What is the yo-yo effect?
When losing weight, the issue we focus most on is achieving the assumed goal – a certain number of kilograms. Many people, when the planned effect is achieved, are convinced that from now on you can return to the old eating habits. Unfortunately, this behavior promotes emergenceeffect yo-yo. This phenomenon is related to the significant and rapid increase in weight. It takes place after the end of weight loss. The number of pounds maybe at this point return to the starting point, ie the value presented on the day of starting the diet. Unfortunately, this often increases significantly exceeds the starting weight, which completely eliminates the effects of the diet. Many specialists in the field of dietetics say that the results of effective weight loss should last for a long time, so they say that the yo-yo effect occurs even when it occurs after 5 years from the end of the diet.
What contributes to the formation of a yo-yo?
Very often, the yo-yo effect occurs after the use of short-term diets, very much restrictive, focused on quickly losing a large amount of kilos. During such weight loss, it can only happen water loss from the body. This leads to taking over by our body defensive posturemanifested by intense fat storage immediately after returning to the old diet. In this way, the body protects itself, accumulates supplies that it will be able to use in the event of another “starvation”. In addition to the body’s natural tendency to compensate for losses caused by a drastic diet, there are other consequences that lead to the yo-yo effect:
- Too restrictive diets cause physical fatigue related to the feeling of hunger, as well mentalexhaustioninfluenced by the sacrifices we make. This leads to immediate compensation for these deficits with food as soon as the diet is finished.
- Nutrient-poor diets cause constant sensation feelings of hunger, which also affects reaching for food after their completion.
Another reason for the yo-yo effect is that the diet is not treated as a change in eating habits, but only asmomentary effort, leading to the achievement of the goal. Failure to follow diets that help to maintain weight, quick return to old eating habits without proper preparation, is conducive to gaining weight after abandoning the diet.
Yo-yo effect and motivation
Motivation plays a huge role not only during the diet, but also afterwards. Motivation it is not a permanent disposition of a given personbut it changes over time. Therefore, it is crucial to take care of it and strengthen it throughout the diet, and even after its completion.
- Motivation during the diet
Sometimes there are times during the diet when we are tempted to snack. Sometimes in this situation there are beliefs that continuing to follow the diet does not make sense. Cognitive distortions trigger: “everything or nothing” and “Catastrophe”that make us stop dieting and blame ourselves for failure. Is it equivalent to the yo-yo effect during the diet. Our motivation is also exposed to it. In such a situation, you should continue to follow a diet consistently, regardless of failure. This is where the motivation is needed. You should constantly take care of it and try to strengthen it. It is not enough to work it out once, but to constantly monitor it, because it largely contributes to our success.
- Motivation after completing the diet
After the end of the diet, you should continue to strengthen your motivations, remembering not to return to the old eating habits, but to make Healthy eating was part of ours lifestyle.
Unfortunately, if the yo-yo effect appears in our motivation and we do not counteract it, it will increase the likelihood of it also appearing after the end of the diet.