August JUDDD (Alternate-Day Diet)

[onceNforall]

Originally Posted by nitenurse

New DD, after a 2000 ud which I am allowed, so today should be easier. I took a peach, pitted half of it, threw in magic bullet skin and all with a little stevia and water. Then when that was liquified I put in a half scoop of plain protein powder, pretty tasty. Needed a quick fix because I hadn't eaten breakfast, back to the PLAN AHEAD for coming days, that always has been a failing of mine. Wt still a couple pounds up and down, too much salt probably, I use chicken boullion when I am in a hurry. again, PLAN AHEAD.sigh.I am such a slow learner.

Nitenurse....I have to be the ULTIMATE slow learner of the group! I have tried JUDD several times and always given up after 2-3 weeks as I have had no control of my UD's. Have one good one under my belt and feeling inspired!

Jessica....here's to a totally "on plan under control" UD for you too!! I swear if I can just keep my UD's under control, I can make JUDD work for me.

[Leo41]

You're probably all tired of hearing this from me, but planning is key to this WOE--and perhaps any plan.

I have chicken 'brewing' at the moment so that tomorrow I can skim off the fat from the broth, add zucchini, spinach, and onions, puree it all, and then freeze single portions for next week. I've come to love soup in the evening.

I also get four meals of chicken with the thighs that I'm using the brew the broth. My favorite is to make a chicken and broccoli dish like I get in the Chinese restaurant--only I don't use any of their sauces, etc.--just a little EVOO and garlic.

I eat out of my freezer a lot!

[snaggle]

Leo, I have a question pertaining to the above discussed issue of regular low carb bounceback vs. JUDDD lack thereof. You eat very lowcarb, right? I feel like, for me, the reason I don't have the weight bounceback when I briefly go off plan like I would with Atkins is because I do eat some carbs on my up days. Do you think that is is because of something (SIRT, perhaps?) about JUDDD, or something else? Unlike me, you eat very low carb every day, so it amazes me that you continue to have very little bad bounceback reaction when you do "cheat". My theory is that rather than the SIRT, that it is more like the phenomenon that Dr. Schwarzbein calls "healing the metabolism." In her first book, she says it can take a couple of years. I am just wondering what you think is going on because you are so in tune with how your body reacts to food.

[itsmeshelly01]

Good everyone and thanks for all the congratulations! He is a beautiful little boy and i am so proud of my daughter. She did wonderful yesterday. First time can be tough, even though she did have an epideral...lol But she had to push so much since this was her first time and the bones arent used to having babies. She did great!

I have had a very good controlled UD today. I had 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1/4 cup chopped pecans and then 3 scrambled eggs for brunch. For lunch i had a good size portion of pork loin from the deli at the grocery store by my job. This i always do on my UD's while at work. They have great meat and thats what i crave during lunch. Their pork loin is amazing with just enough fat to make it so tender and juicy. Dinner will be a hamburger patty and salad. As of right now im looking at a little under 1500 cals for the day. Its lower than usual because i didnt make my protein shake during my workout this morning. I am not feeling well and with not getting much sleep yesterday i decided to take this week off of working out. Without having that scoop of protein in my coconut milk that has lowered me about 150 cals so its still about what i usually eat on a UD. I usually average about 1600 to 1800 cals.

leo that soup is gonna be so good. Thats what im eating on DD's right now. I made it over the weekend. I also added a package of pictsweet sliced squash after i pureed the spinach, zucchini and onion just to have something to really "eat" in the soup. Its awesome and so filling and so low in carbs. I think my new favorite is eating the marketside herb mix salad from walmart on DD's for dinner. The one container that says its 4 1/2 cups and 1 serving gets me 3 servings. I dont see how anyone could eat all of that but the whole 4 1/2 cups is only 15 cals. Its a great salad and very healthy. I add a can of canned baby shrimp or canned crab and the whole salad is only about 120 cals.

I need to check out that spray dressing that doesnt have any calories. I have been using the walden farms ranch but its not all that good you knwo. I add some franks hot sauce to it and that helps a bunch. Im gonna try one of the italian flavors from walden farms and then if i dont like that im not wasting anymore of my money. I will tell you that i dont really have a problem with the peanut butter. Its definitely different but i put it on a piece of celery and it wasnt too bad. Ill keep it around for a DD emergency when im starving!

Its wonderful to see you guys doing so well and losing weight! Isnt this woe just great. Im not really losing and thats great with me. I lost the weight i had gained really quick adn now im just staying the same. My body likes where i am and i dont think i could really lose unless i just started starving myself, especially as long as im exercising. I want to look and feel healthy so im perfectly happy where my body is telling me i need to stay.

Well, heading to check the main boards and see whats going on for a bit then make some dinner.

[Leo41]

Snaggle-
I'm really not sure what is going on with the carb issue. I've lost my JUDDD book somehow (I may have loaned it to someone and forgotten!), but someone posted here a while back that Dr. J claims that the SIRT1 (or JUDDD itself) heals insulin resistance.

I've been very sensitive to carbs my whole life, getting a voracious appetite from high carb eating--and weight gain of course. And when I was doing generic low carb, if I vacationed for a week and just ate a few more carbs than usual, I'd see a gain of 7-8 lbs, and it would take forever to lose those lbs.

I was only on JUDDD (low carb all the way) for a little over 3 months before I took a 4-day vacation in New Orleans--and ate a lot--and carbs, too. I didn't experience any appetite increase, came home 2 lbs heavier, but lost 3 lbs that week.

On my most recent cruise, I ate a few carbs (not much), but had a really high carb day on the journey home, and yet I didn't gain at all--in fact, I stepped on the scale two days later (ate high calorie/carb on Sunday and was on the scale Tuesday morning) and registered a loss! Normally, I'd have some bloat from that Sunday carb fest. So it seems to me that JUDDD does "something" that's good in terms of my insulin response--which is why I plan to continue with it in maintenance.

And I plan to continue eating low carb--except for planned carbs because I think it's good to eat a high carb meal once a month or 6 weeks. I don't call it a 'cheat' because it's a choice I make.

[verbqueen]

Originally Posted by onceNforall

Nitenurse....I have to be the ULTIMATE slow learner of the group! I have tried JUDD several times and always given up after 2-3 weeks as I have had no control of my UD's. Have one good one under my belt and feeling inspired!

Jessica....here's to a totally "on plan under control" UD for you too!! I swear if I can just keep my UD's under control, I can make JUDD work for me.

Sounds like we are living parallel lives, here. But I'm doing really good today--eating exactly what I had planned. One more meal to go. We can do this!

[onceNforall]

Rough DD today for me....ended up with 660 calories. However, I'm ok with that because I know some DD's I just don't seem to be able to stick to the 500 and had figured out 600-700 would still work for me. I think it's a better option than throwing in the towel as soon as I go over 500 and think "I blew it". That leads to dangerous behaviors for me.

I need to try some of these soups everyone is making....love soup and find it very filling. The extra salt always makes me retain fluid, but if I'm making my own I should be able to control that.

Looking forward to my UD tomorrow....allowing myself 1800-2000 calories. Gonna continue with these numbers for a couple of weeks and see what happens with my weight loss. As long as I'm losing (no matter how slowly) I will be happy. Just want to see some kind of a loss at the end of each month.

[verbqueen]

I'll bet 660 calories will work just fine for your Down Day, once. Stay with it--you're building momentum and really getting in the swing of it. You're doing great.

I'm about to eat my ON PLAN dinner, and call it a day.

[Redeemed]

Wow! You guys were busy posting today.

Sherrie You must be so encouraged. Congratulations on the weight loss!

Shelly I'm glad your daughter is doing well. I can't believe you have stayed on plan with all the excitement. Good for you.

I am going to weigh a couple of days early (tomorrow) because Saturday is going to be a big dinner. It was supposed to be a DD, but I have friends who want to see me; and my son wants to invite a new love interest and her parents over for dinner. They're from China but speaks English. My son speaks Chinese, so this should be cute. So, we're all going to get together and have dinner at my place. I love the flexability of JUDDD. I'm glad I have three days off work now so I can get things organized.

[Leo41]

Sherrie-
You're absolutely right to just add a few calories on a DD (if necessary) rather than blow it completely. When you just go off completely, you reinforce the idea that you can't do it, whereas a DD of 600 or 700 calories won't really hurt you much--if at all.

Look at it this way, if you had 600 cal yesterday and have an UD of 2000 cal following, your daily average is still a respectable 1300 cal.

It's probably best not to try to lower UD calories to compensate (as some try to do) because that just leads to 'diet stress,' and that's what JUDDD tries to eliminate. Just enjoy your UD, and plan your next DD.

[Redeemed]

morning001.gif

Good morning everyone. I weighed today only to find I have gained three pounds. Two days ago when I made the speghetti, I know I ate way too much. We also had ice cream. So today was pay day for sure! I have a question: do you think I would get the same results with an alternation schedule of 700/1900 as I would doing 500/2100? It would be the same calorie usage at the end of the week. I may try this starting Sunday.

[onceNforall]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

Attachment 32798

Good morning everyone. I weighed today only to find I have gained three pounds. Two days ago when I made the speghetti, I know I ate way too much. We also had ice cream. So today was pay day for sure! I have a question: do you think I would get the same results with an alternation schedule of 700/1900 as I would doing 500/2100? It would be the same calorie usage at the end of the week. I may try this starting Sunday.

As you know, I am no expert at JUDD, but isn't the whole premise of weight loss calories in, calories out? (and a lot of people believe it's the amount of calories consumed, not the exercise that really leads to weight loss).

I am using that premise myself....have allotted myself 600-700 calories on DD's and 1800-2000 on UD's. That gives me a daily average calorie range between 1300-1450 for the week, which I figure I should certainly lose at with the weight I am now. If I manage a 500 calorie DD, that's great....but not gonna beat myself up if I go over. I think (for myself) it's more about attitude and avoiding the feeling of deprivation that determines my success.

I say go for it, Redeemed and don't beat yourself up over the 3lb gain.

[Leo41]

Redeemed-
That 3lb 'gain' is likely water retention because even if you went over your JUDDD calorie limit, I doubt that you had 10,500 cals of spaghetti and ice cream, which is what 3lbs represents in calorie terms! However, like you, I'd like to get rid of that, but I find that JUDDD is usually quite forgiving, and a couple of DDs should do it.

As to your question about changing to 500 cal DDs. I agree that Sherrie is doing what works for her, but my understanding from reading the book is that the bigger difference between UD and DD the better. For example, the advice for maintaining is to raise the DD calories (i.e., make the gap less), but not just to raise calories in general. If that's the principle, then the bigger the difference between UD and DD, the better.

Don't do this, Sherrie, because, as you know, you need to avoid deprivation, and low DDs were a problem for you in the past. We all have to do what works for us, and knowing that is the biggest advantage in this process of losing weight, IMO.

[onceNforall]

Leo...you know that's so true. Everyone has to figure out what works best for themselves. I swear what has really turned things around for me this time initially was joining The Daily Weigher thread on LCF. Being accountable each and every day to that scale and posting my weight has really done the trick for me. I even quit WW, cause was using that as a weekly accountability tool. I have never (well not in years and years) managed to lose weight consistently for four months before this.

Although JUDD gives me more day to day fluctuations, I think I can be at peace with that cause my ultimate goal is trying to reach the goal I have set for myself for the month (and ultimately making each month another loss). I'm a very goal oriented person, so this seems to be working for me. Doesn't seem to matter that I vary so much in weight throughout the month as long as at the end of each month I'm a few pounds less than the month before.

We have to know ourselves (mind and body) to figure out what works for each of us individually. Love the Daily Weigher thread for that too....everyone doing something different and no judgement as to what's right or wrong....just accountability and lots of encouragement and support. That's what I've always like about this thread too...the amount of support and encouragement that everyone has for one another.

The whole concept of JUDD works for me as I have a very hard time sticking to anything that's tightly regimented or that never allows me to have certain foods....will sabotage myself every time. I don't do well in life in general being told I CAN'T do something......must be a bit of the rebellious teenager still left in me at this ripe old age.

I just know I'm determined to make JUDD work for me this time....no matter how much I have to tweak it!!

[JKat]

Good Morning everyone

I was going to start judd tomarrow. I was wondering if you guys can share some insight on whats worked and not. I do have a couple questions if you do not mind??

What brand of shake/bars did you use the first two weeks?

What does your up day look like?? I have been on low carb for a very long time. I do not see me eating sugary stuff. I would like to have a few cocktails on date night with my husband and maybe something high in carbs that day.

Does anyone take l-glutamine for cravings on DD?

On up days do you eat till full and stop? This I am worried about. I do not want to over eat. Do you monitor your calories on this day?? Do you stay under your maintance calories??

I have been stuggling now for since surgery last october. Even following low carb (which always worked for me) I gained 12pounds that I can not get rid of. I have been to the dr. had extensive thyroid and adrenal bld work checked. Right now they are just saying that I turned 40 and my body is starting the change. NOthing I ever did to maintain my weight has worked. I lost about 50pounds and maintained for about 7yrs. I have been very frustrated!!!

Any advice or words or encouagement.

Thanks or listening!!!

[snaggle]

Hi J-Kat,
welcome to the juddd group. We have some other newbies and then some of us who have been at it for a long time. Leo, our star, just hit goal, and is full of juddd wisdom.

It is not a quickie, fast results type plan. In fact, if you are a long term low carber, and have been on other plans, it may take a couple of weeks for the SIRT to kick in and for the lbs to come off, especially if you are a notorious slow loser. When I follow strictly, I can lose 1.5 lbs per week avg.
The first down days may be tough, but they make us stronger.....
'"we can do hard things" isn't our motto for nothing.
Just remember the other motto, "I can have it tomorrow", and it helps get through a tough down day.
Only weigh after down days, and preferably, just once a week.
That is all I can think of for now, but good luck!

[Leo41]

Hi Jodie!

I'll try to answer your JUDDD questions but first I want to suggest that you take a look at the 'sticky' at the top of the thyroid thread on this board--the one that asks "Are you normal. . .?" [or something like that]. Getting a diagnosis is more challenging than most people realize, and I was told that I was 'normal' for over 5 years when I was hypothyroid the entire time! The doctors are great for telling women that it's just 'aging,' and, unfortunately, many of the thyroid symptoms are vague enough to be just aging!

I did not use bars or shakes during the first 2 weeks of JUDDD. Dr. J recommends them because he believes that most people underestimate their calories (which is true from research), but some of us are 'veteran' calorie counters and can manage that. I began with shakes because I thought it would be 'easier,' but I discovered that artificial sweeteners make me hungry--and that's not a good thing for DDs. So I have always eaten 'real food' on DDs--although I don't eat anything unless I know exactly how many calories it contains (either from the package or from calorie king dot com).

If you want to use bars and shakes, I don't think it matters what kind you use, but I'd suggest you stay low carb to keep the appetite suppression of ketosis because I'd never get through DDs without staying strictly low carb all the time.

The UDs have been a challenge for some people here who reacted the way your post suggests--i.e., they used them for overeating, and that just isn't the role of the UDs. In fact, Dr. J admits that the calculator number for UDs really isn't relevant. If I used the number I get, I would gain. I do JUDDD because I need to seriously restrict calories, so I count on UDs, too, but of course I eat more. Think of the UD as 'reasonable' eating.

Keep in mind that alcohol will always be a problem when you're trying to lose weight because the body immediately uses that for fuel and doesn't burn your own fat. So if you drink alcohol on a regular basis (e.g., weekly), you might find that it stalls you. Then, again, it might not. Years ago, when I was doing generic low carb, I drank a glass of wine at least 3-4 times a week with my evening meal, and I lost just fine (I'm a very slow loser, so I can't blame the wine).

You will also experience greater fluctuations in weight on JUDDD than just standard low carb, probably because of the calorie cycling, so it's advisable not to weigh too often--unless you're one of those people who isn't bothered by seeing the scale go up.

I hope this is helpful, but just post again if you have other questions.

[Redeemed]

Jodi 651171i085p8my3i.gif

Hope you enjoy your JUDDD journey!

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by Leo41

Snaggle-
I'm really not sure what is going on with the carb issue. I've lost my JUDDD book somehow (I may have loaned it to someone and forgotten!), but someone posted here a while back that Dr. J claims that the SIRT1 (or JUDDD itself) heals insulin resistance.
I've been very sensitive to carbs my whole life, getting a voracious appetite from high carb eating--and weight gain of course. And when I was doing generic low carb, if I vacationed for a week and just ate a few more carbs than usual, I'd see a gain of 7-8 lbs, and it would take forever to lose those lbs.

I was only on JUDDD (low carb all the way) for a little over 3 months before I took a 4-day vacation in New Orleans--and ate a lot--and carbs, too. I didn't experience any appetite increase, came home 2 lbs heavier, but lost 3 lbs that week.

On my most recent cruise, I ate a few carbs (not much), but had a really high carb day on the journey home, and yet I didn't gain at all--in fact, I stepped on the scale two days later (ate high calorie/carb on Sunday and was on the scale Tuesday morning) and registered a loss! Normally, I'd have some bloat from that Sunday carb fest. So it seems to me that JUDDD does "something" that's good in terms of my insulin response--which is why I plan to continue with it in maintenance.

And I plan to continue eating low carb--except for planned carbs because I think it's good to eat a high carb meal once a month or 6 weeks. I don't call it a 'cheat' because it's a choice I make.

I have the book; and Dr. J. does claim that JUDDD improves insulin resistance.

[Leo41]

Thanks for posting that Redeemed.

That's certainly been my experience. After a lifetime of being super-sensitive to carbs, I can indulge (slightly) with fewer problems. I'll always stay low carb, but it's nice to know that I can have an occasional indulgence without problems.

After I've been maintaining for a while, I might experiment to see whether I can include things like a sweet potato or a little brown rice on a regular basis, but it's too soon for me to consider that.

[verbqueen]

Hi, Jodi. I'm one of the newbies, so I'll give you a newbie perspective on my experiences after 3 weeks of JUDDD. First of all, I am a person who lost very well on Atkins 72 for six months, then suddenly jolted to a complete stop on December 15. I've been slowly creeping up in the months since December, maybe a half pound a month, while still following pretty careful low carb eating. I experimented with zero carbs, with increasing my carbs, with very low calories, with vigorous aerobic exercise, etc., and nothing had any impact on my plateau. I have just had fairly extensive (and exPensive!) testing on my thyroid, and got no answers or help there. I am also beginning menopause--still menstruating but it's becoming infrequent and irregular. I am 53.

BUT--the good news--I lost 3 and a half pounds on my first two weeks of JUDDD. That doesn't quite put me back to my lowest, but almost. I will weigh tomorrow to see if the third week caused me any losses. So I have hope that this may work for us sluggish-metabolism mid-life types. I think my metabolism needed to be shaken up. My body seems to adapt to consistent calorie and carb at any level, and stop losing. I have real hope that this "feast and famine" metabolic confusion is going to work for me.

As far as my experience of JUDDD so far, it's been pretty darned easy for me on the Down Days. The first one seemed kind of shocking and deprived, but after doing just a couple of them, I don't even feel that hungry on DDs any more.

I'm one of the ones Leo talked about who has had more trouble with the up days, losing track of what I'm consuming and ending up not sure what I ate that day and feeling out of control. However, yesterday I did a really good Up Day--tracked every calorie and stayed with what I planned, and felt good and satisfied. I didn't even finish my dinner plate--got too full before I'd eaten all I'd allotted myself.

So do give it a try--and I think you need to give it a good several weeks to be fair. You can't tell after only 2 days how you will be able to handle it and how your body will react.

And welcome!

[JKat]

Wow thank you for all the welcomes and advice.

I also keep a good track on calories and have always weighed everything.

When I plugged into the calculator on his site my low should be for 25% 400calories.

Any suggestion on how high my UD should be??

Leo what did you eat on down days in the begining. Not so sure I know what reasonable eating is?? Should my maitance calories be what I shoot for n UD?? I want to make sure I do not overeat.

Verbqueen What do you eat on you DD.

It sounds like everyone stays more low carb foods on UD. Do you guys eat fruit?? Do you count carbs at all or just calories??

[verbqueen]

Speaking only for myself, I am eating more carbs than I did on Atkins, but still avoiding sugar and large amounts of wheat (I do usually eat a high fiber wasa cracker or two on a down day, so I'm getting some wheat in that.) I've also discovered that those 100 calorie bags of microwave popcorn take me a long time to eat and keep me quite full for a long time, for the 100 calorie price tag, so I've been using those.)

On the up days, I have not yet eaten fruit, but I have eaten beans several times, and limited amounts of whole grains. My main concern at this point is calories. Once I get some successful time on this plan behind me, I may looking into lowering the carbs even further.

I'll copy and paste a typical DD food intake from a recent post:

B--an Atkins daybreak breakfast bar (most of them are right around 150 calories, or a bit less), black coffee

L--tuna (I use the starkist chunk light foil envelope, 80 cals) and a wasa high fiber wafer (35 cals) with a light laughing cow cheese (also 35 cals)

D--couple of Hebrew National fat free franks (40 calories each) with mustard and a salad with that spritz-on no calorie dressing, or celery stick with light Laughing Cow cheese, or maybe another wasa wafer

I have kept my Down Days right at 500 calories, and my Up Days range from 1600-2000 (I think--haven't always been successful at keeping close track.)

[Redeemed]

Jodi I just count calories. So far I have been able to lose around 26 pounds. DD's are automatically low carb for me because I usually eat eggs, meat, vegetables or soup. I save fruit for my UD's.

[onceNforall]

Jodi

I have attempted JUDD several times without success, mainly due to out of control UD's....not counting calories at all on UD's and resulting in some binges. This time I'm playing it smarter. I don't do low carb except for basically no flour/sugar but definitely eat lots of fruits and veggies and an occasional sweet potato, brown rice, LF ice cream....I do eat some artificial sweetners....SF pudding one of my favorites treats.

I have been having success on DD's starting with a HB egg....seems to keep me satisfied a long time....then an Atkins shake mid afternoon and then usually a huge salad with some grilled chicken or tuna on it for dinner. If I snack in between I might have some cucumber or celery or carrots. I'm doing 1800-2000 calories on UD's (although have just started this week counting calories on UD and has been a little lower than that) and don't really always plan ahead of time, although I know that's the smart way. I usually allow myself around 300 calories for breakfast, 500 for lunch, a 100 calorie snack and then 800 or so for dinner with a 60 calories SF pudding for a treat at night with 15 calories of Reddi Whip. I have to have a sweet treat to look forward to. (Of course that's probably why I haven't succeeded in weight loss all these years...64)

As long as you keep your DD's <500calories those first 2 weeks you should do fine. Sounds like you've been eating "reasonably" for a long time so UD's shouldn't be a problem. Good luck....very supportive group here.

[Leo41]

Jodie-
When I started, my calculator number was 400 cal for DD, and here's how I figured my UDs. I knew that I had to eat <1000 cal daily to lose. A word of explanation before you freak out over that number. I'm both post-menopausal and hypothyroid and have a seriously slow metabolism. My endo agreed when I told him that I could not lose unless I ate less than 1000 cal.

Trying to do that on a daily basis was so frustrating that I often overate and stalled for almost a year (mid-way in my weight loss), and that's what brought me to JUDDD. Since I would be eating 400 cal on DDs, I calculated 1400 for UDs, keeping in mind that I wanted to keep my DDs to just M, W, Fri (not a true alternation, but easier for me), which would leave either Sat. or Sun as a 'medium day' in which I'd eat those 1000 cal (i.e., my daily average).

This wasn't too low because I lose only a pound a week. However, I also found it helpful to have a high calorie day (perhaps 2300) about once a month. The first time I did that, it was 'unplanned,' but I lost so well after, I did a little research and found that when a person is doing such low calories as I do, one high calorie day every 4-6 weeks will help raise the leptin levels (that are depleted from eating so little) and help loss.

Anyway, if you know approximately the daily calories on which you can lose, fix your UD so that the average of your UD and DD will be that number.

I have always eaten low carb, but I also ascribe to the tenets of Protein Power, so my focus on DDs has always been protein. I mainly eat fish and egg white "omelets" (1/4 cup of egg whites plus a little chopped spinach microwaved in a cup--50 cal). A lot of people here focus on bulk and always have salads or veggies on DDs, but I usually don't because protein keeps me satisfied--along with gallons of black coffee in the am and green tea in the pm. If you get really hungry and don't mind the sodium, a giant dill pickle has only 5-10 cal, and I find it really kills the appetite. It also works if you have a craving for something sweet.

I also began making my own chicken or beef broth (I'm really sensitive to additives, so I don't like to buy soup). I discovered that adding vinegar and hot sauce made it really tasty and oddly filling for only about 35 cal a cup! Today I made a batch and added pureed onions, spinach, and zucchini, and I doubt that it's more than 60 cal a cup. If you want to buy soup, I think you'll find there are a lot of low calories options that might be satisfying on DDs--especially when the weather gets cooler.

Over the 18 months that I've been doing JUDDD, I've developed these things I've described, and you should do the same. With so few calories, don't eat anything that you don't like! I sometimes think that I like DDs better than UDs because the things I eat are so 'special.'

This is probably much more than you want to know, but I'm very happy with JUDDD because it enabled me to lose; I haven't been this weight since the 6th grade!

[itsmeshelly01]

Welcome Jodie!!!!
I am another kinda newbie. I guess i have been doing JUDDD for about 1 month now, maybe a little longer and i just love it. I lost about 125lbs and have been maintaining for a little over 4yrs eating lowcarb. I recently started seeing the scale go up and did not like that at all. There have been a few times i have seen the scale creep just a bit and i would go back to induction, no problem and lose it. Well, there were some stresses going on in my life and just doing induction was not enough this time. I needed some real control in my life and thats when i found JUDDD. It has been amazing in keeping me in control and keeping me focused. Since the beginning i have done pretty well on DD's and UD's. Once i set my mind to do something i go all the way, im kind of a control freak that way. My first week of DD's were pretty tough. There were times i felt so hungry that i kinda got lightheaded but it passed fairly quickly. I didnt do shakes, i started off eating a couple of boiled eggs and tuna and then cabbage slaw for dinner, which was great but jsut wasnt filling me up like i needed. Thanks to redeemed i started being really interested in the soups she would make. I have since started making all kinds of soups that i make on the weekends and portion them out for the week. The soups have been just what i needed. They are very filling and very low in calories. I have started having a shake in the morning, eas advantage chocolate 110 cals, because i jog in the mornings and i found i need some calories first thing or i get very very tired and lethargic through the day. So i now usually have my shake for breakfast, homemade soup for lunch and sometimes dinner or a big salad for dinner. If i need a snack i bring a little baggie to work with some cut up cucumber and a few baby pickles. I lost 4lbs my first week and 2 my second. Since then i have just been maintaining, which i what i want to do at this point. I usually eat about 1600 to 1800 cals on UD's and focus on protein. I eat more carbs on DD's with the veggies and hardly any carbs on UD's. I think that cycling like that really has helped me alot. I have found now that my body i think is ready for my DD's because i dont seem to get really hungry but then on UD's my body knows i can eat so i am usually ravenous by the time i get to work...lol

I have tweaked things alot since i started to see what works for me and thats what you will do too. You will find if you can handle eating very little or need the volume of the veggies and salads. I need the volume most of the time. Today i havent really been hungry and have only eaten about 250 calories so far. I'll have some soup later probably.

Everyone on this site is so wonderful and so helpful. I would never have been able to be successful so far at this without their advise and support. They are great!

Again welcome and you will do great!

[onceNforall]

A more challenging UD for me today....eating out for both lunch and dinner. Came in at 2077 calories, but guess my 1600 on Wednesday helped balance that out.

My challenge is to do a DD tomorrow! Don't think I've ever accomplished one on Saturday...usually do the M W F routine. This week was a toss up cause I have social obligations on F Sat and Sun this week. Will just do my best and try to plan for wise choices.

Well, as you all know I gained 6lb while on vacation last week (extended weekend til Monday), but as of this morning have taken off 5.5 of them since starting my DD on Tuesday. I'm really happy with that and planning on making it a good weekend. Weekends do seem to be my downfall.

Wishing everyone a good weekend!!

[halos]

Welcome Jodie, I have only been here a week, but am well pleased so far. I had my first week weigh-in Wednesday at -3.5 I am a slow loser (3 pounds a month) so I was very excited. I have stayed between 500-600 calories on my DD. Am trying to plan better and get the calories lower. My Problem is a little different than the other posters, on up days I don't have much appetite. I find myself at 1100 calories at 8PM and have to find something high calorie to add in.

Today, if I eat a rib eye tonight, I will come in with 1600 calories. Higher than normal. I may have to buy the book to see what the calorie gap needs to be. It would be nice to only eat 1000 calories if that is all I want. I would like to just eat when hungry and not force feed....LOL...I have never had this problem before.

[JKat]

Thank you all again for the warm welcomes and all the suggestions that have worked for you. I am so excited to start!

I am ready!! I plan on shakes tomarrow because I will be working and already sorta planned on them before I posted the first time. I also made shikate noodles with rotel tomatoes and 1tsp grated cheese. Its 65calories all together. Just so I have something to chew at work. Then I plan on a 20min run after works. I will have left over 135calories for dinner.

I bought all kinds of veggies to day. I am a veggie lover!!

My calories are 400 which is 25% for me.

Plan to ****** everything and measure everything! This is not much differant than what I do anyway so its really not that big of a change for me.

I am still not sure how high my calories should go on the UD so for the first one I am going to try and eat till satisfaction. This is the challenge for me but hey what in life worth achieving isn't.

Thank you again!!!