Mend Your Diet

What are the dangers of yo yo dieting?

I was on a proper diet for about 4 days and then on the 5th day i cracked and stuffed myself with sugary treats such as chocolates and biscuits. This happens every time i go on a diet so i need to know what effects it will cause on my body. The more i know about how bad it is the less likely i will let it happen again.

Public Comments

1. exactly, when you diet you might start to lose weight but you have to eat sometime, and when you do you stuff your face. Don't do diets just eat healthy, eat a big breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner. Good luck. Hope it helped
2. That isn't yoyo dieting exactly that is just a cheat day or splurge. Yoyo dieting refers to a too fast or too much weight loss followed by a too fast too much weight gain cycle that repeats itself over and over again. This kind of dieting causes your organs strain and keeps bumping up your setpoint and messes with your metabolism. Your brain reads every crash diet as accidental starvation and to protect your body will hang on to every calorie--- when renourishment begins the brain says yippeeee starvation over, better pack some of this away in case it happens again ---- each successive event triggers a greater need for storage and changes your metabolism drastically. Look at Oprah Winfrey - she is the poster child for yoyo dieting. Don't get in this loop --- lose weight slowly and smartly and keep it off with lifestyle changes- Edit --- sorry went on my soapbox -- in your case just remember dont lose more than two pounds per week, do it with diet AND exercise, if you splurge one day don't give up or beat yourself up, just make sure that the next day you eat well but only supercharged nutrient dense foods and drink plenty of fluids--- if you are young and very healthy you can try a mini-cleanse or toxout --- to flush your system of bad carbs, empty carbs, processed foods or high chemical foods. Fruit juice and vegetable broths to keep up your energy and only for short periods, then get right back on a square smart plan.
3. This is one of the most common problem many dieters face. Sadly, the misconception of "sugary cravings" is that the body is deprived of "sugars", hence the brain sends a "craving" signal and the will-power caves in. Believe it or not, there has not been any conclusive scientific evidence to support this "sugar craving" notion. However, there are many hypothesis in the scientific field of nutrition & physiology. One of which is that dieting causes glycogen depletion. After few days, glycogen (body's main energy source) is low, hence stimulating the urge to feed on carbohydrate foods. This is known as the glucostatic hypothesis. Unfortunately, the sugary cravings for chocolates & biscuits are socially constructed and a learned human behaviour. No doubt chocs and biscuits do contain carbohydrates which is what the body is lacking, however, such treats do come with saturated fats and trans fats. Thus, increasing your body fat stores than before you started the diet. Well, things aren't so grim - there is light at the end of the tunnel. Contrary to popular notion that sugar/carbs/alcohol are fattening, they are NOT. Only fat is fattening. If you consume excess carbohydrates (don't matter if it's simple or complex carbs), the body will wastefully oxidised (burn) the excess & given off as body heat. This is the same with protein and especially alcohol as it is toxic. However, eating more carbs than what your body requires DELAYS fat oxidation (burning). This is because carbs get moved in front of the oxidation line, thus pushing fat back at the end of the queue. Many might ask "so how much carbs is considered excess carbs?". Evidence has shown that one would have to consume 20L of coke (not the diet ones) per day for at least 5days to be considered excess. Also the subjects were bedridden for that experimental length of time. In short, one can never consume excess carbohydrates as the body's primary fuel is carbs. So the next time you are sick of proper diet foods (yes they can be boring & bland) and want some sweet treats, your options are jelly beans, marshmellows, chewy fruit drops etc. They do not contain fat; they are almost pure glucose; they are not in the proper diet food list; they will not make you fat. Always read the nutritional label before you put anything in. This way, you are less likely to suffer the headaches and other dieting side effects and still keeping your energy level up to be active. In addition, you'd probably reach your goals faster & feel great.