Why is it that people often go on a ‘yo-yo’ journey
from overweight to slim, back to overweight and so on?
Well of course, there are many reasons. Probably as many reasons as there are people trying to slim.
The really important question is,
‘What you can do to stop it happening to you?’
A great deal depends on how you prepare for and go about your efforts to lose weight. In fact, that’s probably one of the first mistakes people make – calling it losing weight.
What you want to do is lose FAT, not necessarily lose weight, per se. There is a big difference!
Now many people just jump right in and start to lower their calorie intake and pride themselves on ‘losing weight’. If your intake of calories is lower than the calories your body uses for the tasks you want it to perform, then you have a caloric deficit and you'll lose weight.
Simple, right?
Yes, it sounds simple, but there’s more to it.
The ‘yo-yo’ dieting effect sometime happens because people expect too much from their new slim bodies.
Many people going on a diet, lose weight, but are then disappointed when they find that being slim doesn’t actually solve all their problems in one go. Then they revert to eating poorly again and put on weight.
Sure, being healthier, fitter, and so on will have positive and maybe unexpected ripple effects. However, even as a slimmer person you’ll still have bad days at work, moments of self-doubt or times when you feel undervalued.
You have lots of different needs which need to be fulfilled in life. Being slimmer, healthier, and fitter is just one of them.
Another common cause of the ‘yo-yo’ effect is aiming for perfect and continuous weight loss once the diet is started.
You lose weight, maybe four or five pounds, maybe much more. But you slip, have a bad day or a ‘weak moment’ and eat something you shouldn’t have. And what do you tell yourself? “I’ve completely blown it! Now I might as well really binge!”
Just imagine someone is trying to walk up a hundred steps, but just as they are about to step on to the last step they feel a bit tired. They stop and step back down one step. Then they tell you bitterly: “Now I may as well forget this whole idea of reaching the top! I’ve totally blown it!”
What?!
You’d think that was crazy, right? Acting as if all that progress, the 99 steps they did climb, never happened – because they had one slip!
But you see people doing this all the time when it comes to weight loss.
You need to make up your mind to change the way you live, not just until you are slimmer, but for ever more. But beware of the perfectionism trap. Aim to eat sensibly and healthily most of the time, not all the time. We all consume more than we should of the wrong kind of food or drink now and then, as long as it is only now and then.
So a change in your life-style is important.
You need to build new eating and exercising habits into how you live each and every day. Then occasional lapses are not seen to be so terrible and you can take these minor lapses in your stride.
Let’s have a look at how your body goes about helping you to ‘lose weight’?
Your body helps you to ‘lose weight’ when you have created a caloric deficit (Remember? This is when you take in less calories than your body needs to do the tasks you set it.)
Now your body doesn’t know the difference between ‘muscle weight’ and ‘unwanted fat weight’.
So what happens?
When your body detects a caloric deficit, it realizes that more energy will be needed to carry out the tasks you want it to do. So it will turn to using some of the stored calories in your body.
Now you need your body to use the calories stored in ‘unwanted fat’. But the body doesn't care where it gets the calories from! Whether it's from fat or muscle or both doesn't matter.
It needs calories for energy and will take them from wherever it can!
Your task is to make sure you arrange things so that your body uses up the spare calories stored in your unwanted fat not in your muscles. In other words, keep all of your muscle but at the same time lose fat and so lose weight.
How do you go about achieving this?
You must take note of two things;
(1) A dietary requirement and
(2) An exercise requirement.
1. Your dietary requirement is to Eat Enough Protein
Numerous studies have proven that a sufficient daily protein intake is the single most important dietary requirement for maintaining muscle. Nutritionally speaking, losing fat without losing muscle is all about eating enough protein every day.
A useful rule of thumb is to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day. But if you’re very overweight or obese, then you should use your ‘target’ bodyweight to work out how much protein to eat. (Target body weight is the weight you are aiming to reach.)
Your major protein sources should be lean meats (chicken, steak, turkey breast, tuna), egg whites (the yolks contain the fat, so discard most of them when you're trying to lose fat), protein powder (whey or casein) and low-fat cottage cheese.
To discover the secret of eating your way to weight loss, click on the picture below;
Well of course, there are many reasons. Probably as many reasons as there are people trying to slim.
The really important question is,
‘What you can do to stop it happening to you?’
A great deal depends on how you prepare for and go about your efforts to lose weight. In fact, that’s probably one of the first mistakes people make – calling it losing weight.
What you want to do is lose FAT, not necessarily lose weight, per se. There is a big difference!
Now many people just jump right in and start to lower their calorie intake and pride themselves on ‘losing weight’. If your intake of calories is lower than the calories your body uses for the tasks you want it to perform, then you have a caloric deficit and you'll lose weight.
Simple, right?
Yes, it sounds simple, but there’s more to it.
The ‘yo-yo’ dieting effect sometime happens because people expect too much from their new slim bodies.
Many people going on a diet, lose weight, but are then disappointed when they find that being slim doesn’t actually solve all their problems in one go. Then they revert to eating poorly again and put on weight.
Sure, being healthier, fitter, and so on will have positive and maybe unexpected ripple effects. However, even as a slimmer person you’ll still have bad days at work, moments of self-doubt or times when you feel undervalued.
You have lots of different needs which need to be fulfilled in life. Being slimmer, healthier, and fitter is just one of them.
Another common cause of the ‘yo-yo’ effect is aiming for perfect and continuous weight loss once the diet is started.
You lose weight, maybe four or five pounds, maybe much more. But you slip, have a bad day or a ‘weak moment’ and eat something you shouldn’t have. And what do you tell yourself? “I’ve completely blown it! Now I might as well really binge!”
Just imagine someone is trying to walk up a hundred steps, but just as they are about to step on to the last step they feel a bit tired. They stop and step back down one step. Then they tell you bitterly: “Now I may as well forget this whole idea of reaching the top! I’ve totally blown it!”
What?!
You’d think that was crazy, right? Acting as if all that progress, the 99 steps they did climb, never happened – because they had one slip!
But you see people doing this all the time when it comes to weight loss.
You need to make up your mind to change the way you live, not just until you are slimmer, but for ever more. But beware of the perfectionism trap. Aim to eat sensibly and healthily most of the time, not all the time. We all consume more than we should of the wrong kind of food or drink now and then, as long as it is only now and then.
So a change in your life-style is important.
You need to build new eating and exercising habits into how you live each and every day. Then occasional lapses are not seen to be so terrible and you can take these minor lapses in your stride.
Let’s have a look at how your body goes about helping you to ‘lose weight’?
Your body helps you to ‘lose weight’ when you have created a caloric deficit (Remember? This is when you take in less calories than your body needs to do the tasks you set it.)
Now your body doesn’t know the difference between ‘muscle weight’ and ‘unwanted fat weight’.
So what happens?
When your body detects a caloric deficit, it realizes that more energy will be needed to carry out the tasks you want it to do. So it will turn to using some of the stored calories in your body.
Now you need your body to use the calories stored in ‘unwanted fat’. But the body doesn't care where it gets the calories from! Whether it's from fat or muscle or both doesn't matter.
It needs calories for energy and will take them from wherever it can!
Your task is to make sure you arrange things so that your body uses up the spare calories stored in your unwanted fat not in your muscles. In other words, keep all of your muscle but at the same time lose fat and so lose weight.
How do you go about achieving this?
You must take note of two things;
(1) A dietary requirement and
(2) An exercise requirement.
1. Your dietary requirement is to Eat Enough Protein
Numerous studies have proven that a sufficient daily protein intake is the single most important dietary requirement for maintaining muscle. Nutritionally speaking, losing fat without losing muscle is all about eating enough protein every day.
A useful rule of thumb is to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day. But if you’re very overweight or obese, then you should use your ‘target’ bodyweight to work out how much protein to eat. (Target body weight is the weight you are aiming to reach.)
Your major protein sources should be lean meats (chicken, steak, turkey breast, tuna), egg whites (the yolks contain the fat, so discard most of them when you're trying to lose fat), protein powder (whey or casein) and low-fat cottage cheese.
To discover the secret of eating your way to weight loss, click on the picture below;
2. Your exercise requirement
is to Maintain your levels of strength
This is
the single most important exercise requirement for anyone who wants to
lose fat without losing muscle.
Simply put, whatever the exercises you have been doing, you must continue them while trying to lose fat. If you have not been exercising, then you must start to do at least a minimum amount. Go walking, swimming or use an exercise bike. You need to maintain your muscle strength so that when you create your calorific deficit, your body is taking the extra calories it needs for energy from your unwanted fat.
It’s important not to do too much exercise. A good rule of thumb is to exercise until you're pretty tired, but not to the point where you're thoroughly exhausted.
Simply put, whatever the exercises you have been doing, you must continue them while trying to lose fat. If you have not been exercising, then you must start to do at least a minimum amount. Go walking, swimming or use an exercise bike. You need to maintain your muscle strength so that when you create your calorific deficit, your body is taking the extra calories it needs for energy from your unwanted fat.
It’s important not to do too much exercise. A good rule of thumb is to exercise until you're pretty tired, but not to the point where you're thoroughly exhausted.
Change your life-style to encompass these two requirements
and you (and your family) will be set to lose weight, keep to your desired
weight and maintain a healthy body.
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