Avoid The Yo-Yo Effect: 5 Tips For Maintaining Your Desired Weight
Diets are exhausting. But as soon as you reach your desired weight, the kilos start piling on again. Our tips will help you maintain your dream weight!
There is nothing more frustrating than the yo-yo effect after a successful diet. This unwanted phenomenon can drive you to despair. But don't worry, there are effective ways to counteract the yo-yo effect and achieve long-term healthy results.
What is the yo-yo effect?
The yo-yo effect describes a phenomenon of gaining weight quickly after a successful diet. But why does this happen? If you think you can trick your body, you are wrong. Our bodies are clever. If you eat too few calories for too long, your body goes into survival mode. You may lose a lot of weight in the first few weeks, but the result is counterproductive:
The basal metabolic rate drops
On a crash diet, the body gets fewer calories than it is used to. It draws on its energy reserves to maintain bodily functions. The body goes into survival mode and reduces its overall basic needs.
The metabolism slows down
For saving energy, the body slows down the metabolism. The downside is that our bodies think that bad times are coming. So it stores excess calories to build up reserves. The kilos rise again.
Tip 1: No excessive calorie deficit during a diet
To avoid the yo-yo effect from the outset, it is important not to have too large a calorie deficit during the diet. A deficit of 300 to a maximum of 500 kcal prevents the yo-yo effect and also avoids excessive hunger pangs and a bad mood. With a healthy diet, you will lose about 0.5 to 1 kilo of body weight per week.
Tip 2: Muscles burn calories
Cardio training should not be the only focus when trying to lose weight. Building muscle is just as important. Muscles use energy and burn calories - even when you are resting! Our largest muscle is the thigh muscle.
Tip 3: Incorporate exercise into everyday life
Going to the gym is not the only way to lose weight. Exercise can also be incorporated into your daily routine to increase your basal metabolic rate. Take the stairs instead of the lift, or cycle to the pharmacy instead of driving.
Tip 4: Change your diet permanently
Even the best diet won't do you much good if you don't make healthy changes to your diet in the long term. Just because you eat lots of vegetables and cut out fast food during a diet doesn't mean you can go back to your old habits and cut out healthy foods when you're off the diet. During a diet, your diet should be organised in such a way that you are happy to continue eating the same way after the diet.
This does not mean you have to give up everything. This makes it difficult to stick to a diet and frustrating. Healthy, less processed foods should be a regular part of your diet. Fast food, cakes and the like can be eaten, but in moderation and with purpose (and with an eye on your total metabolic rate = basal metabolic rate + energy metabolic rate).
Tip 5: Get enough sleep
Sleep is essential for the body. It allows the body to regenerate and vital processes to take place. A lack of sleep throws our hormonal balance out of whack. The two hormones ghrelin and leptin are responsible for our feelings of hunger and fullness. People who lack sleep are more likely to have food cravings. Therefore, it is very important to get enough sleep (8 to 9 hours).
You can fight the yo-yo effect even before you start dieting. It is important not to put yourself under too much pressure. Even though healthy weight loss sometimes takes a little longer and fad diets sound very tempting, it pays to stick with it.
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