Weight Loss Tips: How to Avoid Yo-Yo Dieting

Many people who have tried weight loss plans, only to find that the weight comes back on are familiar with the phenomenon of yo-yo dieting, where a person's weight fluctuates up and down like a yo-yo. These tips will help you to develop a diet and health plan that will avoid the fluctuations of weight that come with yo-yo dieting.

Avoid Yo-Yo Dieting: Commit for the Long Term

Going on a diet is not a one-time thing to take off a few pounds and look great again. After you have reached your target weight, you will need to continue to maintain healthy eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits for as long as you want to stay at that weight.

Because weight loss requires a long-term commitment, don't start a diet that you can't see yourself on for the next 10 years. If you absolutely love bread and rice and pasta, then don't go on a low-carb diet because you will probably be unhappy for as long as you are on that diet. Find a plan that will work for you, that includes some indulgent foods you enjoy, while still maintaining an overall healthy balanced diet.

Avoid Yo-Yo Dieting: Start Small

Instead of diving in headfirst to a weight loss plan and finding that it's too hard, just to jump right out again and put on all the weight you lost, start small. Develop healthy habits such as cutting back on fatty foods (eat ½ the amount of ice cream you typically would, or replace one unhealthy snack per day with a healthy snack).

As you start to see yourself lose weight and feel better because you are eating food that is more natural and gives you more energy, you are likely to want to take bigger steps in your weight loss plans. These first little small steps will help you to ease into your diet and make steady progress toward your goal.

Avoid Yo-Yo Dieting: Have an Accountability Partner

With all the people looking to lose some weight these days, you are sure to have a friend who is in the same situation you are. Get together and plan to keep each other accountable in sticking to your diet and exercise plan for the long run. Check in at least weekly to see how you are doing and help motivate and encourage each other. Just make sure before you start that you are both committed to your goals and are willing to be hard on each other to help achieve those goals.

Avoid Yo-Yo Dieting: Exercise

A good way to keep weight off once you have lost it is to exercise regularly, which uses up the extra calories in your body that you may be consuming. As you are dieting, work exercise into your routine, starting with just walking a mile or two, and working up to more strenuous activities as you build endurance. This will help you to lose weight faster and avoid the yo-yo phenomenon as you indulge in occasional treats and holiday times during your diet.