Overcoming Yo-yo Diets and Emotional Eating
Victoria Isabel | December 14, 2009How often have you triumphantly lost weight, only to accumulation the weight again? Many individuals fight this battle for nearly all of their lives.
What is the cause of weight cycling?
Cutting drastically on your food intake for quick weight loss may seem like a great idea. However, your body eventually anticipates a decrease of food intake. The body will adjust to this lower calorie intake by decreasing the way it burns food for energy (metabolic rate) and conserving energy as well. The body then plateaus. It slows down or stops weight loss.
Most individuals struggle to maintain their diet at this point. Therefore, the weight slowly starts to come right back. What is worse, the decrease in metabolic rate causes their body to survive on fewer calories.
This extreme calorie limitation causes a reduction in muscle tone. Typical signs are flabby upper arms and buns.
Alternatives to yo-yo diets
Instead of hoping for a rapid weight loss, take a more long term sustainable approach. Your goal should be for a modest weight loss. Decrease calorie intake by 200-500 calories a day depending on how much you have to lose.
Consider your diet as a healthy eating plan instead of a temporary one.
Increase your level of physical activities by incorporating them in your daily life. For example, take the stairs or try something you enjoy such as dancing or hiking.
Eat smaller meals throughout the day instead of skipping them especially breakfast. This will prevent you from overeating later on.
Overeating and Emotional Eating
Okay, maybe your problem isn’t yo-yo dieting. It’s possible that your eating has become a habit such as eating junk food when you sit down in front of the TV.
Perhaps it is emotional. When you are stressed, you do not eat all day. Then when you get bored, you raid the refrigerator.
Overcoming emotional or habitual eating
If food is feeding an impulsive need in your life, then it is time to examine what is causing it. Find substitutes to eating instead. For example, instead of celebrating your birthday with cake (childhood ritual), invite your friends to play miniature golf instead. Have healthy snacks such as an apple or carrot sticks on hand. You can grab them quickly when you are too stressed to find time to eat at work. Or you can just clear your head by taking a brisk walk during your lunch break.
Control your hunger by eating multiple small meals a day. Never go hungry, because if you do, you are more likely to overeat or make poor choices.
Do not eat to 100% fullness! Yes, you can train your body to be satisfied at 60 percent capacity. It is okay to leave food on your plate. You are not helping poverty ridden countries by cleaning your plate.
You know what junk food can do to you. Therefore, just get rid of them. Instead stock your kitchen with whole-grain breads, vegetables and fruit.
It may sound corny, but try to do things to keep you focused on your goal. For instance, put a sign over your bed that says: The difference between fat and fit is I. Stick a sign on your dashboard that says: none of these foods taste as good as a size 8 (add a picture of a cheeseburger and fries).
In the end, it all boils down to staying on track. Do not fall off the wagon even if you overate once (or twice).
Rochester Health Club, Rochester Fitness Center and Certified Personal Trainers in Rochester are dedicated to helping its members stay fit.
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