Overcoming Yo-Yo dieting
Stay Away from Fad Diets and Start Making Healthy Life Style Changes
Nov 21, 2008
Anyone who has battled with weight loss is familiar with the problems of the yo-yo effect. The yo-yo effect is a term defined by Krause’s Food, Nutrition and Diet Therapy (1) as “the process of losing and gaining weight several times throughout a lifetime.” Krause suggests that not only with each cycle it is more difficult to take off the weight but it takes less time to regain it.
Weight is not the only thing damaged by unhealthy diet patterns; so is self confidence. Every time a diet fails many people tell themselves that is because they don’t have enough willpower or self-control. It is important to remember it is the diet that has failed, not the individual.
It is time to stop the dieting, stop the cycles and start making life long changes that allow for weight loss and keeping that weight off. The process needs to begin with a change in attitude. Stop thinking of a “diet” as a change in how to eat to lose weight and start thinking of eating as way of life. In order for one to lose weight and keep it off one has to make changes in one's life that one is able to do for an entire life not just for a week at a time.
Keep the following tips in mind to help stay on track.
- Start small; choose one thing to work on a time. It may be making sure you don’t skip breakfast or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Be aware of your “high-risk situations”. These are situations when you are more likely to overeat, such as times of stress, candy jar on the kitchen counter, or a bad day at work. Come up with a non-food solution to your “high-risk situations”. Going for a walk, put the candy away or talk with a friend.
- Healthy weight loss is going to take time. Have a goal of losing one to two pounds a week. Slow weight loss is healthier and easier to maintain than any crash diet.
- Be active every day. The best weight loss success happens with a combination of healthy eating and physical activity.
- Watch your portion sizes. Keep the "plate method" in mind. One half of your dinner plate should be fruits and vegetables, 1/4 should be starch (bread, pasta, rice, or potatoes) and 1/4 should be a lean protein (fish, poultry, lean red meat, or dried beans)
- Find a weight loss friend. Everything is always easier with someone to encourage you along the way.
- Remember that pounds lost on the scale are not the only measure of success. Take note of how clothes fit; there may be a loss of inches before pounds. Also energy levels may start to increase.
Weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight does not have to be something that is dreamt about, it can become part of a reality. Stay positive, keep going when the going gets tough and stay away from fad diets and it will be possible to get off the merry-go-round that is yo-yo dieting and start enjoying life and food.
References:
- Mahan, Escott-Stump. Krause's Food, Nutrition and Diet Therapy. 11th edition, Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 2003
