Say your starting weight prior to commencing the diet was around 170
pounds. Soon after starting your diet you lose 5 pounds. Then you lose
another 3 pounds. Suddenly your weight loss stops.. The course of
action that seems reasonable to you is to again reduce your calories
hoping that all the weight will stay off. Now since you have restricted
your calories your body goes into its defensive mode. This is where
evolution at its finest kicks in. Your body, because it is not receiving
the nutrition it needs, begins slowing everything down and you feel
tired and listless. You have the metabolism of a snail. You barely have
enough energy to do simple chores so there isn't any way you will eb
able to exercise.
Your body has taken over and is resisting your attempts to lose
weight. You can’t work out to lose the pounds because you simply
don’t have the energy and to make the situation worse you have an
increased appetite.
Why is your body responding in this manner? Your body is stimulating
your appetite so that you gain back all of the weight you have spent so
much time and effort losing. So not only do you eat, but you eat lots.
Your body’s thermostat, set point, makes sure that your weight goes
back to your original 170 pounds. In fact it doesn’t just stop there.
Your body, to protect itself, makes you add a few extra pounds on top
of the 170 pounds to store away in case of an emergency.
So there you have it, you just hurt your chances of losing weight by
provoking your body into a defensive mode which made your body
require you to gain extra weight.
It’s well documented that this happens and this is how the phrase got
to be coined as “Yo-Yo” dieting. Your weight goes down then it comes
back up again and then some over and over and over again.
There is a way around this rollercoaster dieting and the key is to not
push your body into its 'defensive mode' but rather working with your
body in order to lose the weight and make sure the weight stays off.
If any of the diets you have ever tried in the past fell into any of the
categories listed below, there’s a good chance it was a fad diet.
