Yo-Yo Dieting is Better for Your Health Than Nothing at All

You have undoubtedly heard how important it is to maintain weight loss to avoid health problems. You’ve also heard that losing weight and gaining it back continually through fad diets or any other means just isn’t good for your health. Well now there is a study that shows that losing weight and gaining it back is better than not losing weight at all.

This study was done on mice, but it shows that yo-yo dieting isn’t as bad as it was once believed to be. There were three groups of mice in the study, placed into a low-fat, high-fat and yo-yo diet groups. The mice that were placed on the yo-yo diet alternated between a low-fat and high-fat diet.

The mice on the yo-yo diet were healthy when they followed a low-fat diet and had higher body fat, blood sugar and body weight when they were on their high-fat rotation. Another surprising detail of this study was that the yo-yo diet mice lived just as long as the mice that maintained a low-fat diet the entire time. This amounted to about six months longer than the mice that followed only a high-fat diet.

Although this new study has released some interesting information, dieters shouldn’t embrace a lifestyle of yo-yo dieting. Reaching a healthy weight through diet and exercise and maintaining that weight loss is still the ideal way to improve your health. There are several different diets available that can help you lose weight and if you choose the right approach, you can keep the weight off. The important thing to remember when losing weight and trying to maintain that weight loss is to start with a program that changes your habits. No one sets out to be a yo-yo dieter. What typically happens is the chosen diet is followed for a while and gives results, and then when you stop following the program, the weight comes back. It can be frustrating, and make you feel like giving up, but remember this study and use it as motivation to keep trying.

To avoid this cycle completely, you must make a commitment to change. Limiting calories and increasing exercise is known as the old fashioned way to lose weight, but it works. You have to be honest with yourself and use the particular program that works for you. Find something that involves changes you can see yourself committing to long-term so that you maintain your weight loss. One of the hardest things to do on a weight loss journey is keep the weight off. Watching your portions, taking action when you see a small gain and remembering to count calories are just a few of the things you can do to avoid falling into the yo-yo diet pitfall. The news is that yo-yo dieting is better than doing nothing at all, but you will be happier and healthier if you lose the weight once and for all.

Via MSNBC

June 11th, 2011

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