We are living in an era where dieting is a trend. Anywhere and everywhere you go. You will hear people saying “I am on diet” Now there are different types of dieting but have you ever heard of dieting known as “YO-YO DIETING” Here’s everything we need to know about “YO- YO DIETING”
So what’s this YO-YO DIETING?
Just imagine you were celebrating your weight loss, the joy of fitting in your favourite dress is just unforgettable but after few days the same dress doesn’t fits you and the standing on a weighing scale makes you stressed and the only thought which goes in your mind is “Oh! I need to diet again now.
And that type of dieting is known as “YO-YO DIETING”
Yo-yo dieting, also known as “weight cycling,” describes the pattern of losing weight, regaining it and then dieting again..
Being a dietician I always feel “Dieting should be a lifestyle change and not temporary ones” If your diet makes you to gain your lost weight you need to think twice before proceeding with this type of diet. YO-YO dieting is nothing but a FAD DIET.
You go on a diet. Deprive yourself from food and Lose weight. Being very happy with your weight loss you end your diet and return to your pre eating habits. And then what? You gain again and now your weight pattern is on increasing mode so you think of dieting again. That’s how the structure of YO-YO dieting look like…
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHEN YOU DO YO-YO DIETING?
Depression: We often are worried more about our weight. Weight loss makes us extreme happy. Few lose weight to fit in their favourite dress, few lose weight for their profession and few just want to look perfect on their date. But what if we regained our lost weight. Won’t it make us stressed? All our plans will be flopped. And no doubt we will be in depression stage. We might quit dieting after that. My suggestion follow a diet which makes you physically as well as emotionally fit. After all the definition of health itself says” Health is a state of physical and emotional well being.
Slows Down Your Metabolism: Yo-Yo dieting is basically calorie deprived dieting. Such diets will slow down your metabolism leading to an increase in appetite and constant food cravings . Never opt for a diet which lowers your metabolism coz ” METABOLISM” this word is the secret for weight loss. Lower your metabolism, lower the weight loss. Understand this concept and you will always have a good metabolism.
Weight gain: A new research says that repeated dieting can do the opposite of what you want and ultimately lead to weight gain because your brain has programmed these extreme swings in eating patterns as “short famines.” This means that when you go on low calorie diet the body realizes it is not getting enough fuel, so it starts to store the food as fat for future utilization by decreasing the amount of calories burnt which leads to slowing down your metabolism, just like cactus does by storing water for its future use.
Gut dysfunction: Usually, your gut’s a home to about 100 trillion microbial cells that influence everything from metabolism to immune function to overall nutrition. But when a person goes on yo yo diet, the levels and diversity of bacteria are disturbed, which leads to gastrointestinal conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and obesity is the result.
Psychological frustration: By depriving yourself of food and doing heavy work out , your only result is fatigue. There will be some weight loss; but that’s only due to water loss and dehydration. Bouncing back and forth is self-perpetuating because the extreme behaviour that results in the ‘quick results’ tends to be like stretching a rubber band. The further you go, the stronger the stretch brings you back. When you gain weight back, it is often more than you lost, and there is the ‘yo-yo’.” And then think about this: when you have such a ‘restrictive’ menu without real habits in place, you feel deprived and just look forward to bingeing on those restricted foods again on cheat days.
We just saw the effects of “YO-YO DIETING” Now let’s discuss on different ways to stop “YO YO DIETING”
- Get enough sleep
- Exercise regularly
- Slow down your eating
- Get hydrated
- Reduce stress
- Avoid unrealistic expectations
- Eat earlier
- Limit alcohol intake
“The best thing for weight loss is to take it steady,”
My suggestion is that eating only slightly less than you should, all the time, and doing physical exercise is much more likely to help you reach a healthy weight than going on low-calorie diets. Also what matters is that your meal should have a good carbohydrate and protein balance.