Which is Best: Yo-yo Diet or Stay Overweight?
Are you currently trying to lose fat? What if I could tell you your future?
1. In the next 3 months you will lose 18 pounds.
2. However, after 6 months you will gain that 18 pounds back again, plus another 2 pounds.
Does that make you re-think your current weight loss strategy? Or do you walk away now - thinking "What a waste of time?"
I've heard it said: "There is more emotional damage in the cycle of losing and gaining than there is in just staying overweight."
What if you could change your life - in a positive way - and discover that fat loss was a side effect?
Perhaps if our motivation was to nourish and nurture our bodies - numbers on the scale would have less of a meaning - and the yo-yo would be a thing of the past.
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i believe if we all ate right, it would be much easier to initially lose weight without trying as hard as we would to work off years of fat pounded on by fast food and laziness.
ReplyI've lost and gained many times, and each time I've learned something, established a better habit which I incorporate in the next go round. For me, the best motivation is improving my health. Losing weight as a goal in and of itself is usually a lost exercise, futile.
ReplyI'm feeling contrary this morning... I can easily count at least five people at where I work who have dropped significant weight and kept it off for at least a year. Some did it by diet alone and some by a combination of diet and exercise (it's easy to tell the two apart). In any case, I suspect that the message is getting out.
ReplyI believe that if you lose weight slowly by changing your day to day routine of exercising and eating better that you are not likely to yo yo.
ReplyBut the question is never answered, right... if you're asking which one is better, I'd value doing nothing at all to going on a diet that you can't maintain as a lifestyle choice. If you end up starving yourself on a diet, and then gain the weight back, your body will hold on to it more, making it more difficult to attack the problem the next time.
That gets to what everyone's saying here - the alternative to both yo-yo dieting and not doing anything is making a true lifestyle change (incorporating small, healthy changes along the way).
ReplyI often look at the difference between myself (successful loser and longtime maintainer) and my mother (yo yo dieter) and I think there are some diets that my mom really regretted and thought were a waste of time. Mostly, it's just that she's never really wanted to change her eating patterns for life, so she just diets when she wants to fit into smaller clothes. When I decided to lose weight, I mostly did it for health and because I wanted to have an active lifestyle; the fat loss was a nice incentive, though. Now I love the way I eat and how I work out...it keeps me a lot happier and healthier.
ReplyI vote for the yo-yo - one has a chance of keeping the weight off sooner or later.
ReplyIf you told me that I'd laugh. I'd believe maybe I wouldn't lose the 18 lb, but there's no way I'd lose and gain weight. :)
The coming back on isn't magical and guaranteed.
ReplyOne must undergo a serious shift in the way they think about foods they eat and the ways they exercise, or they will never successfully keep it off. It's so simple really, it's kind of sad that most people don't get it.
Everyone wants a quick fix. Everyone wants an easy answer.
ReplyI agree. AND if you keep trying, you might finally find the "trick" that works for you.
Whatever happened to "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." and "Practice makes perfect."? I think the whole idea that yo yo diets are so bad for you is part of what makes even gaining one or two pounds back so discouraging and potentially what leads one back to one's old weight.
I'd like to see more studies on which is healthier, yo-yo diets or never losing weight at all.
ReplyI want to lose 18 pounds this week and worry about keeping it off later.
ReplyAren't the current studies pretty conclusive that yoyo dieting is more unhealthy than being overweight?
ReplyGreat subject for discussion!
I think part of the problem is the "diet" mentality--taking on unrealistic eating restrictions that one could never maintain for the long haul. Gradual incremental changes, like incorporating more and more healthy foods, learning to limit portion sizes, and adding more and more exercise are the kind of changes that one can commit to for life. Many of us here have been doing these things successfully for decades. But those kinds gradual sensible changes, with (wiggle-room included), don't often yield quick dramatic results like most "diets", so people looking for a quick fix tend to prefer whatever the latest "miracle diet" they've just read about.
ReplyI am a yo-yo dieter, & have been yo-yo-ing for 2 years now. It's frustrating. Whenever I reach my goal weight, I always fall into the binge trap, become "loose" with my maintainance and stopped being strict on calorie counting. Then, within a matter of months, the pounds are creeping back.
ReplyNow, I decide to end this yo-yo mess and break the cycle once for all.
I realize that dieting is not torture, it's a change or lifestyle. Exercise is not a punishment, it's what you do to keep yourself active, it's playful, it's fun and it burns calories.
I am changing my perspective, my way of deluded thinking, so I can cope with this and carry on with this new lifestyle for the rest of my life, and say goodbye to the yo-yo cycle.
Yo-yoing sucks. It gives you neck fat and a double chin.
ReplyI believe strongly that yo-yo dieting is better as each time people lose weight they have a chance to learn from their mis takes. Hopefully one time people will learn the truth how to keep weight off.
ReplyIt is hard to keep the weight off especially if you try to make changes in your diet that you can't stick to forever. I think the best way is to pick a diet that keeps your calories in check but still allows you to eat the things you like (sometimes). I like sweets so I go put for desert once a week. other than that I stay away from sweets. I also try to track my calories. I just found www.nutritionpedia.com.
ReplyI've lost a good amount of weight and body fat, and managed to keep it off for over 3 years now. People who knew me from back then see me and are shocked. They ask how I did it. When I tell them it was just by eating healthy and exercising, they give me a weird look as if to say "yeah right". I guess they expect a magical pill or a quick fix. They don't want to believe that making those two lifestyle changes, and keeping up with them give you great results in the long run.
ReplyA lot of people like to yo-yo diet but studies have shown that the more you do this, the easier it is to gain the weight back and the harder it will become to lose the same amount of weight. In effect the more you yo-yo the crazier the roller coaster will get.
ReplyAnyone who honestly believes it's okay to yo-yo diet obviously doesn't understand the physiology of fat loss. Yo-Yo dieting makes you fatter in the long run and it's a proven fact. When you yo-yo diet you lose fat AND muscle and everytime you gain the weight back you end up with a little more fat and a little less muscle than you had before....this actually increases your body fat percentage and you therefore end up fatter.
I agree that trying to lead a healthy lifestyle is the most important thing for anyone....trying to eat nutritiously and working out regularly.....not drastically reducing calories and going on crash diets.
Replyhttp://calorielab.com/news/2007/06/16/yo-yo-dieting-dangers-urban-legends-persist-despite-growing-scientific-evidence/
Replythank you
ReplyDr.J, thanks for the great posting!
However, I really liked the one linked to it: http://calorielab.com/news/2007/01/16/from-big-mac-to-chici-mac-the-future-of-fast-food/
This will kick your weight loss/gain cycle into high gear!
Replynot to mention the mental damage this does when we keep failing
ReplyEric, you said it, you are so right....not only that you must change your thoughts about yourself, food, exercise, your entire lifestyle, but also that there isn't any quick fix. This is why there are so many repeat dieters, and why the diet industry brings in so much $$.
As far as "yo-yo-ing" goes, I think it's better to just stay overweight instead of going back and forth, and I'm someone that (unfortunately) Has gone back and forth. I don't recommend dieting at all, I do recommend making lifestyle changes that you'll live with so that you can keep the weight off.
ReplyDieting either way is hard work!
ReplyThank you:)
Reply