Yo-Yo Dieting

Yo-yo dieting, also known as “weight cycling,” describes the pattern of losing weight, regaining it and then dieting again.

There are loads of proof that individuals who live the longest are the individuals who are continually eating somewhat short of what they typically need in their diet. This is, to a limited extent, because of hormones being utilised.

Research has highlighted the possibility that outrageous weight reduction in a short measure of time will make your digestion / metabolism, which prompts more weight acquire later on. Typically, this is just a product of sever restriction that is not sustainable. On the off chance that you confine your calories too harshly, hormones do not function as proficiently, and your general wellbeing becomes stagnant. What then eventually happens is a lack in your body’s nutrient production, leaving vitamin deficiencies.

Think of it like this – your body creates a hormone called leptin through a long, tiresome system involving those lovely fat cells. This essentially tells your brain when you have enough fat stores lingering around the tops of those jeans. As you reduce these fat stores, your body create less leptin. Leptin, along with the ghrelin (I call it the gremlin hormone), create a hunger response in our brain.

Your body then effectively slows things down to be able to reserve energy. So, what happens when you stop the over-restrictive diet? You are left with this overly functioning appetite, however burning less energy. This is predominantly left to the fact that a lot of weight loss diets leave us catabolic.

A catabolic state is a term that is predominantly instigated by excessive training combined with a deficiency of adequate nutrition. It results in several unfavourable side effects in the body, like chronic fatigue, joint and muscle distress, and muscle loss. Now muscle typically assist in keeping that furnace burning as it takes a lot more of the bodies systems to feed the muscular cells rather than fat stores.

So if we have just gone through an extremely rough diet, restricting calories just to lose fat, we have most likely burnt through a lot of muscle. Leaving out metabolism shot down.

The bottom line is that it needs to be a lifestyle change, not a crash diet, if you want to make a permanent weight change, here are some handy tips to follow.

-        Portion sizes

o   Close fist = carbohydrates

o   Two Thumbs = fats

o   Open palm = Protein

-        Water !!

o   Keep hydrated. Its an oldy, but a goodie.

o   Water helps with the temperature regulation of your cells, organs and tissue. By keeping hydrated, you are effectively helping your bodily functions!

-        80/20 Rule

o   80% Whole Foods

o   20% naughty Yum Yums

§  There is seriously no point in restricting yourself otherwise you can risk the development of a habitual routine of binging when those cravings take over !

Just enjoy your life. At the end of the day, most people know what ‘healthy eating’ is. I always nourish my body with whole foods. I load my plate with Veg, Berries, Meats and all, but I will also have that popcorn at the cinema, or Fish and chip Friday.