YoYo dieting – not a healthy option:
Jan 5, 2019
We’ve all heard of yo-yo dieting, when people drastically change their diet to lose weight, only to revert back to their normal diet and lifestyle whereby they regain weight and start dieting again. This type of weight loss focuses on short term changes in eating and activity, which also leads to short term benefits. The results? Their weight goes up and down like a yo-yo!
Also referred to as weight cycling, this pattern of dieting is very common and often leads to people becoming very confused, frustrated and, unfortunately all too willing and ready jump on the next dieting bandwagon as they strive to reach their desired weight.
The problem with this approach is that there is too much focus on weight loss as a quick fix, rather than sustainable weight loss for health and wellness.
The famous inventor Thomas Edison realised the importance of lifestyle modification and preventative medicine in the early 1900’s, and he predicted the doctor’s role in this:
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and the cause and prevention of disease." –Thomas Edison
A long-term sustainable lifestyle plan is the key to improving overall health and well-being. It has been proven that even modest amounts of weight loss can equate to better health outcomes.
There are many associated problems with short-term fast fix yo-yo dieting:
- One of the biggest issues is that losing weight changes the hormonal balance in your body. The hunger hormone Ghrelin increases, making you feel hungrier, and the satiety hormone Leptin reduces so you are less satisfied. This causes increased appetite, which naturally makes it difficult for you to stick to a very restrictive short-term diet. A lot of people will actually gain more weight after the diet is over, and end up heavier than they were before they started the diet.
What can you do?
Change your mindset. Focus on developing healthy sustainable eating habits to nourish your body, rather than focusing on weight loss.
Don’t get confused by fad diets and quick fixes.
You don’t need to aim for perfection!
- With weight loss comes muscle loss, especially if physical activity is not part of your regime. This muscle loss leads to deconditioning and poor muscle strength.
Unfortunately fat is regained more easily than muscle after weight loss. So your fat mass may increase significantly after multiple cycles of yo-yo diets.
How do I change this?
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein
Yes, physical activity is a crucial part to the equation! The best way to prevent muscle loss is to exercise regularly and eat good quality lean protein.
Again these changes need to be sustainable, so remember these thoughts:
- Any exercise is better than no exercise at all
- Strive for progress not perfection
- Get rid of the ‘all or nothing’ mentality
- Reduce your sedentary behaviour
- Increase your coincidental activity
- Embrace the health and wellness benefits that you will achieve from your exercise
- Make exercise fun - you need to enjoy what you are doing to make it sustainable!
- Yo-yo dieting can have long-lasting emotional consequences contributing to food and body image preoccupation. Many people end up having a very negative relationship with food as they become frustrated with weight regain and feel they have failed, yet again.
What can you do to stop this?
- Don’t give up!
- Lose the strict rules
- Discard the dieting mentality and instead think in terms of lifestyle modification, health and wellness
- Set realistic goals; make sure they are achievable and sustainable
- Make a change for good; break the cycle of temporary change that comes with yo-yo dieting by introducing a long term sustainable lifestyle plan
"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." - World Health Organization
Here’s to a healthy 2019 and beyond!
#reyou #yoyodiets #beactive #wellness #weightmanagement