1. Crash and not Burn
It always happens, you receive a phone call. Your twentieth high school reunion is coming up soon. What do you do? You panic, and then you make a vow to lose 20 lbs. Do yo-yo diets, also called crash diets, work? There are many who can answer, "Yes," Drinking only fruit juice, cabbage soup, or even fasting will make you lose weight.
2. Metabolize Me
Your body's metabolism causes the yo-yo effect. It responds to what it thinks is starvation. During crash dieting, your body adjusts and burns fewer calories. If you need fewer calories to gain the same amount of weight; when you start eating again, it will actually be easier to gain weight. Your body can take months, even years to readjust.
3. Health Risks of Crash Diets
There are many short-term and long-term health risks associated with yo-yo diets. The most obvious one is nutritional deficiency. This is especially dangerous for teens as their bodies are still growing and need proper nutrition to develop. Yo-yo dieting can also damage vital organs. Your heart, kidneys, liver and brain cannot get enough energy on such low calorie diets. Your body begins to burn the tissue that makes up those organs which can result in liver or kidney failure, heart attack and stroke. Studies have shown that men increase their risk of painful gallstones if they yo-yo diet, and the increase goes up exponentially with each time they rapidly lose and gain weight. Your bone structure takes a hit and your body will start leaching the calcium from your bones, leaving them fragile and prone to Osteoporosis. Yo-yo diets cause extreme food cravings and affect your mood. Symptoms often include irritability, depression and can lead to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. It's also possible to have hair loss during crash dieting.
4. Why Does Yo-yo Dieting Happen?
When your body is robbed of its nutrients by multiple cycles of dieting, it breaks down muscle mass faster than fat cells. The more muscle you lose, the slower your metabolism becomes and the harder it is to lose weight. The more you gain, the more you crash diet. It's easy to see how this could turn into a never-ending cycle of frustrating weight loss and regain.
5. How to Avoid the Yo-yo
It's hard on your emotions to suffer through all those yo-yo cycles and feel you're getting nowhere. That is why many people give up on losing weight altogether. A better approach is to look at it as a long term health plan. Work closely with your Physician to set up a healthy lifestyle plan. Strive for modest weight loss and increase your activity level. Try walking two to three times a day. Eat often and choose smaller meals with healthy snacks in between. Don't skip breakfast.
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