Losing weight is an awesome morale builder. Visions of new clothes and new people on the horizon motivate many people to dine on lettuce or grapefruit for days at a time. But, without a healthy eating plan, lost weight becomes found pounds in no time at all. To keep pounds off, one has to deliberately decide to do so.
Research on Weight Cycling/Yo-yo Dieting
Losing and gaining, only to lose again and regain is called weight cycling or yo-yo dieting. While the physiological harm of yo-yo dieting is still being researched, the discouragement factor is huge.
Atkinson et al. reported in 1994, "no adverse effects of weight cycling on body composition, resting metabolic rate, body fat distribution, or future successful weight loss."
The National Institute of Mental Health agrees that the research is still out on any harmful effects to the body from weight cycling. They point out, however, there is a greater risk to the body of being overweight or obese. They listed several health issues that can be a result of obesity:
- high blood pressure
- heart disease
- stroke
- type 2 diabetes
- certain types of cancer
- arthritis
- gallbladder disease
Discouraged Dieters
A real threat to the weight cycle dieter is the emotional trauma it places on the individual. A person may feel like a complete failure and those negative emotions may carry over into other areas of their life.
A positive mental outlook is vital to weight loss and weight maintenance. According to Dante's Divine Comedy, the plaque over the entrance to hell reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." That may be the way some people feel when they step on the scales, or open a cookie package. They are totally discouraged and with discouragement comes loss of hope.
Positive Dieters Avoid Diet Cycling
There is weight cycling when there is diet cycling. Who would expect another outcome? Going "off the diet" is to choose unhealthy eating again. If the plan is dull, has minimal choices, or ingredients are hard to find, expensive, or unappetizing, one will flee from that plan as quickly as saying goodnight to a blind date.
A positive approach to dieting starts with a positive attitude. It doesn’t matter how many times weight loss has been attempted, each experience is a new one and a new outcome can be expected if a new plan is practiced.
Choosing to enjoy holiday food, birthday cake, or the fine cuisine of a cruise ship, is a short vacation from healthy eating, and an opportunity to maintain weight. Maintaining, with minimal fluctuation but no weight gain, has probably been hard for the weight cycler in the past. An opportunity to practice would be a positive experience.
Keep Pounds Off - No Weight Regaining
A positive outlook, with no weight regaining than minimal fluctuation, needs a healthy eating plan that will be maintained over a lifetime. To keep pounds off, one has to finally admit that their normal eating is a regime that results in a steady gain. A new normal needs to be established.
Consult a physician to insure health issues are addressed as new eating patterns are formed. Make sure the new plan allows usual foods, eaten in moderation and adjusted with healthier ingredients. It won’t be a diet one goes off of when a goal-weight has been reached. No more gaining weight and lost pounds stay lost, when the new healthy way of eating is embraced as a total change in lifestyle. "Embrace all hope, ye who enter here."
Sources:
nih.gov, "Facts About Weight Cycling" (accessed February 9, 2010).
phrases.org.uk, "Abandon All Hope ye Who Enter Here" (accessed February 9, 2010).
Wikipedia.com, "Yo-yo Dieting" (accessed February 9, 2010).
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