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Yo-Yo Dieting

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Yo-Yo Dieting

Yo-yo dieting is a term sometimes used to describe the pattern of repeated losses and subsequent regain of body weight experienced by some women, who spend much of their life ‘dieting’. This sort of pattern is also known as weight cycling, and is not confined to people who are overweight.

It is now clear that when we lose weight, there is a fall in our basic metabolic rate (BMR) - the amount of energy (calories) we need to go about our day to day lives. This is because BMR is related to the amount of lean tissue (eg muscle) we have. When we lose weight, most of the loss is fat or adipose tissue, but a proportion of the loss is non-fat tissue. Furthermore, the relative amount of lean tissue lost is greater when weight loss is very rapid. This is why experts recommend a gradual weight loss of about 2lb (1kg) per week on a calorie intake of about 1500 kcal/day for women, combined with an increase in physical activity. When weight is regained, BMR increases. Consequently, heavier people typically need more food energy to maintain their body weight than very slim people.

Although being obese is not beneficial to health, some concern has been expressed about the potential negative health consequences of yo-yo dieting.

Yo-yo dieting can cause personal upset because it is disheartening to regain lost weight. It is better to lose weight more slowly and maintain the loss. In some circumstances yo-yo dieting can result in poor body image and a negative attitude towards food.

The messages from this research are that people who are not overweight should be encouraged to maintain a normal weight rather than a fashionably underweight state. Also, more attention should be paid to helping overweight people maintain their weight loss, rather than falling into a loss-regain-loss cycle.

Taken from the British Nutrition Guide.