Up Day Down Day Diet

A lot of dieters and eating disordered people experience a great deal of success, while enjoying the flexibility of the Up Day Down Day diet (also called UDDD on many discussion forums, weight loss sites, and ED websites as well.  The diet was was developed by James Johnson, M.D., and I fear the fact that it was created and is promoted by a real doctor gives this diet the appearance of being medically sound advice.  I personally think this is a diet that can push the average dieter from normal eating into the endless abyss of an eating disorder, and I would actually call this the Absolute EDNOS Diet, if I was to rename it!  Using the calculator on the website, you enter your age, height and weight stats and select a weight loss program, and the automated program calculates the total calories you need for your “Up Days” and your “Down Days.”  Then you alternate between these two totals. 

I’m sure the doctor adds extra advice, tips and even diet supplements to help people, but must admit I did not read beyond the basic instructions of alternate between Up Day and Down Day calorie totals until you change to a weight maintenance program when you’re satisfied with the results.  I put in my own stats, and after calculating for the 20% weight loss program with little or no exercise, I am given 1381 calories on the Up Day and 276 calories for the down day.  You are advised to only weigh every other day, after a Down Day, so that the Up Day fluctuations don’t freak you out. 

I can honestly say that I have never tried this diet because I am terrified of the Up Day total.  I am perfectly comfortable with the Down Day total–and just made a mental note that I should aim to only exceed this total two days of the week, because I’m disordered and this seems to be the perfect number to me now that a computer has actually recommended it for me.  I hope you can see how this is, in my opinion, one of the most dangerous diets promoted on the web today.  I think if you don’t have an eating disorder yet, but you are so desperate to lose weight that you give this Up Day Down Day diet a try, within a month your head will be twisted up in calorie counts for every speck of food that you look at: an endless hell of mental calculations and keeping a running total in the back of your head all day long.  With these numbers floating in your thoughts, arguing with your growing hunger pangs, you are not able to pay as close attention to your work, personal conversations, or even your surroundings because you’ll be caught up in your own head space, adding and subtracting food totals as you imagine eating them.  By the end of the day, you may even find you haven’t eaten a thing because you couldn’t decide between 50 calories of cherries or 50 calories of fat free yogurt, so you had zero calories of anything.  At least, that’s how it tends to go for me.

I do not recommend the Up Day Down Day diet to anyone, but I would be interested in hearing how it works for those who are actually happy with it.  Did you have an eating disorder before you tried this diet?  Did you consider the diet safer than others because it’s created and promoted by a real doctor?  Did you lose weight and enjoy the diet, finding it easy to follow?  Do you have an eating disorder now that you have used the diet?

Eating Disorders Affect Men’s Health Too

Eating disorders are not something experienced only by teen aged girls: anyone can struggle to cope with an eating disorder, including men.  An estimated 10% of eating disordered people are men, although that estimate is likely to be artificially low due to the negative connotations for men with eating disorders.  These conditions have even less to do with a person’s sexuality than they have to do with food, but often men with eating disorders are suspected and accused of being homosexual and weak, too feminine and too concerned about appearances: shallow and sensitive.  In addition to under reporting, men rarely seek treatment or help for these disorders until their health has been affected and they meet the criteria for a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa.

 An article on Caring Online about Males and Eating Disorders, included this excerpt.

Another expert who treats eating disorders says society has a tendency to glamorize eating disorders while at the same time making fun of the people who have them.

“The media and society believe it’s all about these beautiful models trying to lose weight, when that’s really not what eating disorders are about,” says Mae Sokol, MD. “They’re less about food and eating and much more about people’s sense of self-esteem and identity and who they are.”

Sokol says anorexia may be less noticeable in men than women because men can still have muscle mass even though they are thin.

“In fact, it’s more dangerous for men to develop anorexia nervosa than for females … because when males get down to the lowest weight ranges, they’ve lost more muscle and tissue, whereas [fat] is something you can lose for a period of time without repercussions,” says Sokol, a child and adolescent psychologist at Menninger, a psychiatric hospital in Topeka, Kan.

I visited MensHealth.com website and searched with the keywords “eating disorders,” and was unable to find a single article about men and EDs, and I could not count how many articles were about food, fitness, weight loss, and even how to “Think Your Way to Thin” (a great read, by the way).  Clearly the pressure on men to be thin and fit is just as intense, if not more intense than the pressures women also face every day.  Unfortunately there isn’t an equal amount of information, education, awareness, and treatment programs designed for treating men who struggle with eating disorders.

During Eating Disorder Awareness Week, February 21 to 27, please tell others about the widespread eating disorder epidemic and the damage done to so many lives of men, women, and children around the world.  Talk about the common misconceptions and stereotypes, and inform people of the fact that eating disorders include more than just anorexia and bulimia, and they affect more people than just young girls and immature women or fashion models.

Triggers in the Inbox

Sometimes I’m able to clearly see many reasons why eating disorders are so widespread and impact the lives of so many young people, men, women and families that struggle to cope with the pressures they create.  Every day when I open my email inbox, I’m met with countless unwanted spam messages about weight loss, new fad diets and exercise plans, so-called miracle weight loss pills or potions, and advertisements for the most beautiful, sexy clothing and swimsuits for thin bodies.  Today I was promised “six pack” abs, weight loss recommendations based on my height and weight, a quiz to test how “calorie conscious” I am, and free coupons for sales on health food supplements guaranteed to make me lose weight.

Pro-ana and Pro-ED websites are definitely not to blame for the rise in numbers of people seeking treatment for, or trying to live with an eating disorder.  Although the fashion industry is part of the ED epidemic, I believe the true culprits are in the food industry and the weight loss business.  These two industries conspire together to make people obese with unhealthy foods and chemical additives that break down their body’s defenses, and then offer to sell miracle solutions for these weight problems.  The weight issues and negative stereotypes are propagated by the media and the entertainment business, which is truly just a reflection of what the majority of people want, idolize, or fear the most.

Without a fashion industry walking skeletal beauties down the runways, there would be a lot less thinspiration.  Without actresses, musicians, athletes and all other types of performers and public figures struggling with their weight; training their bodies and minds constantly, there would be so much less encouragement and inspiration for the average girl or woman to be a size zero babe.  Above all else, we would not struggle with weight and an unhealthy body image if the food industry and media did not set us up from birth to go through it.

Eating disorders and the pro-ana movement are some peoples’ answer to the mounting pressures of today’s society that tell us you must be thin, attractive, talented and/or tremendously smart in order to succeed.  I am not the only woman living with an eating disorder and receiving countless spam email messages–triggers in the inbox–every single day.  These endless messages go much further to program my subconscious mind than any pro-ana slogans, such as “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” 

The abolition of eating disorders will not come by banning pro-ana websites and discussion forums on the internet, or censoring thinspiration collections and photo albums on xanga and photobucket.  It can only come through the majority of people rising up against the old ways of advertising, and fighting back against the health risks in our food supply.  We need to change the majority view to accept and embrace the beauty of all life, so we can be free of judging one another and being judged, based on superficial characteristics we possess or struggle to achieve.