Stop YoYo Dieting
Ok so before we can stop something, I think we need to truly understand what it is.
So what the heck is yoyo dieting?
It’s the viscous cycle of dieting over and over again without actually getting anywhere. I just want to start out by saying that the more extreme the diet is, typically the more viscous this cycle I am about to explain to you is. So keep that in the back of your mind here.
The cycle starts out where you enter into a dieting phase, which involves a caloric restriction. You see the positive effects that we all hope to see from this stage by losing weight. But there are negative effects that are often overlooked such as loss of muscle, reduced metabolic rate and other negative adaptations to your hormones (which we will discuss further in detail later).
I’m not saying dieting is bad; we all go through it at some stage in our lives. But the more extreme the diet, the more extreme these negative adaptations are. This works in reverse too, the less extreme the diet is, the less extreme these negative adaptations are.
After a certain point, the next part of the cycle involves you falling off the wagon. This typically happens when your calories get so low to a point that it no longer becomes manageable. And quite often we think that we just need to exercise more willpower and be stronger. But that doesn’t matter if you are constantly falling off the wagon multiple times during the week.
After you’ve fallen off the wagon, depending how long, (some people it’s multiple days during the week, an others it’s longer bouts of time where you fall off for weeks or months) you try to get back into the dieting phase because let’s face it, you probably put all the weight back on that you previously lost, right? At this point, not a lot of people realize that even though you may have taken a few weeks off, quite often your hormones haven’t reset to an optimal point for you to enter into an optimal dieting phase again. Making it even harder for you to lose weight the next time around!
So what happens? You try to lose weight for a few weeks, might not get anywhere because your calories might not be low enough to drive your new starting point of entering into a calorie deficit but if you take your calories any lower, you are going to snap. So of course, you fall off the wagon yet again.
You can start to see here how this process is a viscous cycle of dieting where you get nowhere
At this point a lot of people start to feel like there’s something wrong with them and perhaps they are never destined to feel happy in their own skin and that they should just settle and never try because what’s the point.
I am here to assure you that there is nothing wrong with you at all. You are just simply not dieting strategically.
Listen, we are so bombarded and PROGRAMMED to believe (especially with social media) that fat loss should be QUICK AND EASY. You see it from social media posts showing extreme Transformation Tuesday photos only taking 4 or 8 weeks. You can’t wait in line at a grocery store without seeing Dr. OZ promoting his secret to quick fat loss. We have been programmed to believe that this should be a quick fix. And yet we don’t see that for ourselves and instantly think we are failures.
But all of that is bullshit.
You really don’t know what others are doing to see the results that they are achieving. Most often, these “success” stories aren’t painting the entire picture as to how these results are actually obtained. Quite often the photos might not be real, often on social media they can be photoshopped, or surgery is involved and more often than not, performance enhancing drugs (PEDS) are abused in the fitness world. People often think of jacked male bodybuilders when they hear PEDS, but no, the ladies of the fitness world abuse PEDS just as much as the jacked bodybuilders again. Full disclaimer, I have no issue with those who choose to use PEDs, but when they are a key component to these quick fat loss results I am referring to and fitness influencers online are saying their results are just from nutrition and training… That’s when I have a problem with that. But that rant is a discussion for another time.
The point is, we have to stop being so gullible to the results we are seeing online because it’s not creating the motivation you think that it is. It is causing you to think “well what’s wrong with me.” I eat and train the same way as that person, why don’t I look like that.
So again, please always remember that the results you are being shown aren’t telling you the entire picture as to how those results were obtained. No more comparing yourself results to others online. Just stop.
So, what can you do? How can you be strategic with your fat loss journey?
Let's be real... there is a lot of crap on the Internet and social media these days. These products and BS methods being promoted are just clouding our belief that there must be some magical secret to lose fat FAST.
But as we already discussed... there really isn't.
As amazing as it would be... there are no secrets. There are no magical teas, coffees, wraps or food that is going to speed up the fat loss process. So if you are scrolling through IG and you come across a post of a mind-blowing fat loss transformation or a product that helps you drop fat overnight, please do not be fooled. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Just like everything else in life, results don't happen overnight. You don't just start walking when you are a baby, you learn over time. Just like you don't just start driving a car, you learn over time. You don't just get a degree, buy a house or get that job promotion overnight. All of these things take hard work, patience and time.
Fat loss is no different.
Having said that, there are 4 steps I want to discuss today that will help you speed up the process so you aren't spinning your wheels year after year.
As you may know, yoyo dieting is a major issue and is definitely one of the reasons why people struggle to lose weight and actually keep it off. But if you are strategic and follow through on the following 4 steps, you can break that cycle and actually sustain your fat loss results over time.
Let's get into these 4 steps.
1. Prime your metabolic rate
What the heck does that mean?
This first step is the most important step that most people skip. Remember how we were talking negative adaptations that dieting causes towards your hormones? This step allows you to mitigate these negative adaptations so you can prime your body for a successful fat loss stage. Before I get into how this step works, let’s quickly talk about some of these negative effects that dieting (in particular yoyo dieting) has on your hormones. We are very quickly going to touch on the following hormones effected:
1. Ghrelin
2. Leptin
3. Thyroid
Ghrelin – this hormone acts as the hunger hormone. So as we are dieting and eating less food over time, it makes sense that we are going to start to feel MORE hungry. This is ghrelin going up. This is primarily why it is so damn hard to sustain a dieting phase over an extended period of time – the hunger you experience can’t be mitigated. It is normal and can only be ignored for so long.
Leptin – is produced in fat cells and is the opposite of ghrelin. This hormone regulates hunger, meaning it makes you feel LESS hungry. So as you diet down, you start to lose fat, which causes this hormone to go DOWN. And when leptin goes DOWN, you start to feel LESS satiated.
Thyroid hormones – responsible for your metabolic rate. This one we all know that when you diet, your metabolic rate goes DOWN and the only way to speed up your metabolism is by eating more food over time.
Clearly there are some significant negative adaptations that dieting has on our body. A lot of people think they need to just TRY harder or have a STORNGER mindset. While your mental game does play a significant role in your success… there is always going to be some level of physiological effects that you just CAN’T fight.
Once you reach that point where adherence is out the window, your hunger cues are out of whack and sustainability of the amount you are eating is just not practical… it’s time for a break. It’s time for a diet break because you can’t diet forever – you just can’t. All of things mentioned above are unavoidable. So if you are a chronic yoyo dieter and are ready to make a change, you need to take this first step that I am about to discuss SERIOUSLY.
Essentially, we want to take care of our metabolism before entering a fat loss stage by strategically eating more food over time. Before you freak out at the idea of eating more food, hear me out.
This is the most underrated step of them all. Those who are constantly yoyo dieting are likely still in a caloric deficit when they aren't dieting without even realizing it. Overtime, this really starts to have negative effects on your metabolism, making it more and more difficult to actually lose weight each time you go to diet.
A lot of people think they need to consume 1,200 calories a day when they aren't dieting and they are consistently eating this amount of food for an extended period of time. I don't know why, but everyone seems to believe that the magical number of calories you should be consuming regularly is 1,200 for the rest of your life.
What often happens here is that those who consume this little of food over a period of time start to experience these negative adaptations I mentioned previously. This is where your body adapts to the need to consume 1,200 calories a day just to maintain weight. This means that you would have to consume an even lower amount of calories just to lose weight. Can you imagine eating only 900 calories a day to achieve your weight loss goals? I can tell you that in my experience that this is just not sustainable and 99% of people can't adhere to this. And because of that, we get wrapped in our heads that we are a failure, when in actuality, we really aren't when 99% of people can’t do it either.
It's unnecessary suffering to be honest.
So if you aren't dieting but plan to in the future for maybe a wedding, vacation or a photo shoot... it's so important to take the time period before dieting just as seriously by priming your metabolic rate. This is where you implement what is known as a reverse diet so you can speed up your metabolism prior to the fat loss stage.
Yes, you need to eat more food to speed up your metabolism. Now don't freak out at the thought of eating more food, thinking you are going to gain weight. If you take what you are eating right now and slowly add more food over time (I honestly recommend a 2-5% increase in your fats and carbs every 2 weeks) your body can adapt and change where these incremental changes become your new maintenance calories. Just like you adapted your body to maintain weight consuming 1200 calories a day, you can adapt it to maintain weight consuming 1,600, 1,800, maybe 2,000 or closer to 3,000?
Yep. I have seen it!
In 2019, I haven't dieted in 2 years and since then; I have been making these calorie increases slowly. I am now maintaining weight eating 2,500 calories a day.
Why do we want to do this? Well over time, it allows you to not suffer as much when you go to diet again. You may find that you can lose weight eating the 1,200 calories a day, maybe 1600 or 1,800. Can you imagine if you were able to lose weight eating 1,800 calories a day versus the torturous 900 calories a day?
Seems like a no brainer to me.
Last thing I want to add is that everyone is different, so don't get hung up on the numbers. It's about getting your metabolism to a healthy state so you can eliminate unnecessary suffering during the dieting phase in the future.
So again, take this step seriously.
2. Drive a caloric deficit
Ok, it's time to stop this belief that there are magical foods that are going to help you achieve your fat loss goals.
There just isn't.
You can eat clean, eat organic, be a vegan, count your macros or try gluten free.. it doesn't matter.
It's about finding a nutrition plan that you can stick to and actually enjoy. Not everything needs to be hardcore. Focus more on what’s sustainable here
I have found flexible dieting to be the most sustainable approach for me and all my clients. But it comes down to what works best for you and your schedule, not what so and so is doing or what the latest fad is. What works for me, may not work for you.
Regardless of the plan and food choices you make, the only way to lose weight is by eating less consistently over time.
The timeframe varies for each person, so stay consistent with your caloric deficit
3. Adherence and consistency
Once you are in a caloric deficit, adhering to your program over a consistent period of time is key. This is where most people get lost or start to fall off track.
The latest fad may be out or maybe your friend is crushing it on a different program. But we have to stop jumping from program to program because it's what everyone else is doing
Pick a program that you can stick to 6 months from now, 1 year from now, 5 years from now. I get it, there are SO many options out there and SO much information -- how do you know what program to do? Well I will say this: it's not the latest and greatest. The program you should be on is one you can STICK to for the rest of your life!
Remember, adherence is key!
4. Patience
I know I know... the most basic and overrated tip out there! But if you are shaking your head right now thinking, "yea yea yea, I know I need to be patient. That's common sense." Remember that common sense isn't always common PRACTICE.
Make an effort to practice and implement patience. It's not easy to be patient. But it's a skill worth possessing. So make a valid effort to focus on being a more patient person -- in all areas of your life. If you can focus on being patient when you are driving in traffic, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for your piece of equipment at the gym, that's just going to transfer into being patient when it comes to your fat loss goals
And lastly... ask yourself this:
How long have you spent getting yourself to the point where you DON'T want to be? Under that it's not going to change overnight.
Once you let go of the notion that fat loss should be quick, everything falls into place. Once you let go of asking the question “well how long is this going to take,” at that point can you start to move that needle forward and create that momentum you need to see the results you so desperately want to see.
Listen, time is going to pass anyways, so quit living the same year after year by trying a new extreme fad and then falling off the wagon and having to start all over again. Haven’t you done that enough?
So please….
STOP LETTING EXTREME TRANSFORMATIONS MOTIVATE YOU
Too often we are using these extreme transformations as benchmarks for our own success too often!
Why is it that losing 30lbs in 7 months is not considered as “impressive?”
because it’s not as sexy as 30 days?
because it takes way way longer?
because it’s like watching paint dry?
Well.. I call bullshit and would argue that it’s way more impressive.
Why?!
Because it’s not just about the weight lost and how quickly you were able to get there... it’s about the PATIENCE the slower results teaches you, the DISCIPLINE and HABITS you develop from it
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU LOSE THE WEIGHT
It has been shown that the slower the weight comes off, the more likely you are to keep it off
So even though it may take longer for others to notice your hard work, just remember that with your patience, discipline and slow sustainable weight loss.. you are more likely to keep it off.
I mean... would you rather lose all that weight in 30 days, all to put it back on and then some after? OR would you rather take a full year or two, to slowly lose the weight you need to and keep it off FOREVER?
So keep moving that needle forward friends and remember this is not a race