Reviews & News

Why Yo-Yo Dieting isn't good




 

Yo-yo dieting is a catchy term (invented by a Yale University academic) to describe a pretty miserable experience.
I've seen some of my friends eating nothing but shakes, or doing crash-crazy diets. Each and every time they will say and post on social media they have lost weight. 
But then I will see them again and all their weight has come back, sometimes they would have gained more than what they had lost
This is what yo-yo dieting is all about. It’s losing weight and then gaining it back, over and over again. It’s just like a yo-yo, going up and down.
A person who has a history of yo-yo dieting can take the weight off, but then it comes back every time.
In many cases, they gain more weight than they lose, so their weight keeps inching up. Every time they try a new diet it gets harder to drop the pounds.
Have you spent years trying to lose weight, only to put it back on again and then start all over again? Then you'll know how it feels.
What can you do to combat yo-yo dieting in your own life?
The best way to avoid the on/off cycle of yo-yo dieting is to lose weight slowly and sensibly. 
Crash dieting might result in lots of weight coming off, but it’s unlikely to last.
What’s the best way to lose weight?
The best way to lose weight is to change the habits which caused you to gain weight in the first place.
Educate yourself about calorie balance, nutrition, and healthy food choices. 
Learn how much food your body needs. Design a plan of eating which you'll enjoy and stick to.
Slow and steady is always better than the highs and lows of yo-yo dieting. Be patient.
Imagine how different you could look 6 months from now and work towards that goal.
Yo-Yo dieting is no good for your body, your mind, or your emotions and can really affect your health in many ways; 
1. Weight gain
A new study from the University of Exeter and Bristol found repeated dieting can do the opposite of what you want and ultimately lead to weight gain because your brain interprets these extreme swings in eating patterns as “short famines.” (Which is different than calculated fasts.) Your body goes into survival mode and prompts the storage of fat for future shortages. This is also a common downfall for people who try to stick to super low-calorie diets. What’s more, you’re more apt to binge and overeat, so you’re never truly able to keep any weight off. You can thank evolution; animals, like birds, respond to shortages in food supply by gaining weight to stay alive. Unfortunately, the researchers say, our bodies are hardwired to follow this model.
“Surprisingly, our model predicts that the average weight gain for dieters will actually be greater than those who never diet,” leady study author Andrew Higginson said in a press release. “This happens because non-dieters learn that the food supply is reliable so there is less need for the insurance of fat stores.
2. Gut dysfunction
According to a study from the University of New South Wales. Yo-|Yo dieting throws off the healthy balance of gut bacteria. Usually, your gut’s home to about 100 trillion microbial cells that influence everything from metabolism to immune function to overall nutrition. But when the levels and diversity of bacteria are disrupted, gastrointestinal conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and obesity are the result. Another study found something similar. When Israeli researchers put mice through a cycle of weight loss and gain, they found that the rodents’ systems all returned to normal but one: Their microbiomes (germ colonies) stayed in “obese” mode for six extra months. It seems the little guys’ guts remembered obesity fondly and sped up weight gain when off the diet.
The finding may lead to treatments to combat Yo-Yo dieting. Till then, fortify your gut with plenty of probiotics (yogurt, kimchi) and prebiotic (asparagus, onion) foods.
3. Psychological frustration
By depriving yourself of fuel and maxing out during workouts, your only result is burnout. Sure, you’ll see some weight loss; but that’s only due to water loss and dehydration. “When people put themselves on a diet, they often forbid themselves to eat the foods they love, but dieting is not the same as healthy eating, and this leads to a sense of deprivation, which can derail your healthy intentions, over time this creates the effect of Yo-Yo weight cycling, which can take a toll on your emotional and physical well-being.
 

    Contact Us