JUDDD overview
My head has been all over the place lately. Switching from one diet to another since march-april has done absolutely nothing for me, other than confusing my body and probably messing up my metabolism. I thought I'd look through old posts again and personal diary entries on my iphone to make sure I'm on the right track. Firstly, the majority of my weight loss happened between september last year and the end of december. An acceptable 1-2lbs a week (considering my issues, which I'll mention in a minute). Then around january I got totally OTT and further and further away from the juddd guidelines. I was having far too many down days, even my ups were turning into downs. That is exactly when I stopped losing weight. I was getting frustrated that the diet was no longer working for me, but in reality I was sabotaging my efforts by going too far. Shortly after my extreme version of juddd, I moved abroad. During the last 5 months I've gone from calorie counting, clean eating, lchf, fast 5, weight watchers, but mostly just watching what I eat (with treats at the weekend) this has allowed me to maintain my weight, which is actually a huge achievement (and a first) for me because I always gain a significant amount of weight when I live with someone (whether it's a boyfriend, family, or friends). I feel like I'm ready to get back into this plan properly again, after nearly two weeks back on plan I'm feeling much better (physically and mentally). I've dropped over 5kg, which I know will slow down, but I'm okay with that.
I know I'm far from being at goal, but juddd was literally a life saver for me. I couldn't stick to any other diet, and even if I did. I hardly lost anything (other than on a vlcd). I think this is mainly down to health reasons. When I started out on this diet, my menstrual cycle was all over the place. I was having blood tests, scans and all sorts because I'd been lightly bleeding everyday continually for 3 months. They suspected pcos (I kind of knew I might have had hormonal problems) they found small cysts on my ovaries. I never actually went back for more tests, because eventually as I was losing more weight, my cycles started to regulate. I'm at a point now, where I'm almost normal with usually a 34 day cycle, although I don't think I've been ovulating. This is amazing to me, because even before my crazy, everyday bleeding, I had irregular cycles. I'd sometimes only have a period twice a year, even when I was much smaller than I am now. I read an article a while ago about how intermittent fasting can help with insulin, and since most pcos sufferers are insulin resistant, that could explain why my cycle was regulated on juddd. About 3 months ago I started charting my cycle. I was taking my BBT every morning and using ovulation tests. I've used opks on and off for years and never had a positive, but after two weeks back on juddd - I actually ovulated! To someone who has no problem with fertility, this may sound like nothing, but it's huge for me. It might be a coincidence, but I really think this diet had something to do with it.
It's a shame a lot of the hype over this diet has died down, this side of the forum seems so quiet compared to last year! I think a lot of people started on the plan after watching the Michael Mosely Documentary (including me) but now the hype has died down, everyone seems to have moved on. Although, I've noticed a lot of the different sections are pretty quiet. Anyway, for now I'll be continuing with juddd, I think it's important for me to be consistent with one plan for a while.
we got engaged in Paris a few months ago. We're planning our next holiday in 2-3 months & this time I'll be able to use it as motivation. I'd love to be able to go on a normal holiday and not worry about covering up so much.
