Effects of Yo-Yo Dieting
August 25, 2009
What is yo-yo diet?
It is identified by a recurring pattern of weight loss and gain. People choose to do this by way of skipping meal or reducing their calorie intake. There are many health risks like heart problems, diabetes or hypertension.
These health problems related to weight cycling is more common in normal or slightly overweight people that those who are obese. Research should yo-yo dieting or cycling of weight has many psychological problems also which are attached to it. Repeated weight gain and loss takes a toll on the person psychologically. Many people see this as a personal failure and it puts a dent on their confidence levels.
In this weight cycling when a person loses weight they lose both lean muscles and fat. When they gain weight it tends to be more of fat and very little muscle mass, which leaves them fatter than before. In this condition high amount of fat is stored in the abdominal which makes your body more prone to health related risks. Repeated weight loss and gain weakens the immune system.
Research has also said that yo-yo diet can cause hypertension, raise the cholesterol levels and cause gallbladder disease, it also damages your metabolism to a great extent.
How to Avoid Yo-Yo Diet?
Don’t resort to extreme methods; if you lose more than 3 pounds in a week, more of the weight loss has been in form of muscles than fat.
Make sure you understand the calories needed by your body to lose the desired weight healthily. You should stick to these guidelines and shouldn’t lose weight in haste.
Try and spread your calorie intake across the day by having 5-6 healthy meals in a day.
Make sure you eat 5 servings of veggies and fruits in a day, this will keep your calorie count low and your fibre intake high.
Make sure sugar free and fat free doesn’t mean calorie free. Check the labels and nutritional information clearly before consuming anything.
8-10 glasses of water daily is a must to keep you healthy and kicking.
Maintain a food journal or diary and monitor your daily intake of food and calories. This would help you track your diet and make you stay committed, it leaves little room for you to divert or skip your dieting for a couple of days.
Don’t keep yourself completely off the food you relish, as you would fail sooner or later. Indulge once in a while but keep the frequency of indulgence low.
Make sure you incorporate aerobic workout like walking, cycling, jogging, stair-climbing, and swimming at least for 20-30 minutes 5 times a week. This will keep your metabolism high and help you stay more energetic. You should also add 2 days of strength training which would develop the muscle tissues and help you burn calories.
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