Really struggling here

[Stitch]

128.4!!!! And that castor oil isn't finished with me yet!
Also, I have a question. I ate my last meal at 9pm on my UD and yesterday was a DD. I only had castor oil for my DD. Its now 10 am here and I'm not hungry, so its been 37 hours since my last meal. Is that too long? Should I make myself eat something?

[Stitch]

Woah! I thought the castor oil had done it's thing. My BF took me out for a huge late lunch just there (spinach and ricotta cannelloni covered in mushroom sauce and cheese, lots of garlic bread and a slice of his pizza) so I'm pretty sure I just used up all of my UD calories. Unfortunately, the castor oil STILL isn't finished with me and I had, erm, a reaction as soon as I got home. Least I made it home! Scared to leave the house now though. I'm sure this is all way too much information. Apologies...

[Spank'd]

I find if I fiddle with nature's intent, I pay for it. Instead of Castor oil, try something more gentle, like maybe a bran cereal for breakfast on your up day.

Good luck with getting things back under control, and don't be surprised if your body swings back the other way to even things out.

[Muffabuff]

I always find that a nice crunchy, salty dill pickle takes the edge off a DD for me. It's not exactly a bag of chips but it does the trick. I hope your DD's get easier!

[Muffabuff]

I think I posted to the wrong thread.

[Muffabuff]

I don't know if you can get them where you are, but I take fiber gummies and they work great for me! Also they are zero net carbs.

[Stitch]

I've never heard of them but I should have a look. I'm going to buy psyllium husks tomorrow to take daily. That should help I hope.

[Lianora Mosswood]

The only place I use castor oil is on my skin! Poor you, even if self-inflicted. . .

[Kissa]

Stitch I used Psyllium Husks when I was LC, I used 4 of the capsules daily with loads of water, they work to fill you up too so you might use them spread out through the day on a DD.

I now use Magnesium Citrate 500 from Holland and Barretts. Keeps everything moving nicely and has other health benefits too.

[sazzie]

I, too use psyllium husk; a tbsp (15 calories) in my OMM for DDs.

Along with the oat fiber I am very comfortable.

I also take Bone-Up each day which provides 500 mg of magnesium.

[Becky]

Originally Posted by Momto2boysNJ

Oh I have had those types of days! Usually a cup of hot broth and my electric blanket does the trick!

I'm going to second this (though we don't have an electric blanket, but it sure sounds nice!).

[pjsam1156]

Originally Posted by SoHappy

Hi, Stitch.

I hope by now that rough DD is a forgotten memory and you are discovering some of the things that can make them so much easier to adhere to and complete successfully.

Do remember that Down Days only have to be held this low during actual weight loss mode. Once you are in maintenance, that very low DD number can be raised to a much more enjoyable level. So being this low is only temporary. And the better you can do all of the days of JUDDD, whether an UD or a DD, the faster it can work for you in melting you down to that slim and fabulous figure you're dreaming of.

Another big, big help on DDs is to have foods that are significant enough to allow your tummy to feel like it's actually been fed! LOL Some folks think a bit of fat or eating protein helps keep hunger at bay for them, but it sure doesn't do it for me. I need FOOD. I need to have a plateful or a bowlful of something that takes many, many forkfuls to finish! So that ends up usually being strongly veggie based.

I can fix stir frys of broccoli, carrots, onions, green peppers, and fresh mushrooms that will fill a BIG skillet for not too many calories.

I can fix a HUGE skillet of sauteed cabbage, topped with a couple of wedges of Laughing Cow cheese and stuff myself on it for not too many calories.

I can have an ENORMOUS salad of fresh raw veggies that fills a casserole baking bowl for not too many calories.

In other words, there are ways to eat very filling and satisfying meals on DDs without being very high in calories. It's really not necessary to ever be very hungry on Down Days.

And, as a last resort, if you're up to your calorie limit, and your day isn't over yet, and you're really awfully hungry for some reason, allow yourself to exceed your calories by a bit with a little snack that doesn't take too many cals to satisfy you.

I like three hardboiled eggs - whites only - chopped and mixed with a tbsp of Kraft fat free Miracle Whip and a tsp of yellow mustard, salt and pepper. So a nice mound of egg salad for only 70 calories.

Or 1/4 cup chopped peeled cucumber, 1/4 cup chopped tomato, 1/4 cup chopped broccoli florets, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, all mixed together with some salt & pepper. Only 65 calories.

Sometimes these little snacks can help you to successfully complete a DD, even if you do have to go over a bit. All will not be lost.

And most of us find that after we get into it awhile, the Down Days do get easier overall. There is a certain appetite suppression that seems to come to us from JUDDD. It's always sort of interesting that most often after feeling so hungry the evening of a DD, when we wake the next morning to our new UD... we're not all that hungry after all. No more so than any other morning, really. Very strange.

And one more hint that helps many of us is... to eat the full calorie amount of our UDs, leading into our DDs, and to make sure that you eat plenty of those UD calories in the later part of the day. Have a really good supper, so that those calories can fuel you well through your entire coming DD.

And always keep in mind that you are on a diet. We sometimes sort of forget that part. We're so happy to dwell on the fact that we can eat anything we want on UDs, that we can eat so much on our UDs, that we can eat so freely, so socially, so not-on-a-diet on our UDs, that we forget there is a price to pay for that food that we're so delighted to get to eat once again! And the price to be paid is the DD. In order to not have to diet on UDs, we have to diet twice as hard on our DDs. Oh, well.

Every weight loss diet requires us to restrict something, somehow, somewhere. On JUDDD we don't have to restrict any foods at all, so we don't have lists of foods we must eat or of foods that are forbidden to us. And we don't have to restrict our calories to diet levels every single day. Our restriction falls only on our Down Days. But that's the JUDDD price we pay. In exchange for the gifts that JUDDD gives us back, it's a small price to pay.

[Stitch]

Yeah, I was looking at the different products in Holland and Barrett. The shop I work for is owned by them so I have a good discount there. Which would you say is better Kissa? The magnesium citrate or the psyllium capsules?

[Kissa]

They work in a different way.

The Psyillim is a bulking agent end providing you drink plenty of water with it is has a good effect for most people. It is a form of fibre really. As I said, if you are suffering from very hungry DDs you may find that the capsules help to fill you up if you spread them through the day.

The Magnesium Citrate is more like a laxative in its effect on me. I get the highest strength and take 2 before bed, again with a full glass of water and next morning bingo!

Because they are so different you could even use them both, psyllium in the morning or through the day and the mag. cit. at night. They are also said to help you have good sleep.

I am not a doctor and I don't know what might work best for you, but there's my two cents worth.

[Stitch]

Thanks Kissa. I used to take psyllium husks, before I'd heard of capsules of them. I'd just put a couple of spoons in water and chug. It was very hard to get down. A couple of my friends tried it too, they both just threw up! Anyway, it would work quite well for a day or two but then stop. I got some magnesium yesterday, I'll see how it goes.