Really Stuck

[Skinjob]

Hi all, I started JUDDDing back in November 2011 and I lost 7-10 lbs at first but have been stuck now for 4 months. I keep losing and regaining the same 3lbs. I had 5 perfect DDs in a row this week and cut out my UD glass of wine and still nothing. It's really starting to take the wind out of my sails. My numbers are 500/1800. I can't exist on less than 500 a day or I get migranes but I know PLENTY of you have lost doing 500 DDs. Help?

[KeirasMom]

You did 5 DDs in a row??

[Skinjob]

No, no, I have just done 5 perfect DDs with UDs in between! I often go over on my DDs by 100 to 200 cals but I have been really good for that past five.

[KeirasMom]

Whew! Scared me for a minute.

I'm not really sure what to tell you other than maybe you should try to be at what the calculator gives you, even if it's less than 500 for DDs. I would be so frustrated!

Are you making sure you eat up to your UD calories? I had to increase mine.

[Skinjob]

Oh yes I have no trouble making my UD numbers! I'm not one of those lucky ones who has to struggle to meet them.

[sterlinggirl]

First off i want to say WOW for sticking with it!! I would like Dawn said, revisit your numbers.. and then try to stay as strick to that set of numbers and hopfully you should see a move.. Are you by chance losing inches?

[sunday]

Man you deserve the award for patience!!!

I have to ask if you are perimenopausal ??? postmeno? I am hearing from others and "I" am one who is post meno and having very slow losses. I still have at the very minimum 34 lbs to go. Now, I haven't gone that long without a loss. The other thought is that, I had to reduce my UD cals by 50 cals per week until I found what would work best. I am losing the best at1700/400.

[sunday]

When I hit 45, I started gaining weight at 10 lbs per year. Never once prior, had any weight issues until the "magical age", and my goodness did I get a surprise!

[gotsomeold]

Hey Skinjob! Let's examine this.

You say you lost 7 - 10 pounds at first. I looked at your previous postings and at the end of March you implied it took from November through March to lose those 10 pounds. Is that correct?

You also commented that DDs are very hard/hungry.

You say previously your DDs were a little high (100 - 200) cals. But the last five DDs were right at 500 and nothing changed - you kept bouncing.

And you say you have np eating to your UDs (make me jealous). Are your UDs close to 1800 cals? Do they tend to come out above or below the mark?

Do you measure? Have you seen any changes (not associated with scale changes) if you do?

I'm asking all of this because I want to put together a complete picture. Trying to figure out if something is either really slowing down or turning off production of sirtuin enzymes.

Just call me Sherlock

[Skinjob]

Originally Posted by gotsomeold

Hey Skinjob! Let's examine this.

You say you lost 7 - 10 pounds at first. I looked at your previous postings and at the end of March you implied it took from November through March to lose those 10 pounds. Is that correct?

I lost it in the first two months. After that, nothing. So when I say it has taken me 6 months to lose 10 lbs, that's true but also not true because I lost most of it in the first little while. Water loss maybe?

Originally Posted by gotsomeold

You also commented that DDs are very hard/hungry.

Yes! I am always hungry on DDs. I find them very, very difficult.

Originally Posted by gotsomeold

You say previously your DDs were a little high (100 - 200) cals. But the last five DDs were right at 500 and nothing changed - you kept bouncing.

That's right. The last 5 have been really good and still, no loss.

Originally Posted by gotsomeold

And you say you have np eating to your UDs (make me jealous). Are your UDs close to 1800 cals? Do they tend to come out above or below the mark?

My UDs are always 1800, if not 100 to 200 over. I'm usually starving from the DD.

Originally Posted by gotsomeold

Do you measure? Have you seen any changes (not associated with scale changes) if you do?

No but my clothes don't feel much different and I don't see much of a change in the mirror. Though one or two others have said I look "slimmer" but how can that be if my pants are the same and the scale has not moved? Maybe they are just being nice.

Originally Posted by gotsomeold

I'm asking all of this because I want to put together a complete picture. Trying to figure out if something is either really slowing down or turning off production of sirtuin enzymes.

Just call me Sherlock

Thank you! I appreciate all of the help I can get. I drink plenty of water but I do have diet soda on DDs to help get me through.

Sunday - I am in my 30s so I don't think I am perimenopausal. Could be but doubtful!

[Yam-Yam]

Can you tell us how tall you are?

[Joyjoy]

Can you tell us your social security number? Just kidding. With this team on it, your problem'll be solved before sundown. Yeah for this forum!!
Kristin

[sunday]

Originally Posted by Joyjoy

Can you tell us your social security number? Just kidding. With this team on it, your problem'll be solved before sundown. Yeah for this forum!!
Kristin

love it!

[Skinjob]

Originally Posted by sunday

love it!

Me too! I'm 5' 7''.

[Yam-Yam]

me three!

Couple of thoughts (or more!):

I put your stats in this calculator and got a healthy weight range of 138 to 151.8

Ideal Body Weight Calculator - HealthCentral.com

According to that calculator, you are only 10 pounds away from goal. Weight loss really slows down to a crawl at this point!!! Be assured you are still burning intra-muscular and inner-muscular fat and will drop on the scale, too. It just might take a while.

Also: Just checking here but have you had your thyroid checked? I'm sure your doc would do it for you if you asked since thyroid problems are so common in women. My doctor brought it up and checked mine. Mine is normal.

BRB

[mykidsteacher]

Ok, what kinds of foods are you eating? I wonder if there is something in there that is causing you to retain.

For me, artificial sweeteners make me ravenous on a DD (even if I eat something with it on an UD). I can handle a piece of sf gum, but anything more than that and I am a hungry beast on the prowl for sugar and starchy carbs. I think they may have contributed to my veeeeryy slow losses in the beginning too.

As odd as it sounds, you might want to experiment with RAISING your DD calories a bit. Maybe for you, that level is too much and your body is going too deep into the stress response and not pulling out of it, even with a good UD. What level were your DD's at when you were losing in the first 2 months? And with the calculator and an age of 35, I get UD cals of 1745 for you, so you may need to drop what you've been allowing just a bit.

And finally, do you have any symptoms of thyroid issues (or perhaps adrenal issues). Stop the Thyroid Madness has a great list of symptoms to check for this. Just run it together and put a .com on it (they don't sell anything, I don't think, so I think I can mention this without violating tos).

It sounds like you have found your maintenance level for JUDDD, and need to do some tweaking to find wlm numbers.

If it were me, first thing I'd try is UD at 1750 (and not go over). I'd do that for a week. If nothing, I'd up my DD cals to 600. If no change, go back to 500 cal DD and drop UD to 1700. You just need to play with the numbers to find your sweet spot.

[Yam-Yam]

According to the JUDD calculator, you are eating at 30% WLM on DDs which is fine because you do not want to risk getting headaches. Your weight loss will be slower at 30% than it would be at 20%.

When I plug in your current numbers, I get 1768 for your UD.

When you started and you weighed 157 your UD number would have been just over 1800.

IMHO I think you should try doing 1700 on UDs. You could even try doing maintenance for a while on DDs to see if it would speed up your metabolism. Then you would get 1768/884 at 50% maintenance.

At this point I think a bit of tweaking is a good idea. Start with looking at that UD number. Some people can eat over their UD number, still lose, and not have to re-calculate.

I'm certainly not one of them! Darn! lol.

I'm just saying that you could be eating 100 over your UD every day and if you have been doing that for a few months, it would make a difference. HTH!

[Yam-Yam]

Tina: we were typing at the same time. Great minds think alike. lol. I think she said she is 30. I also did the calculator and you and I are definitely thinking along the same lines.

[ellgee]

Originally Posted by Joyjoy

Can you tell us your social security number? Just kidding. With this team on it, your problem'll be solved before sundown. Yeah for this forum!!
Kristin

[KeirasMom]

Originally Posted by mykidsteacher

And finally, do you have any symptoms of thyroid issues (or perhaps adrenal issues). Stop the Thyroid Madness has a great list of symptoms to check for this. Just run it together and put a .com on it (they don't sell anything, I don't think, so I think I can mention this without violating tos).

Tina, thank you for posting this. I am pretty sure someone directed me there before and I never visited the site and then forgot about it. It has some pretty interesting information. I suspect I have Hashimoto's and reading on that site is giving me tools to take with me to my next appointment so I can ask for the proper testing.

[Spank'd]

Question: Are you exercising? And if so, how much?

I know this diet works without exercise, but if you are not doing any, adding some will benefit you.

If you are overdoing the exercise, your body may just want you to give it a rest for a bit.

I also have a tendency to "rut" in my food choices. Maybe mix up your proteins. If you're a chicken person, work it around to more seafood. Or beef.

Are you low carbing? I am of the opinion that I lose faster when I low carb, but the reality is I love the freedom of JUDDD so much I really overdo the carbs on up days.

Your calorie numbers seem right in line. I was convinced a long time ago that my thyroid must be out of whack if I wasn't losing weight. I lost 5 years to self pity and confusion, and nothing was wrong with my thyroid.

[Muffabuff]

Joy joy

[Beeb]

My suggestion: Up the DD calories and leave the UD calories alone and shock your body a bit!!

Have a feeling it will work!

[casmira]

I was going to say, as above, to try upping the DD calories a bit.

If it turns out that you need to bring them down, bear in mind that you don't have to go crazy. You can, for example, just try to see whether you can do 10-50 cals in the difference each DD.

However, congratulations on sticking it out as long as you have and maintaining your weight loss. Even though you're frustrated at the moment, you must recognise that it's a huge achievement and you deserve a pat on the back. I think everyone is very confident that some relatively minor tweaks will set you off downwards again and your perseverance will stand to you when that happens.

[gotsomeold]

oooo, good catch Spank'd.
Skinjob, are you a heavy exerciser? If so approximately how many calories/day do you burn during exercise? And how many times a week do you exercise?

I have three ideas:

1) I think you have been averaging 650 cal DDs for most of the six months (Is that right?). Only the last five rotations have had 500 cal DDs. I think testing the lower DD a little bit more is a good idea.

My first thought goes along with Yam-Yam and Tina. Try 1700/500 rotation for a week and see if anything happens. If it does not, up DD cals to 600 and see what that does.

2) In keeping with research Yam-Yam did on a few other threads, before you came to JUDDD did you lose weight on another WOE? If so, your body may be adjusting to the original weight loss.

3) I keep going back to those migraines. It appears dropping below 500 cal/DDs puts your body under unusual stress. Did you have migraines before JUDDD? If so, do you have any idea what triggers them?

'Cause, like Tina, I wonder where that stress comes from. A systemic imbalance or (Tina's favorite - not) food allergies can cause a body to hold onto weight. When was your last physical? And have you ever had a bad reaction to any foods?

I join everyone in applauding your stick-to-it determination!

[Skinjob]

Thanks guys. What an amazing board! So, I have a funny story to tell you:

As you know I've been incredibly patient and have for four months resisted starting a thread to complain and ask for advice. So I finally posted. The same night (last night) I got so fed up that I blew a down day by eating about 850 cals and then treated myself to three glasses of white wine. I figured - to heck with it! I'm not losing anyway. I was 148.5 yesterday (and have been for months and months!).

I step on the scale this morning fully expecting to be punished for my transgressions and the scale read 146.5!!!!

How did I break my 4 month stall? I blew a down day and got tipsy!!! That doesn't even make sense!

It's probably just dehydration but still, I'm to see that number MOVE!!!!

[Kissa]

Originally Posted by Skinjob

Thanks guys. What an amazing board! So, I have a funny story to tell you:

As you know I've been incredibly patient and have for four months resisted starting a thread to complain and ask for advice. So I finally posted. The same night (last night) I got so fed up that I blew a down day by eating about 850 cals and then treated myself to three glasses of white wine. I figured - to heck with it! I'm not losing anyway. I was 148.5 yesterday (and have been for months and months!).

I step on the scale this morning fully expecting to be punished for my transgressions and the scale read 146.5!!!!

How did I break my 4 month stall? I blew a down day and got tipsy!!! That doesn't even make sense!

It's probably just dehydration but still, I'm to see that number MOVE!!!!

Just what I wrote on your other thread, but I hope we are both wrong.

You have a lot of great answers here and whichever advice you choose to take, it is wonderful have something else up your sleeve.

[maggielou66]

Just a thought, but you might try drinking something other than diet soda. They are notorious for not only restricting weight loss, but also they help people GAIN! It sounds crazy, but it's true.

[KeirasMom]

Originally Posted by Skinjob

Thanks guys. What an amazing board! So, I have a funny story to tell you:

As you know I've been incredibly patient and have for four months resisted starting a thread to complain and ask for advice. So I finally posted. The same night (last night) I got so fed up that I blew a down day by eating about 850 cals and then treated myself to three glasses of white wine. I figured - to heck with it! I'm not losing anyway. I was 148.5 yesterday (and have been for months and months!).

I step on the scale this morning fully expecting to be punished for my transgressions and the scale read 146.5!!!!

How did I break my 4 month stall? I blew a down day and got tipsy!!! That doesn't even make sense!

It's probably just dehydration but still, I'm to see that number MOVE!!!!

Every time I get fed up enough to ask for advice, within a day or two the scale moves again. I swear it does it just to make me look like a whiner, but hey--whatever works, right? Now you know the secret--complaints and booze!

[Skinjob]

Originally Posted by maggielou66

Just a thought, but you might try drinking something other than diet soda. They are notorious for not only restricting weight loss, but also they help people GAIN! It sounds crazy, but it's true.

Yes, this. I drink a lot of it on my DDs to get me through. I'll cut it out because I have been suspicious of it too.