Basic tips to avoid yo-yo dieting

While there’s no sure-fire guarantee that the weight shed on a diet won’t eventually return, there are steps dieters can take to avoid getting caught in the vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting. One is to stay away from “crash” diets that promote quick weight loss
. When more than a pound or two is shed each week, much of the weight lost is in the form of muscle rather than fat.

1.
Start by figuring out how many calories you need to eat and burn off a day to lose one pound a week.

2.
Try to balance your calorie intake throughout the entire day. If you have cravings in the late afternoons, you may not be eating enough earlier in the day. Eat five to six small meals throughout the day, starting with a satisfying breakfast.

3.
Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to help keep your calorie count low and your fiber intake high. Also aim to eat a variety of different foods, concentrating on foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. For example: apple, good; applesauce, okay; apple pie, no.

4.
Keep in mind: Sugar-free (and fat-free) does not mean calorie-free. Those “free” foods often have two to three times the calories of the real thing. Plus the taste is usually a disappointment.

5.
Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day to help you feel full and to prevent dehydration.

6.
Keep a food log for at least three days, then review it carefully. Writing down what and when you eat will help isolate eating patterns and problem spots. For instance, you may discover that the buttered muffin and coffee with cream you’ve been bolting down every morning leaves you feeling unsatisfied, adds hundreds of calories to your total intake and gives you virtually no nutritional bang for your buck.

7.
Have your food diary analyzed by a registered dietitian. She’ll help you understand your eating habits and offer plenty of strategies for improving them.

8.
Don’t completely cut yourself off from your hot-button foods. You’re going to crack sooner or later. Allow yourself a little indulgence, but limit the amount and the frequency. For example, if you can’t resist eating your mother-in-law’s famous chocolate cake that’s served at Sunday dinner, cut back your desserts during the rest of the week.

9.
Work out aerobically 20-60 minutes, five to seven days per week. Aerobic activities such as cycling, walking, running, stair climbing on the stair machine at the gym and swimming all burn tons of calories and help rev up your metabolism.

10.
Adding 2-3 days of weight training is essential for weight loss because it builds calorie-burning muscle tissue. Aim for 8-15 repetitions per exercise using a weight that challenges you but still allows you to maintain good form. If you can do more than 15 reps with a weight and the exercise still feels kind of easy, then the weight is definitely too light.

Remember, Yo-yo dieting — strict dieting followed by a rebound in weight — will only exacerbate the pattern of weight loss because it stresses the body and damages your metabolism.

Further research on the effects of weight cycling is needed. In the meantime, if you are obese or are overweight and suffer from weight-related health problems, try to improve your health by achieving a modest weight loss. Although weight cycling may have some effect on disease risk, the serious health problems resulting from obesity are clearly understood. If you need to lose weight, you should be ready to commit to lifelong changes in your eating and physical activity behaviors.