Yo Yo Dieting vs Lifestyle Changes
Yo Yo Dieting is horrible. We’ve all heard it at least 100 times before. It’s hard on your heart, on your mental stamina, and according to some experts, your skin(Hoffman, MD). By wikipedia definition, yo yo dieting or weight cycling is “a repeated loss and gain of body weight due to excessive dieting.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-yo_dieting)” It usually involves extreme diets meant to replace a healthy change of lifestyle and a lifelong exercise plan. When you lose and gain a substantial amount of weight in short periods of time, it is hard on all your bodily systems, but your body can recover over time. If you keep repeating this cycle, your body is allowed no recovery time and therefore no recovery at all. A more visible sign of this is the fact that after being stretched so many times, your skin will lose its elasticity, and eventually will not bounce back, resulting in stretch marks, wrinkles, and loose skin. In addition, a person who participates in yo yo dieting commonly experiences more trouble reaching and maintaining a healthy weight than a first time dieter(Medicinenet).
Most of the weight gain associated with yo yo dieting happens because people starve themselves on an extreme fad diet. They lose weight, and they get excited and relax, because they have achieved their goal of losing weight. But then they return to all their old habits that made them overweight in the first place. There is no long term commitment, and therefore no long term results.
So, if you are looking to lose weight for purposes of health or looks, remember to be reasonable. Some would even say, do not go on a diet, go on a lifestyle change. This means instead of cutting out all the foods you love, eat them in moderation. Instead of switching to a diet of largely one kind of fruit(ie the grapefruit diet), eat more fruits and vegetables in general, and balance them with other important foods such as proteins and good carbs. Start exercising for 30 minutes a day 3 times a week, or choose to walk up the stairs every once in a while instead of taking the elevator. In other words, make lifelong changes and commitments, and don’t expect to lose 20 pounds your first week. Real and lasting weight loss takes time and effort.
1. Hoffman, Matthew MD. “Aging Skin: Do You Look Older Than You Should?” WebMD Feature. http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/wrinkles-8/causes-of-wrinkles
2. Medicinenet. “Weight Cycling…Facts About Yo Yo Dieting.” http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=21745
3. National Institutes of Health. Weight Control Information Network. Weight Cycling.
4. Olson, M.B. et al. Weight cycling and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in women: Evidence of an adverse effect. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. November 1, 2000. 36(5):1565-1571.
5. National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity. Weight cycling. Journal of the American Medical Association. October 19, 1994. 272(15):1196-1202.
6. The Hazards of Yo Yo Dieting, Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.com hlp/invoke.cfm?objectid=47C36183-C8B3-4906-924441E357EE1E18
Tags: lifestyle changes, yo yo dieting