Yo-Yo Dieting

Yo-Yo Dieting-What is Weight Cycling?

Yo yo dieting occurs when one loses a significant amount of weight but eventually gains it back

Is losing weight one of your concerns?  Then chances are that you have heard of yo yo dieting. Yo yo dieting occurs when one loses a significant amount of weight but eventually gains it back. It is also called weight cycling because of its nature of occurrence that is its cycle or repetitive pattern of weight loss and weight gain.

Causes behind Yo Yo Dieting

It will be important to be acquainted with the common causes of yo yo dieting to avoid the possible problem it may bring in your life. The yo yo effect is usually caused by weight loss plans that involve missing meals, fasting and crash diets that drastically lower your daily caloric intake. When the body is deprived of the calories it needs for energy, it will adapts to the change by slowing down your metabolism.

Metabolism is the process through which your body burns the food you eats in order to produce energy. Your metabolism may not get back to normal even when you resume your normal lifestyle. A slower metabolism means more weight gain. In some cases, not only will you gain back the weight you lose during the diet, but you may even gain more than before.

Yo Yo Dieting and Muscle Loss

Muscle loss is another effect that is associated with yo yo dieting. When your daily caloric intake becomes extremely low, your body tends to digest your muscle cells. Less muscle mass also contributes to slower metabolism. Instead of the slim and toned figure that you’re aiming for, you end up with a thinner but flabbier body.

The Effects of Yo Yo Dieting

If you’ve encountered yo yo dieting before then you’re probably familiar with its effects. It’s true that most crash diets and other rapid weight loss solutions can succeed in helping you shed pounds in a short time. However, it’s important to know that this weight loss is generally due to the loss of water weight and muscle mass. Aside from the fact that the weight loss is merely temporary, yo yo dieting has other negative effects. For instance, your failure to lose weight permanently may eventually impact your emotional health. This results in depression, stress and eating disorders.

Fluctuating weight can also result in a higher risk of developing cancer and heart disease. You might also suffer from losing hair and developing osteoporosis, among other health conditions. This is due to the fact that most crash diets are lacking in nutrients that are essential for healthy hair, bones and good health in general. Because of the low caloric intake, fatigue and difficulty in concentrating might also result from yo yo dieting.

Besides the above some studies suggest that weight cycling may increase the risk for certain health problems. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and gallbladder disease. For adults who are not obese and do not have weight-related health problems, experts recommend maintaining a stable weight to avoid any potential health risks associated with weight cycling. Obese adults, however, should continue to try to achieve modest weight loss to improve overall health and reduce the risk of developing obesity-related diseases.

Losing and regaining weight may have a negative psychological effect if you let yourself become discouraged or depressed. Weight cycling should not be a reason to “feel like a failure.” Instead it is a reason to refocus on making long-term changes in your diet and level of physical activity to help you keep off the pounds you lose.

Weight cycling has not been proven to increase the amount of fat tissue in people who lose and regain weight. Researchers have found that after a weight cycle, those who return to their original weights have the same amount of fat and lean tissue (muscle) as they did prior to weight cycling. People who exercise during a weight cycle may actually gain muscle.

Some people are concerned that weight cycling can put more fat around their abdominal (stomach) area. People who tend to carry excess fat in the stomach area (apple-shaped), instead of in the hips, thighs, and buttocks (pear-shaped), are more likely to develop type two diabetes heart diseases, and high blood pressure. Studies have not found, however, that after a weight cycle, people have more fat around their stomachs than they did before weight cycling.

If I regain lost weight, won’t losing it again be even harder?

A person who repeatedly loses and gains weight should not have more trouble trying to reach and maintain a healthy weight than a person attempting to lose weight for the first time. Most studies show that weight cycling does not affect one’s metabolic rate. Based on these findings, weight cycling should not affect the success of future weight-loss efforts. Metabolism does, however, slow down as a person ages.

In addition, older people are often less physically active than when they were younger. Regardless of your age, making regular physical activity as well as healthy eating habits a part of your life will aid weight loss and improve health overall.

Preventing Yo Yo Dieting

If you don’t want to be among the many victims of yo yo dieting, then you need to boost your metabolism instead of slowing it down. These can be achieved by increasing your amount of physical activities. You should also look for ways to lose weight gradually and safely, because this produces a more effective and longer-lasting weight loss.

Finally getting information from different sources is very good because it makes you be enlighten and do the right thing. To help you get further helpful information on optimal weight loss, a visit to AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s will offer much needed solution. Doctor Dalal Akoury cares; she focuses on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE

Yo-Yo Dieting