How to Stop Yo Yo Dieting and Lose Weight Long-Term

header image woman dieting to lose weight
Are you constantly losing weight, only to gain it back again? If so, you’re not alone – many people have trouble maintaining their losses and often find themselves back where they started time and time again.
This type of weight cycling, more commonly known as “yo-yo dieting”, can be very damaging for your physical and psychological health. Therefore, it’s important to work towards weight loss using a healthy eating and exercise plan that you can maintain for life, rather than a short-term, impossible-to-maintain quick fix.

Here, we explain the dangers of constant weight fluctuations and how to stop yo yo dieting for good!

What is Yo Yo Dieting?

Yo yo dieting involves repeated weight loss attempts, often using extreme methods that prove difficult to sustain long term. People adopt yo yo dieting habits for different reasons.

Some eating patterns that often lead to repeated weight fluctuations (yo-yoing) include extremely low-calorie diets, or diets that exclude many foods. These overly-restrictive, “fad” diets often lack nutrients and can make people feel deprived, tired or even depressed. As a result, it’s no surprise that most people eventually revert back to old eating habits.

However, after several weeks on a restrictive diet going back to eating “normally” proves problematic for two reasons. First, the body holds onto calories much more zealously after a period of dramatic weight loss, which it interprets as starvation, because it wants to replenish fat stores. This was a biological trait favored in times of frequent feast and famine. Second, many people are driven to over-compensate and emotionally overeat to cope with the feelings of disappointment or failure associated with abandoning their latest diet.

Unfortunately, this combination of factors leads to an almost inevitable period of rapid weight gain, which is often followed then by another restrictive diet.

This weight loss-weight gain cycle is what is colloquially referred to as yo yo dieting.

Problems with Yo Yo Dieting

The long-term effects of yo-yo dieting are also problematic. Constant weight fluctuations decrease resting metabolic rate and often lead to an increase in body fat, especially dangerous visceral fat that accumulates around your middle. In fact, animal research shows that yo-yo dieters gain weight faster than non-dieters, potentially in an effort to compensate for past deprivation, or even in anticipation of future deprivation.

Repeatedly gaining and losing can also have other more-general, negative health effects. Research suggests a link between yo-yo dieting and increased health risks such as hypertension, high cholesterol and gallbladder disease. Plus, studies indicate that yo-yo dieters also experience increased levels of psychological distress and report a lower quality of life. Female yo-yo dieters in particular struggle with lower self-esteem and worse body image as compared to people whose weight doesn’t fluctuate.

How to Stop Yo Yo Dieting

Weight loss has innumerable health benefits, but yo-yo dieting is not the way to slim down. So, how can you lose weight without falling into the yo yo trap? Long-term lifestyle modification is the key to successful weight loss and management.

Here’s how to stop yo yo dieting:

1. Be Realistic

A healthy balanced diet (like the plate shown above) is the key to sustainable weight loss. Make sure your diet is one that you can stick to over the long-term, with room for occasional treats so you don’t feel too deprived.

Forget diet myths and skip any crash diets, detoxes, or fad diets that prove impossible to maintain. In fact, reject the whole notion of dieting as being a temporary fix with an end date: think of what you’re doing as a permanent lifestyle change.

2. Be Patient

Many medical research studies into weight loss and successful long-term weight management have shown that losing around one to two pounds per week is better for your health and significantly more likely to result in permanent weight loss.

You’re in this for the long haul, so take your time to lose weight slowly, steadily and healthily.

3. Be Social

Researchers have found that socializing with others who have successfully lost weight improves your chances of maintaining your own weight loss. So, enlist a friend or join a group and support each other on your weight loss (or general wellbeing) journeys! You can swap recipes, workout together, discuss strategies to resist temptation and celebrate victories as a team.

4. Be Vigilant

If you lose 30 pounds and then gain three, it’s not a big deal. But be careful: this can be a slippery slope, especially if you have a history of yo-yoing.

To avoid slipping back into your yo yo dieting ways, weigh in at least once a week (but no more than once a day) to keep track of your weight. If you notice that the number on the scale is consistently creeping up, think about what you can change and make a plan to get back on-track ASAP.

5. Be Flexible

Eating healthy does NOT mean eating the same, boring food for the rest of your life. If you start getting bored, switch eating plans! Research indicates that dieters are more likely to stay on-track and achieve successful weight loss if they stay engaged with new recipes and fitness ideas.

6. Be Active

In addition to keeping an eye on your diet and weight trends, it’s also vital to incorporate regular exercise into your new, healthier lifestyle.

Staying active helps keep the 6,000+ members of the National Weight Control Registry (an ongoing study of American adults who’ve lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year) from regaining weight. This doesn’t mean that you have to train for a marathon – just try to include more activity in your day, and if you found an exercise you enjoyed while you were losing weight, then why not keep it up and benefit from the feel good endorphins and reduced cravings?

7. Be Optimistic

One of the most important tips for being successful in the long term is to stay positive. Instead of beating yourself up over past diet attempts, appreciate how much insight you’ve gained into what to do next time. Knowledge is power!

In summary: the key to how to stop yo yo dieting is committing to long-term lifestyle changes. Phen Caps are the perfect supplement to help set you on the path to success. They suppress appetite and increase energy levels to give you the boost you need for you to establish healthy habits naturally. Don’t wait another day: order today and join our growing family of happy customers who have lost weight and kept it off with Phen Caps!

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Are you a chronic dieter, or have you figured-out how to stop yo yo dieting once and for all? We’d love to hear about your opinions and stories in the comments section below!

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