Understanding the Consequences of Yo-Yo Dieting: A Comprehensive Guide
Diet culture often influences us to try new weight loss methods perpetually, be it Weight Waters, Noom, or trendy diets such as Keto or Intermittent Fasting. Although society sees these as “healthy” or “normal,” the sustainability and benefits of these restrictive dieting practices are harmful to most individuals.
By: Elizabeth Low
A typical yo-yo dieting or weight cycling pattern exemplifies the challenges of adhering to restrictive diets. Yo-yo dieting involves repeated weight loss and gain cycles through continuous switching on and off diet plans. This pattern poses severe physical and mental health risks.
Here are four key negative impacts of yo-yo dieting:
Disrupted Body Signals and Health Risks
A diet with many limitations disrupts the body's natural ability to provide feedback through our hunger and fullness cues. When you lose weight from dieting, the hormone responsible for helping you feel full, leptin, decreases. Consequently, chronic dieting may induce a heightened appetite over time. Furthermore, yo-yo dieting is linked to loss of muscle mass, increased risk of diabetes, and elevated blood pressure.
Eroded Trust in Our Bodies
Chronic dieting teaches us flawed messages that undermine our trust in our bodies. Variety in our diets is necessary, as we need a range of vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients, but diets often restrict food groups. Diets wrongly advocate that moderation isn’t feasible, leading to distrust in our abilities to eat and move in a balanced way. Over time, it becomes increasingly difficult to unlearn these harmful messages.
Disordered Eating and Strained Relationship with Food
Yo-yo dieting can precipitate disordered eating habits and negatively affect your relationship with food, weight, and body image. Given the necessity of daily food intake, a troubled relationship with food translates into daily challenges causing distress. Strict rules around certain foods can induce guilt, shame, and anxiety, possibly triggering disordered eating, behaviors, thoughts, and even eating disorders.
Compromised Mental Health
Yo-yo dieting impacts mental health negatively. The cycle of yo-yo dieting can worsen mental health since weight cycling often leads to low self-esteem, low motivation, and poor body image. Society’s lack of acceptance of weight gain exacerbates insecurities among individuals who gain weight.
Yo-yo dieting, driven mainly by society’s overwhelming emphasis on weight loss, has numerous detrimental effects, such as poor body image, a strained relationship with food, and physical impacts on the body. However, with dedication and effort, individuals can escape from the unhealthy mindsets that dieting fosters.
There are effective strategies to combat the adverse effects of yo-yo dieting, including the principles of body attunement and intuitive eating. Body attunement, or listening to your body's natural cues, can help individuals move away from restrictive eating patterns. It emphasizes understanding and responding to hunger and fullness signals rather than following diet rules. Similarly, intuitive eating promotes a holistic approach to food and nutrition, encouraging individuals to trust their bodies and break free from the dieting cycle. This includes eating foods that satisfy physical needs and taste preferences, exercising for enjoyment rather than weight loss, and rejecting the diet mentality that categorizes foods as 'good' or 'bad.' Incorporating these strategies, with the help of a support team, fosters a more beneficial relationship with food and body image, leading to a more sustainable, balanced approach to eating and overall well-being.
At BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™ , our compassionate, highly skilled team of clinicians is trained in diagnosing and treating the spectrum of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, compulsive overeating, and other disordered eating behaviors and body image issues. BALANCE offers a bi-monthly free virtual support group open to individuals seeking help and family and loved ones. The group provides a supportive forum where members can explore issues, including ambivalence about engaging in treatment, recovery, resources, and treatment options, and knowing when and how to take the next steps toward making change. RSVP for our next group on Friday, June 23rd, at 12:00 pm EST here.
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This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Elizabeth Low (she/her).
Elizabeth is currently finishing her sociology degree with a concentration in social interaction and a minor in psychology at San Jose State University. During her undergraduate studies she has volunteered and worked in childcare, and in the food industry. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in Clinical Nutrition or Counseling. She hopes to actively counteract social messaging that is linked to disordered eating, overexercise, and body dissatisfaction. Her interests include cooking, childcare, education, research, and writing. She plans to help individuals have a healthy relationship with food and their body image through counseling in the future.