Putting my faith in JUDD for Christmas Maintenance and Beyond...?

[Alex_1978]

Oh, I forgot to mention - I've now updated my stats/ticker to reflect my last weigh-in on New Years Eve...It seemed more honest than making out that I was about 4lbs below goal!
I just hope I don't have to re-adjust it too far in an upward direction on Saturday!

 

[LifesDesire]

Hi Alex, how are you getting on with JUDDD after Christmas? I wish I'd discovered it before Christmas, I might not have gained quite so much :0) x

 

[Alex_1978]

Hiya, thanks for popping in
I'm not doing too badly thanks - really love the idea of the Judd way of life, but I really need to see if it'll work for me in the longrun! Hope you're doing well with it so far!

Well time for an update! - Saturday's weigh in was a 2lb gain, taking me to 10st 7.25lbs....which is 2.25lbs above my goal weight, and edging close to being outside my comfort zone :-/ Saturday was a semi-bingey day, but Sunday was definately a 4000+ calorie day (pizza mostly and chocolate again). What bugs me is that I didn't even enjoy a lot of what I ate, and I think I got so caught up in my boyfriend's 'last supper' mentality that I forgot all my good Judd plans and strategies for a moment.

So now it's Monday and it's a DD and I feel fat and bloated and thirsty (from the salty pizza) and because of all that, I've been tempted towards a knee-jerk temporary return to 650 calories per day until I'm more comfortable again. But I'm NOT going to do that - I'm sticking to strict alternates until my next weigh in - facing whatever gain I see, and then I'm going to give it another week and see how I go.
I do really believe in JUDD, but I can't keep seeing the scales go up....Having said that, Christmas is a strange time, by body is still adjusting post-VLCD, and I haven't ever done a good run in an UD/DD sequence, so I don't really feel like I've given it a fair chance yet!

What I am going to do though, is to count my UD calories for a while and try to stick between 1600-1800 calories. I think the last couple of weekends have proved that I need some structure at the moment while it's all so new.

Wish me luck....I'm SO hoping that the scales start going the other way soon!

 

[LifesDesire]

I hope it works out for you, I decided last night that I'm going to stick with counting my 418 cals on DDs and sticking at around 2000cals on UDs with a maximum of 1 day a week not counting on an UD, i think that way i'll relax about it all a bit more but still continue to lose x

 

[Alex_1978]

I think I might do something similar actually. I think I need at least one UD per week when I don't count/plan to extremes, just to give myself a rest, but I couldn't do that every UD as I'd just go OTT.
I can't seem to manage much below 500 calories on a work day, but weekend DDs could be lower as I tend to get up later! I did plan to aim for 1600 on UDs during the week (especially this week given my bad weekend) but yesterday was my first attempt at that and I felt too deprived...I ended up coming in at about 1900 which saw me feeling satisfied but not out of control either.
Today's DD will end on 499 calories, although I did 15 minutes on the rowing machine which will have burned a few extra calories off. Tomorrow I've got my meals and a couple of snacks planned out, and so far I'm at 1270 for the day. I think what I'm going to try to do is plan my UD meals in advance, but leave say 400 calories 'spare' for treats and snacks that I can be spontaneous about and decide on the day.
I know it's early days yet but I still haven't got a grasp of how much food I can eat for my 1800-2000 calories, so I either end up planning down to the last details (and thus taking the fun out of having a treat) or I feel uneasy that I'm not counting/planning enough so I don't know if I'm having too much!

One positive thing is that my work trousers felt a lot more comfortable this morning than they did this week. I know I'm still heavier than I'd like to be by a few lbs but at least the bloat is shrinking!

 

[MissieCB]

Hey Alex just popping by to subscribe good luck and your doing brill xxx

 

[LifesDesire]

I usually plan out a DD in my fitness pal to be as close as possible to my 418 cals, for instance today i have a little sandwich, banana, pear and crisps that are going into a bag that i will graze on throughout the day, then when i get back from work i'll have some soup, exactly 417 cals. whereas a DD, i might plan my 3 main meals, at the most, then i'll just update mfp when i have snacks, so if i get close to the 2000 mark on there midday, then i know i can still have the healthy dinner i'd planned, i feel more comfortable with that way of doing things, don't know if that helps at all? xxx

 

[Alex_1978]

It does actually, thank you I'm driving myself bonkers at the moment, either trying to plan my treats two days in advance (who knows what I'll fancy eating on Saturday) and the other half of me panics when I don't plan/count as I have no concept of proper meal portions after being on a VLCD for so long!

Today I did a stupid thing though....
I can't remember if I mentioned but I weighed in last Sunday at 10st 7.25lbs....had a curry on Saturday night, a pizza on Sunday night and various other chocolates, deserts and generally unhealthy treats (meals were relatively controlled otherwise tho). Anyway I felt HUGE on Monday - bloated, thirsty and sluggish. Luckily that day was a DD anyway so I just got on with that as planned, had a 1900cal UD on Tuesday and then a 500cal DD yesterday. I noticed
yesterday I was starting to feel loads less bloated - my clothes were feeling better and I didn't think I looked so round in the mirror! So I made the mistake of having a sneaky look at the scales this morning....and to my utter dismay, I'm now 10st 12.25lbs!! That's four whole days after the pizza

I know that realistically I can't be 5lbs heavier than I was on Saturday morning (or at least I hope I'm not) but to be honest, it freaked me out a little. I was expecting a few pounds gain post-VLCD and I know Christmas hasn't helped but I can't ignore the fact that I saw 9st 12lbs on the scales at the beginning of December, and today I saw 10st 12lbs!
I'm trying not to panic - I'm doing a normal 1800-2000 UD today (feel mega hungry so don't want to restrict when I could easily snap and binge) and then a DD tomorrow before WI on Saturday. I'm hoping to drop a couple of lbs before then, but even if I don't, I think I'll carry on with this for another week or two without any pig-out days, and see where I am after that.
I don't want to give up on JUDD but I can't let this keep happening

 

[Welshmamma]

Oh no gutted for you x x reading other people's diaries I see people having a few wobblers before losses x x fingers crossed you get the results you want Saturday x x

 

[Alex_1978]

Aw thank you...I hope so too
I really love the idea of JUDD because I do eat out occasionally, I do sometimes like a drink at weekends, and I do like a bit of chocolate/junk food now and then. JUDD seemed a perfect way to do all those things without feeling like I was blowing my diet.
Surely my body and my metabolism can't be so different to everyone else's?! Especially a whole month after coming off my VLCD...!

Like you say, maybe it's just an early-days blip, so I'll carry on for a while and see what happens. Really, I just need to see if I can lose when I don't throw any 3000+ calorie days into the equation!

 

[Welshmamma]

I'm sure once your body gets in the swing of it you'll be losing steadily x x and life's way to short to not enjoy it!! I couldn't live without my nights out, they keep me going lol x although I may lay off for a bit until I get some weight off..my body fat percentage has disgusted me!! Forty percent of my body is fat!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeew :-(

 

[Welshmamma]

We can do this

 

[gillvegas]

I just can't get started back on JUDDD either. Have zero willpower.
However, I would recommend an ap called true weight (free). You log your weight whenever you weigh-it then calculates your 'true weight' which kinda averages it out. Helps keep you on the straight and narrow if the scales suddenly go up, or if TOTM etc

Now..to just manage 1DD........

G x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Mrsm79]

Hi, subscribing

 

[Alex_1978]

I'm sure once your body gets in the swing of it you'll be losing steadily x x and life's way to short to not enjoy it!! I couldn't live without my nights out, they keep me going lol x although I may lay off for a bit until I get some weight off..my body fat percentage has disgusted me!! Forty percent of my body is fat!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeew :-(

We can do this

Thank you I'm laying off the nights out and meals out for a while too. Think I just need to give this diet a fair chance and see if it works for me on 'normal' days...then once I'm sure I can lose or maintain on it, I'll start going out a bit more again. It helps that everyone is either dieting or trying not to drink during January...I'm sure all the pubs and restaurants must be empty if my friends are anything to go by!

I just can't get started back on JUDDD either. Have zero willpower.
However, I would recommend an ap called true weight (free). You log your weight whenever you weigh-it then calculates your 'true weight' which kinda averages it out. Helps keep you on the straight and narrow if the scales suddenly go up, or if TOTM etc

Now..to just manage 1DD........

G x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

Thanks for the suggestion Gill - I'll definitely download that app...although I'm not sure if I'll end up being a daily weigher yet or not. It's still early days yet so I'm just finding my feet.
Good luck with getting back into it I hope you get that first DD done soon....I bet that'll give you a big boost to carry on x

My problem hasn't been completing a DD - they're second nature to be after my VLCD history - my problem has been either massively overeating on UDs or being so careful to stick to less than 2000 calories that I end up overplanning everything down to the last calorie!
If I can just be more natural on UDs I think I might get this cracked (only if I stop gaining obviously!)

 

[Alex_1978]

Had another look at my UD diary for yesterday and it went something like this:
Breakfast (fruit and yoghurt) 57 cals
Lunch: Mediteranean pasta 355 cals
Dinner: Home made open tuna melt ciabatta 678 cals
Snacks: 820 cals!!!!!!!

That's just crazy really - no wonder I'm still hungry on an UD when half of what I eat is pure rubbish! Admittedly there were a few healthier snacks (hummus and crispbread) but most of it was chocolate and other rubbish.

So today I went to Morrisons, planned what I wanted to buy in advance but still spent over an hour and a half in there!!! Kept picking stuff up, thinking 'no way - too many calories' but then giving myself a reality check that I can have it if I want it!
I ended up with a trolley full of healthy, but not necessarily low calorie stuff, so I'm quite proud really. Lots of salad and veg, stuffed peppers, tilda rices, couscous, coleslaw, lamb shanks, fresh salmon, battered haddock....and only ONE chocolate bar!! A proper one as well, not a snack size one or a curly wurly or anything else!

Think I'm going to enjoy tomorrow's UD! Just hoping tomorrow's weigh-in isn't too horriffic...I was down 2lbs this morning after an UD so I'm hoping some of the gain is water.

x

 

[Welshmamma]

I have found I am eating less without trying!!! Although my sweet tooth is ever present!! I need to tackle that fill up at meal times with "proper" food I think is the best tactic ... We will see lol x x good luck with the morning WI x

 

[wannabslim]

Subscribing hun! I'm starting JUDDD next week by which time I'll have done S&S for 2 weeks. Just wanted to encourage you theat it's likely that 4-5lbs of what you gained is water, which can take a few weeks to show back on the scales sometimes after a VLCD, as Im sure you already know. Will be following your progress with interest and hoping that this will work for me post Slim and Save, as I have lots to lose but can't really handle everyday being a VLCD day...thought JUDDD might be a happy medium xx

 

[Alex_1978]

I have found I am eating less without trying!!! Although my sweet tooth is ever present!! I need to tackle that fill up at meal times with "proper" food I think is the best tactic ... We will see lol x x good luck with the morning WI x

Hopefully I'll get to that stage too! My appetite seems huge at the moment - I think it's because I'm rediscovering all the foods I used to enjoy and some new ones as well.
My sweet tooth is something I'd like to get to drips with too.... I wasn't too bad until I started my VLCD, but when I was doing that, it was always my bar in the evening that I saw as my treat for the day. I guess that's started me believing that nice things only come in the shape of a chocolate bar or a cake!

Subscribing hun! I'm starting JUDDD next week by which time I'll have done S&S for 2 weeks. Just wanted to encourage you theat it's likely that 4-5lbs of what you gained is water, which can take a few weeks to show back on the scales sometimes after a VLCD, as Im sure you already know. Will be following your progress with interest and hoping that this will work for me post Slim and Save, as I have lots to lose but can't really handle everyday being a VLCD day...thought JUDDD might be a happy medium xx

Thank you And good luck with JUDD when you do make the transition. Some people continue to lose when they swap over, so hopefully you'll be one of the lucky ones. I think my problem is that I did 16 months on Exante/S&S which is quite unusual really, and I suppose my body must be in shock still! JUDD does seem like a happy medium though, and scientifically it makes sense as the average of a 500/2000 calorie regime is 1200 per day, which is well within the weight loss zone - I just need to remind my body of that.


Unfortunately my weigh in wasn't what I wanted it to be this morning. After losing 2lbs after an UD, I regained 1lb after a DD (weird body) meaning that I ended the week at 10st 11.5lbs - a gain of 4lbs since last Saturday This also means that I've removed my 'maintainer' badge as I'm now 6.5lbs above goal and can't really ignore that.
The plan is still the same though - I'm giving JUDD at least another week, and if I maintain or lose I'll carry on. If I'm facing another gain then I'll have to do something about it as my clothes will stop fitting soon if I'm not careful! Actually I'm really interested to see what happens when there's no social stuff/take aways etc to navigate...let's just hope the scales start going in the other direction soon!

 

[Alex_1978]

*grips* not drips, lol
For some reason I can't edit my post on my laptop!