9 Weeks on JUDDD & I'm Jumping for Joy!

[Whitlin']

I'm astonished at how vital and healthy this forum is!!! I'm away for a half a day and come back to see this thread with all these posts already! The kindest, wisest change LowCarbFriends ever made was to provide a full forum for JUDDD rather than our old single threads.

Besides that - Woo Hoo, Steph! A new decade that is meaningful and further proof of success. Yes, definitely claim the lows - they are composed of reality. Highs, on the other hand, are suspiciously water-weighty.

[tooraloora]

how heartening... esp. your last point re being able to still eat with your tribe, and enjoy food... there is nothing more crummy than being in perpetual diet/deprivation jail, and it sounds like you, like me, have had the tendency to offset and more your losses with busting out of jail on the lam overeating

so very very cool, and from a relative newby, thanks for the honest report, and on your new territory.

[Carly]

Originally Posted by SoHappy

I know! Me too. Do you remember when she sounded really *iffy* about it?

Yes, and I was just hoping she'd give it a chance, because I remember when I was really iffy back in March and I'm just so glad I allowed JUDDD to show me it's magic. I don't know where I would be right now if I hadn't jump in with both feet... Probably being prepped for WLS.

So happy for you Steph!

[piratejenny]

Originally Posted by Joyjoy

What a crazy thrill, dropping below a number that is The Impossible Dream in your head, and doing it with burgers.

This made me think of a new slogan:
"JUDDDers do it with everything"!!!

[gotsomeold]

Oh Stephanie! All week I have been looking forward to your latest update. I had to stop reading and cheer when I saw 269.

As you say, today may have started in a higher octave. But one step, one rotation at a time will make 270 a distant, unpleasant memory.

Happy Dance for a new decade!!

[lynne2u]

Steph, I have a suggestion on the mental fog problem. (I'm a writer too, and not being able to concentrate while fasting was my number one obstacle to overcome if I was going to stay on this IF thing.)

This is what I do: I pace. When I'm writing and feel distracted by my tummy growling, I get up and prowl like a tiger for a few minutes, keeping my mind in the creative space but letting my body work out its no-food frustration with walking. In a few minutes, I'm calm and even more focused than before.

Worth a try at least...no calories and it's free.

Lynne

[sterlinggirl]

Wow I am so thrilled to see that not only have you stuck with this.. but.. ITS WORKING~ So happy

[Deen73]

Hey hey hey, Steph -- I liked your post, too. I really feel ya on staring down the barrell of a previous set-point. There is no small amount of fear there, for sure. For me, it's been 225 -- my body just really seems to enjoy snapping to that weight. Although, over the past week, it's been stubbornly sneaking back up a pound and a half... leaving me to yell "come on, at least stall at your usual set-point!"

I think I should actually be grateful, though -- as I had a DD that didn't turn out to be much of a down day this weekend. We were going to visit my mom and, as you said food sometimes = love, fun, an aura of festivity -- can't very well NOT eat mom's cooking. So that was a screw-up... but on we press! I think 250's gonna be right around the corner for you, girl! Let's hit it!

[cici52]

Congratulations on your success. Two #/wk is terrific. May it continue all the way to goal. And thank you for sharing the good, the bad and the ugly. It is so much better to reach those moments a little prepared.

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by Carly

Yes, and I was just hoping she'd give it a chance, because I remember when I was really iffy back in March and I'm just so glad I allowed JUDDD to show me it's magic. I don't know where I would be right now if I hadn't jump in with both feet... Probably being prepped for WLS.

So happy for you Steph!

You know, thank you for reminding me of this particular thing. Because when I came here, this really was my last stop before WLS. You probably still hear a lot of restraint in my writing about JUDDD because I don't know how all this shakes out over the next few months. How does this work over the long term? Will I stall and gain? Will I continue to lose? Will I have a psychotic break over the holidays? I've failed so many times that I am always wary, always vigilant.

I'm very impressed with JUDDD so far. I'm also aware that there are some limitations that can derail me. The closer I get to the deadline for my book, for example, the more dangerous things get because there's going to come a time when I simply can't allow myself to have foggy down days.

But I will say this. I haven't thought of WLS in weeks. I can see past it now to other options. And when I think about the impending disaster of my not meeting my deadline, instead of thinking, "I am going to crash and burn on this diet when I'm under too much stress" I've started thinking, "Maybe I should come up with some sort of coping plan like giving myself permission to go up to maintenance levels in November."

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by lynne2u

Steph, I have a suggestion on the mental fog problem. (I'm a writer too, and not being able to concentrate while fasting was my number one obstacle to overcome if I was going to stay on this IF thing.)

This is what I do: I pace. When I'm writing and feel distracted by my tummy growling, I get up and prowl like a tiger for a few minutes, keeping my mind in the creative space but letting my body work out its no-food frustration with walking. In a few minutes, I'm calm and even more focused than before.

Worth a try at least...no calories and it's free.

Lynne

Totally going to try this!

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by Deen73

Hey hey hey, Steph -- I liked your post, too. I really feel ya on staring down the barrell of a previous set-point. There is no small amount of fear there, for sure. For me, it's been 225 -- my body just really seems to enjoy snapping to that weight. Although, over the past week, it's been stubbornly sneaking back up a pound and a half... leaving me to yell "come on, at least stall at your usual set-point!"

I think I should actually be grateful, though -- as I had a DD that didn't turn out to be much of a down day this weekend. We were going to visit my mom and, as you said food sometimes = love, fun, an aura of festivity -- can't very well NOT eat mom's cooking. So that was a screw-up... but on we press! I think 250's gonna be right around the corner for you, girl! Let's hit it!

I hear you. I really do. Two weeks ago, I hit 271, just above my set point, and instead of stalling there, I bounced up six pounds the next day. I was livid. But when it came back down, instead of stalling at 270, it passed it right by. So, there's some weird bouncing ball action that goes on with JUDDD that is hard to take psychologically, but really good over all.

[KeirasMom]

Originally Posted by stephdray

You know, thank you for reminding me of this particular thing. Because when I came here, this really was my last stop before WLS. You probably still hear a lot of restraint in my writing about JUDDD because I don't know how all this shakes out over the next few months. How does this work over the long term? Will I stall and gain? Will I continue to lose? Will I have a psychotic break over the holidays? I've failed so many times that I am always wary, always vigilant.

I'm very impressed with JUDDD so far. I'm also aware that there are some limitations that can derail me. The closer I get to the deadline for my book, for example, the more dangerous things get because there's going to come a time when I simply can't allow myself to have foggy down days.

But I will say this. I haven't thought of WLS in weeks. I can see past it now to other options. And when I think about the impending disaster of my not meeting my deadline, instead of thinking, "I am going to crash and burn on this diet when I'm under too much stress" I've started thinking, "Maybe I should come up with some sort of coping plan like giving myself permission to go up to maintenance levels in November."

I think giving yourself permission to go to maintenance levels to get through your deadline is a wonderful idea.

I started trying to lose this weight in October of last year. I was pretty close to your starting weight, and have been over it in the past. This morning I hit 85 pounds lost, over 75 pounds of that has been with JUDDD since December.

I too, have been known to be hypervigilant, to the exclusion of all else. There's something that's happened to me over the course of my JUDDD journey. I'm still really, really good, BUT I have learned to be a little more gentle with myself. I took about 7 weeks for a maintenance break when I started to feel a little fatigued with WLM. It was a good test for me because I wasn't sure I'd want to come back to WLM. The weird thing? I just sort of naturally gravitated back to the lower calories, without even thinking about it, when my body was ready. JUDDD is teaching me things about my body, and I'm learning to trust the process. I've been on JUDDD nearly 9 months now, and I'm still learning to trust the process, but I'm getting better at it. You will too.

[Joyjoy]

[Carly]

My DD brain fog lifted right around 2 months. It really sucked, I'm not going to try to dress it up. I felt like this every DD after 2pm. It was however replaced by DD clarity, alertness and general sense of well being (most days, but hey life still happens) that can not be compared to anything I have previously experienced- diet or no diet. I believe you too will experience this!

[Yam-Yam]

Steph: I totally agree that eating up to maintenance calories on any DDs you need to is a great idea. Even for a whole month in November or even at that time taking several UDs in a row if you absolutely need them. JUDD is definitely forgiving. I have proven that over and over.

Maintenance. That's what I did in August as well as taking off plenty of time for vacations where I didn't even try to limit calories or do rotations.

Giving yourself permission now to do what you need to do in November is a great idea because it will relieve all stress. It will be interesting to see how you are feeling about everything by then because, as has been mentioned, things change. So, you can cross that bridge when you need to and not a moment before.

JUDD isn't that same old predictable diet drudgery you get on other plans. It's unpredictable instead of static. There is unseen healing going on in your body and with your metabolism. Probably even within your brain. From the article that Pat posted today, I'm thinking SIRT1 definitely has healing and protecting powers for the brain.

[piratejenny]

Another option might be to do Fast5...I really like it on holidays & special occasions. Gives me time to have appetizers & dinner & drink some wine...I like to nibble & not get overly full...

[gotsomeold]

Originally Posted by stephdray

And when I think about the impending disaster of my not meeting my deadline, instead of thinking, "I am going to crash and burn on this diet when I'm under too much stress" I've started thinking, "Maybe I should come up with some sort of coping plan like giving myself permission to go up to maintenance levels in November."

THAT sounds like an intelligent, reality-based, plan-ahead and take it all in stride thought choo-choo train! When circumstances demanded, I ducked over to maintenance levels several times on this journey. It's a great place to visit and I can't wait to live there!

Oh, and nine months in I find JUDDD magic is remarkably consistent and reliable.

[mttemple4]

I love this update and can relate to so much that's been said here. Wish I could type more right now but could not pop in without adding some and !

p.s. I second the difficulties writing on down days. Fortunately my job does not require original writing every day and I can do it on up days. I will try the pacing in the future though! I definitely remember pacing a lot when writing my master's thesis. I'm sure I was just pacing because of caffeine and sugar overload though.

[sorenkkg]

I'm concerned about the holidays as well (canadian thanksgiving in october, then halloween, then my 2 week birthday trip, then another work trip I think, then Christmas/NYE).

but what I love about JUDDD is the ability to move the rotations around (a bit, too much and things get weird), eat the yummy food every other day... I think it's doable, for me at least. I'm kinda excited!
(full disclosure-- I'm going off plan for my birthday trip. But I'm planning on making decent choices, and not pigging out every day just b/c I can. yummy fresh mexican food...)

sorry for the threadjack... it's a DD and thinking about guacamole is just too much for me

[gotsomeold]

Originally Posted by sorenkkg

(full disclosure-- I'm going off plan for my birthday trip. But I'm planning on making decent choices, and not pigging out every day just b/c I can. yummy fresh mexican food...)

Threadjack again....

OOOO OOOOO, where are you going?

Actually, having taken a vaycay every two months or so since I started this, I truly believe realistic planning before a big event is the right, and most successful, thing to do. For me, replanning tends to diffuse the 'well, I'm obviously not dieting so I might as well eat everything in sight' mentality. Bravo Soren!

[mttemple4]

Well, I can tell you ladies that every day of my two week trip to Japan was either an Up Day or an UUAD. Got right back to rotations when I got home last Sunday and that weight is GONE already. It is unreal. I need to make a separate post about it and share a photo that I saw in Tokyo that reminded me of the JUDDD Buddds!!

Sorry for the chatter on your thread, Steph!!

[calichris]

Steph, I'm so happy for you that you broke right through your setpoint and made your first goal! And neveryoumind the bounce. You're going keep on bouncing down toward that 250 goal #2! I have about 10 pounds to go before I get to my previous setpoint of 237, and I hope I just blow right by it as well.

I've noticed that hungrier down days usually precede good news on the scale too. I'm thinking of it as the body saying, really? do I have to burn some fat? That's so much work. Couldn't you eat something instead and save me the trouble?

I so agree about how the de-railers of my previous efforts were that they didn't fit into my lifestyle (if I wanted to enjoy social events anyway) and "diet fatigue." I mean, true, some social events happen on down days, but you have options. Like you, I'm also starting to think ... this could really work. Not only to lose, but to maintain.

My down day truth: Down days aren't bad, but I also don't work quite as well, and I also sometimes get crabby. The plus side to this is that I can't use food on down days for any type of energy/mood support, so I'm forced to develop other options, which is a good thing.

[sorenkkg]

Originally Posted by calichris

I can't use food on down days for any type of energy/mood support, so I'm forced to develop other options, which is a good thing.

isnt' it amazing?

one WOE, and all this free therapy!

I've seen information about some people with WLS, (I think) who lose the weight but develop another addiction, b/c the ROOT of their problem isn't being dealt with in having the surgery. Or they gain the weight back (insert celebrity X here).

What I'm trying to say is-- if you are able to cope with the DD, it seems to force you into coping with your emotions better than you had been (if you are an emotional eater). And that's the root-- food as coping skill vs. either feeling the feelings, or developing some other way of dealing with unpleasant (or pleasant, scary, boring, etc) feelings.

I'm one of those-- food for ups, food for downs, food for boredom... My question to myself is-- why do I want to be ------------ level all the time?

What I've learned (through 10000 years of therapy, and then JUDDD since April but maybe it's just that I was ready for it...) is this-- I can tolerate mild discomfort.

Or as a JB said-- hunger is not an emergency.

And neither are the emotional ups and downs (small) or UPS AND DOWNS (mountains) that come with daily life.

Sure, I still go out for a celebratory dinner-- but now, only for BIG celebrations.

.... wow, it's a DD, and I'm having no trouble writing

Will start a travel/vacation thread and link here

S.

[sorenkkg]

vacation/travel thread Travel and Vacations on JUDDD

[Jbinme]

Soren