Stop The Madness Of Yo-Yo Dieting
One of the most common complaints that I hear among my clients is their frustration with yo-yo dieting. Also called weight cycling, yo-yo dieting is the pattern of losing weight and then gaining it back. You know this feeling, one day you are doing great. Your weight is down and all is right with the world. A few weeks later the yo-yo pivots and the scale starts to tick up. Over half of Americans admit to being on a diet at any given time. Can you believe that?! Over half! If dieting worked, this number would be much, much smaller. The constant ups and downs of yo-yo dieting leads to all kinds of negative health issues, from depression to an increased risk of diabetes. So what can you do to stop the madness of the yo-yo?
The Madness of Yo-Yo Dieting
Constant yo-yo dieting is more than just frustrating, it is hazardous to your health overall. Here are just some of the pitfalls to the ups and downs of yo-yo-ing.
You Gain MORE Weight
One of the most frustrating results of weight cycling is that most people end up gaining more weight than when they first started on their weight journey. You see, bodies try hard to regain lost weight as part of our biological programming. For millions of years one of the major threats to survival was not having enough food. Our cells just don’t understand that a grocery store or restaurant is just around the corner.
So, as people try to take on more extreme diets they end up confusing their bodies. Instead of ramping up your metabolism, it slows down. Hunger hormones go up. And the weight starts to pile back on. Frustrating isn’t it!
You Run A Greater Risk Of Diabetes
Several studies point to the relationship between weight cycling and diabetes. Over half of the studies found an association between yo-yo dieting and increased weight gains, especially in terms of belly fat. Large deposits of belly fat have been linked to type 2 diabetes. For those with a genetic predisposition to the disease, this is troubling news indeed.
You see, so often doctors “prescribe” weight loss to those with diabetes or prediabetes. This is not a bad idea, on its face. In practice, however, dieters often jump on the yo-yo train, and end up doing more harm than good. This risk is greater for dieters who end up at a higher weight than when they started.
You Hurt Your Heart, And Your Brain, And Your Liver
Extreme weight loss, especially rapid weight loss, can hurt several of your important organs, from your kidneys to your liver. All of these organs need carbs, calories, and nutrients to do their job effectively. Muscle can also atrophy, especially if your yo-yo dieting involves extreme calorie restrictions.
You see, your body doesn’t just burn fat when it is deprived of nutrition. It also uses muscle for fuel when there aren’t enough calories from food coming in. The key to a healthy body is lean body mass, to both support your bones and to keep your calories machine running well. Breaking down muscle with yo-yo dieting will hurt your fitness goals more than they help.
You Become More And More Unhappy
Fail is a four letter word. And if you are anything like me, it makes you feel like spitting out several four letter words. But that is the sad truth of dieting, they FAIL. Because diets, from fad diets to crash diets and everything in between all feel so temporary. They aren’t a way to live your best life. And if you aren’t living your best life you are bound to be unhappy.
That is the biggest cost of yo-yo dieting, the feeling of failure and the unhappiness that goes hand in hand with it. Diets are missing something important. They try to tackle calorie intake or carbs. They try to tackle a small part of what makes people unhealthy. They don’t tackle the root triggers that lead people to overindulge or turn to food in times of stress. Trust me, I know.
Let me be your helping hand. Call today!
Let’s Change Some Lives
We throw around the phrase “lifestyle change” too easily, but in truth that is what most of my clients want to do. They WANT to change their lives! When we put it like that, wow, what a big project. Changing your life for the better is tough, but worth it. Isn’t a tough job always a little easier when you have a friend at your side? I think so.
That is why I do what I do everyday. I love to help people stop the yo-yo diet madness by working with them, one on one, to discover what is really behind the unhealthy behavior. I work with my clients to get past those frustrations that have held them back in the past, and together we really do change lives.
Are you ready to stop weight cycling and take control of your relationship with food? I can help. Let’s get started with a quick, free, phone consultation to see if the program is right for you. I want to know about your struggles and your successes. Let’s stop the yo-yo dieting madness now; I am just a phone call away. I can’t wait to talk to you.
