Overcoming Yo-yo Diets and Emotional Eating
Have you successfully lost weight in the past only to regain it again and again? 22-A lot of people struggle with this dilemna most of their lives.
What causes yo-yo dieting (or weight cycling)?
It seems like a great idea to drastically cut back on your food intake for rapid weight loss. However, your body sooner or later prepares itself for a decrease in calorie intake. Your body will adapt to this lowered calorie intake by conserving energy and metabolic rate (the way your body burns food for energy). Eventually, the initial weight loss slows down or stops.
Many dieters at this point would wrestle to sustain their diet. What happens next? The weight slowly creeps back up.
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.
Alternatives to yo-yo diets
As opposed to a quick weight loss, aim for a long term tolerable approach. Plan for a moderate weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week. If you plan to decrease calorie intake, do it gradually. I recommend a decrease of 200-500 calories a day depending on how much you have to lose.
Imagine your diet as a healthy living design instead of a temporary weight loss program.
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.
Eat smaller meals throughout the day instead of skipping them especially breakfast. This will prevent you from overeating later on.
Emotional 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 feeding an impulsive need in your life, then it is time to examine what is causing it. Find substitutes to eating instead. For example, instead of celebrating your birthday with cake (childhood ritual), invite your friends to play miniature golf instead. Have healthy snacks such as an apple or carrot sticks on hand. You can grab them quickly when you are too stressed to find time to eat at work. Or you can just clear your head by taking a brisk walk during your lunch break.
Try to manage hunger by eating several small meals a day. Remember that if you go hungry, you will make poor choices or you will tend to overeat.
Never fill yourself at mealtime. It is all right to leave food on your plate. You can also train your body to be satisfied at 60% capacity.
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.
Athletic Club Rochester offers group exercise programs in Rochester and Rochester personal training.