Ending Yo-Yo Dieting

If you are a yo-yo dieter, you have experienced first hand the frustration of repeatedly peeling off pounds only to see them return once you stop dieting.

You may be asking “Why?” Why, if I know how to lose weight, do I let myself regain it?

Simply put, if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got
You most often regain weight because you resume the old behaviors that caused you to gain weight in the first place.

Researchers who specialize in investigating the behavioral traits that promote weight loss success offer several explanations why we return to old behaviors even though we hate being fat. Feelings of boredom, unrealistic expectations of how much losing weight will change our life, falsely believing we have been cured of obesity, unresolved emotional issues, and lack of skills to cope with life stresses are all factors that can cause people to resume their old lifestyles.

The factors that cause us to regain weight also determine if we will keep the weight off for a while, or if we will start regaining weight immediately on ending a diet.

Underlying Causes of Weight Regain
Investigators have found that most people can deal with a diet for about 12 weeks. When people find the diet’s novelty wearing thin, or weight loss slowing, or they begin to realize dieting has made them thinner but has not solved other stresses and disappointments in their lives, the diet usually comes to an end.

Even dieters, who seem to have beaten the odds by maintaining a healthier weight for several months, eventually regain the lost pounds. Often, these people regain weight because they have been successful for so long they feel they have conquered their weight problems and can let down their guard. They gradually give up healthful behaviors. Typically, exercise is the first thing to go and it is closely followed by lack of attention to diet. At first there may be little change in the scale, supporting the former dieters’ belief that they have somehow been cured of being overweight. But, over time, the pounds sneak back.

Sometimes people suddenly abandon healthful behaviors despite months of success because they hit one of life’s speed bumps and eating is the only way they know how to cope with significant stress like loss of a job, a failed relationship, or financial problems.

Why Are Old Habits So Hard to Break?
Practicing healthy new habits is the crux of maintaining a healthy weight, but as many of us know, this is often easier said than done.

Our habits, both good and bad, have been established and repeated over a long period of time. Even if they do us harm in the long run, they provide some type of short term, often immediate, benefit. This is certainly true of food. We all know that eating too many calories causes weight gain. Despite our best intentions, we may overindulge because eating floods our brains with feel-good chemicals that counteract stress, boredom, depression, and even anger.

Habits become engrained because they are literally the paths of least resistance we follow whenever we let our guards down. When stressed, we seek predictable relief and are at risk for falling into our old habits without thinking.

Being conscious of moods, behaviors, and decisions can help prevent weight regain but this takes work.

How to Stop the Weight Loss Regain Cycle?
Ending weight regain requires behavior change. Participating in a program incorporating behavioral change and providing support to help maintain weight loss after the active dieting phase is over, is one of the few proven methods for achieving lasting weight loss. Studies have repeatedly shown that people who participate in a weight maintenance program greatly increase their weight loss success. Think of it as sharing the work of maintaining your new healthy lifestyle with others.

Buying Insurance for Dieting Success
Over 80 % of people enrolled in the National Weight Control Registry, a collection of data from successful dieters who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a year or more, report using some type of post diet support or maintenance plan to ensure their success. Take a lesson from these experts and enroll in a weight maintenance program to” insure” your success.