Dangers of Yo-Yo Dieting

It goes by many names.

Yo-yo dieting
Weight cycling
The “rubber band” effect

But the result is always the same.

It usually starts with a disappointed look in the mirror or fearful step onto a scale. Then an in-depth search online for an “easy” diet.

And that means you have to figure out what food you’re willing to cut out of your menu.

What will it be this time? Meat? Sugar? Bread? Cheese? Processed foods? Fast food? Solid food? Dairy? Soft drinks? Alcohol? Simple Carbs? Complex Carbs? All Carbs? Everything but fish and rice?

Are you skipping breakfast, lunch or dinner? Maybe just “grazing” all day on fruits and nuts instead?

Or maybe you’ll micromanage and obsess over calories like your diet is being audited by the IRS?

It seems like there are more diets out there than there are stars in the sky.

And if going through this list has gotten your heartrate up, then you probably already know how easy it is to fall down the rabbit hole of strange eating plans that claim you’ll see big results super fast.

And to be honest, sometimes those extreme diets DO deliver fast weight loss.

You might even lose 5, 10, or 20 lbs in just a couple of months!

The problem is…

…it never lasts.

All it takes is a little stress, and before you know it you’ve eaten the meat, the carbs, the dairy, the sugar, the fast food, or whatever you swore off from your diet.

“This is just a cheat day,” you might tell yourself. “I deserve it!”

Then one day turns into a week, then a month. And before you know it the 20 lbs you lost has returned, and it even brought 5 extra pounds along with it.

But that’s not all.

It’s also brought along more stress, more frustration, and more self-deprecating thoughts that you’ve failed, that you’re weak, and that you don’t deserve a healthy body or a happy life.

This is the trap that so many people fall into.

This is the endless cycle of diet, weight loss, stress and weight gain that causes so many people pain and suffering.

And it’s why scientists are starting to really look at our culture of yo-yo dieting seriously. Because as we learn more about our bodies and dieting, researchers are finding that this vicious cycle can really damage your physical and mental health.

A new study out of North Carolina State University sought to understand more about why and how people enter the yo-yo dieting cycle. And how - if at all - you can escape it.

The study consisted of in-depth interviews with 36 adults - 13 men and 23 women - who had gone through the yo-yo dieting cycle and lost, then regained, more than 11 lbs.

What they found was eye-opening!

All of the participants reported that they wanted to lose weight because of the social stigma related to their weight - or they were comparing themselves to others on social media.

That’s right - they weren’t dieting because they wanted to be healthier.

They were dieting because they wanted to look and feel better about themselves!

And they tried all sorts of diets and strategies to do just that. Which worked initially.

But the irony is that after they “fell off the horse” and regained the weight…

…they actually ended up feeling WORSE about themselves than when they started!

And this is where yo-yo dieting gets dangerous. Because the worse these folks felt, the more desperate they were to lose the weight again.

Researchers found that after the first yo-yo cycle, many participants then began to engage in “disordered weight management behaviors” like…

Being stressed about what they were eating and the number on the scale
Falling back on quick fixes (such as low-carb diets or diet drugs)
Avoiding social events with food
Restricting food and calories
Memorizing calorie counts
Binge or emotional eating
Over-exercising

The more extreme their weight loss strategies were, the more unsustainable they were, and the more they actually ended up gaining weight afterwards.

The participants were obsessed with their weight. It was the focal point of their lives, to the point that they would avoid spending time with friends or family for fear they might accidentally break their strict diets.

Many of the participants compared their relationship to food as an addiction or a vicious cycle.

So, what can you do if you find yourself caught in the yo-yo diet loop?

Is there a way out?

Yes - there are certain things that will help you escape the clutches of the yo-yo diet cycle.

Here are three things that’ll help you find your way out:

Tip #1: Focus on a “Healthy” Diet Instead of a “Weight Loss” Diet

In the study, researchers found that those participants who were able to embrace healthy eating behaviors were more likely to be able to overcome the yo-yo diet cycle.

That means choosing sustainable diets where you eat a variety of things and allow yourself to eat when you are hungry. It also means that you don’t treat eating as something that needs to be closely monitored, controlled or punished.

While the vast majority of the study participants were stuck in the cycle, the few who were able to stick to these healthier methods were eventually able to get out and find some lasting results.

Tip #2: Practice Self-Compassion

When you break your diet, let your exercise plans lapse or engage in other unhealthy behaviors that you committed to stopping, it can be demoralizing.

Oftentimes we take an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to the healthy changes we want to make. Just one mistake, one missed day, or one slice of chocolate cake can send all the efforts we made crashing down as we abandon our goal altogether.

But a recent study out of Drexel University found that practicing self-compassion helped participants lose weight more effectively because they were less critical of themselves when they strayed from their diet plans.

This made it easier for them to get back on track, rather than ditching the diet altogether.

Oftentimes people think that you need rigorous discipline to achieve your weight loss goal. But being too hard on yourself can actually harm your ability to lose weight!

That’s because your self-talk has a huge influence on your motivation, your stress levels, and your resilience. If you’re constantly criticizing yourself, if you’re stressing out about your weight, if you think of yourself as “weak” because you ate something you shouldn’t have…

…then you’ll never escape the yo-yo diet trap.

One simple way you can start practicing better self-compassion is by reframing your self-talk. Rather than being super critical of yourself, try talking to yourself as you would a friend who experienced a set-back.

Be gentle. Tell yourself that it’s okay. And encourage yourself to keep trying.

Tip #3: Harness a Habit of Meditation

Meditation is one of the best kept secrets to truly losing weight effectively. There are a few reasons for this, but here’s the short version:

Meditation reduces stress - specifically by reducing excess cortisol production. And excess cortisol is linked to a ton of health issues - including diabetes, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, digestive problems, poor sleep, and weight gain just to name a few!

This is because excess cortisol puts the brain into survival mode. It activates our fight-or-flight response. And this causes our bodies to unconsciously begin to store up as much fat as possible so that we have a higher chance at “surviving.”

That was great when we were hunters and gatherers thousands of years ago and food was scarce. But in today’s glucose-rich world, our stress and high cortisol levels are leading to obesity and depression.

This is especially true when it comes to stressing out about losing (or not losing) weight!

We stress about our weight, which is actually making it more difficult to lose the weight, leading to even more stress!

That’s where meditation can really help.

By balancing cortisol levels in the brain, you’re getting more out of your diets, your workouts, and your self-care. And lowering stress levels also helps in many other areas of your life as well.

Now that you know about the dangers of yo-yo dieting, I hope you’ll be able to notice when you might start to get caught up in that dangerous cycle.

By sticking to a diet focused on health, practicing self-compassion, and relieving stress through meditation, you’ll start to see much more progress than forcing yourself into the quick-fix kinds of diets.

Remember - it’s never too late to start again!

By the way, I wanted to let you know that we’ve created a powerful Holosync meditation collection that focuses on solving this very issue of yo-yo dieting.

It’s called Holosync Weight Loss Solution and it’s specifically designed to help you balance cortisol levels, develop compassionate self-talk, and heal past trauma that may be subconsciously sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

You can learn more about Holosync Weight Loss Solution right here.

Over 90% of the time, the weight you lose from diet and exercise comes back before you know it (and oftentimes you end up heavier than when you started).

Why?

It’s not a problem with willpower, laziness or calories. No - the source of this “rubber band effect” is actually much deeper than that.

That’s why we created Holosync Weight Loss Solution - to address the Big Three Weight Loss Barriers that keep you stuck in a cycle of losing and regaining the same 10, 20, 30 lbs over and over again.

This is the key to lasting weight loss you haven’t tried before!