Lose 10 pounds and gain 12. Lose 20 and gain 25. Lose 50 and gain 70. Sound familiar? If so, you're probably a career dieter struggling with the effects of yo-yo dieting. You may not know that the primary physical effect of yo-yo dieting is a slower metabolic rate, but you're probably all too familiar with the fact that its primary psychological effect is a feeling of hopelessness followed by serious self-doubt regarding your potential for long-term weight loss.
So the real challenge you face is learning how to lose weight, then maintain your lower weight and avoid yo-yo dieting. The key to maintaining weight loss and breaking the up-and-down pattern is getting psychologically prepared for weight maintenance even before you begin a weight-loss program. To successfully transition from active dieting to active maintenance, you need to invest time anticipating, identifying and effectively planning realistic eating and exercise lifestyle changes.
The first question you need to ask yourself before going on a diet is whether you're willing to change your unhealthy eating and exercise habits for life. If the answer is yes, then you'll probably be able to prepare a realistic maintenance program that you'll be able to follow throughout your life. If, on the other hand, the answer is no, then you run the risk of continuing to be a career dieter, struggling to lose weight that you're essentially doomed to put back on.
Then again, if you feel unable to change your unhealthy eating and exercise habits, there is a third option: Refrain from rigorous dieting altogether until you are ready to make the necessary lifestyle changes. Instead of dieting, simply choose one unhealthy eating or exercise habit that you're willing to change right now, and slowly begin the process of preparing yourself for the time when you'll be psychologically ready to change the majority of your unhealthy eating and exercise habits for life.
Remember that old habits die hard! Be patient with yourself and learn to accept that making permanent, positive changes is a process. It's okay if you're not prepared to adopt a whole new lifestyle right away. By being honest with yourself about that fact and by accepting it, you'll be able to get off the physical and emotional roller coaster of yo-yo dieting, and start on the road to a healthier life, one step at a time.
Michele Lifland, L.C.S.W., works in both private and group practice. She founded a private eating disorders clinic in 1983 and developed the Creative Mind Management counseling concept in 1998. She specializes in eating disorders and problem management.
