that just like Atkin's, this isn't made for "everyone's" bodies. How long should I stick with it, before expecting results?

[Maryposa]

Brandy, I have done a zillion fat fasts, which are a mere 200-300 cals more than I ate yesterday, and I WHOOSHED big time like I haven't in a LONG time and this was after my FIRST down day!

The first two weeks is an "induction" where you only have 500 cals worth of protein shakes, and on up days you don't have to count calories... soooo, you wouldn't have to use ****** the first two weeks anyway. Just drink 3 atkins shakes a day on DD and eat whatever LC stuff you want to on UD.

[brandyxoxo25]

Hmmmmm, I wonder what the calorie count is on one of my egg creams. Not sure how I would do with Atkins shakes. I will have to do a little bit of research tonight, but if I dont have to use ****** on a regular basis, I am all for trying this out.

Oh, and WOOOOHOOOOO on the whoosh!! You, more than anyone else I know, deserves it!!!

[Maryposa]

Originally Posted by brandyxoxo25

Hmmmmm, I wonder what the calorie count is on one of my egg creams. Not sure how I would do with Atkins shakes. I will have to do a little bit of research tonight, but if I dont have to use ****** on a regular basis, I am all for trying this out.

Oh, and WOOOOHOOOOO on the whoosh!! You, more than anyone else I know, deserves it!!!

Awww, thanks

Ya, I just suggested the Atkins shake because it's easy. They don't have sugar alcohol or anything funky like the bars do, you know? But if I were at home, I would totally make my own, too! Instead I am at work most of the day though I do have a mini-blender thing... maybe I COULD make them here lol

[brandyxoxo25]

Yea, that aint gonna work! Lol! One egg cream, MINUS the egg, is still 244cal for one. Lol!

[brandyxoxo25]

Hmmmmmmmm, I just know myself and the Atkins shakes aren't going to be filling to me. They taste amazing though. I dont know. Is there a place where I can go to get suggestions for DD'd?

[Maryposa]

Brandy, maybe you can just check the other months JUDDD threads?
The thing I don't like about the DD is that it automatically makes me think "low fat" because all the "filling" things (really not satiating, just BULKY) I can think of that are very low calorie are basically fiber and/or water-filled (veggies, etc). I NEED fat to lose and stay satiated though, so I would rather go with low-volume of satiating food than try to get the feeling of being FULL on a down day. Yesterday I was not hungry at all, I think I ate that extra sugar-alcohol free protein bar the other day because I felt tired and these allergies are kicking my butt. But to be honest, I wasn't hungry. Maybe you can try 500 liquid calories (as suggested on the JUDDD site) for the first couple of times on down days and evaluate how you feel? Hope that helps!

[Maryposa]

Also maybe you can try a different egg cream recipe, try subbing almond breeze for HWC and water... 40 cals a cup and good balance of fat/protein/fiber/carbs.

[Leo41]

Brandy-

I've been doing JUDDD (and low carb) since the end of December--and I have never used ****** in my life. So don't worry about that.

Also, the ONLY reason that Dr. J suggests shakes for the first two weeks is that he believes most people don't have an accurate sense of calories, and it's so important to keep those DDs correctly. However, if you're anything like me, you're a calorie expert, so don't worry too much about shakes. What I limit myself to on DDs is things that have a calorie count I'm sure of---I never guess or estimate.

I make shakes often because I try to keep my protein up, even on DDs. But I buy whey protein mix and can get a nice shake for about 80 calories and 18-25 g of protein (depending on the brand I use). Today for example, I had two shakes, but I MUST have some real food, so my breakfast was a spinach/eggwhite omelet on two branscrisp crackers along with my black coffee (a necessity for me). I use Pam spray for the omelet, and the whole thing comes in at slightly less than 100 cal.

I've also had DDs with no shakes at all and still kept my calorie count to 400 (my DD limit).

And the "eat anything you want" on UDs is probably for people with 5 pounds to lose who can also eat carbs. I cannot eat carbs, and I also have to seriously restrict calories because I'm both post-menopause and hypothyroid with a resulting SLOW metabolism. On JUDDD, only the DD calorie numbers are important (although you won't lose if you eat too much on UDs). I aim for only 1200-1400 cal on UDs, all low carb, but I'm sure you can eat more. My point is that you shouldn't be deceived by that "anything you want."

However, what Kisha and I have both discovered (we've been doing this for about the same time) is that if we DO go overboard, like on vacation or a holiday, the recovery is much quicker than with standard low carb where any dietary indiscretion can so easily lead to another 4-5 days of overeating. We've both found that we can go right into the next DD, and any added weight comes off within the week usually.

[Ilpirata]

I do Low Carb too. But its really not that low carb anymore. Closer to fifty or sixty grams of carbs on UD and sometimes more (but always less than one hundred). I have hypothyroidism though and we need higher carbs to be healthy.

When I first started i did not do liquid DD. I ate things like two eggs scrambled with 1 cup of cooked broccolli... raw vegetables (carrots, red pepper, cellery). I found i did just fine with only one meal on DD. I'd eat it around dinner time. Usually a big salad made with green beans and celery and leafy greens plus some meat like chicken and low cal dressing. Its way different froM Atkins and yes I do go low fat low cal on DD when I eat on DD> Lately I've been doing liquid fasting on DD just coffee with whole milk and one or two high protein low carb canned shakes.

Its a different mindset yanno. its "I can eat this tomorrow" and honestly, if someone is losing fine doing just Atkins I don't really see a reason to switch to JUDD. If I could lose fine on just Atkins I'd definately be doing just Atkins lol. This is more extreme and its not exactly easy... but its working for alot of us.

I used it to break a three month stall.

[brandyxoxo25]

Thank you all so much for all the input!!!

What I think I am going to do is stick around and read for a while if ya'll dont mind. I just recently broke my stall by upping my fat, so I am not sure if I need to go to this "extreme" yet. I do however think the idea of tricking your body by calorie cycing is genious! I might try cycling my days, just not as low in calories yet, and see how that works.

[Ilpirata]

Thank you all so much for all the input!!!

What I think I am going to do is stick around and read for a while if ya'll dont mind. I just recently broke my stall by upping my fat, so I am not sure if I need to go to this "extreme" yet. I do however think the idea of tricking your body by calorie cycing is genious! I might try cycling my days, just not as low in calories yet, and see how that works.

O Fo Sho Girl! HANG OUT! Glad to have ya.

[brandyxoxo25]

Ya know! I just thought of the PERFECT DD food! Egg Drop Soup! Two full containers of chicken broth are only 80cal and then you just temper in egg whites, and add in some green onion! I actually think I am gonna make up a big pot of it tonight, and try it tomorrow!

[brandyxoxo25]

Chicken Broth- 4.8 cups - 80cal
Egg Whites- 8 large - 137cal
Gren Onion-2 small - 6cal
Chicken Breast- 4oz - 222cal

Total for day- 445cal
- 6.9 carbs
- 4.7 fiber
-2.2 net carbs
-73.8 protein
-10.5 fat

[brandyxoxo25]

Okay, I just made a batch of Egg Drop Soup, minus the chicken. I made enough for 4 servings so that I could eat a serving tonight. It was DELICIOUS!! And I am so full! So I think I might split tomorrows 3 servings up into 4 so that I feel like I am eating more. I added to much salt to my serving tonight, so I will have to watch out for that tomorrow. But since I didnt add the chicken, I was able to put a little butter in it. So for tomorrow I will have a total of 356cal! I could definately do this on every DD!

Oh, one more question.......... Since I weigh on Mon, Wed, Fri at Curves, I am assuming that those should be my UD? And if I have set days for UP and DD what happens on the 7th day? Does that make sense?

Mon- UD
Tues- DD
Wed- UD
Thur- DD
Fri- UD
Sat- DD
Sun- ???

[fatnutritionist]

Happy April ladies!! Today is my birthday and while Wednesday is usually a DD for us, today definately was not! Tomorrow will be though for sure. I love this way of eating!
Brandy, I am not doing low carb at all on this program and I lost 12 pounds in March. I was finding low carb was not working for me in general and wanted to try something completely different. I still post here though because the support is amazing.

April for me will be a toughie because I am going to be following a candida diet at the same time as doing JUDDD. My goal for weight loss is ambitious but we are going to the Florida Keys May 2nd so I want to get off another 10 pounds before then.

I hope everyone has another awesome month!

[heatherdazy]

Hi! Thought I should let you guys know I've been lurking... (just finished reading the March thread) and I'm maybe thinking about trying this.

Low carb just hasn't been working for me this time around. I've been dieting all year and I have nothing to show for it except ONE lb lost and a great deal of frustration gained.

I typically do best when I plan out my meals a day ahead, but don't have the willpower to do that kind of planing every single day. I feel like I've been pushed into having to track calories, but again, tracking everything everyday is just unrealistic for me.

I'm tired of obsessing over food... whether it's all the things I can't eat or wondering when I'm going to eat next.

I've noticed that certain types of programs work better for some than others. Do I sound like a good candidate for this plan or should I think about looking into something else?

[Leo41]

Brandy-

I, too, have one day "left over" because I keep my DDs at MWF all the time. I've tried keeping Sunday as a "medium" day, not eating quite as many calories as an UD, but it usually turns into an UD. But that hasn't seemed to hurt my losing much. Dr. J says the critical thing is NOT to do two DDs in a row. I'm glad you found out how much you can eat that you didn't realize with that egg drop soup! But I agree that if you're losing with regular Atkins, there's no reason to do this plan. My problem is that for a full year (after losing a substantial amount), I just kept gaining and losing the same 10 pounds. JUDDD helped me lose again.

Heatherdazy-

I've been reading your posts on the main thread, and I don't understand why you just don't try cutting some calories on regular Atkins before you go to the extreme of JUDDD. You recently posted that you tracked your eating and realized that you haven't been losing because of too many calories. If you can cut your daily calories and lose, it will be a lot easier than dealing with JUDDD.