Stop the Yo-Yo diet cycle!

When I was a teenager (many, many moons ago) some of the diets I tried which were popular at the time were  The Beverley Hills Diet, The Grapefruit Diet, The Drinking Man’s Diet etc.  What struck me the other day while I was walking through a book shop was the titles of the books in the Health / Diet section.

•  The 4 – hour body
• The 5 day Bikini Diet
• 8 hour Diet
• 4 week Diet
• 21 day total Body Transformation
• Eat, Fast, Slim
• The Overnight Diet
• The McDonalds Diet
• Fat Chance
• Run Fat B!tch Run

So what has changed in all the years since I was a teenager? Clearly not much! Based on their titles are they really trying to help people lose weight and keep it off or are they trying to satisfy the need for people to lose weight and lose it fast? (I am not for one minute suggesting that these books don’t have some good advice and I also acknowledge that I am judging the books by their covers or should I say titles.)

The question to ask is why after all these years has nothing changed? Who is feeding the diet yo-yo cycle? Is it the authors / journalists / celebrities / influencers / weight loss / wellness product companies, many of whom are motivated by the money they make out of the billion dollar weight loss industry or is it us, the consumer demanding instant gratification?

What has changed since I was a teenager is the internet and social media. The combination of books,  magazines, the internet and social media all providing so much conflicting information has resulted in many people being very confused about what choices to make. They don’t know what is healthy, what is fattening, what food groups they should eat and which ones they should leave out. They lose weight and often regain what they have lost (and more) because they can’t sustain the eating plan they have chosen or go back to eating a food group they stopped eating. Besides being confusing it is also extremely demoralizing and depressing as anyone who has ever had a weight problem will know.

So how do you get off the yo-yo diet cycle? You need to acknowledge some facts and ask yourself some questions.

The facts:

• You gained weight over a period of time – you are not going to lose it in a few hours or days or weeks.
• You have to select an eating plan that fits in with your lifestyle.
• There are no quick fixes.
• Weight loss may require you to also change your thinking.
• For long term success you may need to change your behavior.
• Being a perfectionist – it’s all or nothing – is a form of self sabotage an excuse.
• Cutting out a food entirely may make you crave it and go overboard when you do eat it.
• Losing weight and keeping it off is not only about food choices but also about one’s thinking and behavior.
• Quick fixes or unrealistic / unsustainable eating plans usually result in yo-yo weight loss and gain.
• To lose weight and keep it off you need to adopt a lifestyle change not go on a “diet”.

Questions to ask yourself:

•  At what stage are you going to get off the yo-yo diet cycle?
• What behaviour / habits do you have to change to lose weight and maintain your weight loss?
• What excuses are you hiding behind?
• How is your thinking sabotaging you?
• What changes can you make to your thinking to be more successful?
• What beliefs about being thinner  / healthier are holding you back?
• What “tapes” (thinking / excuses) do you play that you could change?
• How is your perfectionism influencing your eating / weight and how can you change your thinking to be more successful in the future?
• What affirmations can you use on a daily basis that will help your thinking
• Can you maintain your selected way of eating as a lifestyle and is it healthy?

I really hope that you are able to find a  healthy lifestyle that you can adopt. I’d love to hear from you. Let me know how you managed to get off the yo-yo diet cycle.