During my work as a personal trainer, I usually meet people who are not able to lose weight, although they have the will and do something for it. In practice, they often repeat the same mistakes.
The most common problem people are describing to me (you certainly have heard about it) is the so-called yo-yo effect. How does it work?
I would like to point out that I am not a supporter of traditional calorie restriction, but rather recommend a diet adjustment. Therefore, I do not recommend such restrictions to my clients. But let’s go back to the yo-yo problem. The most common mistake looks like this: people look in the mirror and say: it doesn’t look good, I have to do something with it. But what do they do first? They search the internet and find some diet plan – and there the biggest problem begins.
Often it seems to them that the diet plan is working. After a couple of weeks, they say: ok, it looks good – and they return to their original eating habits. What’s next? The body is frightened that what it got again after a long time of shortage (returning to its original eating habits) will not get back for a long time and it starts to make reserves. As a result, the body is restored to its original state or even gains more weight comparing to the that state.
Every human body is specific
Every person is different and that means that a “diet” that works for one person do not need to work for other. I will give an example: can you imagine giving a diet plan to someone who is working on a construction all day (or having another very physically burdensome job) and exclude the calorie rich nutrients from the plan? In the short term, fatigue, exhaustion, malaise, and even physical injuries could begin to appear.
I will give the opposite example: a man sitting in an office has a sedentary job and wants to lose weight. He finds a diet that is adapted to a person who is undergoing greater physical stress. What happens next? As in the first case, it will have consequences. In this case, however, this will result in fat storage because not all food consumed can be burned by the body. Instead, the surplus begins to be stored and fat reserves created.
So, how to do it right?
Using these two examples, I wanted to say that if you are considering losing weight and adjusting your diet, be sure to consult an expert. When setting up a diet you need to pay attention to many aspects, such as type of work, various activities, sports, stress, sleep, drinking …
This means that the diet needs to be adjusted to meet different body requirements, such as:
- important is the client does not have to return to the original eating habits
- the body should not lack any substances in terms of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients
- the plan must also be adjusted so that the body does not feel hunger or fatigue
As a result, the body gets used to it, so you won’t even need to come back to the original wrong eating habits. Therefore, the so-called yo-yo effect will not occur. The weight falls down and stays there, without going back.
Of course, I also recommend adding some sporting activity that everyone should consider individually according to their preferences.
