Help with JUDD (Alternate Day Diet) please

gibbsak1

I've been researching this plan with the intention of starting it in 2022...just to celebrate my 70th year!
Looking at a few different sources on the net..one mentioned the first 2 weeks or induction should be no more than 500 calories (or 20% of 'normal' calories) to turn on the SIRT1 gene. Is this correct or do I alternate UP and DOWN days? My TDEE is 1470 cals so 20% of this would be about 300 cals. I find it hard to believe one could survive 2 weeks on 300 cals/day.
Can anyone who has followed this plan please offer me some explanation/advise. The book "The Alternate Day Diet Revised" isn't readily available here.

Lietchi

I know nothing of this particular diet or the genes it's supposed to 'activate'.
But it sounds like plain old starvation to me and a quick road to muscle loss and unnecessary health risks.
MFP considers 1200 calories to be the absolute minimum for women and 1500 for men (and even that will be too low for many).

Why this diet?
You don't need 'turn on' certain genes or starve yourself to lose weight.
How about giving this alternative a go?
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

callsitlikeiseeit

well that just sounds like the biggest bunch of BS ive heard since drinking apple cider vinegar. or any other bro science fad to come along.

eat less. move more.

Cliffs Notes of Weight Loss:

• small, sustainable changes
• Understand weight fluctuations are normal. Thinks of a roller coaster, not a steep mountain slope down. Some weeks up, some weeks down. Its the OVERALL TREND that matters
• Learn to weigh your food ON A FOOD SCALE
• Learn how to find ACCURATE DATABASE ENTRIES
• BE ACTIVE - get off your butt and MOVE. Find SOMETHING you enjoy. If your activity is limited, find ways to move that you are ABLE to do
• Deprivation is the key to Binging and falling off the wagon. Learn how to fit your favorite things in regularly. There are no 'bad foods' Just 'bad quantities'.
• One 'bad' day will not undo your deficit.
• You did not gain the weight quickly. You will not lose it quickly. Better to lose it slowly, and KEEP IT OFF, then lose it quick, and gain it all back and more!

Useful Links

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

and basically ... all of these

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads#latest

Walkywalkerson

callsitlikeiseeit said -

'Deprivation is the key to Binging and falling off the wagon. Learn how to fit your favorite things in regularly. There are no 'bad foods' Just 'bad quantities'

I agree with this totally.
I don't know anything about the 'Judd' Diet but it sounds faddy and unsustainable to me.
I've played around with intermittent fasting and it does work for weight loss - but not eating and losing weight is a no brainer isn't it 🤣
Even though I have found that IF does help with cravings - it's not something I find sustainable every day because life happens.
And I'm sure hunger happens if you go whole days on 500 calories!
It's the road to binge town.
Maybe start with gentle IF and see how you get on 😊

snowflake954

Yup--I'm going to be 67 next week and I'd abandon this diet. I find, as I age, that if I cut my calories too low I become light headed and dizzy. A fall, when you're older, is NOT a good idea.

I think that you should think about IF (which I don't care for myself) as suggested by walky. It would be 100% better than 300 cal for 2 weeks. You could get into real health trouble doing something like that--remember "older, but wiser"?

Finally, if you insist, PLEASE check with your doctor first and see what they say. If you get a green light there...I'll bow out.

cmriverside

^^What they said.

It's also against this site's Community Guidelines to discuss ways to use very low calorie diets (VLCDs) since they are dangerous.

Please don't try this.

There are lots of strategies to use to stay in a reasonable, healthy calorie range and still lose weight. Let us know when you're ready to do that.

mirianyusm

I am not a scientist but I don't think a person can "activate his/her genes". Also a 500 cal diet is not sustainable in the long run because sooner or later it will lead to binging and abandoning the so called "diet". As many said before, you will be better eating at a reasonable calorie deficit instead of starving yourself.

lemurcat2

Congrats on your 70th year!

To answer the question about how the diet works -- not weighing in on whether there is any reason to do it, as I personally think that is going to have to do with how much you like it and use it as a healthful way to lose vs going into too steep a calorie deficit -- here you are:

https://www.freedieting.com/alternate-day-diet

"Every day is either an Up Day or a Down Day. You are free to eat as much as you would like to on Up Days and On Down Days you will restrict calories. While you can eat whatever foods you want and as much as you like you should not intentionally overeat, but it is important that you eat enough so that you feel satisfied.

For the first two weeks of the diet you consume no more than 20% of your usual calorie intake on Down Days. To simplify matters a daily intake of 500 calories for Down Days is suggested during the induction phase."

So you still have Up Days (where you eat what you want) and Down Days and alternate. You also might want to use 500 vs 300 -- I've never seen it discussed (or the related 5:2) with less than 500 on the low cal or "fasting" days.

"Meal replacement shakes are recommended as the only food that you consume on the Down Days during the induction phase. This is because they are convenient and make it easy to monitor your calorie intake. You only have to diet for one day at a time. The next day is your Up Day where you are free to eat the way you normally would."

The meal replacement shake recommendation seems goofy to me, but YMMV.

"The longer-term Alternate Day Diet plan is not as restrictive as the first two weeks. You can eat real food on Down Days and can also increase your calorie intake to up to 35% of your normal amount if you want to lose weight. If you have already reached your target weight you will eat up to 60% of your normal calorie requirements in order to maintain your weight."

gibbsak1

Thanks for the wake up call everyone. Looks like I'm heading back to my Dukan Plan. It's been a tried and tested plan for many years. I've also enjoyed the Diet Doktor's HFLC.

Lietchi

I would suggest you also log your calorie intake while following the plan you choose, just to make sure you're in a calorie deficit and not undereating either.

musicfan68

There's a much easier way to diet - eat what you like, keeping within the calories you need to eat to still lose weight. I don't know how much you need to lose, but 1 lb a week is a good start. There is absolutely no reason to complicate this. These weird diets are why no one seems to know why they can't keep weight off. Because the so-called "diets" aren't sustainable. Just eat normal foods, and eat the calories you need. Starving yourself isn't helping with anything.

lemurcat2

I wouldn't personally enjoy this alternate day dieting thing or 5:2 -- which it seems similar to -- but it's not that weird, it's basically just a different way of creating a deficit. I have a friend who loves 5:2 since she only has to count cals 2 days per week. However, she also has never been particularly overweight and started just losing some pregnancy weight, so she really can not track on the higher cal days and just on the low cal ones. I suspect it's quite possible to overeat enough on the higher cal days that you would not have a deficit for the week, but I also suspect for others it would work (if they enjoyed it).