How To Break Free From Yo-Yo Dieting

If you’re fed up of yo-yo dieting you’re in the right place!

Myself and the other one percent coaches have worked with a lot of clients over the years who want help with fat loss, and yo- yoiing is a common problem we see many of them have struggled with in the past.

It can be a frustrating and emotionally draining pattern, losing weight then putting it back on again, with lots of people actually putting more weight back on every time they stop or give up.

So let’s look at 8 things you can do to break the cycle.

1.End the extremes -Typically people who yo yo have been stuck on over restrictive diets that they can’t maintain long term which leads to this bounce back.

To lose weight we have to create a calorie deficit yes, however especially when we have a bit more weight to lose, we need something we can stick to long term which isn’t going to be anything extreme.

The person who can stick to losing 0.5KG a week for the next 12 weeks always beats the person who losses a kilo plus a week but gives up on week 4…then puts it back on. So think tortoise not hare!

(I delve into more of this on this weeks podcast episode Listen Here )

2.Stop thinking about being on or off a diet but more about permeant change. If you want to stop yo-yo ing then so do your behaviours. Your body and health is a reflection of the things you do day in and day out and they need to change long term to match a leaner healthier body and stay consistent. So reframe being on a diet and having to ‘get through it’ to get to your end goal, to accepting that you are making permanent changes to you lifestyle.

3.Take ownership- Sometimes if we’ve failed multiple times at things including dieting (which is often the narrative when you’ve yo-yoed) we can start to have a bit of a victim mentality where its everyone else’s fault we aren’t achieving the goals we want to or we think we just can’t do. Again reframe this.

The reality is with most things in life, we are in complete control. We can absolutely achieve what we want to but we need to own it and actually take responsibility for making the changes we need to.

Don’t allow yourself to get annoyed about not achieving the thing you want if you haven’t actually done the things you need to do to get there!

4.Its not a punishment! A lot of people approach dieting very negatively! The association, probably due to the way they’ve approached it in the past, is that dieting feels hard, painful, they’re hungry all the time, they have to kill themselves in the gym, and they are always tired .

So instead of thinking about all the foods you can’t have anymore or the gym sessions you have to do, start to think about all the amazing things you are gaining. You get to go to the gym and feel stronger. You get to increase your health and lifespan! You get to give your body the nutrition that it needs to be healthy and feel energised.These aren’t so bad and a much more positive place to approach dieting from.

5.Think bigger than the scales!Yes our target is to lose weight but I see so many people throw the towel in because the scales don’t reflect what they want quick enough, or because it goes up one day, or doesn’t come down in a liner fashion.

Remember- If you’re in a deficit your weight will come down!So try and relax about that and don’t overlook everything else you are achieving.

Have you got stronger since starting the gym? Have you got more energy. Has your skin improved or are you sleeping better or has your resting HR come down.

6.Progress not perfection. Losing weight isn’t about being perfect. Its about consistently working towards your goals. So don’t expect every week to go smoothly but instead just keep the intent there.

There will be weeks where you get more of your workouts in, sleep better and eat better and weeks where things don’t quite go to plan. Don’t let the harder weeks however derail you, but instead just keep going (in a sustainable way!).And always reflect back on what you’ve already achieved.

7.Don’t over exercise. In the same way we don’t want to go extreme with our calories, we don’t want to kill ourselves off with exercise. It won’t make your weight loss happen quicker but it will most probably lead to burnout and you giving up! Have a sensible plan with adequate rest days you can stick to!

8.Empower yourself with knowledge. If you understand what you have to do, why you have to do it and why your bodies responding as it is, you can approach weight loss from a very empowered place. You will automatically buy in to the process more and feel in control, instead of hoping and wishing you're doing the right thing and feeling confused when things don’t go as expected. Having a coach is very useful for this so please drop me and The One Percent Club Team an email at info@onepercentclub.info if you want some support! We’d love to help.

I hope this has helped those of you who are struggling with yo yo dieting or just acted as a boost for those of you starting to work on a different approach.

Any question please email them over to info@onepercentclub.info or DM me at lizzie.kicks

Have a great week

Lizzie

The One Percent Club

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