How often have you triumphantly lost weight, only to accumulation the weight again? Many individuals fight this battle for nearly all of their lives.
What Causes Yo-yo Dieting?
Cutting drastically on your food intake for quick weight loss may seem like a great idea. However, your body eventually anticipates a decrease of food intake. The body will adjust to this lower calorie intake by decreasing the way it burns food for energy (metabolic rate) and conserving energy as well. The body then plateaus. It slows down or stops weight loss.
Most individuals struggle to maintain their diet at this point. Therefore, the weight slowly starts to come right back. What is worse, the decrease in metabolic rate causes their body to survive on fewer calories.
Another problem with quick weight loss fad diets is that the body becomes more efficient with each dieting event. The severe calorie limitation also brings about a loss of muscle tone. Common signs of this are flabby upper arms and sagging buns.
Suggestions to Break Yo-Yo Dieting
Hope for a long term supportable approach instead of a quick one. Aim for a modest weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week instead. I you plan on decreasing caloric intake, do it gradually. Depending on how much you have to lose, two hundred up to a 500 calories decrease a day would be commendable.
Consider your diet as a healthy eating plan instead of a temporary one.
Incorporate additional behaviors such as taking the stairs or parking far from the entry way into your daily life to increase your level of physical activity.
Plan on eating frequently throughout the day. Eating frequent smaller meals will prevent you from overeating later on.
Emotional Eating and Overeating
Okay, maybe your problem isn’t yo-yo dieting. It’s possible that your eating has become a habit such as eating junk food when you sit down in front of the TV.
Perhaps your are an emotional eater. When stress, you skip meals, when bored, you raid to refrigerator. Here are some tips to overcome emotional overeating.
Overcoming emotional or habitual eating
If food is meeting an emotional need, perhaps it is time to examine your options. Find alternatives to eating. Perhaps you can take a brisk walk to clear your head during your lunch break. Invite your friends to play miniature golf on your birthday instead of having cake and ice cream. Have healthy snacks such as a bag of carrot sticks or an apple which you can grab when you are too busy to make time for yourself.
Manage your hunger by eating small meals frequently. Do not go hungry. When you go hungry, you could make poor choices or overeat.
Yes, you can train your body to be satisfied at 60% capacity at meal time. Therefore, do not fill yourself. Besides, you will not help starving children by eating everything on your plate.
Be aware of what junk food can do to you, and get rid of them. Replace them with healthy choices such as whole-grain bread, fruits and vegetables.
Corny or not, do things to remind you to stick to your goal. Place a sign on your refrigerator that reads: Long term goals versus short term pleasure. Perhaps you can put a sign in your wallet that you see whenever you open it that reads: Food is not the boss in my life. I am stronger than the temptation of any food.
Finally, if you overeat, do not fall off the wagon. Get back on track right away. Not tomorrow — today. Because tomorrow will never come.
Rochester Health Club, Rochester Fitness Center and Certified Personal Trainers in Rochester are dedicated to helping its members stay fit.
