Yo-yo effect: what it is and what are the mistakes to avoid

The yo-yo effect is the constant change in weight that leads to gaining weight and losing weight quickly. Here’s what it is and what to do to avoid it.

When you go on a diet you do it with the hope of losing weight permanently and with the hope of making a small sacrifice to live better in the future. With rare exceptions, however, generally the diet becomes almost a constant to be repeated several times a year to dispose of the body weight taken immediately after losing it. Getting fat and losing weight continuously, oscillating 3 or 5 kilos is called the yo-yo effect.

This is a problem that occurs when you make a particularly restrictive diet and after which you go back to eating as before. All without considering that the diet should instead be a lifestyle in which to always eat well in order to enjoy some small excess every now and then.

Yo-yo effect: how to avoid it

Avoiding the much-hated yo-yo (or accordion) effect isn’t difficult. To do this, however, you need to change your way of thinking and relating to food. The idea of ​​going hungry and then returning to eat as and more than before must be set aside to embrace a healthy lifestyle based not only on weight loss but also and above all on well-being. To do this, just keep in mind a few simple rules :

– Don’t try to lose weight too quickly
– Do not do crash diets or fasting
– Do not eliminate carbohydrates
– Don’t eliminate good fats
– Learn to eat properly
– Exercise
– Stay hydrated
– Get the right hours of sleep
– Limit sugars, fried foods and unhealthy foods to rare exceptions

It is also important to always remember that after a diet it is necessary to follow a maintenance period in order to stabilize the weight. The length of this period varies according to age and how much weight has been lost and can only be suggested by a nutritionist.

Once this is done, the rule always remains in force that during the diet it is important to learn to eat properly so as not to make the mistakes that led to losing weight anymore.

The downsides of the yo-yo effect

When it comes to the yo-yo effect, it’s fair to remember that weight isn’t the only aspect involved. By taking and losing weight continuously you have several important “side effects”. Among these the most important are:

– Stretch mark formation
– Loss of skin elasticity
– Lowering of metabolism
– Increasing difficulty in losing weight
– Mood swings

For these reasons, it is important to try to avoid finding yourself constantly swinging with your weight, opting for a physical shape that you like and in which you feel comfortable both visually and lifestyle.